Peace, according to Dictionary.com, is defined as: "...cessation of or freedom from any strife or dissension. Freedom of the mind from annoyance, distraction, anxiety, an obsession, etc.; tranquillity; serenity." Of course, we also talk about peace as the absence of wars or hostilities among nations. More in line with our present discussion is this definition: "...a state of mutual harmony between people or groups, esp. in personal relations...."
During the Advent season, we are annually reminded:
"And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:It is likely that the Jews of His time believed this pronouncement to mean that Jesus came to end wars and international hostilities and the oppression of Israel by Rome. But His mission was far bigger than that. Let us go back to Genesis 3. Remember when Adam sinned; the event we commonly refer to as the Fall of man?
' Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!'c]">" (Luke 2:13-14)
What was God's reaction to this original sin? To the serpent He said:
"...I will put enmity
Between you and the woman..."To the woman He said:
“I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception;
In pain you shall bring forth children;
Your desire shall be for your husband,
And he shall rule over you.”
17 Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’:
“ Cursed is the ground for your sake;
In toil you shall eat of it
All the days of your life.18 Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you,
19 In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread
And you shall eat the herb of the field.
Till you return to the ground,
For out of it you were taken;
For dust you are,
And to dust you shall return.”
This passage certainly doesn't sound like the peace talks. God was furious. Adam and Eve had had an idyllic existence in the garden; tending the plants, eating the fruits they produced, unaware of the existence of evil, without rules and regulations, except one:
“Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” (Genesis 2:16-17)This one rule was all that God had asked them to obey, and they failed to do so. Wouldn't you have been furious in God's place? It was such a little rule to have to obey. The consequence for disobedience couldn't have been more clearly stated: "you shall surely die." God was furious about the disobedience, which was sin, but I believe He was heartbroken as well, because the idyllic existence of those He had created in His very image and the intimate relationship He had had with them were shattered. For God is a holy God and can have nothing to do with sin. And now the man and the woman were tainted with sin and separated from God.
OK, Corporal, what does all of this have to do with peace? Well, after the Fall, there was little "mutual harmony...in personal relations" between God and men. That is, there has been little "peace" in their relations. But the heavenly host, on that first Christmas, brought glad tidings of great joy, singing, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men."
This was not a proclamation that there would be peace among men, but that there would be peace between God and men, and God was demonstrating His good will toward men. How so? The Messiah was come to ransom the captives (not of Rome but of Satan), seek and save the lost (spiritually), to give sight to the blind (to the physically blind, yes, but more importantly to the spiritually blind), to heal the brokenhearted:
Because He has anointed Me
To preach the gospel to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set at liberty those who are oppressed;
19 To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD.” (Luke 4:18-19)
That first Christmas, God offered an olive branch to man, made in His own image, when man as a race was mired in sin and death. Jesus was that olive branch, come to make peace. In His own ingenious way, He came as the most vulnerable of creatures, a human baby, in the most humble of circumstances, a stable full of animals, and was lain in a manger in lieu of a bed, because His unwed teenage mother had nothing more for Him. As the Apostle Paul would later write:
"...being in very nature God, [He]
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
7 rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very natureb]"> of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself..." (Philippians 2:6-8)
Now, of course, the baby had a few years of growing and ministry to go through, before He was fully prepared to deliver on the promise of peace. But when the time had fully come, He humbled himself again by voluntarily subjecting Himself to the humiliation of mockery, flogging, trial in a couple of kangaroo courts, and perhaps, the most cruel, painful form of execution ever devised by the depraved mind of man.
Why? Why did He do that? Remember what was blocking the possibility of peace between God and man? That's right, sin. Sin had always been atoned for by the shedding of blood, but the blood of animals was never enough to wash away the sin of a man. Only the blood of a perfect man could settle the debt once, for all. When Christ, on the cross, uttered the words, "It is finished," and yielded up His spirit, He was talking about the mission for which He came: "on earth peace, goodwill toward men."
The Lord Jesus taught us many things during his time walking among us on earth. He told Nicodemus: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." (John 3:16) Remember God's promise in Genesis 2:17, "you will surely die"? Now He is offering eternal life, for the small price of believing in His Son and surrendering to His will. I don't know about you, commander, but that gives me a great deal of peace.
He told John the Beloved Apostle, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock, if any man opens the door, I will come in to him and sup with him and he with Me." (Revelation 3:20) I believe you will find it difficult to give an example where two people share a meal in an atmosphere of hostility. Breaking bread together is a universal gesture of good will.
And on Pentecost, "[the believers] were all filled with the Holy Spirit." (Acts 2:4) Jesus had ascended to the Father, but true to His word, He sent "another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you." (John 14:16-17) This is the same Spirit to whom we refer, when we talk about the fruit of the Spirit.
The fruit of the Spirit is...peace.... If you are indwelt by the Holy Spirit (which you are, if you have accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Savior and surrendered your will to Him), you cannot escape "...the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, [which] will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:7) It is the peace that can only come from Jesus' having bridged the chasm between you and God that was created by your sin. The sacrifice that God made by sending His only begotten Son to die in your place gives you access directly to God the Father in prayer and to that other Helper, who lives with you always in love, joy, peace....
May you know that peace of God that surpasses understanding as you contemplate, during this Christmas season, the miracle of Immanuel, God with us; "the Word [Who] became flesh and dwelt among us" (John 1:14), so that "as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name..." (John 1:12)
Peace, soldier...and Merry Christmas!
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