Tuesday, December 22, 2015

Christmas Brings Us Peace with God

“Behold, the virgin shall become pregnant and give birth to a Son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel — which, when translated, means, God with us.”  Matthew 1:23, AMP
One of the best gifts Christmas gives us is the gift of peace. This is one of the key themes, isn’t it? “Peace on earth, good will toward all.” Christ is the Prince of Peace. He comes to visit and redeem His people...and to guide our feet into the way of peace...That’s the way the Bible puts it. That’s the way it works. Christmas is the dramatic reminder that Christ came into this world to redeem us and to bring peace to our troubled souls. If in faith we will accept it, Christmas has a great gift for us — the Gift of Peace.
Christmas Brings Us Peace with God
That’s the starting place because that is indeed what Christmas is all about. Jesus Christ came into this world to set us right with God. Jesus Christ came into the world to save us and to bring us back to God.
What is it that brings us Peace with God?  FORGIVENESS! Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God.  Romans 5:1-2 
This is the only way we can have the peace of Christmas. The only way is to let the Christ of Christmas bring us back to the Father who loves us and set us right with the One who made us.  The first step toward the peace of Christmas is to receive the forgiveness of God.
Christmas Brings Us Peace with Ourselves  
The only way we can be at peace with ourselves is to welcome the Prince of Peace into our hearts and lives and receive the forgiveness that He offers. The only way we can be right with ourselves is to be made right by Him.
Guilt is the realization that something that I have done or am doing is separating me from another or hurting another or myself and must be removed for the relationship to be healed. If our lives are full of Guilt it can lead to anxiety, pressure, and weakness, leaving no room for peace. We must accept His gift of forgiveness in order to receive His gift of peace. 
Christmas Brings Us Peace with Others.
God is a peace-loving God, and a peace-making God. The whole history of redemption, including the birth of Christ and His death and resurrection, is God's strategy to bring about peace between man and himself, and then between man and man. The whole history of redemption, including the birth of Christ and His death and resurrection, is God's strategy to bring about peace between man and himself, and then between man and man.
What will bring you peace with others?  FORGIVENESS! Christmas offers us the gift of peace within and the gift of peace with others, but we have to accept the gifts.  If you want to have a “peace-full” Christmas, go in the spirit of love and fix those broken relationships in your life. God comes to us in the Christ Child so that we might be set right with God, set right with ourselves, and set right with other people. Isn’t that exactly what the Christmas message is about? The world is broken into many fragments, as are our lives, and God stoops down beside us and helps us pick up the pieces and put them all back together again. That’s what that word Emmanuel means in our text. God with us! God comes in the Christ Child to seek and save the lost. That’s what Christmas is all about.   
Scripture to Claim:
Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation. Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men. If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. Romans 12:16-18

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