Isaiah 9:6

How are you guys enjoying this season of Advent and Christmas? I love it! Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year, right? I genuinely think that I love Christmas. Do you all have your Christmas lights or Christmas trees up? For me, Christmas is even more enjoyable because I have a four-year-old, a two-year-old, and now one on the way. Christmas is just so enjoyable! I have a lot to be thankful for, and my kids love Christmas. They love seeing the lights, and I get to relive Christmas through their eyes. I also get to share with my kids the real story of Christmas, which we're going to do today.

We've been doing a series on Advent, and we're so glad that you could join us this morning. Advent is the four weeks leading up to Christmas—four Sundays, four weeks—and it's a time of preparation, waiting for the Lord Jesus to come. In reality, we know that the Prince of Peace, the Lord Jesus, came 2,000 years ago as the baby in the manger. We get to celebrate that this Christmas—His birthday. On top of that, we also prepare and celebrate that He is coming again. He came once as a baby, but He is coming again to restore peace on earth.

Would you guys open up your Bibles with me? We're going to look at a passage in the book of Isaiah. The book of Isaiah is in the Old Testament. Isaiah lived about 700 years before Jesus, and this was written about 600 years before Jesus as a prophecy of the coming King, the coming Messiah, Jesus Christ. It's important that we look back to this as we've been in our series on Advent here at Cross Connection Church. Pastor Nick talked last week about hope—that the coming of Jesus brought hope for all humanity, for all mankind. We could have a life of peace, joy, and love restored to us in Jesus Christ.

Today, we get to talk about peace, the coming Prince of Peace. If you need a Bible this morning, please raise your hand. Don't be shy! We have ushers in the back who would love to bring you one. If you don't have a Bible to take home with you or don't have one that you call your own, we would love to give you that Bible as our special gift. Write your name in it and make it yours. Highlight it, underline it—do whatever you need to do. We would love to do that for you.

So, in Isaiah chapter 9, we're going to be looking at verses 6 and 7 this morning.

It says this: "For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 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 uphold it with justice and righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this."

Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you so much for sending your one and only Son, Jesus Christ, on Christmas morning 2,000 years ago. Lord, it is a wonderful time of the year for us to reflect on the true meaning of Christmas and why it is that you sent your Son to this earth to give us hope, peace, joy, and love. So I ask, Lord, that in our time together now, you would restore in each of us your peace, which surpasses understanding, as we turn our eyes to you, the author and perfecter of our faith. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Christmas is, of course, I do believe it's the most wonderful time of the year. Some of you might have Christmas traditions. Does anyone have Christmas traditions with your family? One tradition that we started pretty recently, a couple of years back, is that some of my youth leaders gave my wife and me a 1,000-piece Christmas puzzle. Does anyone else do puzzles at Christmas? We haven't actually opened it up yet, but we are going to. We always do.

The reason is that it takes forever to put this thing together. It's like these little tiny pieces, and they are always Christmas colors. You can never tell which part of the tree is where or which Christmas light goes where, and it's crazy. I love puzzles; they are fun.

However, some of us end up treating Christmas each year kind of like a puzzle that we start putting pieces together on, but we never get the full story. Perhaps you, this morning, are coming from a place where it feels like you've been doing that. Every year, you put a couple of pieces of the puzzle of Christmas together, but then you never quite fully understand it. Then you put it back in the box and wait again until next year to start doing it all over again.

My genuine hope for each one of you this morning is that wherever you're starting on your understanding and knowledge of the true story of Christmas—God sending his one and only Son into this world—you would be able to put some more pieces on that puzzle. Perhaps you'd be able to finish that puzzle more completely. If you've already been studying the Bible, you might be thinking, "Oh, I've read this story."

A million times. Well, then perhaps having the full picture of that puzzle, you might understand it on a deeper level. That's my prayer for us this morning.

So, what is peace? What is peace? Why did God have to send His Son? Why was He called the Prince of Peace? As I was studying this passage and preparing over the last couple of weeks, I've known about teaching for quite a while, so it's not like I was caught by surprise and had to prepare last minute. No, I've been going through the text. There is a lot of text in the Bible that talks about peace.

As I was preparing this, I had this song stuck in my head. Perhaps it's because I have a four-year-old and a two-year-old, and we sing a lot of songs to them. It goes something like this: "I've got peace like a river. I've got peace like a river. I've got peace like a river in my soul." You didn't expect me to sing this morning, did you? Man, I'm just surprised. Now you know why I'm not on the worship team.

That song has been stuck in my head, and I thought, what is that peace? Do I have it? Why is peace like a river? Why do songwriters compare peace to a river? It's a genuine question, right? We are going to conclude with the answer to that.

But what kind of peace do we have this morning? I think if we genuinely look within and look without, we would find that universally we are lacking peace in multiple areas of our lives. We could genuinely use that peace like a river, whatever that means, in our soul. We lack peace in our world, and we lack peace in a couple of different ways.

The first way we lack peace is that we lack peace within. There is turmoil within. When we look within our own hearts, our minds and hearts are always in disagreement with each other. There is turmoil and chaos within our own lives. The Apostle Paul even said the same thing. He said, "I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do, I do not do, but what I don't want to do, I hate." He is expressing this conflict where he has a desire to be righteous and holy and follow God, yet he does things that he hates.

Anyone there? No, you guys don't. You guys are perfect, right? That's exactly what the Christian life is like. That's exactly what life is like. There are desires that we have, hopes that we have, and dreams that we have. We have a desire to do good, but then we fall short. We lack inner peace.

I get the privilege, again, of teaching our generation of junior high and high school students. Unfortunately, they have the highest rates of depression, anxiety, stress, and suicidal thoughts. I get the privilege of sharing with them every single week the greatest story that's ever been told: that God sent His Son, the Prince of Peace, to dwell with us. What does "Immanuel" mean when we hear that word? Immanuel means "God with us." That's the greatest story ever told, and I will never get tired of sharing it because it brings us hope that we can live a life full of peace, joy, and love. Immanuel, God with us. We can have inner peace.

However, we also lack peace in other areas. We lack peace with creation. This whole year has been just a wild year of hurricane after hurricane, flooding, and all kinds of natural disasters. It's not hard to look out there and see that we lack peace with creation. Almost every day, I hear of a new allergy one of my youth has to some food or pet, something that I have to watch out for. We lack peace with creation.

We also lack peace with each other relationally. Is it possible to restore peace on earth? Christmas time is a season where we all get together, and we desire peace. We all have this innate desire for peace. Sometimes we put on a face; we pretend to be at peace with those uncles, aunts, or family members that we don't like at Christmas time because we want to get along. We have this desire for harmony in our families and in the world. But then, as soon as Christmas goes and January comes, all of a sudden, we're like, "Yeah, forget them. They were just hard to deal with, and I'm so glad they're not in my house anymore."

Of course, you guys probably relate. We desire perfect peace, peace on earth, goodwill towards men. That's why it was so significant that the angels, 2,000 years ago on that Christmas night when Jesus was born, showed up in the heavens. They lit up the night sky to some shepherds watching over their flock at night. And what did they say?

They said, "Glory to God in the highest and peace on earth to those with whom He is pleased." Those shepherds probably thought the same thing that you thought: what kind of peace are these angels talking about? Isaiah had prophesied that the Prince of Peace was going to come 700 years ago. Seven hundred years had passed, and not only that, but for the last 400 years, there was a period in the Bible called the intertestamental period. This is the time between the Old Testament and the New Testament, the last active communication from God in the Old Testament and the birth of Jesus in the New Testament. It was a period of 400 years of silence. The people of God had not heard from God; He didn't speak through His prophets during that time.

Do you think that this generation, after generation, wondered if God had forgotten to send His Prince of Peace? They were occupied by Roman oppressors and were not living at peace. When these angels appeared in the heavens, it was a sign that had not happened for 400 years. The angels and the heavenly hosts were singing, "Glory to God in the highest and peace on earth." What peace? They had to go investigate for themselves. Perhaps this morning, you can investigate the story yourself as well. Where did we lose peace? Has there ever been perfect peace on earth? Yes, there has been, and for that, we're going to go all the way back to the Garden of Eden, to the beginning.

Point number one on your outline is this: the Prince of Peace came to restore what was lost in Eden. We can't understand Christmas; we can't understand God sending His Son without understanding this. The Prince of Peace came to restore what was lost in Eden. In the Garden of Eden, there was perfect harmony. Remember, God created everything, and it was good. It was perfect. Everything in creation lived in harmony with one another. Man and woman, Adam and Eve, did not experience any concept of fear, pain, tears, or any of that. They didn't have anxiety or depression. None of that existed. There was perfect inner peace with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.

They also had perfect peace with each other. There were no marital conflicts. It wasn't like God in the garden had to say, "Hey, Adam, talk nicely to your wife."

Eve stopped bickering. It was perfect peace. There was a perfect relationship between man and woman, relationally. Perfect peace. Perfect harmony.

How about with creation? Adam and Eve were given authority over the entirety of the Garden of Eden paradise. They could eat any of the fruit without worrying about allergic reactions or their stomachs feeling bad. Just think about perfect peace in creation. There weren't animals trying to kill them, and there weren't mosquitoes biting them, making them itchy. I hate mosquitoes.

I've taught the youth this, actually, because I think it's a great analogy for sin in our lives. Mosquitoes bite us, and it's just like the bite of sin in our lives. When you get a mosquito bite, it starts to itch. But what happens when you itch it? It gets worse. Sin is just like that in our lives. The temptation to sin is like that mosquito bite that comes in. All of a sudden, we have a temptation to itch it. The more we itch it, the more we want to itch it. Then, all of a sudden, we have this open, festering wound that leads to death.

God created everything, and it was good. I don't know why He created mosquitoes. I genuinely think they're part of the curse. There was perfect peace. There were no storms. There were no hurricanes. There was perfect peace.

You know what? There was perfect peace because Adam and Eve enjoyed perfect peace with God. They walked with Him in the garden. They had one rule. God said, "You can have all of this, but there's one rule. One thing you can't do. One tree you can't touch: the forbidden fruit of this tree, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. You cannot have that." There was just that one rule.

Adam and Eve broke that rule and separated their relationship with God. Instantly, that peace was lost. What happened when Adam and Eve partook of that fruit? All of a sudden, they felt something they had never felt before. They felt guilt. They felt fear. They felt shame.

Remember, Adam and Eve heard God walking in the garden, and then what did they do? They hid in a tree, thinking that they could hide from God. Guilt or sin makes us guilty before a holy God, and it makes us want to hide. You cannot hide your sin from God. It's kind of funny because God's walking through the garden, and the picture is that He is saying, "Adam, Eve, where are you guys?" They hear Him and are hiding in the tree, and then Adam comes out.

He's like, "Oh, we were kind of scared, God." He's like, "Whoa, why were you scared?" They had no fear before this, right? They were scared because they were separated from God by sin. Sin separated them from God. Instantly, they felt fear. They felt shame. They covered themselves, their naked bodies. They said, "Well, we were naked, God. So we hid from you." And he's like, "Well, I created you. Of course, I know what you like. This is no surprise to me. Who told you you were naked?" That is what he asked them.

They had to say, "Well, we ate of the fruit." He says, "Yeah, you did. And you messed up, right? You messed up." Sin shattered the peace that we once experienced on earth, the peace that God intended for us to experience. It introduced internal fragmentation. Instantly, Adam and Eve lost internal peace. They felt shame. They felt guilt. They felt fear of God.

But then what else happened? They lost peace with each other. Instantly, God asked them, "What happened?" He was asking them what was going on. Adam, man, Adam said, "It was the woman you gave me, God," instantly throwing his wife under the bus. He said, "Take her, not me. You could kill her, not me. It was all her fault. You gave her to me." Instantly, relational peace between man and woman, between man and man, and between woman and woman was lost.

Do you think Eve ever let Adam live that down? Guaranteed. I like, oh man, I guarantee that came back up. You see, instantly, relational peace was lost. But then the problem is that the curse of sin separates us from God, and there have to be consequences for sin.

So what was the consequence for sin? For Eve, it was pain in childbirth. For Adam, it was, "Yeah, you're going to toil on the ground. You're going to work against the ground. The ground is cursed now." The world is cursed. The world falls under the curse of sin. That's all of creation: the animal kingdom, the oceans, everything falls under the curse of sin. That's why we have natural disasters. That's why we have storms. That's why we have animals that want to bite us and make us itch. Everything falls under the curse of sin. Sin has consequences, and it separates us from God.

But the good news was that these angels showed up in this little town of Bethlehem two thousand years ago to tell these shepherds watching over their sheep, "We bring you good news of great joy for all people." That the Prince of Peace was coming; he had come down into this world. For unto us, a child...

Is born. The prophecy of Isaiah chapter nine is fulfilled: "For unto us a child is born." That's good news, right?

Point number two on your outline is this: Christmas is and always will be the greatest offer of peace that God could give. Christmas is and always will be the greatest offer of peace God could ever give us. That's the Christmas story. We deserve punishment and separation from God. God determined from the very beginning to reconcile us with Himself, to restore a lost relationship, to restore what was lost in the garden by sin.

The story of Christmas is that God sent His only Son. God had formulated a plan—God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit had formulated a plan to save us. He initiated peace with us because we couldn't initiate peace with Him. Does that make sense? We were sinful and separated from Him. We had no rights to go before a holy and just God and say, "God, could you be at peace with us?" And He would respond, "Oh, that's impossible. I'm a holy God."

It's a profound mystery, Christmas, right? It really is. I hope you consider this more this week: the infinite God becoming finite. Where did Jesus come from? He came from heaven, from the right hand of God the Father. He came from heaven and put on flesh, becoming fully man. That means He understands all the aches and pains that we feel. He understands allergies and all the different things that we experience because He took on the fullness of humanity.

He understands emotions, fears, anxieties, sorrow, and tears. He cried when His cousin Lazarus died; He experienced everything that we experience. He took on the fullness of humanity. The Creator entered creation; the Holy One identified with broken humanity. It's a miracle of Christmas that Jesus was sent by God the Father to be born of the Virgin Mary, conceived of the Holy Spirit, being fully man yet fully God. The Prince of Peace came into our lives. That's the good news of Christmas.

We believe in a triune God: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit—distinct and yet all still equally God. In the beginning, God created a plan to reconcile Himself with us, His most precious creation, man and woman created in the image of God.

This is actually really important that we understand this. In our world today, they basically tell us that we are just a random chance, a clump of cells that just happen to be us. But God says, "No, there was a plan and a purpose. I put everything together; I knit you together in your mother's womb. I created you with a purpose. You are not an accident sitting before me today."

That's something that our youth needs to hear incredibly. They often think, "Man, I'm going through tough times, and I'm just a clump of cells. So really, what is life?" It's like nihilism, where they don't see any good in the future because of the challenges they're facing today. The Prince of Peace came to give you peace today. From the beginning, God created this plan to restore peace on earth in humanity. God the Son, the Prince of Peace, came in the flesh to save mankind from their sin.

It was necessary for Jesus to come as a child, as a baby, to be born under the law—the same law that we are all born under, the law of God. And guess what? None of us could live up to the law of God. All of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. We all deserve punishment from a holy and just God. We have a desire for justice in our lives, especially when we get cut off in traffic or when our car gets broken into. We want those responsible to be caught, right? Well, God has the same desire for justice with us. Sin is one day going to be judged, but when God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, into our world, it was not a judgment of the world; it was an offering of peace. He said, "I'm offering you peace by sending you the Prince of Peace."

Christ had to come in the flesh under the same law that we are so He could fulfill the law perfectly, living exactly according to the law of God. Every expectation that God had for us, every law that God had for us, Jesus Christ lived up to. Isn't that amazing? He didn't have anything imperfect about Him; He was perfect. He lived perfectly, and then He was sacrificed for our sins, bearing the punishment and the wrath of God on our behalf so we wouldn't have to experience that.

That's the good news of the Prince of Peace coming into this world. Jesus Himself came and said of Himself, "I came to do the will of God, the Father who sent me." Before He was put on the cross, He said, "Father, would you let this cup pass from me? But not my will, but Your will be done."

And I think, none of us could have done that. Only God, only Jesus could have done that. Only the Prince of Peace could have sacrificed Himself willingly on our behalf to restore peace—our peace with God—to reconcile our broken relationship with God. You see, if we want peace outwardly, we have to first have peace vertically. We first have to restore that peace with God. Jesus initiated that by coming on our behalf, and it was no small gesture.

God's ultimate offering of peace to us is the Prince of Peace. It was not a peace negotiated from a distance. It was not a peace imposed by power. It was a peace purchased by personal sacrifice. For unto us, a son is given. There are two parts to that prophecy that Isaiah spoke: For unto us, a child is born, meaning God was going to come as a child, born into humanity. Unto us, a son is given, indicating that God willingly gave up His only begotten Son, that whoever would believe in Him would not perish but have everlasting life. That's good news, amen?

The baby in the manger that we celebrate on Christmas is God's most definitive statement that He says, "I will come to you. I will come to you and offer you peace." Today, if you don't have peace with God, God is extending His offer of peace to you. "I will restore to you what was lost. I will bring you back to Myself." That's the greatest offer of peace that God could ever give. Notice why His name is Emmanuel, God with us. For God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son, that whoever would believe in Him would have everlasting life.

You might be asking a tough question now: "Well, Pastor Garrett, the Prince of Peace came 2,000 years ago in the baby Jesus. That sounds great, but I still lack peace today. What's going on with that?" This is a question that I've actually been getting quite a bit lately. It's interesting because I've been receiving calls and different youth asking me about this: How does a good God allow pain in our world? How does a good God allow us to suffer and to go through all of the turmoil and chaos that we experience because of sin?

There have been books written on this. C.S. Lewis wrote a whole book called The Problem of Pain. It is a real problem. What does that look like? Here’s what I want to encourage you with: Point number three on your outlines is this: Life with God is not immunity from difficulties.

But it is peace in them. It pains me to tell you this because I hate watching people suffer. I hate suffering myself. Everyone does. It's a tough pill to swallow.

In this world, Jesus says, "You will have trouble, but take heart, for I have overcome the world." These are the words of Jesus. Understanding Jesus Christ does not guarantee us a life without pain. I wish it did. It guarantees us an eternity without pain—an eternity where there will be no more shedding of tears, no more sorrow, no more pain, no more death, no more cancers, no more blindness. You name it; there will be no more pain.

The promise of God is something far more profound: He is going to enter into your life. The Prince of Peace is extending His offer of peace, which can restore inner peace in your life amidst the difficulties and storms that you face today. That's a profound offer of peace, right? It's not a temporary emotional high. It's not a removal of all challenges that we face in life. It's not a peace that is a promise of prosperity, health, wealth, or any of those things. No. This is an inner peace that surpasses all understanding and will guard your heart and your mind in Christ Jesus as you trust in Him.

It's a peace that is a deep inner calm, an unshakable confidence in God's goodness. It's a peace that will strengthen you to walk through the fire. Think about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the Old Testament, thrown into the fiery furnace. Do you think they were at peace when they were thrown, unwillingly, into this fiery furnace? Of course not. But guess who met them in there? Jesus, the Prince of Peace, in the midst of the fire.

How about Daniel, who was cast into the lion's den? There were consequences; Daniel was unjustly treated. Absolutely. He was thrown into the lion's den. Was he at peace? Absolutely. Because God was with him.

Is God with you? Is Emmanuel with us? Is the Prince of Peace in your heart and your life today? You see, the Prince of Peace desires to restore in you an inner peace. Isaiah the prophet in chapter 26 says, "You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind..."

Is stayed on you. One of the things I always tell our youth, especially, is that God cares about what you think about. It's important that we think about our thoughts. Our thought life really does matter. If you aren't thinking about what you're thinking about, you really should be. Why? Because when we think about all the things of this earth, it's anxiety-inducing and stress-inducing. It makes us depressed. There's too much bad in this world, and God says, "I want you to look on what is good, what is lovely, what is pure, what is joyful." I want you to fix your eyes on Jesus Christ, the author and perfecter of your faith.

Are your eyes fixed on Jesus? Is your mind fixed on Jesus today? He is the Prince of Peace who will guard your heart and guard your mind as you trust in Him. See, Jesus sent us this great helper when He ascended into heaven: the Holy Spirit. This is something we never had before—God with us, the Holy Spirit, who is going to be our helper. God restores in us a heart of flesh from a heart of stone. God makes all things new. That's what the Prince of Peace came to do: make all things new. He says, "I'm sending you this helper, and this helper is going to remake your heart. You're going to be reborn."

That's why we are called born-again Christians, because we are made new into a new life and we're given a new heart that can be a dwelling place for the Holy Spirit. Do you know that the Holy Spirit dwells in your heart today, Christian? Do you know that? The Prince of Peace sent His Holy Spirit to dwell in your heart. Jesus said this before facing the cross of Calvary in John chapter 14: "Peace I leave with you, peace I give to you. Not as the world gives, do I give. Let not your hearts be troubled, nor let them be afraid."

The Prince of Peace came to bring us peace, not as the world gives, but as God gives. The world's peace is circumstantial. It's like, "Well, my car's running great, my house is good, things are fine, my kids are healthy." That's a peace, but it's a temporary peace that doesn't solve all the inner turmoil in your life right now. Eventually, all the shiny things in this life fade away, and we're left with ourselves, wrestling with our own thoughts and our own hearts. God offers us a perfect peace.

You see, the Apostle Paul experienced that peace that surpasses understanding. In his life, he was on his way to persecute Christians in Damascus.

He was on his donkey when, all of a sudden, the Prince of Peace appeared to him in a bright shining light, knocking him off his donkey. The voice asked, "Why are you persecuting me?" He replied, "Well, sorry, Lord, I messed up." God radically transformed him, but he was made blind. He went into Damascus blind, and God restored his sight. This man, who was once persecuting Christians, became the one who wrote, I would say, two-thirds of our New Testament: Paul.

Was he exempt from the difficulties of life? No, absolutely not. He was shipwrecked multiple times and beaten for just sharing his faith. He was cast into prison multiple times unjustly. Does that sound like peace to you? Did Paul have peace, though? Yes, Paul had a peace that surpassed understanding because the peace that God gives is incomprehensible by the world's standards. It is impossible to comprehend. In fact, the Christian who is living a life of peace, because the Holy Spirit is living in us, reflects the Prince of Peace, the author and perfecter of our faith. People may ask, "How can you be at peace right now? Everything's going crazy." They don't understand it, and they can't until they have an interaction for themselves with the Prince of Peace.

In one of his letters, Paul wrote to the church of Philippi, saying, "Do not be anxious about anything. But in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace which surpasses understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

You see, when he says, "Do not be anxious about anything," it can feel impossible. Anxiety is part of the human condition, right? We might wonder, "How is that possible?" But in everything, not for everything, we are to make our requests known to God through prayer and supplication. There is a significant difference between "in" and "for."

We are to give thanks in everything, not for everything. Some Christians might ask, "How could I be thankful for these circumstances that I'm facing?" I would say, "You shouldn't be. It's awful. It's painful. It stinks." However, in every circumstance, you can find something to be thankful for. That is an inner calm that dominates your heart; that is the peace of God.

The very first martyr, the man who was killed for his faith, was named Stephen. We read about him in the New Testament, in the book of Acts.

After giving an incredible sermon to the spiritual leaders at the time, they didn't like it very much, but it was an incredible sermon nonetheless. They cast him out of the city and started stoning him. However, he had an inner peace that surpassed understanding. Instead of being upset and angry that these men, whom he probably knew from childhood, were stoning him and throwing him out, he looked up to heaven and said, "I can see God, the glory of God, opening up before me." He saw God the Father and God the Son sitting in heaven. He then said, "God, do not count this sin against them."

That is an inner peace that surpasses understanding. While being hit by rocks, he was able to say, "God, do not hold that against them." This peace comes from being in a right relationship with God; it is not a peace that this world has to offer. Jesus, as the Prince of Peace, brought peace to many people during His earthly ministry. Perhaps the Prince of Peace is extending His offer of peace to you.

He brought peace to the woman at the well, who had multiple husbands and wasn't even living with the man she was married to. He brought peace to lepers, men and women who had giant boils all over their bodies and were social outcasts. He brought peace to those who were demon-possessed by casting out the demons. He brought peace to tax collectors and sinners by eating and drinking with them. Remember Zacchaeus climbing a tree? Jesus said, "Hey, Zacchaeus, come on down. I'm going to eat in your house tonight."

God offers an invitation to you. He does not force His way into your life; He offers it freely and extends His hand of peace. Zacchaeus took it. Perhaps today you are not here by accident. You are not listening by accident, whether on a podcast or a video. God desires for you to have your own personal encounter right now with the Prince of Peace.

One of the books that I love is by Charles Spurgeon, titled "Life in Christ." We all struggle with life in Christ because it involves the practical aspects of living our lives as Christians. In this book, there is something that he wrote, and as I was studying for this passage, I kept remembering this text. He talks about the cup of peace and connects it with the first miracle of Jesus in Cana of Galilee. At this wedding feast, they ran out of wine, which was not good because it meant the couple would be ashamed. You don't run out of wine at a feast.

This is a party. They're celebrating a newlywed couple. Jesus' mom comes to him and says, "OK, let's get some pots. We're going to fill them up with water." Miraculously, at the end of this feast, he turns all of this water into the best wine. He saves the best for last.

Charles Spurgeon wrote in "Life in Christ," and I want to share it with you because I think it's really important. He says, "But as much as we may drink from the cup of peace, the good wine is kept until a future time. The peace we drink today is sprinkled with some drops of bitter. The cares of this world will come. The doubts will arise. No matter how we live in this world, we cannot escape anxiety and distress. Thorns in the flesh must come. But there remains, therefore, a rest for the people of God."

He is referring to Hebrews chapter four. It says, "What good wine that will be the rest for God." It states that God has a sun without spot, a sky without a cloud, and a world without a tear. Happy are they who have passed through this world, bathing their weary souls in the seas of heavenly rest. That's the kind of perfect peace that God offers us. It's an eternal peace of glory that we will experience with God for eternity.

There is this perfect peace that surpasses all understanding forever. In this world, you will have trouble, but take heart. On Christmas, we remember that the Prince of Peace came and overcame the world. Amen. It is a kind of peace that man has so desired.

Point four on your outlines is this: Only through Jesus can you experience peace with God and the peace of God. Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. Nobody comes to the Father except through me." Only through Jesus Christ can you experience peace with God and the peace of God.

There are two separate things: peace with God and the peace of God. What is peace with God? We were separated from God because we sinned. We broke His law and deserve punishment. We were criminals, essentially. We were rebels against God and enemies of God. This is an objective reconciliation where you stand before the judge, and he says, "Your crimes have been wiped clean. You are now no longer guilty." That is actually an amazing peace. If you simply turn to God and say, "God, I'm sorry," you can experience this peace.

I believe in your Son, Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace. Forgive me. Guess what? Your sins will be blotted out. They will be separated as far as the east is from the west. That's an amazing promise. Amen. That's an amazing promise that God gives us. Only through Jesus Christ can you experience that peace with God the Father.

It's an objective reconciliation. It's a legal removal of all guilt for your past sins. It's a restored relationship with your Creator. You are no longer enemies, but now children of God. That's an amazing thing that He says. I'm going to take you and transform you from being My enemies to now adopting you as My children. You are going to have an inheritance that's imperishable and lasts forever. You're going to get heaven. Right? That's amazing.

Not only that, but He says, "I'm going to give you an inner peace while you're here in this world." The peace of God that surpasses understanding. Now, what is the peace of God? We talked about peace with God. Peace with God is first and foremost the most important. You have to make peace with God before you can have the peace of God.

The peace of God is a subjective experience. It's something that's internal. It's that internal tranquility, internal calm, and internal harmony that you experience. Your hope is not in this world, but it's in Jesus Christ. It's that hope and harmony that you feel because your eyes are fixed on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. It's a calm that guards your hearts and guards your minds in Christ Jesus. It's a supernatural protection in life's storms, but not from life's storms.

You see, I asked at the beginning why the songwriters always connect peace to a river. "I've got peace like a river." Why like a river? Why not a lake? How many of you have been to rivers? I grew up going to the Colorado River. I'd go skiing and wakeboarding all the time. It was fun. Rivers don't stop. They keep flowing no matter how long you watch them. They don't run out of water. Guess what? God's peace never runs out.

God's peace never runs out for us. It keeps flowing. And guess what, Church? It's not supposed to stop with you. God's peace is not supposed to stop with you. It's supposed to flow through you to the world. You are now the hands and feet of Jesus that can extend that offer of peace to your friends, your family, your loved ones, your neighbors, and your co-workers. Are you willing to have that peace like a river in your souls? It's not a peace that stops with you, but a peace that flows through you.

So Jesus says, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God." Do you want to be a peacemaker today? Do you want to extend God's offer of peace today? God offers it to you if you've never received it before. The Prince of Peace stands before you today, not as a distant ruler, but as a loving Savior who understands your pains and anxieties. He understands your hopes and dreams. He offers restoration for what was lost. This is so important that we understand this. He offers you a peace that's beyond understanding, a personal inner peace. He offers you strength for your journey. He offers you complete reconciliation and peace with God. Will you receive that peace that came on Christmas morning?

I'm going to invite the worship team up. I'm going to read for us what Jesus says in John chapter 14. He says, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." The Prince of Peace, you cannot experience His peace unless you go through Him to God the Father.

You see, John chapter 3, verses 17 and 18 say, "For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him. Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God."

Let's pray. Lord Jesus, Prince of Peace, we welcome You this morning. I ask that You would come and restore our brokenness. Bring Your peace to our fragmented souls, our broken relationships, and our troubled world. We open our hearts to receive You this Christmas. We thank You for sending Your Prince of Peace.

And now may the peace of God, which surpasses understanding, guard our hearts and our minds as we trust in You. May that peace flow out of us into our world in need of peace. Amen.