‘Peace on Earth’: The Overlooked Promise of Christmas

via believersportal.com

One of the familiar words that typically surround the Christmas season is “peace.” We see it on billboards, lit up in twinkling lights, and on charms worn around necks.

Yet, with so many who pray for peace this time of year, why does it seem like peace always eludes us?

For Christians, this season is of extreme importance as we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, the Savior who rescued humanity from our sins and healed our brokenness. One of the central promises associated with the birth of Christ is the hope and expectation of peace on earth. In an era filled with conflict – conflict between nations and conflict even within our own homes – the message of peace that Jesus gives should certainly bring a message of hope for all families and communities.

There are different kinds of peace Christ offers us. In fact, the Hebrew word “shalom,” translated as “peace” in the English language, appears 550 times throughout Scripture.

There is peace characterized by the absence of conflict. This is a peace the prophets predicted for the world when the nations “will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks” (Isaiah 2:4). This will happen only when Jesus, the Prince of Peace, returns to His eternal kingdom.