Advent: Peace

Luke 2:14

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

Ready or not, Christmas is almost here! Are you ready? Somehow, I feel ready and not ready at the same time. Certainly I do not have my Christmas gift shopping done, I tend to procrastinate on shopping. But I am ready for the family time, the Christmas activities, and the celebration of Christ.

There is a whole lot of preparation that goes into the Christmas season. What do you do to prepare yourself for the holiday?

Over Thanksgiving weekend I took some time to clean my house to prepare for the decorations. Picking up clutter, throwing out junk, sweeping and mopping the floors. The preparation took on several stages from disorder, to ordered chaos, to putting things back together, and then everything being clean.

Then there were the several trips to the basement to bring out the boxes of Christmas decorations. My recently clean living room was once again cluttered. Changing seasonal pictures, hanging up stockings, setting up the tree, and before too long the decorations were in place, the floor vacuumed again and the house is clean and decorated. The decorations and the lights, along with some Christmas music made my home feel very peaceful and inviting.

However, in preparation for Christmas, things got messy before they were clean, then they became cluttered before they were beautified, it became busy before it was peaceful.

What I just described is one way to prepare for the holidays, but let me ask again, what do you do to prepare yourself for the holiday?

This time around, I want you to forget about the lights and the decorations. I want you to think about your heart and your mind. The business described above is only one distraction that takes place this season. There is shopping, late night sales, school parties, company parties, family parties, etc. So many things to do, yet so very little time to pause and reflect on the true meaning of the season, Jesus Christ.

The advent season is a time in a Christian’s life to reflect on the glory of the Gospel that God delivered to this world through His Son and how our lives should reflect the love He displayed for us. Last week we talked about how the way we live our lives should adorn the doctrine of Christ in such a way that draws people to Christ. Specifically, we looked at how looking back at God’s faithfulness creates hope in the present and future promises of God. As we anticipate Christ’s return we live in the hope He provides.

This week, as we consider preparing for Christmas, we will look at the peace that Christ brings to those who believe.

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

Luke 2:14

How would you define peace? Most of us initially think of peace in terms of war, i.e. no war means peace. Is that all there is to it?

Here is a brief video explaining the biblical use of peace in the Old Testament and the New Testament:

                           

What are some things that stand out to you from the video? How did your understanding of peace change?

I liked the illustration of the wall, having recently gone through Nehemiah in our sermon series, and how each brick has its place and is important to the completion of the whole.

How does this definition of peace affect your view of the story of the Bible?

“The theme of the story is shalom: all things in their created place doing what they were created to do in loving relationship with their creator,” said one commentator.

Let’s keep this in mind as we look at a few Scriptures mentioned in the video and a few others that refer to peace. Read through each one and reflect on how the understanding of Shalom and Eirana we just heard provide a deeper understanding to these verses.

Isaiah 9:6

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Luke 2:14

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

John 14:27

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.

Romans 5:1

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 2:14–16

For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.

Colossians 1:19–20

For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

In the first advent of Christ, we see that peace with God was part of God’s plan from the beginning. In His preparation for us to receive this peace, things got messy before they became peaceful. The creation rebelled, they doubted, they disobeyed, and they fought with Him, yet all along we see He was arranging and rearranging the chaos into order. Just when history seemed to be at its darkest moment, Jesus entered into our space. He took on our clutter, our sin and nailed it to the cross. His preparation for Christmas brought us the gift of grace and peace with our Creator.

Every day we face new struggles and trials, are we living in the peace that the Prince of Peace gave His life for? There are so many distractions in this life from family, school, tests, end of semesters, work, bills, friends, relationships, smart phones, social media, and on and on, that it is so important that we Christians take full advantage of the Advent season to focus our attention on God’s gift of His Son.

One of my favorite passages in Scriptures is also a promise of peace:

Isaiah 26:3–4

You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD GOD is an everlasting rock.

Consider that promise, when you choose to fix your mind of the everlasting Rock, God Himself will keep you in perfect shalom, peace! It means that He will bring order to your chaos, that He will fill the empty holes of your life and bring you to a feeling of wholeness and completeness in Him.

So how can we keep our minds stayed on Him this Christmas season? 

Look in your rearview mirror.* Take a few moments to consider all the mercies God has given you in your life, starting with the most recent and moving farther back. Look back at the story of Christmas, the life of Christ and believe again the story of His resurrection. Look back on the countless stories of God’s faithfulness to an unfaithful people in the Bible, and consider His faithfulness to you.

Look ahead.* Peer off into the future hope we have as believers, the second advent of our Savior. He will return and make all things new! “We will have ultimate shalom, unending and ever-increasing joy for all eternity.” He will put an end to chaos, to anxiety, to depression, to sickness, to death and sin. And you will get to see Jesus face to face!

Look at your right now.* Consider your current struggles in light of the past faithfulness of God and the future hope. How does this reshape your perspective of the right now? Remember, whenever we begin preparations for something big, things often get messy before they become peaceful. You may be in the messy season of life, but hold on, Jesus is working and preparing you for shalom.

*borrowed/inspired from "What Would God Say To Your Anxiety" by Dave Radford's article on desiringgod.org.