Is Peace with God Possible?

When you receive a Christmas present, very often the actual present is hidden deeply behind first a layer of wrapping paper and then there’s the box that can be difficult to open. For many people today the Christian message has been hidden. We need to get rid of the trappings, to discard what the Christian faith is not, and then to study the real thing. Let us try to understand what the following account is saying to us.

8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favour rests.”

15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

This article will focus on several key phrases in this account.

1. ‘I bring you good news’ v.10

Christianity is essentially a message that God wants all people to understand.

This message is not a myth.The gospel is a simple message that people need to hear. The shepherds in our story are ordinary people, and, just like ourselves, were probably sensible, thinking people. Yet one night they saw something extraordinary; they saw an ‘angel’, a word that literally means ‘a messenger from God’. Then suddenly a bright light shone around them – and they were terrified. Put yourself in their shoes - wouldn’t you or I be just the same? They are so normal.Then the angel speaks to the shepherds,

“Don’t be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.” Luke 2:10

Please note that this is a factual report of what happened. The author of this book, Dr. Luke, personally checked the details of all his accounts. He was a stickler for only writing down what he was convinced about after interviewing first-hand witnesses. This is what he said,

“I have carefully investigated everything from the beginning.” Luke 1:3

A myth is a type of fairy story. The Greeks and Romans made up myths about the exploits of their various gods – but they are not meant to be read as factual history. In contrast the Bible is a careful record of what actually happened. Read it and those little details of a genuine story stand out. A police inspector, who has become a Christian recently said,

“I am used to reading witness statements, and it is those little details that gives confidence that a statement is telling the truth.”

This message it is not complicated.

The Message brings great joy

The New Testament is a message, good news, about the two comings of God’s Messiah, God’s Christ, God’s chosen King. His second coming will be in Majesty when he comes to judge all people, including you and me - and he will be fair. It will be an awesome and alarming day – all our secret secrets will be revealed. His first coming was to be the saviour of the world – to save people from this judgment. This is clearly a message of great joy - for those who have experienced God’s forgiveness and salvation.

The Message is certain

This message comes from God so it is not uncertain.

When talking about the Christian message with a lady recently, she said,

“Oh I think you can make the Bible mean anything you want.”

This is clearly untrue as any person reading the Bible will discover, a statement like this is simply an excuse. The Bible is clear. God did enter this world as Jesus, he did die as our Saviour and will return in glory as our judge. People who make excuses like that have almost certainly never bothered to investigate the claims of Jesus.

God’s message to us is backed up by so much evidence. The Christian faith is not an irrational faith without evidence – no, we believe in Jesus because the evidence is so convincing. Jesus fulfils the 330 prophecies about the Messiah in the Old Jewish Scriptures, which are included in our Bible as the Old Testament. Jesus convinced his disciples about his claims, with the result that they were willing to die affirming these claims. They confirmed that they had witnessed his miracles and his resurrection from the dead. Would they all have been willing to die for what they knew to be a lie? How did the early church grow so rapidly in spite of official opposition? Why do our instincts tell us that there is a purpose in life, that good and evil exist and that we should be honest, kind and people of integrity? Are these not evidence that we have been made in the image of our creator. If you’ve never explored this evidence what is stopping you? I originally wrote ‘Cure for Life’ to help my patients look at this evidence. The newer book ‘Stepping Stones to Faith’ gives a wider review of the evidence.

Even the shepherds were given evidence in support of their experience.

”This will be a sign to you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a food trough”! Luke 2:12

A manger is simply a food trough for animals. The word ‘manger’ comes from Od French ‘mangier’ which comes from Latin ‘manducat’ which meant ‘to chew.’ The Messiah of God will be found as a poor baby lying in an old food trough from which animals chewed their food – and that is precisely what the shepherds found when they went to investigate.But before they go, they experience the sight of a vast number of heavenly beings praising God and saying,

”Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favour rests.” Luke 2:14

A casual observer, who goes to the carol service once a year, could easily miss the significance of what they were saying. Note they were not singing but speaking clearly.

2. ‘Glory to God’

What a wonderful way for this expression of praise to begin with.This is what our lives are meant to be. We should all live with our lives focused on our creator and behaving in ways that please him. Our word ‘sin’ is at root our failure to live for the glory of God. It is sin that is such an offence to God.

3. ‘On earth peace’

This phrase might give the impression that the angels are talking about peace between people and nations. But this is clearly not what they are saying. If this child had come to bring peace on earth, an end to human conflicts and wars, then he would have been a massive failure. Every year since World War II at least one new war has started. Look at the horrors in Ukraine, Syria, Sudan, Yemen and elsewhere in the world. Jesus taught that such wars and rumours of wars would continue until he returns at the end of time. So we mustn’t be optimistic about the United Nations, NATO, the defunct League of Nations or anything similar. They cannot stop wars. So what is this peace that Jesus brings? It is not peace between individuals and nations but peace between God and ourselves. Let us look briefly at some of the statements Jesus made about the peace he came to bring:

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” John 14:27

“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

The peace Jesus can give us is a restored relationship with God himself, a relationship that was broken when we sinned and turned our backs on him. The Bible gives an alarming diagnosis about all of us.

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:23

By nature we are all hostile to God. It Is often thought that the apathy about Christianity and about Jesus Christ, that so rife today, is because people are so busy. But deep down, when the claims of Jesus Christ come to us, we are really antagonistic. Recently I attended a friends funeral. At the reception afterwards an elderly man and his wife came up and introduced themselves. They explained that 20 years ago he had been admitted when my surgical unit was on take for emergencies.. His aorta had ruptured - a very dangerous condition with a high mortality. We took him straight to the operating theatre and replaced the leaking aorta. He said he was very grateful to me for doing so well over all these years. As we talked I said to him,

“This is wonderful and I am thrilled for you – but may I ask if you have you have thanked God. Have you discovered why God saved you and why he has kept you going for so long? Are you involved with him and his church?”

“Oh no,” came the reply, “We have our own views.”

Are our biased, selfish views better than those that Jesus? Whenever people hear the message about Jesus two things happen; part of us is very attracted to him but another part of us repelled by what he says and we naturally want to run away from him. We know that we have all been given health, friends, families hobbies, careers and many other gifts – but too often we have spurred the giver. We reject him and don’t naturally want to live with him. Look at the verse 11 in our passage, it tells us why this baby has come:

“Today, in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.” Luke 2:11

This is the same message as that the angel Gabriel gave when talking with Mary, before she fell pregnant with Jesus.

”He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David.” Luke 1:32

God has sent his King into his world and he will eventually destroy all God’s enemies but will rescue those who are his, who have submitted to him.

Several American General said after the Iraqi war,

“Freedom isn’t free.”

How true this is. This idiom “Freedom isn’t free” is prominently engraved at the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., symbolizing the enduring connection between freedom and sacrifice. For the world to reject Nazi rule, a great price had to be paid. For Islamic fundamentalism to be overcome, a great price must be paid. Even more – for each of us to have the possibility of being at peace with God – to be given eternal freedom – a great price had to be paid. God himself, our creator, entered this world and took the consequences of our sin on himself. She could never pay the price ourselves.

4. ‘ . . .on whom his favour rests’

God’s peace is not given to everybody.

“And on earth peace to those on whom his favour rests.” Luke 2:14

This point is so important. Does God’s favour rest on me? Recently a group of churchgoers were asked if they were sure they had been accepted by God and that they had been saved. “I hope so,” came the majority reply. How would you answer if you were asked this question? Remember that Jesus has given a promise to all those who are committed to him.

”Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.” John 5:24

It is only if we are committed to Jesus that God’s favour rests on us. It is only those who have this relationship who are saved. That is the clear teaching of the Bible. This is not the same as being religious. Becoming a Christian is personal.

Notice that when the angel addresses the shepherds he says ‘you’ four times. Although the good news is for ‘all people’ it must be accepted individually. The shepherds clearly understand this. As soon as the ‘great company of the heavenly host’ leave they realise they have make a response. ‘Let’s go . . and see . . what the Lord has told us about.’ So ‘they hurried off.’ That is the sort of serious response God wants from all of us. After we have heard God’s message about Jesus, our Saviour, we must set out to discover if this is true.

We each start on this new path by listening to what God says in his word, the Bible, and in consequence we open our private lives to him, we become obedient to him. Lord Melbourne was an English prime minister in the early years of Queen Victoria’s reign. Once, after hearing a sermon, he said sarcastically,

“Things have come to a pretty pass when religion is allowed to invade one’s private life.”

He may have been outwardly religious but was clearly not a Christian. Jesus must rule over our private lives. The only way to have Gods favour rest on us is to enter into a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ. God would surely see it is as something wonderful if, this Christmas, some understand this message, find peace with God, and so pass from death to life. This status only belongs to those who have asked Jesus to be their personal Lord and Saviour by inviting him into the driving seat of their lives, but it is available to everyone who is willing. That is God’s longing – it really is good news. If any are unsure about their standing before God then please remember the promises of God and return to him through Jesus Christ before it’s too late. What better time than now to start or renew that personal relationship.

The apostle John summarised this message when he wrote,

“God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son does not have life.” 1 John 5:11-12

BVP