38. Rise of the Great Light (5)
Hymn: 507 Come Unto Me With Your Heavy Load 334 Sweet Peace, the Gift of God’s Love 115 Constantly Abiding
Isaiah 9:6-7
6 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, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.
Rise of the Great Light (5)
OUTLINE
(1) Light in Midst of Darkness (v1-2)
(2) Deliverance and Peace (v3-5)
(3) Coming of God’s Son (v6-7)
Continue…
6 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, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
The word “peace” means “tranquillity, a state of restful calm”. It expresses the sense of tranquillity, a state of calm without anxiety or stress.
The first usage of the word “peace” is used to describe godly people as was described of Abraham in Genesis 15:15 (KJV) And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age.
“Peace” is identified as a fruit of righteousness in the lives of God’s people (Isaiah 32:17).
Isaiah 32:17 (KJV) And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever.
And as a specific blessing from God (Psalm 29:11; 85:8; Proverbs 3:17; Isaiah 52:7).
Psalm 29:11 (KJV) The LORD will give strength unto his people; the LORD will bless his people with peace.
Psalm 85:8 (KJV) I will hear what God the LORD will speak: for he will speak peace unto his people, and to his saints: but let them not turn again to folly.
Proverbs 3:17 (KJV) Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.
Isaiah 52:7 (KJV) How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!
And the Source of this peace is in the LORD Himself. Isaiah is showing us that the LORD is manifesting Himself to be with us (Immanuel) in the incarnation – Isaiah 7:14 (KJV) Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
He is called the Prince of Peace. Isaiah was developing the theme that true peace and prosperity comes when the Prince of Peace rules in the hearts of His people!
As we survey the world around us and in human history, this world has failed to secure that most elusive commodity called “peace”. The dictionary meaning of “peace” describes the normal, non-warring condition of a nation, group of nations or the world, a state of mutual harmony between people or groups, especially in personal relations and the normal freedom from civil commotion and violence of a community.
Peace is described a state of tranquillity and serenity, a state or condition conducive to, proceeding from, or characterized by tranquillity. This world has yet seen true peace. War characterizes all the history of mankind.
When God created the earth, it was to be a peaceful paradise. But Adam forfeited the harmony when he sinned. One writer put it succinctly that Adam’s sin “was like a declaration of war against God’s right to rule His own creation. It broke the peace of Eden. Adam’s rebellion against God had disastrous long-range effects. It set the entire human race at enmity with God. All the evils that disrupt the peacefulness of our earthly existence stem from the curse of sin that began with Adam. Redemption history is the long saga of how God Himself intervenes to save the human race from its own sin, overthrow evil and restore peace to His creation.” It is sin that plunged all humanity into animosity and perpetual war. It is the result of the inherent sin nature, that fallen nature, descended from Adam.”
Galatians 5:19-21 is given to us the manifestation of this fallen nature, “19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, 20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, 21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.” Gal. 5:19-21 (KJV)
There can be no true peace for mankind plagued by this inalienable disease called sin or what Apostle Paul called “the works of the flesh”.
The carnal man does not know true peace, Romans 3:17 “And the way of peace have they [unregenerate men] not known.” (Italics added)
The word “peace” comes from the Greek verb eirō which means “to join” and the noun eirēnē refers to “the things joined together”. To make peace, therefore, means “to join together that which is separated”.
What Isaiah is saying is that the Messiah that will come will be the Giver of true peace!
Recall the scene of the Lord’s birth in Luke 2:8-21 (KJV) And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, 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, good will toward men. And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them. And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was called JESUS, which was so named of the angel before he was conceived in the womb.
Why is He called “the prince of peace”. Jesus Christ Himself is our peace (Eph. 2:14).
Ephesians 2:14 (KJV) For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;
Ephesians 2:15-17 (KJV) Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh.
By His atoning work on the cross, the shedding of His blood gives us reconciliation with God (Eph. 2:13).
Ephesians 2:13 (KJV) But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.
Jesus abolished our enmity with God in the flesh (Eph. 2:15) to make us a new man through faith in Christ’s finished work on the cross (Rom. 5:1).
Romans 5:1 (KJV) Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
This is the peace of sins forgiven, reconciliation with God when we come in humble repentance confessing our sins.
Being himself reconciled to God, the Christian is the channel through which the good news of salvation is brought to the lost, separated from God as a result of sin! [Wuest, Volume 1]
The starting point for true biblical peace is peace with God through Christ. It comes as positional holiness to one who has accepted Jesus Christ by faith for His atoning work on the cross for our sins (Rom. 5:1). This is what is called a state of reconciliation with God (Friberg Lexicon) for one who accepts the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit indwells such a person and he/she experiences a new birth.
This salvation for sinners is solely by grace, the unmerited or undeserved favour of God. Grace expresses the cause, God’s gracious work, and peace, the effect of the work. The grace of God that brings salvation effects peace between them and God, and that same grace enables believers to live peaceably with one another (Gal. 1:3) [Adapted from Ephesians, Harold W. Hoehner, 150].
This peace, therefore, speaks of the reconciliation between man and God that has been broken as a result of sin!
That is the climax of Christ’s coming, the work of redemption that only He can accomplish! No angel, no man, not the Father but the Son will accomplish this work of bringing true peace on earth.
We can observe that holiness is an essential prerequisite of true, real, lasting peace with God. We have discussed at length the tug-of-war between the nature of sin and the new nature existing as long as we are in this fleshly body. A holy life that will bring the fruit of peace is the teaching of Apostle Paul in Galatians 5.
This “peace” goes beyond the positional holiness of the Christian. It manifests itself when the Christian is not again entangled with the “yoke of bondage”, which is the “works of the flesh”, described by Apostle Paul in Gal. 5:19-21 by walking under the control of the Holy Spirit.
True peace comes with true holiness. Peace is a blessing of which God alone is the Author. It is a gift of the Holy Spirit. It is a gift that God desires to impart to all His people, but which He is often unable to grant because of their sins. There can be no peace with the wicked. Those who hope for it, while continuing in their iniquity, are self-deceived.
True peace is given by God. First, seek peace with God and then see how God blesses us with harmony, concord or peace among brethren. This is only possible when the Christian put away sin and live in holiness.
7 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.
This verse gives the period of time spanning Christ’s First Coming to His Second Coming.
Christ shall sit on the throne of David, ruling from Jerusalem when He would defeat the kingdom of the Antichrist and establish His millennia (1000 year) rule on earth.
This will be the time when there will be true peace on Earth. Christ returns to establish His rule on earth for 1000 years, called the Millennium after the Battle of Armageddon. Satan will be bound in the bottomless pit for 1000 years!
He will rule with true justice according to the laws of God perfectly!
Revelation 20:1-6 (KJV) And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season. And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.
Just a peek into Isaiah 11 to help us to see the peaceful reign of Christ on earth.
Isaiah 11:1-10 (KJV) And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD; And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins. The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’ den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea. And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious.
Recall this chart in our church camp in 2014 on the Millennium.
