Peace 

Happy Christmas Everyone!

Having been asked to write this week’s newsletter, I have been thinking about the meaning of Christmas and who is the Prince of Peace. I am sure many of us get caught up in the preparations for the big day itself. We all eat too much, spend too much and by the end of it, we are exhausted! Yet it is a time that is joyous and full of happiness because we are celebrating the birth of the Messiah.

Jesus’s birth was foretold many years ago and we find in Isaiah’s prophetic words that "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 Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end." (Isaiah 9:6-7). The Israelites had waited years and years for the coming of Jesus. They believed a Saviour was coming to rescue them from centuries of bondage. Those promises made over countless generations, included that Eve’s seed would put an end to evil and that Abraham would be a father to a nation, to which all nations would be blessed and numerous other prophecies that Jesus would be the world’s saviour. Zechariah’s song recalls these promises:

"...as he said through his holy prophets of long ago, salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us - to show mercy to our ancestors and to remember his holy covenant, the oath he swore to our father Abraham: to rescue us from the hand of our enemies, and to enable us to serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all our days." (Luke 1:70-75).

God had been promising a Saviour for generations. Our God is a God who fulfills his promises. He does not abandon us. God’s promises were coming to fulfilment in the birth of the Messiah. Jesus was our gift from God, given as a sacrifice for our sins.

The Israelites wanted freedom and to be in peace. They wanted a Saviour who would rescue them from their daily lives. When you look at the definition of peace in the dictionary, it says that peace is not just freedom from disturbance and tranquility, but also a state of period in which there is no war or war has ended and there is freedom from disquieting or oppressive thoughts or emotions.

We live in a period like the Israelites, where there is war and civil unrest. We only have to look at the news every day to see the wars and death taking place around the world. Many of us are facing financial hardships with the cost of living crisis and feel the everyday pressures from our jobs to our relationships with others, and many of us are experiencing mental health issues. However the really good news is that we have Jesus who is the Prince of Peace.

During Luke’s account of Jesus’s birth, we read of the announcement from the angels "Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favour rests’ (Luke 2:14). The amazing declaration told to the humble shepherds that the Saviour was coming, whom would bring forth much needed peace. He introduces a new way of doing things through love. It is through God’s love and gift to us that Jesus is born, so that He can die on the cross and rise again. It is through His resurrection and the knowledge that our sins have been forgiven that we have been granted salvation that fill us with reassurance and inner peace.

The world’s problems are immense. The wars and violence, disease and famine as well as our own personal problems can cause us periods of anxiety and fear. Yet we do not have to worry about our future and what is going on the world around us. When those fears materialise, we have to remember that we have a God who grants us peace. We know that Jesus is with us and it is through his death and resurrection that the world is redeemed by the One who is called the Prince of Peace. Jesus told us, "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" (John 16:33). We can be reassured by Jesus that the peace God offers is eternal and overcomes any circumstance we may find ourselves in.

Therefore this Christmas, take some time out of the festivities to remember a baby born in a lowly manger who was prophesied generations before, to fulfill a promise of God’s peace and salvation for each and every one of us. "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit" (Romans 15:13).