“Glory
to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom He is pleased!”
Luke 2:14 (ESV)
“Peace”. You’ll see it on Christmas cards, lit up in
Christmas lights; it is the theme of this Sunday’s Advent candle lighting. What is it about that word that is tied to
the message of Christmas? We might think
of a quiet peaceful day with snow falling, and the winds are calm. We might think of a candle burning quietly in
the stillness, but is that what this is about?
What connection does peace have with Christmas, and it must be a strong
connection, because the angels made mention of it in their proclamation?
Let’s read the rest of that line, “and
on earth peace among those with whom He is pleased!” So peace here has something to do with God
being pleased with us. Now think of the
relationship of the Jews prior to Christ.
If there was a word to use to describe their relationship with God, it
would probably not be peace. Fear,
reverence, awe, appreciation, might all be words that come to mind, but
especially with previous generations living through the time of exile to
Babylon, and then for the previous 400 years, hearing nothing from God, peace
was probably not a word that would come to mind when they thought of Him.
Peace has to do with a sense of
calmness, free from anxiety, a lack of worry.
They had not known much of peace nor the favor of God since the days of
Solomon. Their relationship with God had
boiled down to a long list, (made longer by the scribes and Pharisees), of
things to do or not do. It had become
all about outward appearances with little compassion for those of more meager
standing, whether along religious or financial status.
How is it that they were to be able
to have this peace while still here on earth?
How was it that they might become pleasing to God? That is the beauty of this long awaited
Messiah. He came as the answer to our
sin problem—purchasing our forgiveness through the sacrifice of His own
blood. Not that we immediately gain the
ability to live a sinless life, but that through faith in Him we are declared
righteous, or sinless before our Holy Father, and thus need not fear the
judgment that was very deservedly ours.
It is completely right that we
should fear and tremble before a God who is completely holy, and by His
righteous nature must carry out the proper punishment for all of us who are by
nature sinners rebelling against His perfect will. To think that on our own, outside of Christ,
that we might offer some kind of defense for our behavior to this holy God is ridiculous
when you think about it. We could never
offer anything to God, no matter how hard we might try, that would save us from
the wrath of His anger in regard to our sin, because in God’s economy, blood
has to be shed in order for sin to be forgiven.
Someone has to die for sin to be punished. It may seem severe, but only when you don’t
understand the holiness of God.
1 John 4:10 says, “In this is love,
not that we have loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the
propitiation for our sins.” Propitiation
is simply defined as our means of forgiveness.
So we could translate the verse to read: “… that He loved us and sent
His Son to be the means of forgiveness
for our sins.” That is how God chose to
extend peace on the earth among those with whom He is pleased. This is the importance of the term “peace”
for the believer in Christ at Christmas.
For those still without a faith relationship with Christ, peace with God
remains elusive and unattainable. Know
Christ, and know peace. No Christ, no
peace.
By
His Grace Alone,
Pastor
Bruce Jacobsen
