2021 Christmas Advent Day 8: The Prince of Peace

• Main Passage: Isaiah 9:6
  • For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
• Have you ever wondered why Jesus is the Prince of peace? Why is He not called King of Peace or Father of Peace, or still yet Captain of peace? But Jesus is named here Prince of Peace. The word prince in the Hebrew refers to someone who is “clearly responsible over others;” it means “leader” or “ruler” or “chief;” it can even mean “commander.” The Name/Title, (which we would be wise to remember defines for us not simply what He is called but who He is,) “Prince of Peace,” signifies to us The Child is the Foremost Commander, The Highly Exalted One, The Chief One from heaven above to hell beneath, whose very nature is peace. Even as The Lord is “The God of Love,” He too is The God of peace. Paul says, “Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you.” [2 Corinthians 13:11] Likewise, He is the very Author of peace [1 Corinthians 14:33]
•  Jesus, The Prince of Peace, freely offers us His peace, telling us, “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” [John 14:27] The peace which Jesus displayed His entire life can be ours. It comes through meditating upon Him, through trusting in Him. Jesus was of such a stable and peaceful heart and mind, utterly cast upon The Father, that He, in the face of men who, “rose up, and thrust Him out of the city, and led Him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast Him down headlong,” did not faint nor cry nor display one iota of anxiety, but Luke tells us, “He passing through the midst of them went His way.” [Luke 4:29-30] Or the peace that allowed Jesus, in the face of “a great storm of wind,” which caused “the waves [to] beat into the ship, so that it was now full,” sleep. While the disciples feared for their lives, Jesus “was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow.” [Mark 4:37-38]
  • Jesus recognized that nothing could happen to Him without The Father; even as He told Pilate in the face of crucifixion, “thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above…” [John 19:11]
• It is God who tell us, “I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith The LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” [Jeremiah 29:11] And this is accomplished by The Father through Jesus, who gives us a future and hope only through Jesus. That future and hope, that life God has for us, is not filled with our own desires, but it is the victorious life in Jesus: it is Jesus’ very life in us. Zacharias, filled with The Holy Spirit, tells us this; He says, “Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the Dayspring from on High hath visited us, to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.” [Luke 1:78-79] Jesus guides us in the way of peace, the way which all men have not known and have rejected. [Romans 3:17, Isaiah 59:8] That way of peace is found in the gospel of Jesus Christ, which is called “The Gospel of Peace” in the New Testament, [Romans 10:15, Ephesians 6:15] and also the “Covenant of Peace” in the old. [Ezekiel 37:26]
  • Through Jesus, The Child that was given to us, we are made to be at peace with God. Jesus Himself is that peace, of whom it is prophesied, “He shall build the temple of The LORD; and He shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon His throne; and He shall be a priest upon His throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.” [Zechariah 6:13] It is “through the blood of His cross” that Jesus has “made peace.” [Colossians 1:20] Jesus has reconciled us to God, making peace between us and God. Where there once was wrath and anger, there is now grace, for through Jesus we are “saved from wrath.” [Romans 5:9] Paul says, “And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath He reconciled in the body of His flesh through death…” [Colossians 1:21-22a] And Jesus did not do this because we deserved it, nor because we sought for Him, nor because He saw in us desire or motivation to seek Him, “For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth His love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.” [Romans 5:6-8] And even beyond this, Jesus did not just bring us to neutrality with The Father; He did not just pull us up out of the “pit wherein is no water” [Zechariah 9:11] and then send us on our way to do our “half.” No, but Jesus’ glorious and triumphant atonement and resurrection has seated us in the heavenlies [Ephesians 2:6]; He has raised us up with Himself and presented us to His and Our Father alike as “holy and unblameable and unreproveable in His sight: if ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel.” [Colossians 1:22b-23]

Questions for Day 8

1. Jesus, the very God of peace in human flesh, showed us in His life what extraordinary peace He had. He perfectly showed us the peace of The Father, who is never anxious nor worried, whose thoughts are never uncertain. He showed us how to have peace, and promised us that the exact same peace He had in His human body on earth can be ours. In fact He commands us through Paul, “Let the peace of God umpire in your hearts…” [Colossians 3:15] Peace is one of the main aspects of the Kingdom: “for the Kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness, peace, and joy in The Holy Ghost.” [Romans 14:17] Righteous lives and attitudes, peaceful hearts and minds, and joy in every situation: that is the Kingdom of God. And those who are apart of the Kingdom will reflect these things in some part. If we don’t let us find out why. Jesus promises us peace, righteousness, and joy: these are not unattainable: they are promised for us to take hold of. But the peace which Jesus gives, though promised, is not without conditions. Isaiah 26:3 and Philippians 4:4-7 are a good start. There are many things which keep us from experiencing God’s peace, but as Jesus shows us that is not His life: what is it that keeps us from peace? How can you change that?
   • Reflect: The Prince of Peace is available and willing to give us peace. His very nature is peace. Therefore, let us hope in Him; let us meditate on the seemingly limitless heights of peace which He had on this earth and be strengthened thereby. Am I at peace as Jesus was? If not, why might that be: it is not for Jesus’ lack, for He has an infinite supply which He has graciously promised us. As the rivers of Shiloah which run softly, Jesus’ still waters await us to come and drink.