The King of Peace
Notes
Transcript
Jesus, overlooking Jerusalem, the crowds cheering, the Pharisees mocking… I cannot fathom all that went through His heart and mind as he watched, listened, and thought.
THERE ON A THAT DAY SITTING ON A DONKEY (a symbol of peace) SAT THE KING… THE KING OF PEACE!!!
When it comes to peace… or the King of Peace my mind drifts to two things… Christmas Carols and the classic hymn “Peace Like a River”
The hymn speaks to the LOVE like an Ocean… but i grew up around San Diego this is my idea of Ocean!
One sings about JOY like a Fountain… most of the fountains I experience just dribble!
Then it declares PEACE LIKE A RIVER… well this is the RIVER!!!
One’s CONCEPT that they come to something with will impact how it is approached.
This Easter Season I want to discuss THE KING with you.
Consider the King of Peace
Ponder the King of Justice
And CELEBRATE the King of Victory
Defining the Concepts
Defining the Concepts
King Defined:
A position of POWER… PREEMINENT POWER, one who rules for LIFE! It is a hereditary position, rank… One of dignity, importance and SUPERIORITY!
Peace Defined:
Tranquility, quiet… FREEDOM from civil disturbance (man had made a disturbance with our sin) it is defined as a state of security or order within a community
To end hostility between those who have been ENEMIES or who are at ENMITY with each other
So we have GOD = KING (SUPREME POWER) then we have MAN = Powerless desiring power… enters SIN and this sin places a huge need with mankind for PEACE…
Peace Needed
Peace Needed
Consider the verse that expresses the love of God so well… Well known and quoted, BUT consider the verses that follow! John 3:16-18
“For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him. “There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son.
Mankind stands already judged! Sin places us in this standing!
Consider what Romans 5:10 declares…
For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son.
Two verses before that it declares Christ died while we were still sinners… still enemies of God!
Colossians 1:21 states clearly…
This includes you who were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions.
The enmity was evident. The battle lines were drawn… Mankind’s sinful heart waged war with a Holy and Righteous God! Look at the devastation of Adam’s sin… Romans 5:17
For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.
God’s gift… His peace was extended when He sent His Son… Emanuel (God with Us!) the King of Peace in the flesh!!!
Peace Came
Peace Came
I find it fascinating that on the night Jesus is born the angels declare Luke 2:14
“Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.”
The POWER of His deity and the PEACE with which He brings to mankind…
As Jesus would walk among mankind, minister, heal, save, and teach he would bring PEACE…
To the very ones enemies of God He brought PEACE!
Consider the the world Jesus acme to...
Evil rulers, greedy and power thirsty
False peace was surrounding people on all sides
War was not present, but peace was not found… slaves, fear, corruption
Chaos ensued the political realms
And the religions were a burden twisted and tainted by man’s desires, greed, and power struggles
It is to a world like this, enemies of the One True God that PEACE came to offer and end to the hostility…
Peace Offered
Peace Offered
Jesus one day after being rejected by His own people Israel stated this in Luke 13:34-35
“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones God’s messengers! How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen protects her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn’t let me. And now, look, your house is abandoned. And you will never see me again until you say, ‘Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord!’”
Glory in the highest and PEACE among men whom He is pleased… Oh how it displeased God in flesh that Israel would reject Him.
They needed the peace He offered
They had Peace before them in person
“Passover”… a covering, a protection, as a hen covers her chicks… How He wanted to be their “Passover”
Jesus statement that they would not “see Him” was a twofold reference...
A prophetic reference to the time when Israel would recognize Jesus as their Messiah, which will come in the Millennial Reign
During that time we will know PEACE on earth to the fullest
Jesus, King in all power will rule on earth sitting on the throne of David… THE KING OF PEACE
This also refereed to the more immediate future to the triumphal entry… when they cry out and cheer for Jesus as the coming King of peace…
We see later… on what would become known as Palm Sunday Jesus enters Jerusalem riding a Donkey (symbol of Peace) Luke 19:37-44
When he reached the place where the road started down the Mount of Olives, all of his followers began to shout and sing as they walked along, praising God for all the wonderful miracles they had seen. “Blessings on the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in highest heaven!” But some of the Pharisees among the crowd said, “Teacher, rebuke your followers for saying things like that!” He replied, “If they kept quiet, the stones along the road would burst into cheers!” But as he came closer to Jerusalem and saw the city ahead, he began to weep. “How I wish today that you of all people would understand the way to peace. But now it is too late, and peace is hidden from your eyes. Before long your enemies will build ramparts against your walls and encircle you and close in on you from every side. They will crush you into the ground, and your children with you. Your enemies will not leave a single stone in place, because you did not recognize it when God visited you.”
Too Late...
There will come a time when it is too late
Some standing in the presence of POWER (THE KING)… rejected peace for a false power.
Jesus comes to extend His peace because WHY?… Because God is also a God of Justice… we will see that on Friday.
There were those of Jesus time that Missed it. BUT IT IS NOT TOO LATE FOR YOU!!!
Our Peace
Our Peace
Our sin puts mankind in opposition with God… God offers you and I peace!
That PEACE comes at a cost… please take a nail as you leave today to remind yourself this week of that cost. I encourage you to bring it with you Friday evening.
Jesus as He prepared to go to the cross spoke with His disciples, His friends, and said this… John 14:27
“I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.
later on that same evening He reassured them this way John 16:33
I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”
The PEACE He brings you and I with Salvation is unlike any other!!! When we recognize what THE KING… All Supreme Power and Authority and Rule … has offered you and I through His Son: PEACE
We Recognize the LOVE that would overflow the depths of the OCEAN that comes from God
Realizing this is why our fountain of joy burst forth like a geyser NOT a dribble!!!!
OH… and the river, the river is still raging, there are waterfalls ahead, sharp rocks below, and the canyons get steeper, waters get rougher… THAT’S LIFE!!!
BUT… in that river we have PEACE… church because of Jesus we don’t have peace like a river… WE HAVE PEACE IN THE RIVER!!!