Eternal Peace

Isaiah 9:6-7

Verse 7  Of the greatness of His government and peace there will be no end.  He will reign on David’s throne and over His kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever.  The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.

    A prince isn’t generally a nomad.  He would have a kingdom and have responsibilities in that kingdom.  It is no different with the Prince of Peace.  He is the Prince of the Kingdom of God and that means His responsibilities are within that kingdom.

    This is a kingdom without end and therefore as we reflect on His peace we have to know that His peaceful kingdom is eternal.  That is something to remember as we spend some time talking about the gift of peace.

    As we mentioned yesterday, there are many who try to seek the peace this world offers.  Many have tried these varying methods and found a superficial peace.  These forms of peace don’t last long and one either has to keep working at the discipline or find the next new thing that will feed their desire for peace for a while.  It is like a drug whose effects wear off after a little while and the user has to find their next fix.

    The peace that Jesus gives isn’t like that.  When He gives the peace of Himself, it isn’t for a time, it is for all of eternity, because the peace He gives is of Himself and He is eternal.  Having the peace of Christ isn’t about feeling good about life here on earth, it is about our relationship with the Prince of God’s kingdom.

    When He is our main focus, the things of earth will not hold the value that they do now.  The fact is that the things that steal our peace are the very things the world says we should strive for.  If we don’t have                               (fill in the blank), we don’t have all we deserve.  The truth is that we have true peace in Christ because we aren’t receiving what we all deserve – death because of our sins.  So the next time we are struggling with a lack of peace, we need to examine our hearts and see what we are seeking instead of God.

Making It Personal

    What area of your life are you lacking peace?  Why do you think you are struggling there?  What do you need to do to change your perspective?

Making It Personal Kids

    What things stress you out?  Why do you think that brings you stress?  How can you focus on Jesus instead of that stressful thing?

Closing Prayer

    Father, thank You for giving us the gift of eternal peace.  Help us to identify and acknowledge the places we have stress because we have lost our focus on You.  In Jesus’ name, amen.