Peace on Earth

This past Sunday, an interesting lesson was shared.  Our Sunday School (SS), aka Life Group, teacher threw out the idea of Peace on Earth.  What does that mean, he questioned.

You see it on Christmas cards, you hear people talk about it, but have you ever really thought about what Peace on Earth would literally look like, and/or mean?

Interesting. 

We looked at three versus.

1) Luke 2:8-14
2) Isaiah 9:6-7
3) Luke 12:49-51

1) Luke 2:8-14 (New International Version, ©2010)

 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 favor rests.”

2) Isaiah 9:6-7 (New International Version, ©2010)

⁶ For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
⁷ Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.

3) Luke 12:49-51 (New International Version, ©2010) 
Not Peace but Division - this is Jesus speaking
    ⁴⁹ “I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! ⁵⁰ But I have a baptism to undergo, and what constraint I am under until it is completed! ⁵¹ Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division.

If you're like me, and some others in our class, reading the first two versus was kind of like, yada yada yada, yes, Christ was born and there was peace on earth - we've heard it a hundred times.  But the third verse was like a record screeching to a halt.  (Wish I could type that sound).  Also, in no way am I saying the birth of Christ was old news, just that we've heard those versus so many times, we naturally do the 'peace on earth, good will to men' out of habit.


If you look more closely:
Verse 1: Christ was born, the angels said do not fear, there will be peace on earth to whom his favor rests.
Verse 2: Foreshadows Christ's birth; there will be no end to HIS peace
Verse 3: Jesus says "you think I came to GRANT peace on earth? No, rather division."


SO, what in the world was Jesus talking about in the third verse???

When there isn't peace in your life, that typically means you aren't willing to surrender.  It's a struggle and a conflict to surrender things you may be dealing with.  Things you want to handle on your own.  And it will always be a struggle, because we're human.  Also, when we do start having a good, close relationship with God, beware of pride coming in to trip you. 

David, our teacher, said to think about all of the peace treaties in world history.  He asked if we could think of one, where one side did not surrender in some way.  There was only one - the peace treaty between North and South Korea.  No one actually surrendered, thus there being no actual peace between the two today.

If you want peace in your life, you must continually surrender, every day.  And for those uncomfortable with the term 'surrender' - don't look at it as a power struggle.  Look at surrendering things as a relief.  There are very stressful, consuming situations in my life, that I breathe a sigh of relief over, when I surrender them over to God to handle.  It's lightening.  

So, mabye what Jesus was saying in the 3rd verse was that achieving individual peace, would cause division.  It may cause conflict internally for you, and it may cause division with our culture, or a group of people, or other circles and relationships in your life.  

So when you hear Peace on Earth, instead of thinking how nice that sounds, and how wonderful that would be, look inward and see where you can make room to receive the peace Christ can give you.

Disclaimer: I do not claim these thoughts to be my own entirely.  Most borrowed from said SS lesson.  Attributed to David Ummel.