Sunday, December 9, 2018

Between two Advents: Peace on Earth? - Isaiah 9:1-7


Between two Advents: Peace on Earth?
Isaiah 9:1-7
Introduction: Coming to week two of Advent, I couldn’t help but wonder at the contrast we see between the discourse that Jesus gave on the Mount of Olives, which we recently worked through, and the words of the Angels on that Bethlehem hillside some 33 years earlier. Jesus warned the disciples that they would have tribulation in the world—including wars and rumors of wars—violence and suffering that would characterize human history until His return in glory and power. That seems to describe a decided absence of “peace on earth”! Yet after the angel announced to the shepherds that a Savior, Christ the Lord, had been born (Luke 2:11), in v. 14 a multitude of angels were praising God and saying,
"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!"
Peace?  In the light of Jesus’ prophecy on the Mount of Olives, which is confirmed by our experience, the angels’ announcement on that first Christmas morning seems strange. Peace on earth? It doesn’t look like it from our perspective!  How can we understand the angels’ announcement then in the light of our experience?
       “Peace” can have several meanings in Scripture. One is indeed “an absence of war or violence” but that is usually only one small facet of what is meant by the biblical idea of peace. It is clear enough that the day when swords will be hammered into plowshares is an aspect of “peace” that is still future. Yet we can still have peace, even now, as we live as pilgrims in a fallen world. The Hebrew word “Shalom” is explained by one scholar as “The state of fulfillment that results from God’s presence.” This is what expressed in the Aaronic benediction,
The LORD bless you and keep you;  25 the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;  26 the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace…” (Num 6:24-26).
“Peace” relates to the idea that was expressed when God first looked at His creation, before the Fall, and pronounced it “good,” tov. God who is holy and perfect was in perfect fellowship with his creation, no sin, no separation. There was peace. There was harmony between God and the first humans—shalom. That peace was disrupted by human rebellion. In the fullness of time the arrival of the Prince of Peace, according to promise, provided the basis for that fellowship to be restored. Reconciliation between God and those who would believe—peace for “those on whom His favor rests.” And so, salvation can be described as a restoration of peace. Listen to Isaiah the prophet,
 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, "Your God reigns." (Isa 52:7).
Notice the parallel phrases, Peace / happiness / salvation / God reigns! In Him we can experience the shalom, the “good” for which we were created, in a preliminary sense now, and in its fulness in the age to come. This is why He came! That is why the prophet could also write in Isaiah 53:5,
But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed.”
His suffering was because of our sins, and He suffered “…the chastisement that brought us peace…” The perspective of the prophets often interwove the promise of the coming of the Messiah with what we now know to be His return to reign in His Kingdom on earth. We live between those great events, His first advent, and His coming in Glory. We live between two Advents…
The Maine* Idea: Living in the light of the first coming of Christ we have peace with God and the peace of God, even as we anticipate His second coming in glory.
I. Our Problem: There is no peace in this dark world [apart from Christ] (8:22-9:1a). Read the end of Isaiah 8 to see the contrast that chapter 9 brings…
20 To the teaching and to the testimony! If they will not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn.  21 They will pass through the land, greatly distressed and hungry. And when they are hungry, they will be enraged and will speak contemptuously against their king and their God, and turn their faces upward.  22 And they will look to the earth, but behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish. And they will be thrust into thick darkness. [ESV Isaiah 8:22-9:1]
       People walking in darkness. It is getting dark early these days. While we were in Brazil the southeast of the country experienced a wide-spread blackout. At the time I didn’t know the extent of it (it impacted the entire southeast of the county, about 40 million people!), I was at the seminary teaching a night class in down town Sao Paulo, probably 15 miles from home. When the lights first went out, I actually tried to continue with the class for a few minutes, thinking it might come right back on. It didn’t. And I drove home that night, through the city, no traffic lights, blissfully ignorant of the crime that was happening around me as people took advantage of the darkness!  At times like that you discover anarchy is just below the surface, lurking in the darkness. John’s gospel uses that language of “light” and “darkness” quite a bit to describe the state of fallen humanity. For example, we read in John 3:19-21,
   19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil.  20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.  21 But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his deeds have been carried out in God.
God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness has shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God, in the face of Christ Jesus. And so, living in the light of the first coming of Christ we have peace with God and the peace of God, even as we anticipate His second coming in glory.
II. The Purpose of His Coming: To Make Possible Peace on Earth [for those on whom His favor rests] (Isa 9:1-5; cf. Luke 2:14; Rom 5:1).
But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations. 2The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined.  3 You have multiplied the nation; you have increased its joy; they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as they are glad when they divide the spoil.  4 For the yoke of his burden, and the staff for his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, you have broken as on the day of Midian.  5 For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult and every garment rolled in blood will be burned as fuel for the fire.
       The prophet is describing a new age, without the anguish and darkness of the past. A light has shined in the darkness, and there is rejoicing as the covenant blessings are again being experienced. A time of peace, the warrior no longer needs his battle clothes, they can be thrown on the fire! The day has not yet come when spears are fashioned into pruning hooks, and swords into plowshares. How do we square the pronouncement of “peace” with the continued presence of violence and warfare? We can experience peace, real peace, right now, and forever. First of all, we can have…
      Peace with God (Romans 5:1) – Objective, positional. Paul wrote in Romans 5:1, “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” That idea that connects “peace” with the state of salvation was implied by the prophet Isaiah centuries earlier. For example, we read in Isaiah 52:7,
How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who proclaims salvation, who says to Zion, "Your God reigns."
Notice the parallel statements, proclaiming peace / good news of happiness / salvation. Peace with God is Good News! In the next chapter we’re told the suffering of the Servant is what brought us peace: But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed...” (Isa 53:5). So, though we who were God’s enemies (Eph 2:1-3), because of Him, can have peace with God.  The Apostle Paul said,
For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility  15 by abolishing the law of commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace,  16 and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.  17 And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near…” (Eph 2:14-17).
For Jew and Gentile alike the way to peace, peace with God, is through Jesus Christ.
        Paul also speaks of the Peace of God (Phil 4:7) - Subjective, experiential. Paul said, “…And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”  Why don’t we have peace on earth? James asked and answered the question when he said: “What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this: that your passions are at war within you?” (James 4:1). Conflict starts in the human heart. Jeremiah said “The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?” (Jer 17:9).  The prophet is describing a dark place, and that is the depth of the depravity of the human heart. We are all sinners. We read in Psalm 53 in the first couple of verses,
there is none who does good.  2 God looks down from heaven on the children of man to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God.  3 They have all fallen away; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one.
That is pretty clear, how many of us are sinners? Every last one, by birth and by choice (Paul quotes this passage in Romans 3:10f).
        The good news came in the promise of deliverance in Isaiah 9:3-5.  Verse 5 describes a time when the Light shining in the darkness will bring “peace on earth”: “…For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult and every garment rolled in blood will be burned as fuel for the fire.Though “peace on earth” is not yet our experience, that day is coming, that is our sure hope, the enemies of Christ will be put under his feet and peace will reign, at last.  Because of His coming, because of the reality of His presence for those who trust Him we can already experience peace in our hearts, a peace that passes understanding. Living in the light of the first coming of Christ we who know Him have peace with God and the peace of God, even as we anticipate His second coming in glory.
III. The Person who offers [true] Peace: The Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ (9:6).
6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
         “For unto us a child is born…” The prophet assumes a physical, historical, human birth. God the Son took upon himself a human nature.  He only appeared to be human, the Bible makes it clear that the eternal Son took a human nature, and the divine and human natures were one in the person of Christ.  The technical term to describe this is the “hypostatic union.”  Paul described this act in his letter to the Philippians when he wrote in Philippians 2:6-7  “…although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,  7 but emptied Himself, by taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men…” Alfred Edersheim reflected on the wonder of the incarnation when he wrote,
“That on such a slender thread as the feeble throb of an infant life, the salvation of the world should hang—and no special watch care over its safety, no better shelter be provided it than a stable, no other cradle than a manger…” 
Mary Ann linked on Facebook a graphic of a manger… the caption said, “The first King-sized bed.” The humility of His first coming! God became a man. So, we have a Prince and High Priest who understands, who can sympathize with our weakness and empathize with our pain. He was tempted in all points as we are, yet without sin.
        The Isaiah said “…a Child is born…”, and then in the next phrase says “…unto us a Son is given…” A Son, handed over as a gift. This is not only parallel with the previous phrase, but it expounds on a couple of elements. One, the prophesied child would be a son. (In our day of sonograms that may seem like a small factor, but God’s plan would be accomplished). Secondly, he was “given.” The term used in John 3:16 expresses the same idea: in John, God gave His Son, in Isaiah, the passive form, the Son was “given.”  As Paul said, “God spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all.” John in his first letter said, “This is how God showed his love among us, He sent his one and only son into the world that we might live through him…” (I John 4:9).
          The prophet Isaiah, writing 700 years earlier, goes on to give more information about the coming One:  “…and the government will be upon his shoulders…” He is the Ruler of creation, Lord of all, and His Kingdom will come. This hope is not exclusively future.  Even now we’ve been transported from the domain of darkness to the kingdom of the Son… (Col 1:13). Still, we live between two advents. In the second advent there will finally be “peace on earth…”
       The litany of titles that follow express aspects of who He is: “And his name will be called, Wonderful counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father…” Notice that He is described in the unmistakable language of deity: mighty God, everlasting Father—God became human. Whatever you are facing in your life, whatever you will face tomorrow, think about it: if you know Christ, God is on your side, He is at your side, to help, guide, and protect. He whispers to us through His Word, “I’ve got this, trust me.” So, you don’t need to be overwhelmed or despair: if God is for us, who can stand against us?
       He is finally called the “Prince of Peace” – The Prince of Shalom. The one who’s reign would be marked by the presence of God and the blessings of the covenant. He is Immanuel, God with us. And so, we can experience “shalom” because of His presence.  As the Prince of Peace, He is the source of peace. Because of His work we are reconciled to God. Because of His presence we can have peace in the midst of a chaotic worldLiving in the light of the first coming of Christ we who know Him have peace with God and the peace of God, even as we anticipate His second coming in glory.
IV. Promise of Christmas: The Coming of Peace, Between the Advents, and Beyond (9:7).
7 Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.
       Notice that he speaks of an eternal kingdom – The problem of evil is a rather thorny topic for apologists. If God is good, and all powerful, why is there so much suffering and injustice in the world? That was not the world as it was created by God. That original creation was pronounced “good,” it was a setting marked by “shalom,” the fulfillment that results from God’s presence. He is Emmanuel, God with us.  Human rebellion, sin, brought suffering and death into the world, and believers are not exempt. God isn’t surprised by suffering. Even there He is present and working, causing all things, even the hard things, to work together for our good, and for His glory (Romans 8:28). Sin is what made the incarnation necessary! How could God be just and justify sinners? He found a way, on Calvary. That is where God showed us His love (I Jn 4:9; Rom 5:8).
        In our passage (Isa 9:7) the prophet Isaiah speaks of an eternal kingdom brought about by God. It can be and will be an eternal kingdom and everlasting peace because the omnipotent king of the universe will accomplish it. Now remember Mark 13: “wars and rumors of wars” will characterize this age until Jesus returns.  But “shalom” is not merely the absence of conflict. We look forward to the day when fellowship and the presence of God will be restored fully. But even now we can experience peace:
“…The Lord is at hand [and so the presence of God, the fundamental requirement of “shalom”]  6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:5b-7). 
Have you had the experience of your child being frightened at night and running to your bedroom? They can climb into bed and fall fast asleep in about two seconds, because as long as mommy and daddy are there, there is no fear, no anxiety.  Here is the promise: The Lord is at hand.  Daddy is with you. You can rest. Shalom.
What is God saying to me in this passage? Living in the light of the first coming of Christ we who know Him have peace with God and the peace of God, even as we anticipate His second coming in glory.

What would God have me to do in response to this passage? Do you have peace with God, though faith in Christ? God’s favor, His grace, rests on you! In the midst of a chaotic world, the peace of God, which passes all understanding, can guard your heart and your mind in Christ Jesus. Our hope is sure, as surely as He came in the first advent, one day He will return and there will be peace on earth! AMEN.

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