Peace often feels as strong as steel and simultaneously fragile as tin foil.
If we were to follow the imagery of George on the bridge just outside the little town bright with Christmas lights, peace might seem fickle indeed. Who is to say that George won’t one day return to the bridge, questioning life and all the decisions again? Whose to say that even after moments of perspective and clarity we don’t return to bridges of despair? Is it that hard to believe? I know in my own life I have enjoyed inescapable moments of God’s presence, and others where sin or circumstances make Him feel a million miles away. And if I am not careful, peace then becomes a delicate thing that needs my protection. But maybe such an understanding of peace is sadly misinformed.
You see, God’s peace doesn’t need my protection, God’s peace was given to be enjoyed. The apostle Paul teaches in Romans 5:1, “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Peace, that is peace with God, isn’t dependent upon our ability to always get it right, nor is it dependent on the good and difficult circumstances of life. The peace we enjoy depends on the finished work of Christ on the cross. We must always keep our belief in check; our peace was accomplished by Christ and Christ alone. The Hebrew term ‘Messiah’, meaning ‘Anointed One’, is equivalent to the Greek term ‘Christ’. Messiah carries with it an understanding of future hope. Christ is hope arrived, living and breathing amongst us and making it possible to have peace with God again. Therefore, peace can be defined this way:
Peace is that unchanging condition where we always find ourselves safe in the promises of God.
If hope comes to our address and faith opens the door and joy is the emotion that fills the house, then what is the lasting evidence of advent season? What is the change to my life? In a word P E A C E. Peace is what takes up residence in our hearts, in our lives. Long after the decorations come down and the beautiful chaos of Christmas gives way to a rhythm of a new year, peace endures with the Christian. This is what Jesus taught in 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.”
The prophet Isaiah shared this plot 700-or-so years earlier when he shares writes,
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.
The prophet gave four names or titles, which collectively explain the character of the Messiah. The last title speaks to the lasting, unchanging condition the Christian enjoys where he or she is safe in the promises of God. A prince is typically a son of a monarch. Jesus is the Son of God, the Messiah, the Christ. Standing before the mockery of the Jewish leadership, called the Sanhedrin, He was asked “are you the Christ?” Jesus responds in Mark 14:62, “I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.” Jesus was bluntly saying, I am the one that Isaiah wrote about, the one that everyone was hoping for … oh and whether you believe it or not you will see it and know it when I come again. Two advents, two promises, in one response. The waiting and arrival of His first and second coming, redemption and restoration. Put another way, everyone may not believe in the first advent, but everyone will believe in the second.
The sad thing about the Jewish leadership, and so many down through the ages, is that the peace they desperately needed was available and yet they fought against it. In the Hebrew language peace is often associated with prosperity. Advent season is a time for us to rediscover, or maybe discover for the first time, the invaluable and irreplaceable gift of peace. There is a prosperity, a richness in grace, when the Prince of Peace takes up residence in our lives.
So, settle in and light a candle, open the Bible and study about the peace of God. As the flames of now four candles flicker, imagine their illumination filling a dark room. Let your mind grow ever aware of how light and darkness cannot coexist, and that light chases out the darkness. Just as light chases out the darkness, so peace chases out the chaos and conflict. Know this advent season that peace is our identity because we are in Christ. And every time that bridge just out of town comes calling, let’s preach to ourselves an all-important message: I have the greatest gift…my home is to be safe in the promises of God … peace has taken up residence in my life, this is who I am.