there are certain concepts that seem to be universally associated with the Christmas season.
They're ingrained in our holiday culture under the banner of Christmas spirit, typically.
Perhaps you've heard that phrase used a number of times already in just the last couple of weeks.
And they show up routinely in our festive songs.
They show up in our movies.
Perhaps if you have your Christmas decorations up in your house, you will see words associated with these concepts on display in your home.
If you've already begun to wrap Christmas presents for the year, perhaps you have some wrapping paper that has these concepts plastered all over it.
But everywhere we turn for the next few weeks, we are going to see the emphasis on concepts like joy, hope, love, faith, peace.
And we're talking culturally here.
I'm not just talking about the church.
You can walk into the stores.
You can go to the mall.
You can drive down the roads.
You can see the ads on television, whatever it is that you're doing.
And you're going to see an emphasis on these things that really, for the most part, are just reserved for religious talk the rest of the year, isn't it?
But it's different this time of year.
And we're going to see it emphasized everywhere.
And, of course, these are totally abstract ideas on their own.
And they're interpreted in a variety of ways, culturally speaking.
So that if you were to go to Target or some other retail location today looking for Christmas presents, you're going to see probably on the signage and on the banners that they have in their store things like joy.
It may even just be that word.
Joy.
Right?
And what is the messaging that comes along with that?
You will have great joy this Christmas season if you buy your Christmas presents from us.
Yes.
That's where you will have your joy this year.
Right?
Or maybe shopping is not your thing.
Maybe your thing is to veg out on the couch and turn on the Hallmark Channel or Netflix or something like that.
And what's the messaging that comes across?
Love, generally, isn't it?
Love is the word that we see.
Christmas love, a Christmas prince, a Christmas tree, a Christmas everything.
And it's all basically the same story.
Right?
And the messaging is the same.
The messaging is you will experience love this Christmas season if you leave your job in the big city and you go back to your small hometown for the season.
And you happen to run into that guy that you knew in elementary school who turned into this successful hunk.
And if you will just do that, you will have love this Christmas season.
Right?
And we could go on and on with that, can't we?
Everyone is telling us that we can have joy and hope and love and peace this Christmas season.
But they all have different answers for what those things mean and for how they can actually be obtained.
Well, what's fascinating is that no matter how hard our secular world works to separate the season from religious thought,
it can't help but borrow from Christian worldviews when using these categories.
That's where they come from.
Thoughts of peace, love, hope, and joy.
Those are distinctly biblical ideas that everyone wants to achieve so long as they can do it their way rather than God's way.
It's interesting, isn't it?
It's fascinating, really.
We want everything that God offers.
We just don't want to achieve it God's way.
We want to be able to get at it our way.
We want to decide what love means and how we can get it, but we at least want the love.
So on and so forth as the concepts go.
Over the next few weeks, we're going to look at how Jesus alone is the fulfillment of these things that we all long so deeply to experience.
If you really do want hope and peace and joy and love this Christmas, you're only going to find it in Christ.
It's the only place, the only person where you can really genuinely find these things.
And this morning, we're going to turn our attention to the birth of Jesus as the advent of peace.
I'm not going to do very thorough expositions through this.
We're going to bounce around, so I want you to keep your Bibles handy and prepare to turn to a few places.
But we're going to start here in Luke chapter 2.
Are you there?
Luke chapter 2.
Let's read a larger portion of the chapter here, starting at verse 8.
In the same region, there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
And an angel of the Lord appeared to them.
The glory of the Lord shone around them.
They were filled with great fear.
The angel said to them,
We're going to come back to that verse on Christmas Eve.
But maybe take the month.
If you don't like to do a lot of reading, just read that verse every day.
Just meditate on that verse every day.
There is so much packed into just that little phrase.
Unto is born this day in the city of David, a Savior who is Christ the Lord.
Four major, major elements of biblical truth are represented just in that one announcement.
Verse 12,
And this will be a sign for you.
You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.
Suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host,
praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest.
And on earth, peace among those with whom he is pleased.
When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another,
Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened,
which the Lord has made known to us.
And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the baby lying in a manger.
And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child.
And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them.
But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.
And the shepherds returned, glorifying, praising God for all they had heard and seen,
as it had been told them.
And peace.
Peace is what we want to focus on here.
Christmas is often regarded as a season that brings peace.
And just like with those other concepts, in the coming days,
we're going to all be instructed in various ways to pursue peace.
Especially with those that we've spent much of the year warring with.
That's what's funny about it, isn't it?
Whatever you're going to do for most of the year, at least at Christmas,
set those things aside and be at peace with one another.
You're going to hear, as if we're not hearing a lot of it already,
but you're going to hear even stronger calls in the next couple of weeks.
And underneath the banner of Christmas spirit,
that for at least Christmas, we want the fighting in Gaza to cease.
At least for Christmas.
And because of Christmas, we want the war in Ukraine to pause.
At least for Christmas, we want these conflicts around the world that are unfolding.
There's going to be urges, stronger urges than maybe normally there are throughout other times of the year.
And it's going to be under this banner of peace that is associated with the Christmas season.
People groups that genuinely hate each other are going to be urged a little stronger to get along.
You're going to be encouraged to love your in-laws when you go and visit their house
and just be at peace with them.
All the things, we're going to be encouraged on those things.
And those are good things.
Those are not things that we should have a problem with.
But this message of peace, noble as it is, really ultimately and annually is fruitless.
It's fruitless because it has no ground or effective mechanism for actually making peace.
That's the problem.
It's so abstract.
We're just simply told to look deep within ourselves,
and there we'll find the strength to do these things.
But the problem is when we begin to be so introspective,
when we look so deep down within ourselves,
what we find, what we come to the end of is the very sin,
the very hurt that we've experienced that caused all the turmoil to begin with.
It's very backward reasoning.
It's, hey, it's Christmas.
Look inside yourself so that you can find the strength to be at peace.
But then when you really begin to think about it,
you think, well, all I can think about is the problems that has robbed me of peace.
How is it that I can find in myself some mechanism for actually making peace now?
And then the Christmas season really just becomes a massive lie.
It's a facade that renders displays of peace utterly superficial.
The message is the basic equivalent of the exhausted parent saying to their kids,
would you please, for 30 minutes, pretend to like each other so we can have a decent meal as a family, right?
That's basically what the messaging comes down to.
We get out of all the ads.
Basically, it's our mom saying, listen, would you just pretend to like each other
so we can enjoy some stories and some cookies and some hot chocolate for a little while?
None of it's real.
It's perhaps spirit lifting to some extent, but it's not real.
It's fruitless.
It's not lasting.
It's not true peace.
It's deferred war.
There's also a kind of messaging this time of year, every year,
that seeks to blend the secular notions of peace with the religious and sacred hopes of peace,
hoping that it might achieve a better result.
that if we can just take a little bit of this and a little bit of that and bring it together,
it will finally work.
Combines elements of religion and culture to offer something everyone longs to experience,
but then it still misses the mark.
What it ends up doing is actually muddying the waters even more.
Can I give you an example?
Maybe a facetious example, but an example nonetheless.
You like Gene Autry?
In 1947, Gene Autry publishes and records for the first time these lyrics.
Peace on earth will come to all if we just follow the light.
So let's give thanks to the Lord above.
Why?
Because Santa Claus comes tonight.
It's this blending notion that we're confronted with every year.
It's been going on for decades where we take a little bit of the secular and we take a little bit of the sacred.
We don't want to emphasize either one too much.
We try to make it work together.
But what it does is it muddies the waters even more.
I know that's not meant to be taken so seriously, so don't come at me after the service.
I'm not saying you can't sing Here Come Santa Claus.
But it does actually symbolize the vast confusion that has existed in Western thought for decades.
It includes an utterly vapid notion of peace on earth first.
What does that even mean?
Peace on earth will come to all if we just follow the light.
Because he immediately follows it up with something that's completely heinous.
He says,
Now we're to give thanksgiving to the Lord, not because of the advent of the Christ who has come to save us from our sins,
but for the advent of a storybook character who comes to bring us toys and eat all our cookies.
Do you see why this is a problem?
Do you see why this kind of blending, it actually makes things worse?
It teases us with thoughts of peace by at least acknowledging that God has something to do with it.
But then it fails to deliver on its promise by replacing Jesus with Santa.
Now, the Bible gives us a better way.
A much better way.
Not only does God issue genuine promises of peace,
but he fully delivers on those promises through his son, Jesus Christ.
We all long for this peace.
The world longs for peace, even those who don't know Christ.
They long for peace because God put that in us.
He put that in us.
He put that desire in us.
And they're trying to find it in all kinds of ways.
But God put a longing in us that only he can satisfy.
Only he can bring this peace.
And what I want to do this morning is look at three passages
that help us understand the meaning of God's peace,
how Jesus is the provider of that peace,
and then how we can actually truly receive that peace once and for all.
Okay?
So we're going to look at what peace actually is,
how Jesus is the fulfillment of it,
how Jesus alone is the fulfillment of it,
and how we can receive it.
Number one, I want you to see the announcement of peace.
The announcement of peace.
This is where we come to Luke chapter 2.
The angel's appearance to shepherds near Bethlehem
on the night of Jesus' birth
is such an exciting part of the Christmas story, isn't it?
Like, you just can't imagine what it would have been like
to be on that hill or in those caves
or wherever it was that they were near Bethlehem
when all of this began to unfold.
It says they were in great fear.
I would imagine that's a bit of an understatement.
I would have been scared to death.
But this part of the story is actually hugely important.
The angelic message was a plain declaration of the gospel
to these lowly shepherds.
It even uses gospel language.
Look at verse 10.
And the angel said to them,
Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news.
That's the euangelion.
Evangel.
Good news.
Gospel.
That's the gospel word.
Behold, I bring you good news of great joy,
the angel says.
But we need to notice that the substance of this good news,
of this gospel message,
has everything to do with Jesus.
The good news of great joy in verse 10
is equal to,
Unto you is born this day in the city of David
a Savior who is Christ the Lord,
in verse 11.
That's the substance of the gospel message.
He hasn't got to peace yet.
That's not actually a part of the message
that they deliver to the shepherds.
The message to the shepherds is,
The Christ has come.
He is born a Savior in Bethlehem.
Now, too often we can be guilty
of reducing the gospel message
to what really are just the benefits of the gospel,
but not the substance of it.
Good news of great joy
is not first peace on earth.
Good news of great joy is Christ is born.
Jesus is the gospel.
And you can't experience any of the benefits of the gospel,
like peace and love and so on,
without Jesus,
without who He is
and without what He's done for us.
That's why the notions of blending secular
and sacred together,
they don't actually work.
Because in Jesus alone,
we have both the ground for peace
and the mechanism for peace.
The actual way of achieving it
and receiving it.
So that if you don't have Jesus,
you can't actually have peace.
At least not the peace that we're referring to here.
And we're going to return to this text on Christmas Eve.
But for now,
I want to draw your attention
to the praise of the heavenly hosts
in verses 13 and 14.
Look at it with me.
Suddenly,
there was with the angel
a multitude of the heavenly hosts
praising God and saying,
Glory to God in the highest
and on earth,
peace among those with whom He is pleased.
So with the announcement of Jesus' birth
in verse 10,
comes the announcement of peace
through Jesus
in the praise of the heavenly host
in verse 14.
So if you follow the progression
of the text here,
it becomes clear that the result
of Christ's advent,
of His coming,
is God's glory
in making peace
with His people.
Do you see that in the praise?
The angel appears
and he says,
Listen,
the Christ has come.
He's in Bethlehem.
Go see Him.
And then all of a sudden,
there's all of these angels
and they're praising God,
not the shepherds.
They're not speaking to the shepherds.
They're praising God
and they're saying,
This is bringing God glory,
glory to God in the highest
because this Savior has come.
And because He has come,
He has brought peace on earth
to those with whom God
is pleased to give it.
You see the progression.
But it's essential that we understand
what this peace actually means.
Again, cultural notions of peace
typically have to do with
getting along with other people.
But that's not the kind of peace
that the gospel has in view.
It's not the kind of peace
that the gospel promises actually.
If we think of this announcement
as the end of wars
and the end of interpersonal disputes,
listen, if that's what this is,
then the gospel has failed.
It has not delivered.
And it doesn't take you long
to figure that out.
How many of you had a fight
with somebody in your house
before you even came this morning?
Interpersonal disputes,
they still happen.
Wars, they're getting worse and worse.
More prevalent.
If that's what the angels had in mind
in this announcement,
then the gospel has failed
and we are lost.
The Bible's not promised
that kind of peace
in relation to the first advent
of the Christ of Christ.
Jesus himself said that
there would continue to be conflict
among people,
that nations would continue
in some cases to be at war
because of him even.
Here is words from Matthew chapter 10.
Jesus himself says,
Do not think that I have come
to bring peace to earth.
I have not come to bring peace,
he says,
but a sword.
For I have come to set a man
against his father
and a daughter against her mother
and a daughter-in-law
against her mother-in-law
and a person's enemies
will be those of his own household.
Whoever loves father and mother
more than me is not worthy of me.
Whoever loves son and daughter
more than me is not worthy of me.
And whoever does not take up his cross
and follow me is not worthy of me.
Whoever finds his life will lose it.
Whoever loses his life for my sake
will find it.
Those are strong words from the Savior.
And they are immersed in conflict.
They're immersed in war
and in problems.
Now it doesn't mean that we shouldn't
pursue peace with these people.
Jesus' point is that
even the gospel brings division
and conflict.
The gospel doesn't promise
the kind of peace
that we're so used to hearing about
this time of year.
So then what does this peace actually mean?
Are we to understand that
Jesus' teaching
is in contradiction
with the angelic announcement
at his birth?
No.
Because they're not referring
to the same kind of peace.
The peace associated
with the advent of Christ
and that is proclaimed
in the praise of the heavenly host
is not peace with your wife.
It is peace with God.
That's the peace
that is now promised.
Peace
with your creator.
The primary benefit
of peace
in the incarnation
of Jesus
is not that you will
get along better
with those in your family
and in your workplace
but that you might be
reconciled to God
and escape
his eternal wrath.
You see,
the world gets this
completely backward.
But what's good,
what good is it
if we get along
with every human being
on the planet
but we're an enemy of God?
The advent of the Christ
isn't about bringing peace
among men
though it does get there
eventually.
The advent of the Christ
is about bringing peace
between man and God,
their creator.
creator.
Reconciliation.
Restoration together
in eternity.
And the reality
of our standing before God
and his promise
to provide a way
for peace
takes us all the way
back to the Garden of Eden.
Adam and Eve
enjoyed perfect fellowship
and peace with God
until the day
that they disobeyed him.
Think about what happened
on that day.
on that day
they were expelled
from the garden,
the place,
the paradise,
the place where God
had set them.
They were expelled
from that.
They received the curses
that came along
with their sin.
They lost fellowship
with their creator.
And though graciously
allowed to live
a long life,
they were then
destined for death.
That was the ultimate
consequence.
death.
Death.
You see,
God's holiness,
it demands judgment.
But even amid
the judgment,
he promised
that he would provide
a means of peace
and reconciliation
once again.
We call it
the proto-evangelion.
Genesis 3.15.
In the curse
of the serpent,
I will put enmity
between you
and the woman,
between your offspring
and her offspring,
he shall bruise your head,
you shall bruise his heel.
It doesn't say much,
at least in that verse,
it doesn't say much
about how this is going
to happen,
but it's the start.
God,
even in the midst
of the opening judgment,
gives an opening promise.
One day,
he will send one
who will bring peace,
who will reconcile us
back to our creator.
And then through
the scriptures,
God gives us
all these pictures
and promises
of what this
Messiah,
Savior,
would be
and what he would do
and it all has to do
with making an atonement
for our sins.
All of it.
It has to do
with atonement.
The advent of Christ
means the advent
of peace with God.
Sinners reconciled
to their creator
by grace.
The praise of the heavenly host
announced that
God's promised peace
peace was now
being fulfilled
in, quote,
a child wrapped
in swaddling cloths
and lying in a manger.
So I think
Gene Autry
had it wrong.
peace on earth
is an experience
because Santa Claus
is coming to town.
Peace on earth
is experience
because a Savior
who is Christ the Lord
is born this day
in the city of David.
And the peace
he brings
is peace
with God himself.
That's amazing
to consider.
You just let that
marinate on your mind
a while.
This peace,
it restores me
to my heavenly Father.
It's a peace
that escapes
eternal hell.
It's a peace
that takes
the judgment
that I deserve
and puts it
on someone else
so that I can be
at peace
a child of God.
That's the peace
that's promised
in the gospel.
That's the announcement
of it.
Number two,
let's look at
the provision
of peace.
The provision
of peace.
And for this,
I want you to turn
to Colossians chapter 1.
Colossians chapter 1.
Would you just
flip there quickly?
Colossians chapter 1.
It's one thing
to acknowledge
that peace
with God
comes only
through the advent
of the Christ,
but how exactly
does Jesus
provide and secure
this peace?
Let's first say
how he doesn't
supply this peace.
It's not simply
by virtue
of his existence.
It didn't only
require his coming.
It wasn't just
the fact
that he came.
That's not enough.
We're not given
peace with God
simply because
he was born.
And the Bible
nowhere teaches
that the entire
universe
is reconciled
to God
on the grounds
of Christ's
goodness and virtue.
The Bible doesn't
teach that at all.
That's universalism.
That's not what
the Bible teaches.
Even the angelic message
itself declares
that this peace
was limited
to those
with whom God
is pleased
to give it.
So it's not
simply by the
existence of Jesus
that suddenly
everyone is just
okay and everyone's
at peace.
Okay?
Neither does Jesus
provide this peace
by setting
a moral
example
by which
we might
earn our way
back to God.
Doesn't work
like that either.
It's not that
God sends
his son
to do some
things
so that if
we do some
things ourselves
we'll be made
acceptable.
It's not that
he sends Jesus
to do like a
percentage of it
and then if we
cover our own
percentage here
then okay
he's gonna give us
a pass
and things are
gonna be done.
That's not how
this works.
The prevailing
thought of the day
is that if there
is a God
and if he's
good
then he will
reward those
who do their
best and try
their hardest.
But Jesus
himself said
in Matthew
chapter 7
that there will
be many people
who stand
before him
in judgment
having lived
exceptionally
moral lives
and still
be condemned
to eternal
hell.
So it's not
just about
providing a
moral example
so that if we
live faithfully
and morally
and ethically
will make it.
No.
Colossians
chapter 1
look with me
at verse 19.
I know we're
parachuting into
this text but
hang with me.
For in him
that is in
Jesus
all the fullness
of God
was pleased
to dwell
and through
him
to reconcile
to himself
all things
that's peace
with God
whether on
earth or in
heaven
making peace
by the blood
of his cross
and you
who were once
alienated
and hostile
in mind
doing evil
deeds
he has now
reconciled
in his body
of flesh
by his death
in order
to present
you holy
and blameless
and above
reproach
before him.
Now there's
enough here
for two or three
sermons.
Let me just
give you a
snippet of it
here.
Okay.
Three simple
things about
this text
that refers
to Jesus
as the
provider
of peace
and how
he's
provided it.
Number one
our peace
comes through
his cross.
Our peace
comes through
his cross.
God was
pleased
through Jesus
to reconcile
to himself
all things
making peace
by the blood
of his cross.
Peace with God
is announced
at the birth
of Christ
but it is
provided
and secured
at the
death
of Christ.
We are not
made at peace
with God
simply because
Christ exists
and was born.
We are made
at peace
with God
because
Christ
died
in our
place.
Earlier
I mentioned
the promises
and pictures
in the scripture
regarding the
person and work
of the Messiah
that God
had given us
so that we
would know
what to look
for.
Jesus
is the
fulfillment
of all
of those
things
not the
least of
which is
the
fulfillment
of the
picture
we see
in the
Old Testament
sacrificial
system.
Year
after year
they brought
their lambs
and goats
and bulls
and pigeons
and all the
things that
God had
instructed them
to give
and they
sacrificed
them year
after year
but they
had to keep
coming and
doing it
again
because none
of it
actually worked.
none of it
was sufficient
to provide
atonement
and they
did it over
and over
God
getting them
to look
forward
that one
day
a sacrifice
would come
a once
and for all
sacrifice
that would
never have
to be
repeated
and then
we get
to the
New Testament
and we
see all
that the
Bible
has to
say
about
Jesus
and we
find that
what Jesus
is is the
perfect
spotless
lamb of
God
slain
for the
sins of
the world
it's only
through
the atoning
blood of
his cross
that sinners
can be
reconciled
to the
holy God
why was
Jesus
born
Jesus
was literally
born
to die
that's why
he came
to die
because it's
only in
his death
that we
can have
life
and peace
and be
reconciled
to God
our peace
comes through
his cross
number two
our peace
comes through
his person
our peace
comes through
his person
not just
anyone
could make
a sacrifice
to satisfy
God's wrath
for our sins
it wouldn't
work
we all
have sin
which means
our death
is its own
punishment
but Jesus
had no sin
so his death
is not a payment
for his own
wrongdoing
it must be
for someone
else's wrongdoing
it's a substitution
it took a perfect
sinless sacrifice
to appease
God
and bring
us peace
so what is it
about Jesus'
cross
that made
his sacrifice
efficacious
for us
it's who
he is
it's his
person
we can be
reconciled
to God
through Jesus
because as Paul
says in verse
19
all the fullness
of God
was pleased
to dwell
in him
Jesus
not only
bears
the glory
of God
but all
that God
is
dwells
in him
which is to
say
that Jesus
is truly
God
he's not a
representative
of God
he is God
God
in flesh
that's the
wonder of the
incarnation
isn't it
God
has become
man
to save
us from
our sins
Matt Boswell
and Matt
Papa
have just
recently released
a new
Christmas song
called
In the
Fullness
of Time
it's a
beautiful song
you should
go and
listen to
it
at the
very end
of the
song
they take
that old
hymn
that we
often sing
holy
lord
god
almighty
and they
add a
verse
to it
and it's
so wonderful
it fits
for
Christmas
holy
in a
manger
lowly
Christ
the
son
now
born
as
man
in our
humanity
veiled in
flesh
in our
humanity
kingdoms
bow
before
him
heaven
and earth
endure
him
and I
love
this
phrase
God
here
in
person
God
here
in
person
you know
how this
song goes
in the
other
verses
God
in
three
persons
now it
says
God
here
in
person
on
earth
in
person
God
himself
that's
who
Jesus
is
that's
why
any
of
this
matters
that's
why
Paul
can
write
to
the
Colossians
and say
that
God
was
pleased
to
use
Jesus
to
make
peace
with
us
through
the
blood
of
his
cross
it
was
only
possible
because
of
what
he
said
first
that
all
the
fullness
of
God
was
pleased
to
dwell
in
him
he
is
God
therefore
has
become
the
atonement
for
us
now
that's
real
peace
real
peace
is not
an
olive
branch
between
two
people
who
just
decide
to
now
get
along
real
eternal
peace
is the
one
who
has
been
wronged
giving
himself
for
the
ones
who
have
done
the
wrong
that's
what
God
has
done
and
it's
all
through
the
scriptures
we see
it
everywhere
maybe
most
notably
in
John
chapter
one
the
word
became
flesh
and
dwelt
among
us
and
we
have
seen
his
glory
as
the
only
son
from
the
father
full
of
grace
and
truth
our
peace
comes
through
his
cross
but
that's
only
possible
because
our
peace
comes
through
his
person
who
he
is
thirdly
our
peace
comes
through
his
grace
comes
through
his
grace
look
back
at
the
verses
Colossians
one
notice
the
description
given
for
sinners
here
I think
it's
verse
21
what does
it
say
we
were
once
alienated
hostile
in mind
that is
hostile
toward
God
in mind
doing
evil
deeds
that's
who
we
are
as
sinners
now
notice
what he
says
about us
at the
end
of
verse
22
that
we
are
presented
holy
blameless
and above
reproach
before
God
that's
quite
the
shift
isn't
it
alienated
hostile
in mind
doing
evil
deeds
now
we're
presented
by
Jesus
holy
and
blameless
and above
reproach
before
God
it's a
complete
180
and here's
a point
our
holiness
does not
come
before
being
reconciled
to God
but
after
do you
see that
this is
who we
were
but now
Christ
has
reconciled
in his
body
a flesh
by his
death
he's
reconciled
us
so that
he may
present
us
holy
and blameless
and above
reproach
what is
that all
about
it's
grace
it's
grace
we are
not made
at peace
because we
finally got
stuff together
because we
develop this
holiness
and this
goodness
and this
above
reproach
where God
was finally
willing to
unpinch his
nose
and give
us a
pass
no
that comes
after
we've
made
peace
or he's
made
peace
isn't
that amazing
peace
with God
is not
something
that we
can
achieve
so stop
trying to
earn it
you don't
have to
do that
it won't
work
anyways
it's
given to
us
freely
by God's
grace
through
Jesus
Christ
and it's
only after
we've been
reconciled
to God
that Jesus
begins his
work of
sanctification
making us
holy and
presentable to
God
and even
then
it's not
on the basis
of our
righteousness
that he
presents us
holy
it's on
the basis
of his
own
righteousness
that he
presents us
holy
isn't that
amazing
so what is
this peace
actually that
that the
gospel promises
it's peace
with God
first and
foremost
right
okay
that's
really our
biggest need
other peace
can come
but it's
only going to
come after
we're made
at peace
with God
well
how is it
actually
secured
well Jesus
fulfills it
through the
cross
and atonement
thirdly
how can we
receive it
if that's how
it's been
secured for us
and if we
can't earn it
how do we
actually receive
it
that's the
third thing
the receiving
of peace
now I want you
to turn to
Romans chapter
five
he's gonna
look at the
first verse
Romans chapter
five
we read this
all the time
in our prayers
of confession
and it's
worth doing
again here
we've seen
that the
promised peace
of God
through Christ
is not
universally
applied
okay we
got that
check
we've also
noted that
it's not
something we
can earn
by living
up to a
particular
moral standard
okay we
got that
check
so how
exactly is
this peace
good news
then
because it
seems
impossible to
actually
get
how can
be received
well the
answer is
so simple
that it
almost sounds
too good
to be true
that's the
thing
Romans chapter
five verse
one
therefore
since we
have been
justified
by faith
we have
peace
with God
through our
Lord
Jesus Christ
it's good
enough to read
again
therefore since
we have been
justified by
faith
we have
peace with
God
through our
Lord
Jesus
Christ
peace
with God
is not
something you
earn by
what you
do
it is
something
you receive
by faith
in what
Jesus has
already
done
isn't that
amazing
this verse
makes it
abundantly
clear
peace
with God
through the
cross of
Christ
is received
by
faith
sinners
are declared
righteous
that's the
meaning of
the word
justified
sinners
are declared
righteous
by trusting
in the
person and
work of
Jesus
the righteous
one
that's God's
plan
not for us
to earn our
way
but to see
that Jesus
did everything
that we
couldn't do
and to trust
him
now
to reconcile
us to the
father
but this
faith
it's not
mere belief
it's not
simply
intellectual
agreement
saving
faith
trust
so
fully
in the
finished
work
of
Christ
that it
abandons
all other
pursuits
it
abandons
all
sin
and it
joyfully
submits
to follow
Jesus
as Lord
and Savior
that's
saving
faith
it's not
just
going to
your Sunday
school class
and saying
okay
that sounds
good
I guess
I'll be
a Christian
no
it's
leaving
everything
else
trusting
so
fully
in the
person
and work
of
Jesus
that you
leave
every other
religious
pursuit
you turn
away
from
every
sin
you've
ever
committed
and you
follow
him
joyfully
as Lord
and Savior
of your
life
it's an
act of
faith
produced
by God's
spirit
who draws
the sinner
convicts
the sinner
of their
sin
and then
transforms
the sinner
from the
inside out
it's what
Jesus
said in
John 3
is called
being born
again
I want to
ask you
have you
been born
again
are you
actually
trusting
fully
in the
death
and resurrection
of Jesus
for your
salvation
have you
submitted
all of your
life to
his lordship
if not
he invites
you to
do it
now
Jesus
extends
his
invitation
Matthew
11
come to
me
all
who
labor
and are
heavy
laden
and I
will
give
you
rest
take
my
yoke
upon
you
and learn
from me
for I'm
gentle
and lowly
in heart
and you
will find
rest
for your
souls
for my
yoke
is easy
and my
burden
is life
how do I
receive this
peace
he says
just come
to me
just come
to me
and I'll
give it
to you
come
to me
John 6
all that
the father
gives me
will come
to me
and whoever
comes to
me
I will
never
cast
out
never
think about
that in
regards to
peace
not only is
he's saying
I have
made
peace
with
you
but that
peace
isn't
ever
going to
be
taken
away
again
why
because
it's
secured
by an
effective
mechanism
the cross
the perfect
sinless
son of
God
sacrifice
for your
sin
it's all
paid
for
not just
the things
you've
done
but every
sin you'll
ever commit
in your
whole life
covered
by the
blood of
his
cross
and he
says
you come
to me
and I'll
give you
rest
and peace
and that
will never
be taken
away
again
how do
we receive
this peace
by faith
come to
Jesus
believe him
don't wait
another
moment
well Christmas
really is a
season of
peace
I hope
that I
didn't
convolute
that too
much earlier
but it's
only because
of Jesus
that it's
a season
of peace
he's the
grounds for
our peace
peace
and his
cross
is the
mechanism
that's
made
peace
possible
and
because
of our
peace
with
God
now
we can
actually
genuinely
pursue
peace
with
others
we don't
do that
in this
Christmas
spirit
but in
the power
of the
Holy
Spirit
as he
renews
us
day
by day
so this
Advent
season
as a
church
let's
rejoice
in the
peace
Jesus
has
provided
and let's
take that
message of
true peace
to the
world around
us
to