"THE PRINCE OF PEACE"

Good Evening to All!

In the beginning was the Word and the  Word was with God, and the Word was God.  The same was in the beginning with God.  (John 1:1-2)

And he will be called Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  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. 
(Isaiah 9:6-7)

And without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness; God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.  (1 Timothy 3:16)

In Isaiah 9:1-7, God is talking about what a disappointment mankind was to Him. Starting from the forbidden fruit which was eaten to Him deciding to flood the earth, ridding it of all but a few of mankind and restarting it,  the children of Abraham straying away from Him, and the kings falling short of His expectations.  In short, ALL of humanity had failed.  God saw the hopelessness of this race and realized that we were sure to be lost.  There was no way that we could enter the His kingdom without His help.    

He then made a promise.  He would send us a Savior to be sacrificed, to pay the debt for our sins.  He looked the whole world over but was unable to find a human without spot or blemish.  None perfect was to be found. 

It sounds like He didn't realize that at the time, but I submit that He did.  Jesus was in His plans from the beginning.  That is why he is known as the Word, as in John 1:1,  It plainly states that he was with God.  Not the fleshly man, but the "plan".  The word "Word" in Greek is "logos" which means plan, so in essence what He said in John was that the "Plan was with Him.  He Knew what He was going to have to do. 

Since there was no perfect sacrifice for us, He Himself would have to come to earth  in the flesh so that perfect blood could be sacrificed for our sins. 

He,  as our Savior would be known as Jesus, (which means savior) or Emmanuel (God With Us).  He would also be called Wonderful, Counsellor, Almighty God, Everlasting Father, and
Prince of Peace.

He has come to be our Hero.  He has come to fight our battle and win.  When our earthly counterparts do things to hurt us, and disappointment abounds we know that we can always count on Jesus to be there for us.  Jesus succeeds where we as humans fail.  He is the solid rock on which our life can find security.

The problem is too many of us forget this.  We think of Him as some "being" somewhere out in  space, just looking down and watching us.  We tend to forget that we actually mean something to Him.  That He wants to help us, to be part of our daily lives. 

We just have to remember to ask Him.  He will not force Himself upon us.  He wants us to acknowledge that we need His help and His input. 

In that same light, He did not come to earth and be crucified for no reason. 

But he was pierced for our transgression, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.  We all, like sheep, have gone astray each of us has turned to our own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.  (Isaiah 53:5-6)

According to Isaiah 53:1-12, despite his offer of forgiveness, his message would not be heard.  People did not want to listen.  They would not allow themselves to understand the gift he was offering.  He was betrayed, beaten and literally murdered by His own people.  He would be pierced  for our failures, crushed for our mistakes, and punished for our sin. 

We owe a debt to God that we will NEVER be able to repay.  This "Hero" would be the answer to our debt and the hope of this world.  God promised forgiveness no matter how messy our lives , or how big our sins.  All He asks us to do is to ask for His forgiveness and to REPENT.  I know that is not a popular idea today.  We all would like to think that God is just sitting up there on His throne not caring what we do, but that is not the case.  In 2 Timothy 3, it speaks about people who decide to go their own way, and ignore God's instruction. 

It says: (2)   This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.
 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,  (3)  Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,  (4)Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; 

(5)  Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.  (6) For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lust
&gt (7)  Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.  (8)  Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith.  (9)  But they shall proceed no further: for their folly shall be manifest unto all men, as their's also was.

The word "reprobate means "hopeless".  When these people refuse to follow God and obey His wishes after time and time again receiving His mercy, He turns them to reprobate minds.

Only through Repentance  will we receive Salvation.   It is popular today to just say to "accept Christ as your Savior" and you will receive Salvation.  That is NOT all there is to it.  As the old saying goes, "Talk is cheap".  Yes we must accept Him as our Savior, but we must also turn our lives around and live for Him.  That is called repentance.  According to Acts 2:38, it says to Repent, be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and you SHALL receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.  (39)  For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.

This was the WHOLE purpose of God coming to Earth as a man.  To provide us with this gift, that we could not provide for ourselves. 

The next time you start to do something that you KNOW God would not be pleased about, I hope you will stop and think about what He went through for you and me, so that we could spend our eternity

I hope you have a Wonderful Day, and May God Bless,