December 26, 2025

The day after Christmas can sometimes leave us feeling blue. For some, the season started out that way. Either way, just a day removed from Christmas Day, and we come to the same conclusion: The season is over, all the work is through, all the build-up has finally passed, now on to the cold and over-cast days of winter. Though you may have a month full of memories, a living room littered with gifts, or a few extra pounds you’ve put on… what do you really have to show for it? The entire season… what did you walk away with?

This month we’ve been looking at Isaiah’s prophecy of the coming Messiah. The Holy Spirit gave him four titles describing the essence of the coming King. He is Jesus.

Isaiah 9:6-7.

For to us a child is born,    

to us a son is given,    

and the government will be on his shoulders.

And he will be called    

Wonderful Counselor,  Mighty God,    

Everlasting Father,  Prince of Peace.

Prince of Peace

Last week we talked about Jesus giving us a God who is Father. Today, we look at Isaiah’s final title which focuses more on Jesus’s royalty. He is Prince. He is a ruler. He reigns not with fear, violence, or selfishness, but with peace. For a ruler in Jesus’s day to rule with peace would have been a rare thing, indeed. For centuries the Jewish people had been warring, facing defeat, captivity, and occupation by foreign nations. Their lives were hard, poor, and unsure. They knew little except violence, disappointment, anxiety, and restlessness.

Any of that sound familiar?

Enter Jesus. Look at what he says to his disciples in John 14:27.

²⁷ Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

Two things stand out to me. One, the world gives us peace. Does that surprise you? The world certainly does give us elements of peace. We have vacation times. We have times in our lives when relationships and circumstances are going well for us. We even have substances and things that bring us some peace. But just underneath that peace is a thick layer of insecurity. We worry about our health, our finances, our relationships, our futures. Nothing feels permanent or certain. We constantly fear losing things. We wonder, even if just a bit, is God really happy with us or is he not? The world gives us a version of peace.

Two, Jesus gives us peace. But he says it’s not like the world’s version. Notice he gives us his peace, not just any kind of peace. The world’s peace is temporary, uncertain, circumstantial, often earned or fought for, and never truly satisfying. Jesus’s peace comes from his secure identity as the Son of God. He is certain of God’s undying presence and love. Jesus’s peace isn’t circumstantial but instead cosmic and eternal. Jesus’s peace isn’t based on performance but on free grace. Jesus’s peace is grounded in God’s love for us and not our love for him! Think about that!

Religion offers us peace if we perform. If we obey the rules, if we go to church, if we clean up our lives, if we pray more, if we repent of that sin and promise never to do it again… then God will give us peace. That’s not what Jesus says. Through Scripture (from God’s rescue of his people from Egypt to Jesus’s death on the cross), God’s love and freedom always come to us, FIRST. Then, people respond by faith. Not the other way around. God’s love for us initiates peace. We have it. We, then, trust the Holy Spirit to cultivate that peace and assurance of God’s undying love. Our lives are then formed through faith, and the truth of God’s peace carves its way deeper into our hearts.

May God’s unearnable grace fill your heart and life this season. He reigns in your life with his peace over you. He has you. He will always have you as his. You’ve been set free from sin and death, and you are alive in Christ! Dwell on his peace. Meditate on it. Read Scripture through that lens. Pray with vulnerability, thanksgiving, and trust.

Happy New Year in His Peace,

Nathan

Nathan Hinkle

Lead Pastor

How Can We Pray For You?