Advent: Hope & Peace
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Advent
Advent
This time of year we are remembering and celebrating God with us, Emmanuel. We are remembering God becoming flesh, dwelling among us. It is one of the biggest times to celebrate. Regardless if you believe Jesus was born in August or September or choose to celebrate in December, the fact remains that Christ’s appearing, His coming was the most significant birth to happen in all of history.
Advent simply means coming or appearing in Latin. The word in Greek is parousia.
This year, we (at KICKO) gave out local gifts to some of our supporters. One of the gifts we gave was by a local author, Jim Branch. He has written a number of books, but we included his book for Advent, Watch and Wait. Each night, the kids and I have been sitting down and reading/reflecting on Jesus’ coming. It has been so rich. I have sensed an uncanny ability to slow my spirit down this year, to watch, to reflect, to tune in. Are you joining me in sensing the Lord during this season? It is so easy to get distracted with the business, the routine, with life…and miss the opportunity to posture our hearts heavenward, watching and waiting.
Here are a few key verses as we reflect on His Coming:
14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.
6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.
2 “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.”
You may remember me mentioning this idea before that oftentimes prophecy has multiple layers of fulfillment. There is often a present state of fulfillment, along with a future understanding of how it will again come to pass, and there even remains the possibilities of multiple layers of fulfillment (giving credence and remembrance to God’s Word to us). A final fulfillment is most often understood in relationship to the reign and rule that Christ will bring to earth with His final appearing.
Christ has come; He is coming; He will come.
Listen to how Paul places supreme importance upon the notion of Christ appearing to us:
3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
5 and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve.
6 After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.
7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles,
Part of our story of what Jesus has done for us is how He has appeared to us. This is why in our Mission and Vision you hear us say: ENCOUNTER, CONNECT, GROW. We believe God appears to us; we have a life-changing encounter with Him. We taste and see that the Lord is good. We experience His kindness, which as Romans tells us leads us toward change, transformation, and repentance.
A song of ascents.
1 Out of the depths I cry to you, Lord;
2 Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy.
3 If you, Lord, kept a record of sins, Lord, who could stand?
4 But with you there is forgiveness, so that we can, with reverence, serve you.
5 I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope.
6 I wait for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning.
7 Israel, put your hope in the Lord, for with the Lord is unfailing love and with him is full redemption.
8 He himself will redeem Israel from all their sins.
A couple of weeks ago, I talked about how we come into His presence (through gratitude and thanksgiving). When we come into His presence we are able to see Him for who He is. He is holy. He is righteous. He is just. He is full of mercy, love and forgiveness. That is what the psalmist is reflecting upon in this chapter. Who could stand before such am amazing God. “But with you there is forgiveness.”
The ESV puts it this way:
3 If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?
4 But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared.
5 I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope;
6 my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning.
It is the Lord’s kindness, His goodness, that leads towards transformation/repentance. When we see Him, when He comes, we are overwhelmed by His goodness, His forgiveness. In all of our brokenness and humanity it brings us to awestruck wonder. We serve with reverence. The fear of the Lord grips us at the sight of His mercy and forgiveness. He redeems and restores, and it is awesome.
One of the first things that His coming into our world and lives brings is HOPE. We begin to be filled with HOPE. This year, the theme of hope has resinated. Building upon the craziness of 2020, we have sensed that what people need now more than ever is HOPE. Hope in a divided age. Hope in a culture that uses fear to control. Hope for all of us, those that have less hope as well as those that feel hopeless. Waiting for Him, having Him come near, brings and fills us with eternal hope.
23 Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies.
24 For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have?
25 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.
So often we use the word HOPE in ways the Biblical authors never would. We hope things get better. We hope things work out. We hope our team wins the game. We hope for so many things that carry very little weight or significance. The HOPE that Christ provokes within us is so much greater. It is on a grander scale and has so much more significance.
The hope He bears in our hearts leads to things eternal and even brings eternal matters to our present lives and situations. It is this hope that bears the fruit of peace in our lives. His hope leads us into His peace.
Listen one more time to this passage from Isaiah on the One that was hoped for:
6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.
Jesus was anticipated for centuries before His arrival. The common Jew believed that a Messiah would arrive on the scene and put an end to their slavery once again, establishing a kingdom that would bring stability and rest for the people of Israel.
One of the things these verses highlight is the unique nature with which God would establish His kingdom. It would be established with justice and righteousness. His government and peace would be everlasting. The common interpretation was a physical kingdom established through the Christ, freeing and leading the people into peace and rest.
The word peace is repeated in both of these verses describing the nature of this Savior as well as the type of reign and rule He would bring.
This morning I want us to look at who this coming One was and is...
As well as, some of the barriers of peace we experience in our lives.
I want us to consider for a few minutes this morning the great truth that He, the Messiah Jesus Christ, is peace. Christ is the peace of advent. Peace defines His person or character; and it defines the work He came to do. One of the Messianic titles declared by the prophet Isaiah in Isaiah chapter 9 is that He will be called the Prince of Peace. Jesus Christ is peace and He came to bring peace. What is this peace that He came to bring us on that first Christmas?
Our experiential understanding of “peace” is that it is always temporary at best. Think about how peaceful the tiny baby looks in his or her mother’s arms, yet only a matter of minutes later, when the crying starts, there is no peace – for the baby, or for the entire household – perfect calm one minute; perfect chaos the next. This illustrates for us the nature of peace on earth. We start crying at the beginning of our lives; and the crying never fully ends until the end of our life. In between we look for peace, and during our lives we find different degrees of peace.
STORY: As many of you know we have had quite a few foster children through our home over the past few years. We have had more babies than anything. Part of this is due to the ages of our own kids, but also has to do with the nature and disposition of my wife, Candi. In addition to our 2 biological kids, we have had 7 other babies in the past 5 years. Each of these kids came from different families with different genetic makeups and dispositions. What we began to notice was how important environment was to their stability and success in our home. Candi is a baby wearer, partially out of necessity but partially out of desire to bond and create a soothing environment for the child. As a result of her calm demeanor and ability to create a soothing aurora each child we had was significantly happier and good natured. This isn’t to say if you have fussy babies there is something wrong with you. Instead, it is to recognize that we absorb and even imitate the atmospheres we are most often around.
The Lord is the Prince of Peace, and, as Scripture would remind us, we benefit from this peace when we remain fixed on Him.
Listen to this verse out of Isaiah:
3 You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.
The Hebrew words translated “perfect peace” are a duplication of one word for emphasis. It says, “You will keep in PEACE PEACE (SHALOM SHALOM) whose mind is stayed or kept on you...”
The peace we experience in this life has less to do with mindfulness and more to do with the One with whom we become mindful of. What do I mean? It is has more to do with the object of our thoughts and attention that brings us this eternal peace. It has to do with His very nature as the Peace-maker, that brings us peace when we fix our thoughts on Him.
Have you ever been anxious about something? For me, it consumes my thoughts. I realize that I can’t do anything about it; I can’t change it, but it doesn’t keep me from becoming obsessed with dwelling on it. My mind is not on the Lord, but rather on the situation or problem. Rather than keeping my thoughts and mind on the Problem Solver, the Peace Maker…I allow myself to go down every rabbit trail that leads to my own emotional destruction.
God reminds us to fix our thoughts on Him. Trust Him. Trust in Him forever…because he is the Rock eternal (vs. 4).
4 Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal.
5 He humbles those who dwell on high, he lays the lofty city low; he levels it to the ground and casts it down to the dust.
6 Feet trample it down— the feet of the oppressed, the footsteps of the poor.
7 The path of the righteous is level; you, the Upright One, make the way of the righteous smooth.
8 Yes, Lord, walking in the way of your laws, we wait for you; your name and renown are the desire of our hearts.
Scripture teaches us how pride keeps God’s grace at bay from operating in our lives. Pride says, “I can handle this on my own; I don’t need You (GOD) or anyone else for that matter.” It has less to do with God removing His grace form our lives and more to do with our position to no longer receive His enabling.
“He gives grace to the humble, but abhors the proud.”
TRANSITION
Paul begins his letters with a twist on the ancient greeting custom of his day. He would often begin each letter with “grace and peace to you in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Grace always brings benefits and one of these benefits is reflected in the word “peace” which the Apostle always associates with God’s grace. In fact, the order is significant. First grace and then peace. Until we know and appropriate grace, we can’t experience peace. “Peace” was a typical Jewish greeting (cf. Judges 19:20), but for the Christian, it carries a much deeper meaning than it did among the ancient Hebrews
(1) Grace stresses God’s character and man’s sinfulness while mercy stresses God’s strength and man’s helplessness. Grace finds its necessity in (a) the fact of God’s holiness and in the sinfulness of man, and (b) in the nature of God as the Creator and man as the creature.
(2) Grace is opposed to and excludes any idea of works for merit, works done as a means of blessing or as payment for what is done. Grace means you never deserve it nor can you earn it even by the old fashion method of working for it.
Once we understand and know the God we are approaching, coming to His throne of grace (as the author of Hebrews would write), we can know Him in truth and experience the full benefits of both being known and knowing Him fully.
Grace by its very nature can’t be earned. It it is worked for and can’t be included as a wage. Once we come to the revelation of the grace given to us through the Good News of what Christ has done for us we can experience all the benefits He has made available to us.
We can experience His Divine peace.
During that Advent of Christ, the angels declared peace…they declared in song to the shepherds who were watching their flocks the night that Jesus was born. They declared singing...
14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
The One being born was indeed the Promised One, the Messiah, who would restore all things. The angels sang in exuberation for all to give glory to God. Look at what He has done. The benefit to all of us that are under His favor, experiencing His grace (literally His free gift) would be peace.
Ezekiel, speaking nearly 600 years before Christ, says of the One to come:
23 I will place over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he will tend them; he will tend them and be their shepherd.
24 I the Lord will be their God, and my servant David will be prince among them. I the Lord have spoken.
25 “ ‘I will make a covenant of peace with them and rid the land of savage beasts so that they may live in the wilderness and sleep in the forests in safety.
Malachi, speaking nearly 450 years before Christ, says:
5 “My covenant was with him, a covenant of life and peace, and I gave them to him; this called for reverence and he revered me and stood in awe of my name.
Do you need His hope this morning? Could you use some peace that doesn’t have to match up to what you are walking through? That is what He brings. He brings us peace that passes all understanding.
The people of Israel expected, anticipated, and hoped for the coming Messiah. They believed this coming Messiah would end their struggle for freedom, release them from bondage and slavery. They believe this Messiah would usher in a season of peace like they had never experienced before. They had interpreted what this peace would look like it, what it would mean for their current circumstances.
What they failed to realize was where they most needed peace wasn’t between their nation and a neighboring rival. That conflict was all a side-effect, if you will, of an inner turmoil. Jesus came to bring peace, but He came to bring peace primarily between us and God.
The peace He brings may not come when and how we expect it, but the peace that Jesus brings to our life is very real. It mends the relationship that has been damaged and destroyed since the Garden. It does not, however, mean that we will no longer experience conflict or hardship in this life. Instead, it ensures us a right standing with God, the One who will never leave us despite the valleys we may walk through. It ensures us that the Victorious One is on our side, and we can trust Him with the outcomes for our life in all things. The peace Christ brings isn’t the absence of difficulty but is with us and provides for us peace despite difficulty.
Many people think that they have to find their way to God. They have to make their peace with God by doing something – by going to church; by giving money to the poor; by doing good deeds for others; and the list goes on and on – in order that God will accept them.
Christmas teaches us the exact opposite – God did something for us; He sent us a Savior – and Christ did what was necessary in order for us to have peace with God. We don’t make peace with God; God makes peace with us, and He does it through Jesus Christ. This is why the Apostle Paul says,
1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
Christ has done the work of reconciliation; He has justified us – He alone can give us peace with God, because only Christ can forgive your sins – thus it’s our responsibility to believe Him; and to trust in Christ by faith. The peace we need is the peace of Advent; the peace of salvation that only the Prince of Peace can give.
TRANSITION:
Now, because of what Jesus has done for us we have peace with God. As most of what we discuss each week, what He does for us and in us He also want to do through us. Paul writes in Ephesians that Jesus has brought peace between us and God. Where there was disunity, He has brought unity. Where there was division, He has made all things whole and one. Where there was hostility and a barrier, He has made a way and brought His peace.
14 For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility,
The kingdom of God that is being established begins in the reconciliation of the earth, earthen vessels, made of clay, restored to their original design and intent in God. His kingdom is then extended through us as we partake in His purposes to see all mankind reconciled and make peace with Him.
PIANO MAN
CONCLUDING:
Peace is more than just a state of mind; it’s more than just a calm or content feeling, or a temporary absence of conflict. You can experience peace but not necessarily be at peace. You can substitute the artificial peace that the world offers you – through money, materialism, self-help, and the like – yet never be at peace. Jesus came to bring us peace with God, and we can only experience that peace through Him, by trusting in His work of salvation on our behalf.
May you all have the peace of Advent because you know and trust the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord.
PRAY