Christmas is God’s great quest for peace …

One thing most highly prized among human beings around the world is peace.

So few seem to have any sense of “peace of mind” that Duke University conducted a study in an attempt to discover what contributes to mental stability — peace of mind. Following are the conclusions drawn from the study:

1. The absence of suspicion and resentment. Nursing a grudge was a major factor in unhappiness.

2. Not living in the past. An unwholesome preoccupation with old mistakes and failures leads to depression.

3. Not wasting time and energy fighting conditions you cannot change. Cooperate with life, instead of trying to run away from it.

4. Force yourself to stay involved with the living world. Resist the temptation to withdraw and become reclusive during periods of emotional stress.

5. Refuse to indulge in self-pity when life hands you a raw deal. Accept the fact that nobody gets through life without some sorrow and misfortune.

6. Cultivate the old-fashioned virtues — love, humor, compassion, and loyalty.

7. Do not expect too much of yourself. When there is too wide a gap between self-expectation and your ability to meet the goals you have set, feelings of inadequacy are inevitable.

8. Find something bigger than yourself to believe in. Self-centered, egotistical people score lowest in any test for measuring happiness.

That’s not a bad list of recommendations, but’s it’s more reactionary to a loss of peace, and none of the recommendations really resolve our original loss of peace. Missing in this study is the understanding that it is humanity’s choice for sin that has shattered our peace, and we’re completely unable to repair the damage done.

That’s why there’s Christmas.

Christmas is God’s great quest to restore peace! Peace with God, peace with ourselves, and peace with others. Listen to the announcement from the angel who would herald the great news that first Christmas night. Peace was a primary part of God’s agenda …

“That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, but the angel reassured them. ‘Don’t be afraid!’ he said. ‘I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. The Savior — yes, the Messiah, the Lord — has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.’ Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others — the armies of heaven—praising God and saying …” (Luke 2:8-13).

“Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.” – Luke 2:14.

Our dive into sin destroyed our peace with God, making us enemies of the very One who created us. But God, in His great desire to reconcile us to Himself once again, sent His Son to provide the only way to restore our broken relationship with Him …

“But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children,” Galatians 4:4-5.

“But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners … For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son,” Romans 5:8, 10.

“And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation,” 2 Corinthians 5:18-19.

It is through the gift of Christ that we have been reconciled to God; we who once were enemies are now not only friends of God, but adopted into His family as His very own children! Jesus has accomplished everything necessary for us to have peace with God, there’s nothing we can do to attain peace on our own. R.B. Quellette highlights this fact in a story he shares in “The Pulling Down of Strongholds”:

A young man was eager to grow in His Christian life. He got a piece of paper and made a list of all the things he would do for God. He wrote down the things he would give up, the places he would go to minister and the areas of ministry he would enter. He was excited. He took that list to the church and put it on the altar.

He thought he would feel joy, but instead he felt empty. So he went home and started adding to his list. He wrote down more things he would do and wouldn’t do. He took the longer list and put it on the altar, but still he felt nothing.

He went to a wise, old pastor, told him the situation and asked for help. The pastor said, “Take a blank sheet of paper. Sign your name at the bottom. Put that on the altar.” The young man did, and then peace came to his heart.

Christmas is God’s great quest for peace, which He has provided through the gift of His Son. All we can do to access this reconciliation to God that brings peace is receive God’s gift in humility and offer our lives fully surrendered to Him.

May you be blessed with a joyous Christmas season!

Scotty