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1.  Introduction
   1. “Peace be with you”
   2. Isaiah 9:6 - “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.”
   3. We have been looking at each title of the coming Messiah and applying it to Jesus
   4. Layout of where we are headed this morning
   5. Open in Prayer
2. Prefacing comment
   1. Verse 6: government on his shoulders
   2. verse 7: “Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end.”, “reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom”
   3. Isaiah makes it clear that this peace will come through an authority figure
      1. Worldly mindset is that peace and authority do not go together
3. What is peace?
   1. Kung Fu Panda example; Peace as a calmness or freedom from disturbance
   2. (Hebrew) Shalom – To be complete or sound
      1. Verb – a dynamic or a static meaning of being complete or to live well
      2. Noun – 1) Wholeness of life or body, 2) right relationship or harmony between people, 3) prosperity, success, or fulfillment, 4) victory over ones enemies or absence of war
   3. (Greek) Eirene – harmonious relationship between men, nations, and God
   4. Definition: Peace refers to a whole, fulfilling, complete, and harmonious reality.
4. Peace in the biblical narrative
   1. Creation – God creates a world of Shalom (Genesis 1)
      1. Order in the way God created the earth (v. 1 separating heavens and the earth, v. 3-5 light and dark, v. 9-10 land and seas, etc.)
      2. In verse 20, God starts creating living creatures and calling them Good, and at the end in verse 31 it even says God looked at all he created, and it was very good!
         1. Good = as they ought to be; It is complete, whole, and there is harmony
         2. Notice how there is authority present amidst the peace
         3. It was good because it flowed from his character
      3. In Genesis 1, we see that in the reality God has created there is shalom.
   2. The Fall – Shalom is disrupted (Genesis 3)
      1. Recap the events of the fall
      2. Read Genesis 3:16-29 – Everything in this reality is impacted by sin
         1. Childbirth (v. 16), harmony in relationship (v. 16), the ground (v.17-18)
      3. The reality of shalom that God created has been disrupted; A reality that was once complete now misses the mark. (Record Player Analogy)
      4. God begins his redemption plan in order to restore His shalom in humanity, creation, and relationships
   3. Patriarchs – God chooses a family who he will use to redeem his Shalom (Genesis 12)
      1. God promises to make Abraham a great nation (v. 2)
      2. God says that he will bless the world through him (v. 3)
         1. We see these promises passed down through his sons and all his ancestors
      3. God identifies Abraham’s descendants as Israel, and they are established as His people
      4. God’s redemption plan to get the world back to it’s state of shalom will be done through Israel, the descendants of Abraham
   4. The Law – God gives the way back to Shalom (Exodus 20)
      1. God rescues his people from slavery in Egypt, after he establishes how they should live
      2. Read the 10 Commandments; What do you see?
      3. These are more than just rules, God is establishing a life of Shalom; They are the way back to Shalom
      4. God gave the Israelites the law as a way back to shalom
   5. Kingdoms – God seeks to use authority figures to bring about Shalom (1 Samuel 8)
      1. Israel begins to demand for a king so that they can be like everyone else (kid analogy)
      2. Read 1 Samuel 8:5-9 – They demand a king because they have rejected God as king
         1. God warns them but gives them what they want
      3. This does not go well for Israel, because the problem of sin still apparent
         1. There are evil kings, the kingdom becomes divided
      4. In establishing an earthly king, God seeks to use authority figures to bring about shalom
   6. Prophets – God tells the world of the Messiah who will bring Shalom
      1. Prophets were people God would use to communicate a message
      2. A consistent message was that an authority figure was coming, a messiah who would bring about Shalom on earth
         1. Zechariah 9:10 – “and he shall speak peace to the nations”
         2. Micah 5:5 – “and he shall be their peace”
      3. God communicates to the world that a Messiah would come and bring about shalom
   7. The Gospel – Jesus Christ is the long-awaited Messiah, He is the Prince of Peace
      1. One day a child is born who would be the redemption and salvation for all humanity
         1. This child would grown into a man, preaching a message of repentance because the kingdom is at hand
         2. He would live a life of peace, revealing the Kingdom of God to a world of Chaos
      2. Read Isaiah 53:2-5
         1. The penalty for sin is death; The Messiah would pay our penalty in order to make Shalom possible again on earth; He would pay our debt
         2. Verse 5: “The punishment that brought us peace was on him”
      3. Romans 8:34 - “Christ Jesus who died -more than that, who was raised to life – is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.”
         1. Jesus rose again defeating the hold that sin, death, and chaos
         2. In the resurrection God begins restoring everything back to peace
         3. The Redemption plan through the Gospel was to bring about the Kingdom of God, Shalom, to all the earth and creation
      4. The Prince of Peace is Jesus, the one through whom all things would be restored back to shalom
         1. It is through Christ that all things are redeemed, and it is through Christ that all things are brought to peace
5. Application – How does this affect us that we know the Prince of Peace?
   1. In Christ, through the Holy Spirit we find Peace
      1. Inward: John 14:27 – “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.”
      2. Outward (2 Corinthians 13:11; Hebrews 12:14 + Romans 12:18 = every effort/as far as it depends on you)
      3. To come (Animals – Isaiah 11:6-11, Horizontal/vertical – Rev. 21:3-5a)
6. Closing – 2 Thessalonians 3:16 “Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you.”