Peace, a dream of mankind ever since Cain looked sideways at Abel. For some, it is but a fantasy, a fancy abstract concept, reserved for rulers and dreamers alike.
Yet, for the Christian, peace is as concrete and real as the pew upon which you are sitting.
This is not some head-in-the-clouds escape from reality, but rather is the reality.
A lifestyle that should characterize the life of a believer, and to others, be as obvious in our lives as the clothes we wear.
Because now, it is possible for God’s peace to be felt by you and me as people: God’s peace is available to us!
God’s rescue mission in giving us Himself is to clear the way so that nothing stops us from experiencing the peace.
Anyone can have it, regardless of your past or what you have done. “Craig, but what about me?” you may ask, “I still struggle and I am not perfect, so what peace does God have to offer me?”
Well, if you look at this story, God picked shepherds, the most unlikeliest of characters to receive this announcement!
Do not think God cannot use you wherever you are at in your life, no matter the age or life situation. You may be in a rut, but God can still use you! He has cleared the way and invites us to be a part of that Kingdom of His, that Kingdom of Heaven, that Kingdom of peace.
When the Bible talks about peace, it means it in a relational sense. This is often deeper than what we think of when we hear the word.
To us, peace often conjures up the idea of a cease-fire between warring parties, or perhaps it makes you think of tranquility in a noisy world.
But the true peace the Scriptures talk about, the true peace that is to be found in Jesus Christ, the true peace that the angels sing to these bewildered shepherds is what is known as Shalom–Wholeness, completeness
Our blessed Savior to be born soon, is not only the great physician telling us about our sickness, but offers us the treatment, and even greater than that, the cure!
1 Timothy says, “godliness with contentment is great gain”
This shalom, this wholeness, is offered to us in the person of Jesus Christ. Through Him, we have
Peace with God
Peace with Neighbor
Peace with Self
When we take this babe in a manger and make Him king in our lives, He gives us forgiveness from sin, purpose, healing, and new life and peace. This King provides us with great love and compassion, and it is this love He has shown us most fully in Himself.
This is the foundation for peace between us and God.
It is as if God has granted us this great peace, and now we want to share with others. This peace should be a way of life for the believer.
The Bible says in Ephesians 2 that God has already broken down the dividing walls of hostility and created a place where true is to be found. And do you know where this place is to be? The Church!
Here is where God has made it possible for all of us who may be different to be one people.
A New Humanity in the World
The way to have peace with your fellow man is to remember three truths.
First, God made both you and them in His image, and He cares for you and for them too
Two, we are all broken by this blight known as sin, so you or I, we are no better than anyone outside of Jesus Christ.
Three, The same merciful hands that reached out to you and I while we were drowning in our sea of sin and selfishness, those same hands are reaching out to your fellow man to bring them also into God’s kingdom.
I think we need to see ourselves the way our Savior sees us…a beloved mess. Beloved, yet a mess. A mess, yet beloved.
Are you struggling with not liking who you are? Understand that God has forged you with loving yet strong hands, and He loves you even when you feel like no one else on earth ever could. Forgive yourself as God has forgiven you.
Just like the Psalmist said, “the Lord is my shepherd, and with Him I lack nothing.”
We have a new life, a new wholeness, a new Shalom, a new peace.