Prince of Peace: Say “YES” to HIM - Advent part 3 of 4

Nahum 1:15 says:

“Behold, on the mountains the feet of him who brings good news, Who announces peace! Celebrate your feasts, O Judah; Pay your vows. For never again will the wicked one pass through you; He is cut off completely.” (NIV)

Jesus, the Messiah, came to announce peace to all who would say yes to Him. Nahum, writing in the 7th century BC shows us in this passage that the Messiah (the bringer of Good news and announcer of peace) will achieve this by cutting off the authority of Satan from those who are in His care. That is exactly what Jesus did with His death on the cross, descent into hell, and His resurrection on Easter Sunday! Jesus now holds the keys of power over life and death- thus we can truly know peace through our relationship with Him.

In 1954 the retired Queen of the Netherlands (then known as Princess Wilhelmina) penned a letter calling for attendance at a gathering of churches hoping to bring about more unity in the body of Christ. She said in part:

“It is the intention of the churches to put the preaching of the Prince of Peace at the center. This is the confrontation of the condition of man and of the world with Christ; an accounting of the distance which man, misled by the powers of darkness, has himself put between the community and the Prince of Peace, a distance which gets steadily greater with one evil giving birth to another, bringing within the range of our vision the self-annihilation of the human race as the ultimate possibility. May this accounting lead to a living conviction that a free turning to the Prince of Peace “from the heart” is the only way if we are to be set clear of the terrible course of events. It requires courage to view one’s self and the world’s situation as the Prince of Peace views it, seeing it as it were through His eyes. God give the delegates to Easton and many others this courage, thus putting their feet on the first step that leads to peace which is offered us by the Prince of Peace, and which must permeate all of life.”     

Although Wilhelmina’s writings are really for the world issues- we will talk about in a later series- I would make a point of saying her impassioned plea that each of us seek out the Prince of Peace with our whole heart is the key to revitalizing our personal faith, and through that rebirth the faith and peace in our lives, families, congregations, communities, and for the hope of mankind.

Prayer: Dear Lord of Hosts and Prince of Peace, grant me the desire to seek out a relationship with YOU - so deep that my heart will be filled with the need to cling to YOU ALL the days of my life. Help me grow in Your peace so that I may make the world around ME a place more Pleasing to the Father. Thank you for for the gift of Your Son, Jesus. In HIS name I ask YOU these things, Amen.