The Peace of Christmas - Dec. 10th
The Peace of Christmas - Dec. 10th
Pastor Jim Quigley
For many, the “peace” of Christmas is a paradox. The hustle and bustle of the season is anything but peaceful. Your calendar is jam packed with activities and parties. You have a big stack of Christmas cards to fill out, seal, stamp, and send out. And dozens of cookies to bake. In the midst of all of this, you need to find time to shop for gifts for all your loved ones. And then, there’s the pressure of trying to meet the expectations of family members. These things can make the season stressful, not peaceful.
Then for some, the Christmas season is a somber one in which they remember loved ones that are no longer with them. Whether it is the first Christmas without them or the fiftieth, that sorrow of loss hits uniquely during this time of year and can rob us of peace.
But the peace of Christmas is not some calm feeling or state of mind in which all things are in order and your days are merry and bright. The peace of Christmas refers to the peace with God. But as sinners who have all rebelled against God and His will, we do not have peace with God. In fact, without Christ, we are God’s enemies (Romans 5:10). Is there any hope to have peace with God?
By God’s grace, there is. And it is only through Jesus Christ. After Jesus’s birth, a heavenly host of angels appear to some shepherds in the field, praising God and proclaiming, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom He [that is, God] is pleased!” (Luke 2:14). Well, if we are His enemies due to our sin and rebellion, who is it that God is pleased with? We get the answer to that question in Luke 3:22, where at Jesus’s baptism, God’s voice booms from heaven declaring, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” God’s peace rests on Jesus with whom He is well pleased with.
So how do we experience this peace? By uniting ourselves to Christ—that is, by trusting Him exclusively as our Lord and Savior. When we truly trust and faithfully follow Christ, our sin soaked garments are removed, and we are clothed in Christ and His perfect righteousness (c.f. 2 Corinthians 5:21; Romans 13:14). And since we have “put on Christ” (Galatians 3:27), when God the Father sees us, He sees Jesus with whom He is well pleased with. Therefore, when we are united with Christ—when we have trusted exclusively in Christ—we are, by grace, among those who have peace with God.
And when we have peace with God, it gives us a new perspective on the Christmas season—indeed, throughout the whole year. The peace that we have with God is everlasting and unchanging. No earthly unrest can steal our peace with God. Though some seasons of life may cause a lack of earthly peace, we can find great comfort—and dare I say, peace—in knowing that we have eternal peace with God because we are united with Christ. This perspective helps us to better navigate and even enjoy the hustle and bustle of the season.
So this Christmas season, let’s celebrate that Christ came to purchase our peace with God. And let’s wait eagerly for the Prince of Peace to return when He will fully usher in His reign of perfect peace.
Reflection:
- Read Isaiah 26:3-4 and Romans 5:1-10. Reflect on the concept of peace in those passages.
- How does having everlasting peace with God change your perspective on the daily things that cause you to not have peace?
- Share this devotional with one believer and one nonbeliever and talk with them individually about it.