Yesterday I had the privilege of preaching the last sermon of this advent season. There are different variations of focus for advent depending on which church tradition you follow. This year we decided on hope, joy, love, and peace. Jesus is our hope, he brought good new of great joy, displayed and embodied to unconditional love of God, and gave us eternal peace. If there is one thing we all know is that our world needs peace!

At Christmas we take time to celebrate the incarnation of Jesus Christ. Even though Christians do not believe in “reincarnation” we do believe in “Incarnation.” Incarnation means that Jesus became one of us, Immanuel, “God with us.”

“Lighten” up! And look at the Light … It’s Christmas!

 

Jesus was not a reincarnation of God, for he existed from all eternity, he is God, and God is eternal. Pastor David Jeremiah observes,

You see, even though Jesus lived among us and was fully human. He also was fully God. This product of the Holy Spirit and Mary was a preexisting eternal person. Human parents are temporal and they are finite, and they can pass on only limiting characteristics, but Jesus existed in the beginning with God. Jesus existed before he was born. He is the eternal son of God. There never was a time when he was not, and there never will be a time when he ceases to be. He is the eternal Son of God. Jesus did not begin in Bethlehem. He just took upon him flesh from his eternal perspective. 

Christ is the reason why advent and Christmas is so significant for us as believers. The centerpiece of advent and Christmas is the person of Jesus Christ.That is what, or better yet whom, we celebrate. He came to bring us hope, joy, love, and peace.

The Fatherless Son, Born to Save His Brothers and Sisters

The truth is that we all want peace!

When the birth of Jesus was announced to a band of shepherds in Luke chapter 2, it was an announcement of peace,

⁸ And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. ⁹ And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. ¹⁰ And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. ¹¹ For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. ¹² And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” ¹³ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,¹⁴ “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” – Luke 2: 8–14

The announcement was good news of great joy to all people. The Greek word used here is the word megas. In other words, it was news of mega joy! Notice the word “good news.” Though in English it is two words, in the Greek is it only one word, and it’s from where we get our word for “gospel.” 

Elsewhere the gospel is designated as the good news of peace:

“Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace.” Ephesians 6:14–15

So Peter opened his mouth and said: “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. As for the word that he sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all).” Acts 10:34–36

THE PEACE WE NEED IS THE PEACE CHRIST OFFERS

Bible tells us that peace will only be fully established in the end. There will still be wars, famine, destruction, etc. But the peace that God offers us is twofold:

1. Peace with God. Peace from God’s wrath through his incarnation and propitiation (Isaiah 9:6–7; 1 John 2:1–2). We can also rest assured that one day we will enjoy peace forever with God in his presence (Revelation 21).
2. Inward peace. Christ offers us inward peace. One that is different from the world (Philippians 4:6–7; John 14:27).

Charles Spurgeon is known to have struggled with depression. But even through his struggles he sought to find his peace in Christ alone:

I find myself frequently depressed – perhaps more so than any other person here. And I find no better cure for that depression than to trust in the Lord with all my heart, and seek to realize afresh the power of the peace-speaking blood of Jesus, and His infinite love in dying upon the cross to put away all my transgressions.

He also once wrote,

“If then we desire peace between nations, let us seek it of God, who is the great Pacificator; but there is an inward peace which God alone can keep. Am I at peace with myself, with the world, and with my Maker? Oh! if I want to retain that peace, God alone can preserve it.”

One thing is for sure, you can’t find peace within yourself because you and I are broken inside. As Paul points out in Romans 7:23, we are at war within ourselves. Only Christ can redeem our sorrowful state. So, there’s no amount of self-meditation, yoga, zen Buddhism, new age self–help that will bring you true peace. Those offer you only counterfeit peace. 

Christ alone, the Prince of Peace, is able to give us everlasting peace: “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” – Romans 5:1. I pray, whatever circumstance you find yourself in today, that you will find true peace in Christ! And I also pray you’ll be blessed and filled with his peace!

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”

Written by Daniel Messina