Word of Salvation – Vol.26b No.52 – September 1981
The Promise Of Peace
Sermon by Rev. D.J. van Garderen on Micah 5:5a
“And he will be their peace….!”
Scripture Reading: Ephesians 2:11-22, Micah: 5:1-15.
Dear congregation,
The most precious possession, surpassing in value all the treasures of this world, is true and lasting peace. What good is wealth without peace in which to enjoy it? What good is perfect health without peace in which to flex your muscles freely and without restraint?
Surely peace is the pearl of great price.
I think it is true to say that every human being, young and old, past and present, knows something of what it means to really crave for peace. Peace within ourselves and with ourselves we all desire. We crave for peace in a home situation so often gashed and torn by endless bickering and fighting between husband and wife, parents and children, children amongst themselves. How often haven’t you heard or perhaps shouted in exasperation and despair: “O for some real peace and harmony in this household!”
Peace in this world…… what a dream it would be to see the threat of nuclear carnage, of endless border skirmishes, and bickering between rival politicians and nations come to an end. What peace it would be if the gnawing hunger of empty bellies could be stilled by means of a just distribution of wealth, food and resources.
Is it not true that life, apart from brief interludes which flash by in an instant, is in a constant state of turmoil and conflict? This is so within ourselves, in our immediate circle of friends and acquaintances as well as on a global scale.
Wars and rumours of wars seem to accentuate and bring into ever sharper focus this longing for peace. It does so today in war-torn countries. It does so in countries like Poland, or across Europe where the deep dread of becoming a pawn in a game of deadly nuclear politics is a terrifyingly real threat.
It did so in the past as well.
Consider chapter 5 of the prophecy of Micah. It was given about 740 years before the birth of Christ against a background of great fear and dread. The Assyrians were marching ever closer to the Promised Land, and the destruction left in the wake of this army defied description. Blackened cities, mindless slaughter and a carnage which defied the imagination was everywhere.
Micah confirmed that the Assyrians would surely come and destroy Samaria in the North and, although Jerusalem might escape by the skin of its proverbial teeth, its moment of reckoning, the outpouring of God’s wrath, would surely come!
But the faithful remnant heard a message of hope too. They heard of the destruction but, by grace, were given a glimpse of the future that lay beyond the marching feet of the Assyrian armies. This glimpse of a glorious future gave them HOPE in the midst of the horror of war. It gave them HOPE of a future age of PEACE!
The age of peace, or, the “age of the child” who would be born of a virgin, a child called “Emmanuel” would come. The age of a child who would also be called: “Prince of Peace.” was predicted by Isaiah.
Of this Prince of Peace, Isaiah, who lived at the same time as Micah, had prophesied:
“Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his Kingdom, establishing it and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.” (Isa.9:7)
Micah, as we discover in Micah 5, prophesied in a very similar vein. Messiah, Israel’s hope and consolation, will sprout forth like a righteous branch from Bethlehem Ephrathah. He, the Messianic King whose glory exceeds that of even the mightiest of men, (for his origin is from of old, from ancient days) will come and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord and in the majesty of the name of the Lord. Messiah will create a kingdom in which all citizens will dwell securely, for his dominion will stretch to the uttermost ends of the earth.
AND… “He (Messiah) will be their peace..!’
The climax of the prophecy about Messiah and his kingdom is the promise of peace!
The remaining sections of Micah 5 spell out the terms and content of the peace of the messianic age. It does so in and using the imagery of Micah’s own day. But although the imagery is dated, the promise of peace is timeless and rings like the chiming of a heavenly gong for God’s children of all ages.
Micah, inspired of God, announces:
- Messiah will, by means of his power, exalt the children of God as he arises to defend the nation and give it great power. Power to withstand the attacks of the world (Assyrians) (5b, 6) is promised.
- The people will be exalted and able in their strength to destroy, to take the offensive against the nations who threaten their peace. (7-9)
- Messiah’s kingdom under Divine rule, will be filled with glory and greatness. All the materials of war, everything of an idolatrous nature, will be utterly exterminated. Thus shall even the possibility of future war come to an end.
Messiah brings peace…. peace which can never be taken away or distorted.
In the year 740BC this promise, this hope of peace must have truly been an inspiring one for the children of God as they trembled in dread before the might of the Assyrian hordes.
- CHRIST OUR PEACE?
And it came to pass that some 2,000 years ago the promise contained in Micah’s prophecy was fulfilled. Jesus was born in a stable in Bethlehem. Angels sang with lusty voices and with great joy: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men upon whom His favour rests.” (Luke 2:14)”. The Prince of Peace has come! He who will be the peace of Israel, of God’s people, has come!
Jesus came….. but did PEACE? Is there any more peace today than there was in Micah’s day and age? Our Lord once said: “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.” (Matt.18:34).
The Prince of Peace bearing a sword, arousing cold fury and a blind, mindless hatred that caused crowds to cry: “Crucify him!”? Is this peace? The Prince of Peace establishing a kingdom in which millions of its citizens suffer persecution in which there is endless bickering, strife and division? Is that peace?
What peace has the coming of Messiah actually brought? What is the peace which citizens of his kingdom enjoy?
- THE PEACE THAT HAS COME!
One the one hand……. great peace! Glorious and everlasting peace!
In his letter to the Ephesians, the apostle Paul describes this peace when he writes:
“For he himself (Christ) IS our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility….. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by the one Spirit.” (Eph.2:14,17, 18).
The theme here is a grand one. Paul speaks of the former age, that is, before Christ’s birth, death and resurrection – before the kingdom. This had been a time of division and disruption between man and God, man and man. Division that bred hatred, mistrust fear, alienation, frustration and war! No peace. The division had been all too visible between Jews and Jews, Jews and Gentiles, every creature in disharmony with every other and with the Creator Himself!
Then came Christ…… the destroyer of the barrier and the dividing wall of hostility. He preached healing. He renewed the hearts of his chosen flock. He created faith within. He reconciled the sinner with God by fulfilling the commandments in His life and paying the price of sin in His death on Calvary.
He became OUR peace….. because the life He lived and the death He died was in our place, as our substitute. In Him we lived and so fulfilled the law of God. In Him we died and so paid the price of all our sin and guilt. He now reigns in heaven…. the king! And He now reigns in our hearts, the Lord of our lives! He brought peace….. with God! He brought and became our peace….. the sting and victory of death has been broken once for all! He brought peace between us as he cemented us together as a family of believers, a fellowship of faith in Him!
Hail the heaven-born Prince of Peace!
Jew and Gentile….. no longer foreigners in the Kingdom of Christ. Jews and Gentiles, sharing the same citizenship and blessings of that citizenship! The walls broke down and peace became real.
We may indeed join the angelic chorus! “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men upon whom His favour rests!” Micah’s promise IS real: “He WILL BE their peace!” The seal of this is received in our celebration of the Lord’s Supper, the seal of our participation in the death and resurrection of Christ confirms our peace.
- THE PEACE TO COME:
If on the one hand He has indeed become our peace, there is, on the other hand, still much that is missing!
Our peace as a small community of believers in an indifferent and even hostile world is but the beginning, a bud that is still awaiting the heat of the summer in order to burst into full bloom. We have the first-fruits, a taste of the peace to come.
The faithful who heard Micah’s divinely given promise of peace which would be wrought by means of the power and glory of Messiah hoped for the promise. For them it was one hundred percent in the future.
For us the promise has IN PART become a reality. We are, by grace, the redeemed of the Lord. By faith we have tasted and found that the grace of the Lord is food indeed! We have peace within. We have the beginnings of real peace with ourselves. The dread of death, illness, of pain and hurt IS still there. But it is NOT victorious anymore! Death has been swallowed up in victory and even through a vale of tears we know this.
Peace is possible now with those whom we love. As those who are forgiven and washed in Christ’s blood, it is now possible to forgive as Christ has forgiven us. That brings and creates peace.
But the other part of this promise of peace…. Nations being conquered, ploughs instead of swords, the lion laying down with the lamb, the destruction of idols, and the ultimate and final eradication of evil and sin from the entire face of the earth….. THAT is still TO COME!
I sometimes wonder just how well we understand or perhaps of how much we think of this peace which is to come. Do you hunger for it?
Picture the small boy eating his vegetables and finding them anything but to his liking. “I hate broad-beans mum!” he moans. “If you eat them son, then you’ll get some ice-cream for dessert!” “I don’t want ice-cream mum!” At this point of the battle mother introduces a very clever bit of strategy. She opens the ice-cream container, dips in the end of a dessert ‘spoon and lets junior sample the ice-cream! Eyes light up. Yes, he wants it! “But first eat your broad-beans!” And then, you’ve guessed it, with much heaving, the broad-beans were consumed. The hope of ice-cream, especially once sampled, made even yukky vegies a worthwhile form of martyrdom.
Brothers and sisters, unlike Micah’s contemporaries we have sampled true peace, the peace Messiah brings. Christ is in us and we KNOW the wonder of the grace of salvation. We’ve sampled the ice-cream. We have tasted peace!
‘Know something? Need you be reminded that there is still so much more to come? The beginnings of the fulfilment of Christ’s promise has been given to you: Growth in grace; Drawing ever nearer to Him; A working out of our salvation with fear and trembling; Putting the past behind us and running the race with perseverance growing all the while. You are a possessor of the peace of Christ. But the joy of peace in you must grow.
I ask you… Is it?
There is so much more growth in peace needed by us. We need peace within our families, within the family of the congregation. IS there peace within you, enough peace to make you one of the blessed? Do you show it? “Blessed are the peace-makers, for they will be called sons of God.” (Matt 5:9). I ask you… Are you?
What of our task in the community, in the nation, and even on a global level?
The little bit of yeast that makes the whole loaf rise – or the salt of the earth – does that characterize you? What struggle, what kind of contribution do we as believers really make towards peace on this earth?
Having tasted the ice-cream….. are not the broad-beans, the insults and the heaping of burning coals upon our heads, worth the promise of the peace which Christ proclaimed and promised? I ask you ……. Are you committed to this?
Finally, we know that true and lasting peace will come in its fullness when our Lord returns. We look forward to that sound of the trumpet, the cry of command and Christ’s return on the clouds of heaven.
THAT… will be our peace indeed. Besides the battle for peace we have the same hope that Micah’s contemporaries had. The fullness is still in the future, a glorious tomorrow that must still dawn.
We have tasted this peace and found in it something marvellous.
Let us rejoice in it. Shout believer for peace has come!
Let us strive for it. Work believer for peace must increase.
Let us pray for it. Pray believer, for our Lord will return to make all things new.
It will be new in such a way that all is peace for evermore!
Amen.