Our Prince of Peace

And His name will be called
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.   Isaiah 9:6

Yesterday began the second Sunday in Advent to remind us that Jesus is our Prince of Peace. Jesus didn’t come just to bring peace to this earth, but to leave and give His peace as a gift to those who receive Him and His sacrifice. This can be seen in the phrase “And His name will  be called”, in the Hebrew it goes deeper than a title. The word name is shem it is descriptive of who the person is. It shows and describes a reputation and character of the person. It emphasizes Ephesians 2:14 that tells us that He Himself is our Peace.

Now more than ever we need to understand the difference between our God given peace and the peace that is of this world. The peace the world sees is superficial and dependent upon what is around us, our circumstances, the economy, who’s in power, how we feel, etc. Perhaps that’s why so many Christians along with the rest of the world become overwhelmed and upset when God doesn’t answer our prayers the way we think He should. Part of accepting Him as the our Prince of Peace is submitting to His will, for He knows all things from beginning to end. Realizing that by focusing on Him and who He is, then He will keep us in perfect peace when our minds are stayed on Him (Isaiah 26:3). For perfection is only found in God the Father, Jesus Christ Himself and His Holy Spirit.

As I prepared for yesterday’s sermon, I couldn’t help but think about how much this gift of peace was needed 83 years ago when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor unprovoked. The shock and utter disbelief at the horror of December 7, 1941  was encapsulated in the words of President Franklin Roosevelt, “a day that will live in infamy”. Our nation was not only thrown into WWII, but into chaos. Life was changed in an instant for the citizens of the United Sates, but through prayer and relying on God we came through it. And although we are a nation in chaos once again for different reasons, our Prince of Peace remains the same and through Him working in us, we can bring His peace into the darkness by sharing His light that can never be extinguished. A peace that the world may not understand, but once experienced will respond to.