The following is an article I wrote a few weeks ago for an e-newsletter put together by a friend of mine. I thought I’d share it here as well.
Merry Christmas from the Troika team!
‘Tis the season to wish one another joy, peace, and hope. It’s plastered on every greeting card, emblazoned on all the billboards, and flashed across every television screen as we rush about in seasonal merriment. Yet rarely do we take the time to reflect on the nature of these wishes, or why we’re even able to wish them at all. Perhaps some have never stopped to think what peace, joy, and hope really mean.
How is it possible to have joy in the midst of incredible pain, suffering and evil?
Why is it that we can have peace about a decision, when we don’t even understand why it was made?
What hope is there for the future when everything is falling apart all around us?
And what is it about Christmas that makes everyone all of a sudden think that joy, peace, and hope will just magically appear to grace our lives?
These questions are very real, and I want to explore some of them because they are very pertinent as the Christmas season comes up very soon. I cannot claim to have all of the answers, but as you reflect on the blessings of peace, hope and joy this Christmas season, I pray that you are encouraged to know the peace that passes understanding, to experience joy without end, to quietly hope for the eternal salvation of our souls.
“I heard the bells on Christmas day, their old familiar carols play … of peace on earth goodwill to men.”
Peace is the heart cry of people everywhere. We fight and give our lives for it every day. It is a topic of national debate as politicians discuss the various ways of achieving peace. Non-profit groups are organized all over the world to promote peace in their own communities.
But as much as we talk about peace, it seems to elude us. As much as we fight and die for it, argue over the best ways to achieve it, and devote our energies to its furtherance, we never seem to grasp it and ensure it for our world. This is because often we don’t realize that what we desire cannot be purchased with anything we possess; it can’t be negotiated for or bargained out at a price. Instead, it has to be given as a gift, and it was extended to us one evening in a little town called Bethlehem.
At a time in history when the Jews were yearning to be free from the reign of the Roman Empire, God sent his Son to be born in the obscure village of Bethlehem. He came with the offer of peace, but the Jews, blinded by their own religious institutions and regulations, couldn’t see it. And although this unique birth had been prophesied for centuries, it was not recognized for what it was: the opportunity for people to experience a peace that passes all understanding.
Today, we find ourselves in a similar situation. We’re surrounded everywhere by people and philosophies that proclaim peace. And these beliefs blind us to the offer God has extended to us in the birth of His son. We are filled with knowledge of “all the best ways” to attain inner peace, and this knowledge has hindered us from seeing and accepting the peace that goes above all of that knowledge.
God wants you to have peace. Jesus told his disciples in John 16 that in the world we will have tribulation. But he also said to be of good cheer – because he has overcome the world. Will you accept this gift made possible because of the simple birth in Bethlehem over two thousand years ago?
“Joy to the world, the Lord has come!”
Are you filled with joy? As Christians we are invited to experience the greatest joy of all – the joy that comes from walking in fellowship with Jesus Christ. We are filled with joy because the Lord has come, and He continues to reign in heaven, governing over the affairs of His people.
But maybe you don’t feel especially joyful. Maybe the circumstances of your life are such that you are constantly discouraged and you don’t see the end in sight. The joy offered to us by God through Jesus Christ transcends our circumstances and allows us to go on through the struggles of life, confident that God is in control.
Joy had been the yearning cry of the Jewish people throughout the Old Testament. Isaiah, inspired of God, proclaimed that a day was coming when the captive would be set free, and the redeemed of the Lord would rejoice and be filled with joy. “Everlasting joy” was promised to the people, and they were told that they would obtain “gladness and joy,” and that their sorrow would disappear (Isaiah 51:11). Many are still waiting for the fulfillment of this promise, not realizing that the gift was given so long ago, in the little town of Bethlehem.
“O come to us, abide with us, Our Lord Emmanuel.”
The last wish proclaimed at Christmas is typically that of hope. Often the object of that hope is not specified; it just sounds like a nice thing to wish upon someone. Tragically, because of a lack of any hope, many people choose to take their own lives – they cannot see the light at the end of the tunnel, because there is no light there. Only darkness surrounds them, and there is no way out.
But in the midst of that darkness shone a light in Bethlehem one night two thousand years ago, and it has continued to shine ever since. And all who choose to see it, will, and they can choose to enter into the light. When that decision is made, hope is given – hope for everlasting life with no more pain, suffering or tears.
The author of the book of Hebrews wrote that we can believe in the promises of God because God is unchanging. He tells us that we have a “strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us; which hope we have as an anchor for the soul, both sure and steadfast.”
The hope offered to us through Christ’s birth, life, and death is extended as an anchor for our souls. We don’t have to be afraid of what our future has in store for us, because our eternal destiny is secure. This is the greatest gift, this is the gift given at the very first Christmas.
Can you see that all the world offers at Christmas time, it does not have the power to give? Jeremiah the prophet wrote of men who proclaimed “Peace, peace!” when there really was no peace. The world does the same today – offers a token of peace, when it has none to give. The world wishes us joy, but it is shallow and empty because it is not rooted in any one object, only circumstances. And what have we to hope for if our hope is not directed towards Christ? What hope is there for a future of abundant blessings apart from His favor?
He offers us a precious gift above all price. He yearns to see filled the deepest void in our lives. But only He can fill it.
He suffered that we could have joy.
The rage of the crowd was against him that we might know peace.
He gave his life that we might have hope for eternal life.
Have you accepted this, the greatest gift of all?
Will you accept this, the greatest gift of all?
Will you share this, the greatest gift of all?