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by: John Piper
Familiar and Happy Words of Christmas
“For unto you is born this
day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a
sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a
manger.’ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host
praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among
those with whom he is pleased!” — (Luke 2:11–14)
My great
desire for you this Christmas is that you enjoy this peace.
We know
that there are global aspects to this peace that lie in the future when the “earth will be filled with the knowledge of
the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea” (Habakkuk 2:14).
When, as
Isaiah says, “Of the increase of his
government and of peace there will be no end” (Isaiah 9:7).
The result of our faith in Christ
as the Savior is peace with God.
But Jesus
has come to inaugurate that peace among God’s people and to unveil the true joy
of Christmas.
There are
three relationships in which he wants you to pursue and enjoy this peace. Peace
with God. Peace with your own soul. And peace with other people.
Peace with God
The most
basic need we have is peace with God. This is foundational to all our pursuits
of peace.
If we
don’t go here first, all other experiences of peace will be superficial and
temporary.
The key
passage to have in mind is from Romans 5:1: “Therefore,
since we have been justified by faith [there’s the pivotal act of believing],
we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
And He
does that by faith alone, not by works. Not by tradition, or by baptism, but by
faith alone.
When we
believe in Jesus as the Savior and the Lord of our lives, we are united to Him,
and his righteousness is counted by God as ours, making us justified by faith.
The
result of our faith in Christ as the Savior is peace with God.
Our
sinful rebellion against Him is overcome, and He adopts us into His family.
From now
on all His dealings with us are for our good. He will never be against us - He
is our Father and our Friend.
Peace with Ourselves
Because
we have peace with God through being justified by faith, we can begin to grow
in the enjoyment of peace with ourselves, including any sense of guilt or
anxiety that tends to paralyze us or make us feel hopeless.
Philippians
4:6-7 is one of the most valuable passages in this regard: “Do not
be anxious about anything [the opposite of anxiety is peace], but in everything
by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to
God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your
hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
The
picture here is that our hearts and minds are under assault. Guilt, worries,
threats, confusions, uncertainties - they all threaten our peace.
But
God wants to “guard” our hearts and minds with his peace in a
way that goes beyond what human understanding can fathom.
Don’t
limit the peace of God by what your understanding can see.
This
Christmas, take your anxieties to God. Tell Him about them, and ask Him to help
you, protect you, and to restore your peace.
Then
you will be able to carry on, while God gets the glory for what you do because
you trusted Him.
Peace with Others
God also
wants us to enjoy his peace in our relationships with other people.
For many of you, when you get together with
family for Christmas, there will be some awkward and painful relationships.
Some of
the pain is very old, while some of it is new.
In some
relationships you know what you have to do, no matter how hard it is. And in
some of them you are baffled and don’t know what the path of peace calls for.
In both
cases, trust the promises of God with heartfelt awareness of how he forgave you
through Christ.
As
Ephesians 4:31-32 says, “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger
and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to
one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave
you.”
It
may be thrown back in your face. It certainly was thrown back in Jesus’s face
on the cross.
That
hurts, and it can make you bitter if you’re not careful - don’t let it. Keep
being more amazed that your wrongs are forgiven than that you are being
wronged.
Amazement of Peace with God
Continually
cultivate a sense of amazement that in spite of all your sins, God has forgiven
you through Christ.
It’s this
sense of amazement - the realization that I, a sinner, have peace with God
-that makes the heart tender, kind, and forgiving.
Be amazed that you have peace with God and
with your soul. Your guilt is taken away.
Keep
trusting God. He knows what He’s doing. Keep His glory - not your success or
your effectiveness in relationships - of supreme importance in your heart.
“For unto
you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the
Lord” (Luke 2:11).
This is why He came—on a day, to a city, as
the Savior, Messiah, and Sovereign, that God would get glory and that you would
know peace. May God
give you peace and get His glory this Christmas.
If you are seeking this peace that is offered by the Savior, Jesus Christ, pray to God that He would bless you with that gift this Christmas and every day:
God, thank you for providing a way for us to have peace with you and with others. I pray that you will forgive me for the things that I’ve done wrong. Increase my faith to trust in you and believe in the salvation that is offered through the death and resurrection of your Son, Jesus Christ. Please help me to live in a way that is honoring to you. Amen.
If you are seeking this peace that is offered by the Savior, Jesus Christ, pray to God that He would bless you with that gift this Christmas and every day:
God, thank you for providing a way for us to have peace with you and with others. I pray that you will forgive me for the things that I’ve done wrong. Increase my faith to trust in you and believe in the salvation that is offered through the death and resurrection of your Son, Jesus Christ. Please help me to live in a way that is honoring to you. Amen.
This article is adapted from the tract "The
Joy of Christmas" by John Piper.
John Piper (DTheol,
University of Munich) is the founder and teacher of desiringGod.org and the chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary. He served for thirty-three years as the senior pastor of Bethlehem
Baptist Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and is the author of more than fifty
books, including Desiring
God; Don’t Waste Your Life; This Momentary Marriage; A Peculiar Glory; and Reading the Bible Supernaturally.
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