Peace For Our Time

Scripture Reading: John 14:25-27

Recently I had an opportunity to share God's Word with a group of senior citizens at an assisted living home. Of course it is Christmas time and I wondered what to share with folks, some of which have heard the Christmas message scores of times. The theme of Christmas throughout the ages has been the message of the angel to the Shepherds of "peace on Earth." This buzzword seems to be involved in a lot of things from decorations to cards. Men want peace on the Earth, but they are not so sure how to get it or to maintain it. So I was wondering how to get the message of the Promise of Peace across. So I recalled two illustrations from the past of the greatest generation. Two people. Prime Minister Chamberlain of England and General Douglas MacArthur of the USA. Now you may think what does these two people have to do with peace or Christmas? Well....here it goes......

In the late 1930's the United States was burdened with an economic disaster called the Great Depression. Europe, though financially more prosperous, had a storm cloud looming over it with the portrait of Adolf Hitler in its billows. British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain thought he could appease Hitler's thirst for conquest by making available the Sudetenland. He heralded the Munich Agreement as a tremendous success and said this agreement was guarantee of "peace for our time." Shortly thereafter Germany seized Czechoslovakia and the Second World War commenced not long after that. Why? Simply because REAL peace cannot be negotiated by man or granted by man. Any man is lawless and depraved and incapable of righteous behavior apart from the help and influence of Jesus Christ in the life of a believer. The second major flaw in mankind trying to establish "peace" is that man's peace is established by man's wavering standards.

Jesus Christ is the ONLY author of "peace in our time." Of course that seems narrow minded to most folks, but they either fail to see or choose not to see how human peace doesn't last or doesn't work. The reason why is because true peace is an inward matter of the heart, and particularly of the soul's eternal standing. Jesus said that the kind of peace that He gives is not like the world gives. The world makes a divine promise on a flawed table. Until you meet the Prince of Peace in your heart and have your eternity settled, than no earthly peace will be gained as well. This is not to say that if you get nervous, worried, or depressed that it is a sure mark you're not really a Christian. What it does mean is that when the Prince of Peace reigns in your heart, you have someone to lean on when it looks rough. You know that even if the present circumstances look hopeless we have the surety that God will work things out. Lost people have no such guarantee. Their hope of peace is always foreshadowed by the unsurety of man's explosive emotions.

This unsurety sets the stage for a man or woman to look upon the Christmas scene more intently. When the prophet's Isaiah and Micah penned God's promise of a Messiah who would not only bring peace but would rule in it, man began to have hope. The prophets identified what kind of a person Christ would be, the town in which He would be born, and His given Name and Program. Man is searching for something deep inside. He or she may not know what it is, but they need to understand its not in a what but in Who. If they would be open to listening to what God says then the blanks would be filled in their empty hearts with proper information.

When Jesus Christ was born into the world EVERYTHING changed. Though it may have seemed on the outward appearance that very little to nothing had changed. The first dramatic change was that PEACE literally came to the world. Peace, the Person, came as a Light to a dark place. Peace illuminated our gloom, reshaped our goals, transformed our hearts, and secured our eternal destiny by His Death and Resurrection. The power of darkness, though mighty at the time of this writing, now had its death sentence pronounced by the King of Kings. Had Jesus' birth not been that important, Satan would have not tried so desperately to kill Him both then and all the while He lived. As Jesus was born, all hopes of a dark empire now vanished. The King dwells with His people! Emmanuel--God with us!

Mr. Chamberlain couldn't guarantee the peace of Christ. because He didn't have the authority of Christ. Mankind cannot guarantee what he or she does not have to begin with.

After His Resurrection, Jesus ascended into Heaven. The next phase of His great promise was now beginning. That was His return in power and glory. Here is the second parallel that was shared with my talk to the Assisted Living folks. Perhaps you recall from history the phrase made by General MacArthur to troops he temporarily left behind. The phrase is, " I shall return" is a promise that Christ made over a Milena before MacArthur. Like the General, Christ left us in the world to do His instructions. Believers will be under fire, mocked and scorned, etc. Still the promise holds hope and rings true. One blessed day we shall see Him return for His church. We shall behold Him face to face and live with Him.
The signal of MacArthur's return was the waves of airplanes and sight of naval war crafts. They all said one thing, "MacArthur kept his word." So to shall the coming of the Messiah be. The whole sky will be filled with His Glory and we shall be changed instantly to the body we have believed and hoped for.

Alter a time of unspeakable tribulation, peace will come in our time in a literal physical fashion. At the Second Coming, the whole program will be different. The King is here not to be lowly and walk among His haters, but now clothed in majesty like no other. There will literally be peaceful relations with nations, peace with unfriendly beasts, peace with the government, peace with all men because the King is here on His throne to personally oversee it. There will be no empty letter of promises, but a sure and certain reign of THE PROMISE. What a glorious time to look forward to!

In conclusion, while I write this, even I admit that all that has been discussed and what we are looking for seems distant and far off, perhaps by human reasoning even too good to be true. However we must remember that Christmas set the stage for a new order of living far different than what we have always known. Had Christ not been born in Bethlehem, the darkness would have thickened to the point of total hopelessness. Imagine a world without John 3:16, or a world where God does not care to intervene. Christmas is all about peace, but its peace that is not like the world's cheap substitute. Real peace comes from a relationship with Jesus Christ. Do you have Him in your heart? If you do then the miracle of Christmas is fulfilled in you. The peace given by salvation in Christ only awaits that glorious day when every eye shall behold Him. Those who cursed Him will wail at His piercings, but we the redeemed know no beautiful portrait than nail prints that made possible our peace. When all of life is said and done, there is nothing more a man craves than peace. All the money, fame, popularity, etc fades into the abyss of eternity. But for the believer, Jesus Christ stands in that place with an open hand to welcome us home. What a great and certain peace available in our time!

Father, thank you for sharing Your Son in this world to be the perfect Son of Peace and the payment for our sins. As we celebrate this Christmas season, cause us to remember the great price and plan made for our personal redemption. We as a a people are so underserving. But more than we are undeserving are You loving. Help us to share that Gospel message with others and in a tangible way too. We love You Lord, thank You for first loving us. Graciously we thank You for the wonder that is ours in Christ Jesus. Amen.