Peace on Earth

PEACE ON EARTH
Luke 2:8 For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of heavenly angels praising God and saying: “Glory to God in the highest, Peace on earth, goodwill toward men!” 

THE SIGN – life and growth
A newborn baby, born from above (John 3:8) safely wrapped and cradled, ready for life and growth. God in Heaven could now be seen on earth in human form. It was the beginning of the plan of God to join his life to humanity and to live his life through those who believe in him.
Jesus would live a life of struggle and challenge conquering evil and adversity as a forerunner on behalf of us who were to follow him. His eternal oneness with his Father gave the human spirit for the first time a new perspective of ‘aboveness’ – called transcendence which is not just a consciousness of being born from above but also a conscious experience of living from above.  He would die and rise again and send his Holy Spirit for his ‘born from above’ life to dwell in us. It is from this living from above life in people that peace on earth and goodwill toward men can occur. 

When we look at the Old Testament prophecy of Christmas (Isaiah 8:22-9:1) we see a world that was in great darkness waiting for a great light. 
The background to this prophecy was something that was happening in real time for Israel as Assyria was about to attack them from the north, but Israel and their king could not accept God’s ways and his plans for them, and so they were left without hope.  
Isaiah 8: 22. People will look up to heaven and down at the earth, but wherever they look, there will be trouble and anguish and dark despair. They will be thrown out into the darkness. Chapter 9:1 Nevertheless, that time of darkness and despair will not go on forever. There will be a time in the future when Galilee of the Gentiles, which lies along the road that runs between the Jordan and the sea, will be filled with glory. 
Those who walk in darkness will see a great light. For those who live in a land of deep darkness, a light will shine. For unto us a child is born. Unto us a son is given. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace, and His government and its peace will never end.

This prophecy would find its future fulfillment through Jesus the King of Kings that has fought and won the battle for our souls. The Christmas story for us is also a story of our spiritual victory through Jesus as a reality in our hearts and minds, as it conquers all darkness and fear in us and governs our hearts with peace.
Over two thousand years on from that first Christmas we still see a world that is in great darkness waiting for a great light. The odd paradox is that the world celebrates Christmas each year while not understanding the miraculous significance of that great light.
The events of great darkness that happen around about us become the signs that a caring God who wants only the best for his people is waiting to act on behalf of his people. And his people are also his signs of hope in today’s world, and when you exhibit that kind of hope people will want to know why (1Peter 3:15). 

OUTER DARKNESS AND INNER DARKNESS.
Outer darkness is the manifestation of disorder and corruption and violence that is seen in the world where groups and individuals contend with each other in power struggles to dominate and do harm to others. This is being seen at present in the media and in politics and in personal relationships.
Inner darkness is described in the Bible as the work of Satan who is called the ‘god of this world’ who uses deception to blind our minds to receiving the revelation of a loving and forgiving God in Jesus Christ.  
The Christmas story is a message of God’s intervention of his great light into the lives of his people who are in times of earth-shattering distress and darkness. 
That great light shines into the outer darkness and into the inner darkness so that we can see things as they truly are. At the present time God is bringing many things to the surface that have been hidden but are now being exposed so that they can be justly dealt with.

We saw in the prophetic Scripture from Isaiah that Jesus would be called the Prince of Peace and that the government would be upon his shoulders. 
Jesus is showing himself in this way at this time in the world as he reorders our lives even in the midst of upheaval and loss and gives us his peace. Only he knows what things lay ahead as he determines the course of each day of our lives for us and we become drawn into his perfect will for us. 
John 16:33 I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

And Jesus spoke of two different kinds of peace, the peace of God and the peace of the world.
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 peace of the world is not an inner lasting peace, but it is more like a short-term relief that a person feels because they have trust in their own skills and experience and financial reserves to control the circumstances in their world. These resources are effective against many threats and obstacles and hazards, but when the threats and obstacles and hazards overcome their resources their peace is gone. 
The peace of the world is also the one-upmanship of having the upper hand against rival opposition when it comes against us. This is seen blatantly in the fragile peace of global politics and national security with its treaties and strategic alliances that are negotiated instead of having to stand alone.
The peace that God gives us is not fragile and short-lived like the peace of the world.
We never stand alone, as we trust in the alliance of ‘God with us’ in all things so that we never have to just depend upon our own resources in order to feel safe and secure. 
Psalm 37:5 Commit your way to the LORD; trust only in him, and he will act.
God is always acting on our behalf in the world of the unseen. That is the essence of faith.
That is the source of our peace.

We are not saved from facing the struggles and the adversity, but we are saved from having our souls being defeated and made to feel hopeless. That is what being saved is. He has overcome the world’s power to crush our souls. We are given grace to receive his peace and to administer that peace and good will to others, to be the Gospel of peace in a broken world. You were created to be ‘good news’ in different ways and at different times to different people by the grace that God has already made ready for you to step into.

Isaiah 26:12 – Lord, You will establish peace for us, For You have also done all our works in us (done = ordained – devised a plan). In other words, God has ordained, before the day starts for you, those times and places where God will meet you in your challenge and you will receive his peace and pass it on and it will be displayed in you as the good news of peace, the Gospel of peace, of the God of peace. Amen