Christmas Advent Devotional Day 7: Prince of Peace

 

 Isaiah 9:6

⁶ For Unto us a Child is born,

Unto us a Son is given;

And the government will be upon His shoulder.

And His name will be called

Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,

Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. (NKJV, emphasis mine)

 

Do you know how astonishing this is? A Child that is to be born unto mankind... 

A Son given to us... 

A King!  But not just a King.  The Mighty God! The King of Kings and the Lord of Lords!

Wait. What??!

For a minute forget your days in Sunday School and mornings on church pews.  See this for the first time! How could someone born from a human be Mighty God? It is simply impossible!  In the natural, at least. But God, the Ancient of Days, and Jesus who was- and is- the Word that spoke all things into existence, was coming to Earth! He would not come at that time on a noble steed. He would not arrive riding on the clouds of glory.  He would slip quietly into humanity into the waiting arms of a virgin teenaged mother- surrounded possibly by a family’s cow or goats.  

The Mighty God would be enshrouded in the lowliest garment of all- that of a man.  Given for a lost and dying world who would, for the most part, not recognize Him or worship Him. 

What a God!  So mighty in fact, He could have chosen any form to come to Earth.  And yet, He came in the likeness of man. He would be called the Son of Man just as He was called the Son of God.

He would be both a Father and a Prince.  Usually, a prince is the son of a king.  But this Child would be both Father and Prince, contained in one package.  How is this possible?  It is the mystery of the trinity.  Father, Son and Spirit- separate, distinct, yet united into One Deity.

The Everlasting Father has always been. He exists outside of time.  Before anything came into being He was. Yet He allowed the essence of Who He is to be born into a fleshly body, limited by time. He would be required to act as an obedient son to an earthly (step) father, all the time being fully God in the flesh, subject to the Heavenly Father.

The Prince of Peace...  When Adam and Eve sinned, they plunged all of creation into chaos.  The created and the creatures, were all disrupted by sin.  Decay was born.  Sickness was born. Blight and pestilence came into being.  Humanity was so fractured by sin that husband would betray wife and wife betray husband.  A son, the firstborn of humanity, would be murdered by His brother. Such wickedness and corruption came so quickly into life on Earth.

Yes, Jesus would be born into a world devoid of peace.  But He would be the Ambassador of Peace.  The Prince of Peace.  Where there was chaos, He would be peace of heart and mind- for all creation. Where there was sickness, He would bring healing. Where there was separation between God and man, Jesus (in his bludgeoned body) would become the bridge between God and man.

Something I never saw before- Cain the firstborn of creation was murdered by his brother because of his righteousness.  Jesus, the firstborn (and only born) of God would be murdered by his brothers- the Jews- because of His righteousness. 

But what looked like a takedown was actually an overthrow!  Jesus’ death did not- could not- destroy the Kingdom of God!  Rather, it ushered in His reign where death, hell, sin and the grave would all be overthrown by the Prince of Peace.

Ephesians 2:14

¹⁴ For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation,” (NKJV, emphasis mine)

He Himself, is our peace.  All hail, the Prince of Peace!