Hope and Peace

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” Luke 2:14

This is the time of year when we see so much commercial interpretation of what Christmas is all about. You see people living together in harmony, thoughtfully sharing gifts with each other, and visiting family and friends. You see cards and ornaments and wrapping paper with words like “hope” and “peace” on them. But do people truly understand why those words are associated with Christmas? They seem to think that the world itself is going to suddenly grasp one another’s hands and start singing in a circle and be happy neighbors and friends with no strife. But that is really not true. As long as we live on this earth, we will always have strife and trouble because Satan rules here. He is the “prince of this world” (John 12:31).

The hope and peace for which each person longs is found in our hearts and minds through Jesus. When that little baby was born in Bethlehem over 2,000 years ago, He alone brought hope and peace. Not through His presence here on earth, but through the promise that was fulfilled by His presence. Isaiah 9 says “for unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace” (6). The promise is that if we would trust in God and seek Him alone, we would be given that hope and peace. God is in us by the filling of the Holy Spirit, God is for us because He created us out of love never to be harmed, and God is with us through Christ, our Emmanuel. So our hope is found in Jesus through eternal life and our peace is inside by the filling of the Holy Spirit. Of course it would be wonderful if the world could all “just get along” and be peaceful like the beauty queen wishes of the pageants, but as long as the devil remains and we are broken and sinful, that will never happen.

My prayer is that each person who longs to understand the true meaning of Christmas and the peace and hope that accompany it will come to know Jesus Christ, the author of this season. May the hope for the future that He brings to fulfillment, and the peace that surpasses all understanding (Phil 4:7) be found by every single person. The gifts are nice but they will be forgotten or wear out. The seasonal happiness is great, but it will fade with the coming of the new year and the bills that follow. But the joy of the knowledge of Jesus Christ is the greatest gift that we have ever been given, by our Father Himself, and it remains for all eternity.