Dear Lord, open my eyes to understand you as the hope for my life, the author of my faith, joy of my heart and my perfect peace. Please show me through this Advent season how to journey from lament to hope.

But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near.
Ephesians 2:13-17, ESV

One of the beautiful names of Jesus is Prince of Peace. The title of prince immediately gives us a glimpse into the person of Jesus. When He came to earth as the son of God and Mary, he did not consider equality with God something to be grasped but came as a baby, needing the care of his mother to survive. Philippians 2:7 tells us, Jesus ‘emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant’. The title of prince also implies a leader who brings about peace through love and sacrifice, rather than a powerful king who enforces peace through military rule. So right away, we see that Jesus is the Prince of Peace, a sacrificial son, embedding himself in his creation to establish his kingdom through love.

Romans 5:1 clarifies another way in which Christ is the Prince of Peace. ‘Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ’. Trust in Jesus is the only way we can truly live peacefully with God. Paul writes, ‘for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God’ (Romans 3:23). Through faith in Jesus, our fear of death is removed and replaced with the gift of eternal life with the Father.

Through the saving work of Jesus, we are also able to live in a right relationship with others and ourselves. At Christmas we celebrate the birth of Jesus, the Word who became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14). On earth, Jesus offered himself as the price for our salvation. The perfect lamb of God accomplished what we could not do. He saved us from the bondage of sin along with its eternal consequences. Through Jesus’ sacrificial life and death, and with faith in Him as the son of God, we can have peace with God, others and ourselves. Again, the Apostle Paul writes,