1 of 22

Peace on Earth?

Luke 2:8-14

English service

December 24, 2023

2 of 22

“I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day”�Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 1864, verses 4 - 6

English service

December 24, 2023

3 of 22

Peace on Earth?

Luke 2:8-14

English service

December 24, 2023

4 of 22

And shepherds were in the same region camping in the fields and keeping watch at night over their flock. And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them and they were frightened with great fear. 10 And the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. For, behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be to all the people. 11 For there has been born to you today in the city of David a Savior Who is Christ the Lord.  Luke 2

English service

December 24, 2023

5 of 22

12 And this is a sign to you: you will find a baby wrapped securely in cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 14 “Glory to God in the highest and on Earth peace in men of goodwill.” Luke 2

English service

December 24, 2023

6 of 22

12 And this is a sign to you: you will find a baby wrapped securely in cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 14 “Glory to God in the highest and on Earth peace in men of goodwill.” Luke 2

English service

December 24, 2023

7 of 22

When a created being, angelic or human, gives glory to God, we are recognizing, with our most extreme exaltation, the infinite glory that is His. Lifting to Him with deepest devotion the highest honor. In humble, grateful, jubilant acknowledgement of His absolute magnificence.

English service

December 24, 2023

8 of 22

12 And this is a sign to you: you will find a baby wrapped securely in cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 14 “Glory to God in the highest and on Earth peace in men of goodwill.” Luke 2

English service

December 24, 2023

9 of 22

Peace on Earth

 

  • The angels announced, “peace on Earth”, not peace over all the Earth. Given our natural inclinations and the conditions of human interactions, peace anywhere on the Earth is a miracle to be celebrated.
  • Second: we most often think of peace as the absence of war. And while that’s true, it’s like saying joy means not being sad. There is a vast deal more in what it’s all about.

English service

December 24, 2023

10 of 22

Peace on Earth

Peace is far more than the absence of hostility or problems or doubt. Peace in Scripture is the condition of enduring security because everything has come together as it should be. It is a quality of life that is secure, productive, and satisfying that is a blessing from God for those who trust in Him. And is not dependent on circumstances or external conditions.

English service

December 24, 2023

11 of 22

Peace on Earth

In Scripture, peace describes soul-deep, inner spiritual and psychological balance, satisfaction, and calm experienced as resilient tranquility within and mutually affirming harmonious relations with one another. Not because there are no longer differences between us. But because those differences are now blended in beautiful harmony.

English service

December 24, 2023

12 of 22

In Lord Jesus, the Messiah, there is Peace...

...between peoples

English service

December 24, 2023

13 of 22

14 For He [Christ Jesus] Himself is our Peace Who having made both one and having broken down the dividing wall of the barrier 15 having abolished in His flesh the hostility, the Law of commandments in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two one new person, making peace; 16 and that He might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, in it having put to death the hostility.  Ephesians 2

English service

December 24, 2023

14 of 22

In Lord Jesus, the Messiah, there is Peace...

...between peoples

...among people

English service

December 24, 2023

15 of 22

12 ...a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience; 13 enduring one another and forgiving each other whoever has a complaint against anyone just as the Lord forgave you, so also you. 14 Beyond all these things love, which is the perfect bond. 15 The peace of Christ will govern in your hearts, to which indeed you were called into one body. And come to be thankful. Colossians 3

English service

December 24, 2023

16 of 22

In Lord Jesus, the Messiah, there is Peace...

...between peoples

...among people

...within people

English service

December 24, 2023

17 of 22

Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God sending His own Son in likeness of sinful flesh and for sin condemned sin in the flesh, so that the righteousness of the Law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk corresponding to the flesh but corresponding to Spirit. For those who are corresponding to flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are corresponding to Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For the mind set on the flesh is death but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace Romans 8

English service

December 24, 2023

18 of 22

Until there is peace within us there will be no enduring peace between or among us.

English service

December 24, 2023

19 of 22

“I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day”�Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 1864, verse 7

English service

December 24, 2023

20 of 22

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing Wesley/Whitefield/Madan, Mendelssohn

Hark! the herald angels sing, “Glory to the newborn King:

peace on Earth, and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled!”

Joyful, all ye nations, rise, join the triumph of the skies;

With angelic hosts proclaim, “Christ is born in Bethlehem!”

Hark! the herald angels sing, “Glory to the newborn King!”

English service

December 24, 2023

21 of 22

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing Wesley/Whitefield/Madan, Mendelssohn

Hail the heav’n-born Prince of Peace!

Hail the Sun of Righteousness!

Light and Life to all He brings, ris’n with healing in His wings.

Mild He lays His glory by, born that we no more may die,

Born to raise us from the Earth, born to give us second birth.

Hark! the herald angels sing, “Glory to the newborn King!”

With angelic hosts proclaim, “Christ is born in Bethlehem!”

Hark! the herald angels sing, “Glory to the newborn King!”

English service

December 24, 2023

22 of 22

Peace on Earth!

Luke 2:8-14

English service

December 24, 2023