Peace at Christmas

[0:00] morning, our second week, we are looking at peace, this idea of peace at Christmas. And I suppose here's in some ways the dilemma, or here's the conundrum that we are trying to solve or think about this week. It's this, have you ever asked anyone in the run-up to Christmas, in this kind of busy Advent season, how are you getting on? And they've given you the answer, I'm feeling very peaceful. That's not really the norm, is it, for someone to say, well, when I think of all the organizing that's required, the shopping to do, the busyness everywhere, the meals to prepare, the kind of children running around, being shot with Nerf guns, all these things, the overwhelming emotion I feel, the feeling that comes to mind is peace. That's not really the case, is it? That's not really how we operate. There are lots of positive things we might think of at Christmas, of joy, of excitement, of food, of celebration. But probably peace, in that sense, wouldn't naturally be at the top of that list. And so why is it that it's one of these words that still has this resonance at Christmas? Again, it's on baubles, it's on cards, it's on gift bags, it's lit up with festive lights. We're a society that loves to think about peace at Christmas, and yet for so many people, actually find so little peace in this Christmas season. And so our goal this morning is to say, well, what has Christmas got to do with peace? And most importantly, how do we find that peace?

[1:44] And also, how are we able to share that peace? And again, a peace that doesn't just disappear once the holidays are over and life gets back to normal, but a peace that lasts. That's what we're thinking about this morning. And we'll see how the Bible shows that to us. And we see it in this passage that we've just read. This is one of the great Christmas passages, isn't it? This is the prophet Isaiah writing about 700 years before the birth of Jesus, but looking ahead to the coming of Jesus, looking forward to that very first Christmas. And there's so much that we could talk about in this passage. This is my kind of favorite Christmas passage, I think. But the idea of peace is a big one. It builds to verse six, doesn't it? Where there was this promised child, this royal child is introduced, and he will be the prince of peace. And then verse seven, the final verse of our passage, of the increase of his government and of peace, there will be no end. Isaiah is in no doubt that

[2:50] Christmas will be a time, will be an event, will be a person that brings peace. And so we're going to look at this idea of peace from this passage and elsewhere in two sections, really. Firstly, what is peace? What are we actually talking about here? What does the Bible mean when it speaks of peace?

[3:08] And then secondly, and a bit more fully, how can we have this peace? How can we receive that? How can we actually live in and experience that peace, both at Christmas and throughout our lives? So that's the plan.

[3:23] First up, what is peace? What is the Bible's picture of peace? This reading in Isaiah often starts at Christmas in verse two. But actually, if you have a look at verse one, it's really helpful, really important, because it shows us that Isaiah is speaking to people who aren't currently experiencing peace in any sense of the word. And you see there, it's those who are in gloom, those who are in anguish, those who have been brought into contempt. We're not going to go through the whole story or all the background of that just here. Some of you might have been around when we spent some time in the book of Isaiah earlier this year. And we saw that this book, this great book, with some incredible kind of purple passages in it, but it begins, and we're still in that section here, it begins with the people in rebellion and rejection of God and his punishment, his judgment on them because of that. And so this darkness here, there is a spiritual element to this darkness that Isaiah is speaking into. And as a consequence, of that, they're also under pressure, under opposition from very human forces, from hostile neighbors, particularly the dangerous nation of Assyria, who are coming against the nation of God's people at the time. So that's kind of the historical situation. They are living under the threat of real earthly suffering and conquest. And so all that to say, really, these are people who are not experiencing peace. They are not at peace with God, and they are not at peace in their world. And these are the kind of two axes I want us to remember this morning. Peace with God, peace with our world. Both of these are lacking in the time and to the people that Isaiah is writing to. And yet Isaiah says these incredible words, doesn't he, that there is a time coming when a light will dawn, when darkness will end.

[5:32] This passage speaks about the end of oppression in verse four, the end of war in verse five. And yet it doesn't stop there. It goes on to speak about a new ruler, this promised child with the government upon his shoulders, verse six. And it is his rule that will bring about this peace.

[5:52] This peace in verse seven, which means that justice and righteousness will be upheld. And so what we see in this passage from Isaiah is that peace in the Bible is not just the absence of bad stuff. Isaiah doesn't stop at verse five. But peace is the presence, the establishment of what is good, of what is right, of what is true. This new kingdom of peace Isaiah speaks about, where God's people are right with God and right with the world. And that's the Bible's picture of peace. The Bible often, the word used in the Bible for peace is shalom. That's a word you might have heard before. And it probably carries a bigger meaning than we think of as peace. It's not just freedom from disturbance.

[6:39] That's how the dictionary defines peace. That's how we often think of it, isn't it? We would have peace if all the disturbing things, if just all the faff in our life would just leave us alone for a little bit. And yet the Bible's idea of peace, of shalom, is bigger than that. More than just the absence of what's wrong, but also the presence of what is right. It's the idea of completeness, of wholeness, of everything as it should be. I remember one time, a couple of years ago, being on holiday and having the odd experience of getting to have a lie-in, which was very nice. Our children were being unusually kind of self-sufficient and quiet at this early time in the morning and giving us a bit of peace. Well, it turns out that one of them, I won't mention which one, but he had been entertaining himself. He had been giving us this peace by drawing all over the walls in this house where we'd been staying. So we had quiet. It had seemed like peace, but actually it wasn't peace in the biblical sense with everything as it should be. Things were not right. And yet the Bible presents this incredibly attractive, this kind of holistic picture of peace and completeness, both spiritually in our relationship with God and also in our world around us in which we live. Everything as it should be. And so many ways what the Bible is speaking about and pointing us toward is the world that we all long for, whether we recognize that or not. And again, this is not a temporary thing. This is not a minute's peace. This is not a peaceful evening. Do have a look at the end of verse 7 there.

[8:25] It's from this time forth and forevermore. Isaiah is promising an eternal peace. And it is all tied in with that child who is born, that son who is given with that first Christmas and the coming of Jesus.

[8:41] So what is peace according to the Bible? It is this great picture of everything as it should be. It is something that we all yearn for, that our world yearns for. It is peace with God, a peace which needs to be restored because just like those who Isaiah is writing to, each one of us has turned our backs on God. We've neglected him. We've thought we can do better ourselves, go in our own way, and ignored God in the world he created. And it is also peace in that world. A peace we're able to experience and live out and share. A peace so many of us struggle to find. A peace our world is so often lacking. For us to truly experience peace then, the Bible says we need both of those to be in place.

[9:34] And the Bible says we cannot have one without the other. Specifically, we can't have peace in our world unless we first have peace with the God who made that world. So that's what peace is. How does that happen then? Biblically speaking, that's what peace is. These two aspects, peace with God and peace in our world. But how do we actually get that peace? Isaiah kind of introduces the answer to that question for us here. And then we see that brought into focus as we continue through the Bible story.

[10:08] And what Isaiah makes clear is that peace is going to come through a person. That person who came at Christmas. For to us, a child is born. And he is the one who will be the prince of peace, who will bring a peace of which there will be no end. Peace comes through a person, but not just any person.

[10:36] It is this promised person. The person who God sent. The person who is God himself. That person who is Jesus Christ. And so we are right to think about peace at Christmas. Christmas is all about peace.

[10:49] Because that is when that person, when Jesus arrives. That's what Isaiah is looking forward to. I'm going to flick ahead in the Bible a bit now to the book of Romans. You might want to look there as well.

[11:01] We'll spend a bit of time here in Romans chapter 5, page 942, if you have one of the church Bibles. Because where Isaiah is looking ahead to Christmas, when we turn to Romans, we have the written by the Apostle Paul. It's written after Jesus, looking back to all that Jesus has done, all that Jesus has achieved. And we see in Romans chapter 5, verse 1, it says this, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. And we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul confirms what Isaiah has promised, that it is Jesus that makes this peace between us and God possible. This peace with God that was missing, that was missing for the people that Isaiah wrote to, that is missing for us in our natural state as we turn away from God. Well, that peace comes, that peace is restored through Jesus. As James was saying earlier, that is why Jesus came. That is why the first Christmas happens, so that that break in our relationship with God could be healed, and we might have peace with him. You know, if you're not at peace with someone, if there's been a breakdown in a relationship, and someone needs to make the first move, don't they? I'm sure we've all been in that situation. Often there is fault on both sides, but it needs someone to break the deadlock, as it were, and we're often very slow to do that. Well, in the breakdown of our relationship with God, the difference is that the fault was entirely on us. It is us who turned our backs on him. It is us who went astray, and yet incredibly at Christmas, it is God who makes the first move so that that relationship can be restored, so that everything can be as it should be. What we were designed for, we can have that peace with God our creator. How does Jesus bring this peace then? Well, again, Romans chapter 5, verse 1, Paul tells us we have peace with God because we have been justified by faith in Jesus.

[13:15] That idea of being justified really is a kind of a legal term. It means to be declared righteous, to be declared right in the sight of God. You know, picture yourself in the court, in the dock. To be justified means the judge saying, this man, this woman has no penalty to pay. They are in the clear. There are no outstanding charges held against them. They are in right standing, a right relationship with the authorities. And the Bible says that through Jesus, we are justified. We are declared righteous in right standing with God. How is that possible? Well, it is not because Jesus magically makes us good people.

[13:57] It is not because Christians are people who never do anything wrong and that never make mistakes. It is not that if we trust in Jesus, we become perfect. And so God is very pleased with us.

[14:13] No, we stand in that dark, as it were, as people who have done things wrong. And all of us resonate with that, don't we? We are people whose thoughts, whose words, whose deeds are not perfect. And so we have this great question, well, how can God say that we're in the clear? And the answer is it's because Jesus has paid that debt we deserve. He came, as we said last week, as the propitiation for sins, the one who takes our punishment. And in his place, in its place, we receive his perfect record. He takes our place and deals with our sin. He washes us clean. Now, the peace that we're talking about here with God is not just a kind of a peaceful feeling. It's not a vague thing. It's an objective fact that something has changed in our status before God.

[15:06] And again, one layer further down, as it were, how does that happen? How can Jesus do that? How can he stand in our place? What has happened to that sin and to that penalty that we deserve? Well, here's kind of the final link in the chain. A few verses later in Romans chapter 5, down in verse 9, Paul writes that we are justified by Jesus's blood. That it is Jesus's death on the cross that makes all of this possible. Again, as we saw last week, that inseparable link from Christmas to Easter, the fact that Jesus came and the reason why Jesus came, it's because of the cross that Jesus brings peace, because it is there for all who trust in Jesus.

[15:52] It is there that he takes our sin and he doesn't just hide it away somewhere or push it into the carpet. He deals with it, deals with the consequences of it once and for all. And in his place, we receive his perfect record, meaning we can have that peace and relationship with God. Let me just trace that chain through again. We're looking for peace with God. How do we get that? We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. How does Jesus do that? By enabling us to be justified, declared, righteous, righteous, righteous. If our trust is in him, how is that justification possible? We're justified through his blood, through his death on the cross in our place, so that we can stand in his place in perfect relationship with God, everything as it should be. Jesus came at Christmas to make peace with God possible. Through Jesus, we can have the thing which, if we don't have it, is our biggest problem.

[16:54] There is nothing more significant than not being at peace with God, not being on the right terms with the one who created our universe. And yet through Jesus, through the cross, we are invited into that peace. And again, just to say, if this morning you don't have that peace with God, that's not a step that you've made, that there's nothing more significant that you could do this very day or this very Christmas season, than to ask Jesus to do that for you, to recognize your need of peace with God and turn to Jesus, turn to the cross, put your trust in him and what he has achieved there as the only possible way for us to have that thing that we need more than anything else, peace with our creator.

[17:42] So how do we get peace? Firstly, foundationally, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who came at Christmas makes that peace possible. And it's because of that peace, that kind of vertical peace, peace with God, that we're then able to look out and think about having peace in the world in which we live. So with that idea in mind, let's go back to Isaiah again. Isaiah is looking forward to the perfect fulfillment of that peace. It's almost as if Isaiah has his kind of x-ray goggles on. He's looking forward in time through Christmas, through Easter, through even the present day, looking ahead to that time that we're still waiting for, when Jesus will return, when he will come back to rule over everything, to the time when he will come, not this time as a baby. His glory won't be hidden, but he will come and everyone will recognize his greatness and his rule, his rule that will bring perfect peace. That is when, as Isaiah promises in these verses, that war will be no more. That is when oppression will be put to an end.

[18:51] That is when everything in our world or our universe will truly be just as it should be. The Bible looks ahead to that perfect peace in a new creation at the promised second coming of Jesus that we still await. And that new creation is for all those who have peace with God through trusting in Jesus and in his blood here and now. The Bible describes that new creation as perfect peace, perfect shalom, with no more tears, no more death, no more mourning, no more pain. All these things that spoil peace. All of these things that flow out of a lack of peace. Christmas gets the ball rolling for the perfect peace, which is the destination, the end game for the whole Bible, where we'll truly experience everything as it should be, with God's perfect reign bringing perfect peace and us being able to share in that and enjoy that because of the peace we can have with God through Jesus.

[19:54] And yet, as I'm sure we're all so aware, we are still waiting for that perfect, for that universal peace. It is good news for us to look ahead to, but it also kind of raises the question, well, is there any peace for us here and now? Has that first Christmas and all that follows made any difference in our present today, this week, this Christmas, this life? Or does it just say, wait for the peace which is to come in the future? We're going to close by thinking about how actually that first Christmas, how Jesus coming and all that he enabled does mean that we can experience peace this Christmas, every Christmas and every day. Not the full peace that we are awaiting when he returns, but a real peace which makes a real difference to real life, again, flowing from this peace with God. So how do we get peace? And really, I think it boils down to this big question.

[20:53] What is the most important thing for you this Christmas? What will make Christmas, not just this Christmas, but our whole lives? What will make that worthwhile or meaningful?

[21:08] I think the reason that we ironically lack peace at Christmas, why kind of receiving a card that says peace on it can seem like a bit of a joke at this time of year. The reason we lack peace at Christmas, perhaps more than any other time of the year, is that more than any other time of the year, we are bombarded by voices telling us how everything should be to be just as it should be.

[21:35] Whether those voices we hear on adverts or on films or social media or through observing our neighbours, whatever it might be, saying this is what you really need at Christmas. This is what your kids need if they're to be happy and for you to be deemed a good parent. This is what your Christmas dinner scene should look like for you to class as a happy family. This is what you should look like going to your work Christmas party. This is the level of gift that you should expect to give to people or receive from people if they really care about you. This is what will make you happy. This is how things should be.

[22:14] At no other time of the year are we given a longer list of what the important things, the essential things for us to be happy or fulfilled or for us to be, for us to have peace. And yet it's precisely this list of things that takes away our peace. Because we never get to the end of it. Because these things are never finished.

[22:39] Because our life never looks like the films or the Marks and Spencers advert. But really what is the most important thing this Christmas? What is the most important thing to know throughout the year? The Bible tells us that it is to know God. That it is to know our Creator.

[23:02] And not just to know about Him, but to really know Him. To have that relationship with Him that we were designed for. To have peace with God. And it is only if we truly believe that, if we really believe that that is the most important thing. And not only believe that, but only if we also have that peace. Recognize we can have that peace through Jesus.

[23:27] It's only as we believe that and have that, that we can then have peace in the world around us. It's only when we know that the thing that we need most, peace with God, is the thing that we can have through Jesus. It's only then that we can put everything else in this world in its proper place and start to feel and experience that peace. This Christmas, there will be loads of things pulling for our attention, trying to make themselves priorities.

[23:58] And lots of those things will be good things. Things that take effort, but are worth it. And the Bible's answer to finding peace at Christmas is not to say, you know, no tree, no presents, no dinner, no friends. No, it gives us the freedom to enjoy those things. But it also gives us the freedom to recognize, you know what, there are some things that I won't be able to do this Christmas.

[24:20] There are some parts of the kind of idealized, so-called perfect Christmas that I won't have and that won't be available to me. Or the ability to say, you know, I'm not going to stress if the presents in our house aren't as impressive as in our neighbor's houses. Or if our Christmas dinner is not as lavish as the one we see on TV. Or if even time with family and friends is a strained and a difficult and an awkward or maybe even an impossible thing. And yet it's recognizing to have peace in those situations means recognizing ultimately that none of those are the ultimate thing.

[25:02] Now often if we're honest, our lack of peace, our busyness can be slightly self-inflicted whether at Christmas or throughout the year. We don't take the rest we need because we've filled our lives trying to tick off all those boxes of important things. When actually the greatest thing, our biggest need, the truly most important thing of peace with God and a relationship with him.

[25:26] If we just trust in Jesus, it is there for us. And it's only when we get that that we can enjoy everything else in its right place underneath that. And so this Christmas we'll see lots about peace.

[25:38] If we look through the Bible story, we'll hear lots about peace, about how Christmas is a time of peace. It's the arrival of Jesus, the Prince of Peace, who will bring eternal peace. That invitation to peace is there by trusting in Jesus and the peace with God that he makes possible.

[25:58] And if we have that peace, then we can constantly remind ourselves as things get stressful, as busyness mounts up, as all sorts of things happen, but that we have that ultimate peace that nothing can take away. And that's not just a peace that's for Christmas. It's a peace that we can enjoy throughout our whole lives until we reach the fulfillment of that peace.

[26:21] Until we see Jesus face to face in that perfect kingdom that Isaiah is looking forward to, where the prince of peace will reign, and of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, where he will uphold justice and righteousness from this time forth and forevermore.

[26:41] And we're able to experience a taste of that peace now because we have peace with God through Jesus. We look forward to that day when we'll have perfect peace with him for all eternity. Let's pray together.

[26:54] Heavenly Father, we thank you that at that first Christmas, Jesus came to be the prince of peace. We thank you that because he came, and not just came, but also because he suffered and died in our place, that we can have peace with you, that we have been justified and have that right relationship with you that is our biggest need of all.

[27:21] Lord, we pray that you would help us to celebrate that this Christmas and all through the year, that we would delight in the gospel by which you have brought us home to you.

[27:34] Lord, we ask as well that through that peace with you, we would be able to find peace in our world, peace in the lives in which we live. And not because you remove the busyness and complexity and often pain of our lives, not because you make everything simple, but because we have and we can know that we have that certain foundation at which nothing else can change, that our biggest need has been met in the forgiveness that Jesus has made possible and the life with you that he has enabled.

[28:12] Lord, we pray that you would help us to be disciplined in remembering that as the true and certain source of our hope, when the world would keep looking to point us in different directions, that we might keep coming back to you and finding our peace there.

[28:29] And Lord, we pray that too that we would live that out in the present in light of that perfect peace, that perfect new creation with everything just as it should be, which is the promised destination for all those who trust in Jesus and all he has done for all your people.

[28:45] We thank you that this life is not all that there is, but that knowing what is to come can shape us, comfort us, and bring us peace here and now as we live in light of that perfect peace when Jesus, the Prince of Peace, returns.

[29:00] And we pray all these things in his precious name. Amen.