But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord’… Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace and goodwill toward men.’

-Luke 2:10-11, 12-14 (NIV, NKJV)

Where is the peace that the Christmas story promises?

The Christmas story is a story of conflict, not peace.

Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: ’This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.’

-Luke 2:34-35

Why do we expect peace?

Why do we long for justice?

Why are we chronically discontent?

Why do we long for significance and love?

If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.

-C.S. Lewis

Before Jesus, almost no pagan author had used “humble” as a compliment. Yet, the events of Christmas point inescapably to what seems like an oxymoron: a humble God. The God who came to earth came not in a raging whirlwind nor in a devouring fire. Unimaginably, the Maker of all things shrank down, down, down, so small as to become an ovum, a single fertilized egg barely visible to the human eye, an egg that would divide and redivide until a fetus took shape, enlarging cell by cell inside a nervous teenager.

-Philip Yancey, The Jesus I Never Knew

At Christmas, God (Immanuel) came down, not in coercion, but for a loving relationship for mankind and to bring us peace.

Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.

-John 14:1-4

Two kinds of peace: subjective and objective

Objective Peace: We are at peace with God because of the cross.

Subjective Peace: Peace within the heart of men; we “feel” peace because we know how it all ends.

...only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures had only been the cover of the title page: now, at last, they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story, which no one on earth has read: which goes on forever and which every chapter is better than the one before.

-C.S. Lewis

Make a Decision