Zechariah would prophesize and call Jesus the rising sun that shines "that gives light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace." Luke 1:79
The message that the Living God is a God of Peace is proclaimed in Colossians 1:1-20: "For it pleased the Father that in [Jesus] should all fulness dwell; and, having made peace through the Blood of His Cross, by Him to reconcile all things unto Himself" .
In Him we have peace as we come and approach the Savior in our understanding of our desperate need of Him, bowing before Him, He extends His grace and mercy in His forgiveness and we are transformed. The peace that He gives is not a peace found in this world defined by a perfect situation or a calmness in our world around us. It is not an external peace but a peace that the Lord gives only comes from within. This peace passes all understanding and it comes from a reconciliation with God through Christ. The Word declares, "Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners.", and to know Jesus is to know PEACE. As we see Jesus lying in the manger may we remind ourselves of this very reason He came and the peace that we have been given in believing.
One of my favorite Christmas songs recorded many years ago is, "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day". In that song I have always been reminded of the hope and peace that only God can give in the soul of man. Henry Longfellow was in such despair over circumstances too much for him to bear regarding the state of the country, the death of his wife and the crippling of his son...the world around him was seeming as though it was falling apart but in his despair he bowed his head and he realized one Christmas that God was not dead nor does He sleep and only He brings peace. The realization of truth in who God is and how we must share this life-giving truth with others at all costs, one sinner who has been forgiven leading another heart in need of forgiveness because they have experienced the peace that only He can give.
In 1860, Longfellow was at the peak of his success as a poet. Abraham Lincoln had just been elected President, giving hope to many in the nation. But things soon turned dark for America and for Longfellow, personally. The Civil War began the following year, and Longfellow's wife died of severe burns after her dress caught fire. Longfellow sustained severe burns on his hands and face from trying to save his wife. He was so badly burned that he could not even attend her funeral. In his diary for Christmas Day 1861, he wrote, "How inexpressibly sad are the holidays."
In 1862, the Civil War escalated and the death toll from the war began to mount. In his diary for that year, Longfellow wrote of Christmas, "'A merry Christmas,' say the children, but that is no more for me." In 1863, Longfellow's son, who had run away to join the Union Army, was severely wounded and crippled and returned home in December. There is no entry in Longfellow's diary for that Christmas.
For Christmas Day that year, Longfellow wanted to pull out of his despair, so he decided to try to capture the joy of Christmas. He began:
I heard the bells on Christmas Day Their old familiar carols play, And wild and sweet The words repeat Of peace on earth, good-will to men.
As Longfellow came to the sixth stanza, he was stopped by the thought of the condition of his beloved country. The Battle of Gettysburg was not long past. Days looked dark, and he probably asked himself the question, "How can I write about peace on earth, goodwill to men in this war-torn country, where brother fights against brother and father against son?" But he kept writing and what did he write?
And in despair I bowed my head; "There is no peace on earth," I said; "For hate is strong, And mocks the song Of peace on earth, good-will to men!"
That could be said of our day as well. That could be said of our own hearts that there is no peace.
But then, catching an eternal perspective and the real message of Christmas and Christ Himself, he wrote:
Then pealed the bells more loud and deep; "God is not dead; nor doth he sleep! The Wrong shall fail, The Right prevail, With peace on earth, good-will to men"
How the truths in this song loudly ring, "God is not dead." "The LORD liveth, in Truth, in Judgment, and in Righteousness; and the nations shall bless themselves in Him, and in Him shall they glory" (Jeremiah 4:2). Such truth we are reminded of , "Nor doth He sleep." "Behold, He that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep" (Psalm 121:4).
God's Truth, Power, and Justice are written of: "The wrong shall fail, the right prevail." "To finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in Everlasting Righteousness" (Daniel 9:24).
The message that the Living God is a God of Peace , Truth, Power and Justice is proclaimed in the Scripture's and to us this day. As I write this I pray that the truth rings through us like blazing church bells ringing in the depths of our hearts even in the most overwhelming of circumstances as we allow the One who calls Himself the "Light of the World", the "Rising Sun"....to shine His resplendent glory into our soul as we allow the truths of who He is and why He came to take up residency within our heart and fill our hearts with His peace.
May we worship like Zechariah and declare, "Blessed be the LORD God of Israel for He has visited and redeemed His people....as He spoke by the mouth of His Holy prophets of old, that we should be saved from our enemies" Luke 1:68-71
The peace that Jesus gives Randy wrote of last year on a page in his journal. In it he quoted Tozer and how Jesus was able to see the potential in all He met and how He never thinks about what we have been once we have been forgiven. Randy quote Tozer in penning "You and I are slaves to time and space and records and reputations and publicity and the past, all that we call moral case history. Jesus forgives it and starts from there as though the person had been born just one minute before"
This is why He came and the peace we are given through a right relationship with God. God is alive and He does not sleep....and the same message from the beginning of time, through all the prophets, through the faithful saints of old and through all those who have gone home before us....is true today.
May we choose to open the door of our heart to allow Jesus to take residency and fill our hearts with His peace and forgiveness, removing all traces of darkness......bowing our hearts in worship to Him in salvation from the ugly grasp of the enemy of sin and death, "having made peace through the Blood of His Cross, by Him to reconcile all things unto Himself" (Colossians 1:19-20).
May His peace be yours.
Michelle A. Guerra
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