December 31, 2025 • 33 mins
In this message from Isaiah 9:6, David Platt reminds us that God Has Provided True and Ultimate Peace through Jesus, the Prince of Peace.
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SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
You are listening to David Platt Messages, a weekly
podcast with sermons andmessages from pastor, author,
and teacher David Platt.
SPEAKER_01 (00:08):
I just want to give you a glimpse into interactions
I've had with specific peopleover the last couple of weeks.
So I'm not going to use people'sreal names for the sake of their
privacy, but let me just brieflyintroduce you to them and their
longing for peace.
I had a conversation withMichael, who from the outside
(00:30):
looks extremely successful inlife, in marriage, family, work,
everything.
Yet he told me, David, I've hita wall, and I just feel empty
and even depressed in deep waysthat I can't really explain or
describe.
I talked with Wesley, a teenagerwho's surrounded by people who
(00:52):
love him, yet always feelslonely.
And he has a pervasive sense ofguilt and shame when he looks at
everybody else around him,whether in person or on social
media, and never feels like hemeasures up.
I think about Maria, who'sgrieving as she spends her first
(01:13):
Christmas without James, herhusband of 42 years.
Or Jada, a single mom who justlost her job and doesn't have
the means to give presents toher six children.
I've spoken with Stephen andSophia, who were hurting and
heartbroken, over an adult childwho's struggling deeply and is
(01:35):
far from family this Christmas.
I've talked with John, whosewife Esther has been in and out
of the hospital over recentmonths and is currently
paralyzed in a hospital bedthey've had to bring into their
home.
I talked with Malik, whose 2025has been filled with months of
chronic debilitating pain.
(01:58):
I spoke with Susan, who'sexperiencing the onset of
dementia in her older age as hermemory is fading in really
frustrating ways.
Or I think about Darren, whoI've known for many years, who
looks like the epitome of healthon the outside, but had a
headache last week that wouldn'tgo away, that led to a trip to
(02:21):
the ER one night that led to thediscovery of a brain tumor that
led to surgery a couple of daysago surrounded by his wife and
two daughters.
I wrote in an Uber with a mannamed Ahmed, who's from a Muslim
country where there's no freedomof religion.
And though he's Muslim, tenyears ago, he wrote an article
(02:42):
about the need for freedom inhis country.
It got published, caused riotingin the streets.
He was beaten, ended up in ahospital, after which he
immediately fled his country,and he hasn't been able to go
back to see his wife or kids inthe last 10 years.
And they've been denied visas tocome here 25 different times.
(03:06):
Then, finally, I think about atext this week from a pastor
named Joseph in northernNigeria, who this Christmas his
preaching is performing a massfuneral for people in his
community who were attacked bymilitants, forced to dig their
own graves, and then killed andtheir bodies thrown in those
(03:27):
graves.
So I really don't mean to be adowner, but I do mean to be
real.
(03:47):
These are conversations I've hadthe last couple of weeks.
And I'm thinking none of themneed trite holiday trivialities
right now.
And I'm assuming you don'teither.
I obviously don't knoweverything that's going on in
your life, but I'm guessing youcan identify at some level with
(04:10):
these longings for peace.
Do you want peace in a world ofwar and senseless evil and
rampant injustice?
Are you struggling physically,mentally, or emotionally in any
way right now?
Do you have any relationshipswith family, friends, where
(04:34):
there's tension or division orhurt or heartbreak?
Think about a couple I wastalking with in the between
services tonight who are like,we needed this time together to
hear what God was saying to us.
Do you have any voids that youlong to fill?
Is there any frustration orturmoil inside you where you're
(04:57):
aching for rest and peace?
And if so, then I want you tohear loud and clear in this
moment that Christmas is night,not trite holiday triviality.
No, Christmas is the greatestnews in the world for every
longing you have inside of youfor peace.
(05:19):
And I want you to hear loud andclear in the next few minutes
that you can walk away from thisplace tonight with a
supernatural peace, either forthe first time ever or for the
first time in a while, or in afresh way that has power to calm
your soul, not just today andtomorrow, but forever.
(05:40):
And I know that's a bold claim,but please just listen closely
for the next few minutes, and Ipromise that your perspective
and life can look so differentin a world of chaos if you just
believe what I'm about to showyou that comes straight from
God.
Over 700 years before Jesus evencame, God spoke about him
(06:02):
through a man named Isaiah,which side note is part of the
reason we know the Bible is notjust another religious book.
It contains thousands ofprophecies of the future that
are fulfilled with uncannyprecision, including over 300
references written over hundredsof years before Jesus even came,
(06:23):
that he specifically fulfilledin his life and his death and
his resurrection.
The odds of that happening bychance are tiny.
Josh McDowell puts it this way: imagine the state of Texas is (06:30):
undefined
covered with silver dollars twofeet deep, and one of them is
marked.
All of them are thoroughlymixed.
A blindfolded man is instructedto reach down and pick up the
marked coin on his first try.
The chances of him getting thatone silver dollar are the same
(06:53):
as Jesus fulfilling just eightof those prophecies, and he
fulfilled all 300 of them.
In the words of Arc Fruel, thevery dimension of the sheer
fulfillment of prophecy of theOld Testament scriptures should
be enough to convince anyonethat we are dealing with a
supernatural piece ofliterature.
And one of the places that talksabout Jesus' coming is Isaiah
(07:14):
chapter 9, verse 6, where weread.
So this was written sevencenturies before he came.
Let's say this verse out loudtogether.
Isaiah 9, 6.
Will you read it with me?
For to us a child is born, to usa son is given, and the
government shall be upon hisshoulder, and his name shall be
(07:38):
called wonderful counselor,mighty God, everlasting Father,
Prince of Peace.
Then let me just read the versethat comes after.
(08:01):
The zeal of the Lord of hostswill do this.
There is so much here that wedon't have time to dive into
tonight.
But I want you just to thinkwith me about this name of Jesus
right here.
Prince of peace.
So the word prince here means aruler who has authority and
(08:24):
power to do something or makesomething a reality.
And the word peace here is theHebrew word shalom.
Can you say that out loud withme?
Shalom.
This is this is already worthyour time.
You're learning Hebrew onChristmas Eve.
So shalom, and this word's sogood, it's really hard to
translate into one English word.
(08:45):
So peace is the best attempt,but a fuller definition would be
complete peace, justice,calmness, and goodness without
any conflict, turmoil, chaos, orevil.
Is that not a beautiful word?
And it's why, so it's why Iwanted to read the next verse,
(09:06):
verse 7, because we read wordslike government and throne and
kingdom that are talking aboutthis power and authority to
bring justice and righteousness,to make everything right.
So the Bible is promising here achild who will be born, a son
who will be given, who has watchthis, authority and power to
(09:29):
bring complete peace, justice,calmness, and goodness without
any conflict, turmoil, chaos, orevil.
Which again is a really boldclaim.
Like, how is that actuallypossible for one person to bring
complete peace to a world filledwith conflict, turmoil, chaos,
and evil?
(09:50):
Well, let me show you how.
I want you to think about thiswith me.
If you take all the conflict andturmoil and chaos and evil, you
can imagine.
You can divide it into threecategories.
First would be just conflict inthe world in general, which we
all see and experience in warsand injustice and evil in the
world.
And second would be conflict inour relationships with each
(10:13):
other, which we all experience.
And third would be conflictwithin ourselves, all sorts of
inner conflict we experience inour minds, our bodies, our
emotions.
So all of conflict falls intoone or more of these three
categories.
But here's the question (10:29):
What's at the core of all this
conflict?
In other words, where does itall come from?
Because if we have any hope ofpeace instead of conflict in any
of these ways, we're gonna haveto address whatever's at the
core.
And that question leads us allthe way back to the beginning of
(10:51):
creation, where we see how allof this conflict, all the lack
of peace we're familiar with inthe world, it all started at one
point.
Let me show it to you.
Because in the beginning, Goddesigned the world in total
peace.
There was no conflict.
God created man and woman, theyexperienced shalom in the world.
(11:14):
Over and over again.
In the first chapter of theBible, we read, everything was
good.
Here's how the last verse inGenesis 1 ends.
God saw everything that He made,and behold, it was very good.
Like very shalom.
And Genesis 2 describes how manand woman experienced peace in
the world, and peace inrelationship with each other,
(11:38):
and peace within themselves.
Everything was right at everylevel.
It was shalom.
Do you know why?
Because at the core, they hadpeace with God until Genesis 3.
And this is the point where itall collapsed.
(12:01):
God, their creator, had said,Eat from any tree in the garden.
They're giving you all thesetrees full of all this fruit for
you to enjoy.
Except for this one tree.
And the man and the woman said,No.
We know better than you what'sbest for us.
(12:23):
And Genesis 3:6 says, When thewoman saw that the tree was good
for food, and it was a delightto the eyes, the tree was to be
desired to make one wise.
She took of its fruit and ate.
And she also gave some to herhusband who was with her, and he
ate.
Feel the weight of what'shappening here.
Up until this point, everythingin all creation responded to the
(12:45):
good voice of the Creator, whosaid to the stars, you go there,
and they obeyed.
Said to the oceans, you stopthere, and they obeyed.
To swarming creatures of allkinds, responding with complete
peace and obedience to God untilyou get to man and woman, and
man and woman have the audacityto look at God in the face and
say, No, we're doing things ourway.
(13:09):
And man and woman experiencedconflict with God.
They chose it over peace withGod.
And watch what immediatelyhappened.
The very next verse, the eyes ofboth of them were open.
They knew they were naked.
They soaked fig leaves together,they made themselves loincloths.
(13:30):
Do you see this?
Immediately they startedexperiencing conflict within
themselves.
They felt guilt, shame, fear.
None of those things were therebefore this.
And then they immediatelyexperienced conflict in their
relationship with each other.
Listen to Genesis chapter 3,verse 12.
(13:50):
Adam starts blaming Eve.
The woman whom you gave to bewith me, she gave me the fruit
of the tree, and I ate.
The chapter goes on to describethem clashing with each other.
That's the word that we see inthe Hebrew there.
They're contrary to each other.
And then by the next chapter, wesee murder introduced into the
world that is now wrought withevil, suffering, chaos, and
(14:15):
death.
Do you see this?
The core of all conflict that weexperience in this world comes
back to the conflict we havechosen with God.
This is Adam and Eve's story.
No.
This is our story.
(14:38):
Every single one of us has hadthe audacity to look God in the
face and say, either I'm gonnalive like you're not even there,
like you don't even exist, orI'm gonna live like I know
better than you what's best formy life.
(14:59):
Either way, I'm choosing my way.
We've all chosen conflict withour Creator.
In ways that lead to all kindsof efforts to try to fix
ourselves and to overcome theconflict we feel inside us in
ways that lead to conflict withothers and conflict in the
(15:23):
world.
Don't miss this.
Do not believe the headlinesthat your algorithm is sending
you.
The greatest problem in theworld is not this political
party or that politician or thisworld leader or that economic
(15:44):
system or power players or bigbusiness or corrupt corporations
or countries.
It's our hearts.
It's conflict that each of ushas chosen with God that plays
out in different ways in all ofour lives and that will
eventually lead all of us to theultimate penalty of sin against
(16:08):
God, death in this world.
Which means that if any of ushave any real hope of real peace
now and forever, then we needsomebody who can address this
core problem, our conflict withGod.
And who has the power to dothat?
Who has the power to bring peacewith God in a way that leads to
(16:31):
peace in the world?
Do you have that power?
Does any other person you knowor have ever heard of have that
power?
No.
Only God has the authority andpower to remove conflict with
God.
And this is the stunning messageof Christmas.
This is what Isaiah chapter 9,verse 6 is saying.
(16:55):
That the mighty God, with allthe authority and power to bring
complete peace, has come to us.
To you and to me.
Which leads to the questionwell, how?
How can this child, whose birthwe celebrate at Christmas, how
(17:16):
can he bring complete peace atthe core of who we are in this
world?
And Isaiah answers that question44 chapters later in Isaiah 53,
in another prophecy about Jesus.
Watch this.
The Bible says he was piercedfor our transgressions, he was
crushed for our iniquities.
(17:36):
Upon him was the chastisementthat brought us peace, and with
his wounds we are healed.
Do you see this?
This is how Jesus solves theproblem at the core of our
hearts.
He would be pierced for ourtransgressions and crushed for
(17:57):
our iniquities.
This is Isaiah telling us whyJesus came and how Jesus brings
peace at the core of who we are.
He came to live the life you andI could not live, a life of
total peace with God.
He had no transgression oriniquity in his life, which
means that he did not deserve todie.
(18:17):
But he chose to die on a crossto pay the price for our
transgressions, to die for yourand my iniquities.
Upon him was the chastisement,the punishment for sin.
He died in our place.
Then three days later, he rosefrom the grave, conquering sin
(18:38):
and death in order to bring uswhat?
This is the audienceparticipation part of our
program.
It's the punchline.
In order to bring us peace.
Anybody want to guess whatHebrew word that is?
Boom, you're a Hebrew scholar,shalom.
He died to bring us completepeace, justice, calmness, and
(18:59):
goodness without any conflict,turmoil, chaos, or evil.
By his wounds, we are made wholewith God.
Which is why, when you get whenyou get to the story of Jesus'
birth in the New Testament,you'll never guess.
When the angels are thumbingthrough all the songs that they
(19:20):
could sing, what is theirselection that night, as they're
announcing his birth toshepherds, Luke 2.13 says,
suddenly there was the with theangel, a multitude of heavenly
hosts, praising God and saying,Glory to God in the highest and
on earth.
Drop the mic, peace among thosewith whom he is placed.
(19:40):
Same word, he came to bringpeace.
Shalom.
So how do we receive this?
How do we count it among thosewho experience this peace?
And the answer the Bible givesis beautiful.
So people read this.
Among those with whom he ispleased.
(20:02):
And start thinking, okay, thatmeans we have to work hard to
clean ourselves up.
Fix ourselves like Gabby wassaying in that story she was
telling earlier.
Like what what good works do Ineed to perform in order to
please God?
What boxes do I need to checkoff?
But that is not what God says.
God says that peace with him ispossible one way.
(20:23):
Follow this.
It's possible simply by trustingin who Jesus is and what he came
to do for you.
Let me show you this.
Romans 5.1.
Therefore, since we have beenjustified by faith, we have
peace with God through our LordJesus Christ.
(20:46):
Do you see this?
The path to justification.
That means to be made right withGod.
The path to peace with God ispaved by faith, by trust in
Jesus as the Christ.
That title means the one God hadpromised all these years and the
Lord of your life.
(21:08):
So get the picture.
Faith is confessing.
God, I have chosen conflict withyou.
But I'm choosing to lay down myarms in light of your love for
me.
Faith is saying, I believe thatJesus has died for my sin.
(21:28):
And I trust him as the promisedprince, the promised prince who
has authority to bring me peacewith you.
Which then followed us.
Opens the door to peace withothers.
As one forgiven by God, you nowhave supernatural power to
(21:56):
forgive others.
As one loved by the God youoffended.
You have supernatural power tolove those who offend you.
As one reconciled to God, youhave supernatural power to
(22:19):
reconcile with others.
Jesus is our peace who breaksdown dividing walls of hostility
with others.
(22:40):
Which then ultimately leads theway to peace in this world.
Not immediately, of course.
As long as we live in a world ofsin where conflict with God
remains, we'll be surrounded byturmoil, chaos, and evil.
But you can face this chaoticworld with the peace of God at
(23:04):
the core of your being.
Colossians 3.15.
I love this verse.
Let the peace of the promisedChrist rule in your hearts.
Philippians 4.
Don't be anxious.
You're free from being anxious,worrying about anything.
And everything by prayer andsupplication, let your requests
(23:24):
be made known to God.
And the peace of God, whichsurpasses all understanding,
beyond what you can imagine,will guard your hearts and minds
in Christ Jesus.
His peace will protect youamidst anything that comes at
you in this world.
(23:44):
Because you know that one dayall the conflict and all the
turmoil and all the chaos andall the evil in this world will
be no more.
Listen to this.
How the Bible describes heaven,a place where God will wipe away
every tear from our eyes.
Death shall be no more, neithershall there be mourning nor
crying nor pain anymore, for theformer things have passed away.
(24:05):
Follow this.
You can have peace today becauseyou know and you're confident
the day is coming when theconflict and turmoil and chaos
and evil of this world will beno more.
And can I just point out thatthis kind of peace is only
possible through faith in Jesus?
(24:27):
And I say this with all duerespect for my atheistic or
agnostic friends, but they don'thave this peace because that
worldview doesn't provide thispeace.
If you're an atheist oragnostic, you believe in a world
of ultimately natural causes,which means that in the end,
there will be no justice.
(24:50):
No wrongs made right, no hope ofmeaning beyond the grave.
It just is what it is.
And we continue in this cycle.
And if that's you, I would justask you to consider why you have
this innate desire in you forjustice and meaning and hope and
(25:10):
peace if this world is all thereis.
And for all kinds of adherenceof all kinds of other religions,
again, I say this sincerely withrespect, but all the religions
of the world hold out hope thatif you do enough good or right
things, if you follow a certainpath, then at some point in this
(25:33):
life or additional lives, you'llachieve peace.
But what if peace was neverintended, meant to be achieved
by us as creation?
Hasn't this been our problemsince the beginning?
Our prideful, futile efforts tofix ourselves instead of being
(25:53):
achieved by us.
What if the peace we long forcan only be received humbly by
the Creator who loves us?
Put down your pride and receiveyour Creator's gift of peace
that he longs for you toexperience.
And longs is the right word.
(26:14):
You remember Isaiah 9:7?
Talking about the increase ofhis government and peace
there'll be no end, justice andrighteousness forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hostswill do this.
What language?
God is zealous, God's passionateabout bringing peace to this
world, about bringing peace toyour heart.
(26:35):
And he has done it.
He's made the way for you toexperience a peace with him
that, did you see it, will neverend.
Forevermore.
Like, and not just will neverend, did you of the increase of
his peace.
Like it will just keep gettingmore and more and more.
(26:58):
Increasing peace, justice,calmness, goodness, it just gets
better and better and betterforever and ever and ever.
It makes me think about how C.S.
Lewis ends that last paragraphin the last book of the Narnia
series.
Remember?
He writes, The things that beganto happen after that were so
great and beautiful that Icannot write them.
And for us, this is the end ofall the stories, and we can most
(27:20):
truly say that they all livedhappily ever after.
But for them, it was only thebeginning of the real story.
All their life in this world andall their adventures in Narnia
had only been the cover and thetitle page.
Now at last, they were beginningchapter one of the great story
which no one on earth has read,which goes on forever, in which
every chapter is better than theone before.
(27:45):
Yes.
And all of this is why Christmasis not mere entrite tradition or
a fairy tale excuse to gatherwith friends and family for food
and gifts.
It is a celebration of thegreatest news in the world for
real people who long for realpeace in their hearts and in
this world that will lastforever.
(28:12):
To bring it home, it's thegreatest news in the world for
Joseph and Andre and Danielle inNigeria to know tonight that
mass burials and kidnappings andpersecution and evil will not be
the end of the story for allthose who trust in Jesus.
And Ahmed can know that completefreedom from oppression,
(28:35):
ultimate reunion with family andfriends will be a reality for
all those who trust in Jesus asthe Prince of Peace.
And Maria can know that it won'tbe long until she'll be with
James again because they bothtrusted in the Prince of Peace
who conquered sin and death ontheir behalf so they could be
(28:56):
forever with him.
And Jada can know that thePrince of Peace promises to
never ever leave her alone as asingle mom.
And Stephen and Sophia can holdon to hope amidst the heartbreak
in their home.
(29:16):
And John and Esther and Malikand Susan and Darren can know
that disease and dementia andcancer and tumors and pain and
paralysis, they're allultimately passing away.
And Wesley, this teenager canknow he's not alone.
And he is completely free fromall his efforts to try and
(29:40):
measure up with the world aroundhim because he has peace with
the God who made him.
And Michael can know that allthe success in this world will
never compare with the shalomthat Jesus alone can provide for
(30:01):
him.
And it's not just good news forall of them.
It's good news for you.
Which leads to a question I wantto ask every person than the
sound of my voice right now.
Not the person beside you, infront of you, behind you, but
right where you're sitting rightnow.
(30:22):
Do you personally know Jesus asthe Prince of Peace?
Notice, I'm not asking if youcall yourself a Christian.
Or if you've been to churchbefore, or if you do a certain
number of good things.
I'm asking, have you trusted inJesus to bring you peace with
(30:43):
God?
To restore you, your heart toright relationship with God.
I cannot think of a moreimportant question to ask on
this Christmas Eve, knowing thatnot one of us is guaranteed to
be breathing on Christmasmorning.
So are you right with God rightnow?
(31:05):
And the good news is there's nota list of things you have to do.
Clean yourself up.
I love the way Gabby put it.
God loves you intensely, and hehas made the way for you to be
right with him, to experiencepeace with him now and forever
by faith.
They're trusting in him.
So if the answer to thisquestion is not a resounding yes
(31:28):
in your heart, then I want toinvite you.
I don't believe it's an accidentthat any person is here right
now.
You've been brought here by GodHimself to hear the greatest
news in the world that you mighthave peace with him today.
So I just want to inviteeveryone to take a moment right
now, just to close your eyes.
(31:49):
And I ask you to do this just toput aside every distraction and
to think about this question.
Do you personally know Jesus asthe Prince of Peace?
And if the answer to thatquestion is not a resounding yes
in your heart, and I want toinvite you just to say to God
(32:12):
right now, God, you say this inyour heart.
God, I confess I've chosenconflict with you.
But today I believe that youhave made the way for peace with
you.
I believe that Jesus died on thecross for my sins and rose from
(32:36):
the dead so I can have life withyou as my Lord.
So I am turning to you andtrusting in you as the Prince of
Peace.
SPEAKER_00 (32:51):
We hope you've enjoyed this week's episode of
David Platt Messages.
For more resources from DavidPlatt, we invite you to visit
radical.net.
You are listening to David Platt Messages, a weekly
podcast with sermons andmessages from pastor, author,
and teacher David Platt.
SPEAKER_01 (00:08):
I just want to give you a glimpse into interactions
I've had with specific peopleover the last couple of weeks.
So I'm not going to use people'sreal names for the sake of their
privacy, but let me just brieflyintroduce you to them and their
longing for peace.
I had a conversation withMichael, who from the outside
(00:30):
looks extremely successful inlife, in marriage, family, work,
everything.
Yet he told me, David, I've hita wall, and I just feel empty
and even depressed in deep waysthat I can't really explain or
describe.
I talked with Wesley, a teenagerwho's surrounded by people who
(00:52):
love him, yet always feelslonely.
And he has a pervasive sense ofguilt and shame when he looks at
everybody else around him,whether in person or on social
media, and never feels like hemeasures up.
I think about Maria, who'sgrieving as she spends her first
(01:13):
Christmas without James, herhusband of 42 years.
Or Jada, a single mom who justlost her job and doesn't have
the means to give presents toher six children.
I've spoken with Stephen andSophia, who were hurting and
heartbroken, over an adult childwho's struggling deeply and is
(01:35):
far from family this Christmas.
I've talked with John, whosewife Esther has been in and out
of the hospital over recentmonths and is currently
paralyzed in a hospital bedthey've had to bring into their
home.
I talked with Malik, whose 2025has been filled with months of
chronic debilitating pain.
(01:58):
I spoke with Susan, who'sexperiencing the onset of
dementia in her older age as hermemory is fading in really
frustrating ways.
Or I think about Darren, whoI've known for many years, who
looks like the epitome of healthon the outside, but had a
headache last week that wouldn'tgo away, that led to a trip to
(02:21):
the ER one night that led to thediscovery of a brain tumor that
led to surgery a couple of daysago surrounded by his wife and
two daughters.
I wrote in an Uber with a mannamed Ahmed, who's from a Muslim
country where there's no freedomof religion.
And though he's Muslim, tenyears ago, he wrote an article
(02:42):
about the need for freedom inhis country.
It got published, caused riotingin the streets.
He was beaten, ended up in ahospital, after which he
immediately fled his country,and he hasn't been able to go
back to see his wife or kids inthe last 10 years.
And they've been denied visas tocome here 25 different times.
(03:06):
Then, finally, I think about atext this week from a pastor
named Joseph in northernNigeria, who this Christmas his
preaching is performing a massfuneral for people in his
community who were attacked bymilitants, forced to dig their
own graves, and then killed andtheir bodies thrown in those
(03:27):
graves.
So I really don't mean to be adowner, but I do mean to be
real.
(03:47):
These are conversations I've hadthe last couple of weeks.
And I'm thinking none of themneed trite holiday trivialities
right now.
And I'm assuming you don'teither.
I obviously don't knoweverything that's going on in
your life, but I'm guessing youcan identify at some level with
(04:10):
these longings for peace.
Do you want peace in a world ofwar and senseless evil and
rampant injustice?
Are you struggling physically,mentally, or emotionally in any
way right now?
Do you have any relationshipswith family, friends, where
(04:34):
there's tension or division orhurt or heartbreak?
Think about a couple I wastalking with in the between
services tonight who are like,we needed this time together to
hear what God was saying to us.
Do you have any voids that youlong to fill?
Is there any frustration orturmoil inside you where you're
(04:57):
aching for rest and peace?
And if so, then I want you tohear loud and clear in this
moment that Christmas is night,not trite holiday triviality.
No, Christmas is the greatestnews in the world for every
longing you have inside of youfor peace.
(05:19):
And I want you to hear loud andclear in the next few minutes
that you can walk away from thisplace tonight with a
supernatural peace, either forthe first time ever or for the
first time in a while, or in afresh way that has power to calm
your soul, not just today andtomorrow, but forever.
(05:40):
And I know that's a bold claim,but please just listen closely
for the next few minutes, and Ipromise that your perspective
and life can look so differentin a world of chaos if you just
believe what I'm about to showyou that comes straight from
God.
Over 700 years before Jesus evencame, God spoke about him
(06:02):
through a man named Isaiah,which side note is part of the
reason we know the Bible is notjust another religious book.
It contains thousands ofprophecies of the future that
are fulfilled with uncannyprecision, including over 300
references written over hundredsof years before Jesus even came,
(06:23):
that he specifically fulfilledin his life and his death and
his resurrection.
The odds of that happening bychance are tiny.
Josh McDowell puts it this way: imagine the state of Texas is (06:30):
undefined
covered with silver dollars twofeet deep, and one of them is
marked.
All of them are thoroughlymixed.
A blindfolded man is instructedto reach down and pick up the
marked coin on his first try.
The chances of him getting thatone silver dollar are the same
(06:53):
as Jesus fulfilling just eightof those prophecies, and he
fulfilled all 300 of them.
In the words of Arc Fruel, thevery dimension of the sheer
fulfillment of prophecy of theOld Testament scriptures should
be enough to convince anyonethat we are dealing with a
supernatural piece ofliterature.
And one of the places that talksabout Jesus' coming is Isaiah
(07:14):
chapter 9, verse 6, where weread.
So this was written sevencenturies before he came.
Let's say this verse out loudtogether.
Isaiah 9, 6.
Will you read it with me?
For to us a child is born, to usa son is given, and the
government shall be upon hisshoulder, and his name shall be
(07:38):
called wonderful counselor,mighty God, everlasting Father,
Prince of Peace.
Then let me just read the versethat comes after.
(08:01):
The zeal of the Lord of hostswill do this.
There is so much here that wedon't have time to dive into
tonight.
But I want you just to thinkwith me about this name of Jesus
right here.
Prince of peace.
So the word prince here means aruler who has authority and
(08:24):
power to do something or makesomething a reality.
And the word peace here is theHebrew word shalom.
Can you say that out loud withme?
Shalom.
This is this is already worthyour time.
You're learning Hebrew onChristmas Eve.
So shalom, and this word's sogood, it's really hard to
translate into one English word.
(08:45):
So peace is the best attempt,but a fuller definition would be
complete peace, justice,calmness, and goodness without
any conflict, turmoil, chaos, orevil.
Is that not a beautiful word?
And it's why, so it's why Iwanted to read the next verse,
(09:06):
verse 7, because we read wordslike government and throne and
kingdom that are talking aboutthis power and authority to
bring justice and righteousness,to make everything right.
So the Bible is promising here achild who will be born, a son
who will be given, who has watchthis, authority and power to
(09:29):
bring complete peace, justice,calmness, and goodness without
any conflict, turmoil, chaos, orevil.
Which again is a really boldclaim.
Like, how is that actuallypossible for one person to bring
complete peace to a world filledwith conflict, turmoil, chaos,
and evil?
(09:50):
Well, let me show you how.
I want you to think about thiswith me.
If you take all the conflict andturmoil and chaos and evil, you
can imagine.
You can divide it into threecategories.
First would be just conflict inthe world in general, which we
all see and experience in warsand injustice and evil in the
world.
And second would be conflict inour relationships with each
(10:13):
other, which we all experience.
And third would be conflictwithin ourselves, all sorts of
inner conflict we experience inour minds, our bodies, our
emotions.
So all of conflict falls intoone or more of these three
categories.
But here's the question (10:29):
What's at the core of all this
conflict?
In other words, where does itall come from?
Because if we have any hope ofpeace instead of conflict in any
of these ways, we're gonna haveto address whatever's at the
core.
And that question leads us allthe way back to the beginning of
(10:51):
creation, where we see how allof this conflict, all the lack
of peace we're familiar with inthe world, it all started at one
point.
Let me show it to you.
Because in the beginning, Goddesigned the world in total
peace.
There was no conflict.
God created man and woman, theyexperienced shalom in the world.
(11:14):
Over and over again.
In the first chapter of theBible, we read, everything was
good.
Here's how the last verse inGenesis 1 ends.
God saw everything that He made,and behold, it was very good.
Like very shalom.
And Genesis 2 describes how manand woman experienced peace in
the world, and peace inrelationship with each other,
(11:38):
and peace within themselves.
Everything was right at everylevel.
It was shalom.
Do you know why?
Because at the core, they hadpeace with God until Genesis 3.
And this is the point where itall collapsed.
(12:01):
God, their creator, had said,Eat from any tree in the garden.
They're giving you all thesetrees full of all this fruit for
you to enjoy.
Except for this one tree.
And the man and the woman said,No.
We know better than you what'sbest for us.
(12:23):
And Genesis 3:6 says, When thewoman saw that the tree was good
for food, and it was a delightto the eyes, the tree was to be
desired to make one wise.
She took of its fruit and ate.
And she also gave some to herhusband who was with her, and he
ate.
Feel the weight of what'shappening here.
Up until this point, everythingin all creation responded to the
(12:45):
good voice of the Creator, whosaid to the stars, you go there,
and they obeyed.
Said to the oceans, you stopthere, and they obeyed.
To swarming creatures of allkinds, responding with complete
peace and obedience to God untilyou get to man and woman, and
man and woman have the audacityto look at God in the face and
say, No, we're doing things ourway.
(13:09):
And man and woman experiencedconflict with God.
They chose it over peace withGod.
And watch what immediatelyhappened.
The very next verse, the eyes ofboth of them were open.
They knew they were naked.
They soaked fig leaves together,they made themselves loincloths.
(13:30):
Do you see this?
Immediately they startedexperiencing conflict within
themselves.
They felt guilt, shame, fear.
None of those things were therebefore this.
And then they immediatelyexperienced conflict in their
relationship with each other.
Listen to Genesis chapter 3,verse 12.
(13:50):
Adam starts blaming Eve.
The woman whom you gave to bewith me, she gave me the fruit
of the tree, and I ate.
The chapter goes on to describethem clashing with each other.
That's the word that we see inthe Hebrew there.
They're contrary to each other.
And then by the next chapter, wesee murder introduced into the
world that is now wrought withevil, suffering, chaos, and
(14:15):
death.
Do you see this?
The core of all conflict that weexperience in this world comes
back to the conflict we havechosen with God.
This is Adam and Eve's story.
No.
This is our story.
(14:38):
Every single one of us has hadthe audacity to look God in the
face and say, either I'm gonnalive like you're not even there,
like you don't even exist, orI'm gonna live like I know
better than you what's best formy life.
(14:59):
Either way, I'm choosing my way.
We've all chosen conflict withour Creator.
In ways that lead to all kindsof efforts to try to fix
ourselves and to overcome theconflict we feel inside us in
ways that lead to conflict withothers and conflict in the
(15:23):
world.
Don't miss this.
Do not believe the headlinesthat your algorithm is sending
you.
The greatest problem in theworld is not this political
party or that politician or thisworld leader or that economic
(15:44):
system or power players or bigbusiness or corrupt corporations
or countries.
It's our hearts.
It's conflict that each of ushas chosen with God that plays
out in different ways in all ofour lives and that will
eventually lead all of us to theultimate penalty of sin against
(16:08):
God, death in this world.
Which means that if any of ushave any real hope of real peace
now and forever, then we needsomebody who can address this
core problem, our conflict withGod.
And who has the power to dothat?
Who has the power to bring peacewith God in a way that leads to
(16:31):
peace in the world?
Do you have that power?
Does any other person you knowor have ever heard of have that
power?
No.
Only God has the authority andpower to remove conflict with
God.
And this is the stunning messageof Christmas.
This is what Isaiah chapter 9,verse 6 is saying.
(16:55):
That the mighty God, with allthe authority and power to bring
complete peace, has come to us.
To you and to me.
Which leads to the questionwell, how?
How can this child, whose birthwe celebrate at Christmas, how
(17:16):
can he bring complete peace atthe core of who we are in this
world?
And Isaiah answers that question44 chapters later in Isaiah 53,
in another prophecy about Jesus.
Watch this.
The Bible says he was piercedfor our transgressions, he was
crushed for our iniquities.
(17:36):
Upon him was the chastisementthat brought us peace, and with
his wounds we are healed.
Do you see this?
This is how Jesus solves theproblem at the core of our
hearts.
He would be pierced for ourtransgressions and crushed for
(17:57):
our iniquities.
This is Isaiah telling us whyJesus came and how Jesus brings
peace at the core of who we are.
He came to live the life you andI could not live, a life of
total peace with God.
He had no transgression oriniquity in his life, which
means that he did not deserve todie.
(18:17):
But he chose to die on a crossto pay the price for our
transgressions, to die for yourand my iniquities.
Upon him was the chastisement,the punishment for sin.
He died in our place.
Then three days later, he rosefrom the grave, conquering sin
(18:38):
and death in order to bring uswhat?
This is the audienceparticipation part of our
program.
It's the punchline.
In order to bring us peace.
Anybody want to guess whatHebrew word that is?
Boom, you're a Hebrew scholar,shalom.
He died to bring us completepeace, justice, calmness, and
(18:59):
goodness without any conflict,turmoil, chaos, or evil.
By his wounds, we are made wholewith God.
Which is why, when you get whenyou get to the story of Jesus'
birth in the New Testament,you'll never guess.
When the angels are thumbingthrough all the songs that they
(19:20):
could sing, what is theirselection that night, as they're
announcing his birth toshepherds, Luke 2.13 says,
suddenly there was the with theangel, a multitude of heavenly
hosts, praising God and saying,Glory to God in the highest and
on earth.
Drop the mic, peace among thosewith whom he is placed.
(19:40):
Same word, he came to bringpeace.
Shalom.
So how do we receive this?
How do we count it among thosewho experience this peace?
And the answer the Bible givesis beautiful.
So people read this.
Among those with whom he ispleased.
(20:02):
And start thinking, okay, thatmeans we have to work hard to
clean ourselves up.
Fix ourselves like Gabby wassaying in that story she was
telling earlier.
Like what what good works do Ineed to perform in order to
please God?
What boxes do I need to checkoff?
But that is not what God says.
God says that peace with him ispossible one way.
(20:23):
Follow this.
It's possible simply by trustingin who Jesus is and what he came
to do for you.
Let me show you this.
Romans 5.1.
Therefore, since we have beenjustified by faith, we have
peace with God through our LordJesus Christ.
(20:46):
Do you see this?
The path to justification.
That means to be made right withGod.
The path to peace with God ispaved by faith, by trust in
Jesus as the Christ.
That title means the one God hadpromised all these years and the
Lord of your life.
(21:08):
So get the picture.
Faith is confessing.
God, I have chosen conflict withyou.
But I'm choosing to lay down myarms in light of your love for
me.
Faith is saying, I believe thatJesus has died for my sin.
(21:28):
And I trust him as the promisedprince, the promised prince who
has authority to bring me peacewith you.
Which then followed us.
Opens the door to peace withothers.
As one forgiven by God, you nowhave supernatural power to
(21:56):
forgive others.
As one loved by the God youoffended.
You have supernatural power tolove those who offend you.
As one reconciled to God, youhave supernatural power to
(22:19):
reconcile with others.
Jesus is our peace who breaksdown dividing walls of hostility
with others.
(22:40):
Which then ultimately leads theway to peace in this world.
Not immediately, of course.
As long as we live in a world ofsin where conflict with God
remains, we'll be surrounded byturmoil, chaos, and evil.
But you can face this chaoticworld with the peace of God at
(23:04):
the core of your being.
Colossians 3.15.
I love this verse.
Let the peace of the promisedChrist rule in your hearts.
Philippians 4.
Don't be anxious.
You're free from being anxious,worrying about anything.
And everything by prayer andsupplication, let your requests
(23:24):
be made known to God.
And the peace of God, whichsurpasses all understanding,
beyond what you can imagine,will guard your hearts and minds
in Christ Jesus.
His peace will protect youamidst anything that comes at
you in this world.
(23:44):
Because you know that one dayall the conflict and all the
turmoil and all the chaos andall the evil in this world will
be no more.
Listen to this.
How the Bible describes heaven,a place where God will wipe away
every tear from our eyes.
Death shall be no more, neithershall there be mourning nor
crying nor pain anymore, for theformer things have passed away.
(24:05):
Follow this.
You can have peace today becauseyou know and you're confident
the day is coming when theconflict and turmoil and chaos
and evil of this world will beno more.
And can I just point out thatthis kind of peace is only
possible through faith in Jesus?
(24:27):
And I say this with all duerespect for my atheistic or
agnostic friends, but they don'thave this peace because that
worldview doesn't provide thispeace.
If you're an atheist oragnostic, you believe in a world
of ultimately natural causes,which means that in the end,
there will be no justice.
(24:50):
No wrongs made right, no hope ofmeaning beyond the grave.
It just is what it is.
And we continue in this cycle.
And if that's you, I would justask you to consider why you have
this innate desire in you forjustice and meaning and hope and
(25:10):
peace if this world is all thereis.
And for all kinds of adherenceof all kinds of other religions,
again, I say this sincerely withrespect, but all the religions
of the world hold out hope thatif you do enough good or right
things, if you follow a certainpath, then at some point in this
(25:33):
life or additional lives, you'llachieve peace.
But what if peace was neverintended, meant to be achieved
by us as creation?
Hasn't this been our problemsince the beginning?
Our prideful, futile efforts tofix ourselves instead of being
(25:53):
achieved by us.
What if the peace we long forcan only be received humbly by
the Creator who loves us?
Put down your pride and receiveyour Creator's gift of peace
that he longs for you toexperience.
And longs is the right word.
(26:14):
You remember Isaiah 9:7?
Talking about the increase ofhis government and peace
there'll be no end, justice andrighteousness forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hostswill do this.
What language?
God is zealous, God's passionateabout bringing peace to this
world, about bringing peace toyour heart.
(26:35):
And he has done it.
He's made the way for you toexperience a peace with him
that, did you see it, will neverend.
Forevermore.
Like, and not just will neverend, did you of the increase of
his peace.
Like it will just keep gettingmore and more and more.
(26:58):
Increasing peace, justice,calmness, goodness, it just gets
better and better and betterforever and ever and ever.
It makes me think about how C.S.
Lewis ends that last paragraphin the last book of the Narnia
series.
Remember?
He writes, The things that beganto happen after that were so
great and beautiful that Icannot write them.
And for us, this is the end ofall the stories, and we can most
(27:20):
truly say that they all livedhappily ever after.
But for them, it was only thebeginning of the real story.
All their life in this world andall their adventures in Narnia
had only been the cover and thetitle page.
Now at last, they were beginningchapter one of the great story
which no one on earth has read,which goes on forever, in which
every chapter is better than theone before.
(27:45):
Yes.
And all of this is why Christmasis not mere entrite tradition or
a fairy tale excuse to gatherwith friends and family for food
and gifts.
It is a celebration of thegreatest news in the world for
real people who long for realpeace in their hearts and in
this world that will lastforever.
(28:12):
To bring it home, it's thegreatest news in the world for
Joseph and Andre and Danielle inNigeria to know tonight that
mass burials and kidnappings andpersecution and evil will not be
the end of the story for allthose who trust in Jesus.
And Ahmed can know that completefreedom from oppression,
(28:35):
ultimate reunion with family andfriends will be a reality for
all those who trust in Jesus asthe Prince of Peace.
And Maria can know that it won'tbe long until she'll be with
James again because they bothtrusted in the Prince of Peace
who conquered sin and death ontheir behalf so they could be
(28:56):
forever with him.
And Jada can know that thePrince of Peace promises to
never ever leave her alone as asingle mom.
And Stephen and Sophia can holdon to hope amidst the heartbreak
in their home.
(29:16):
And John and Esther and Malikand Susan and Darren can know
that disease and dementia andcancer and tumors and pain and
paralysis, they're allultimately passing away.
And Wesley, this teenager canknow he's not alone.
And he is completely free fromall his efforts to try and
(29:40):
measure up with the world aroundhim because he has peace with
the God who made him.
And Michael can know that allthe success in this world will
never compare with the shalomthat Jesus alone can provide for
(30:01):
him.
And it's not just good news forall of them.
It's good news for you.
Which leads to a question I wantto ask every person than the
sound of my voice right now.
Not the person beside you, infront of you, behind you, but
right where you're sitting rightnow.
(30:22):
Do you personally know Jesus asthe Prince of Peace?
Notice, I'm not asking if youcall yourself a Christian.
Or if you've been to churchbefore, or if you do a certain
number of good things.
I'm asking, have you trusted inJesus to bring you peace with
(30:43):
God?
To restore you, your heart toright relationship with God.
I cannot think of a moreimportant question to ask on
this Christmas Eve, knowing thatnot one of us is guaranteed to
be breathing on Christmasmorning.
So are you right with God rightnow?
(31:05):
And the good news is there's nota list of things you have to do.
Clean yourself up.
I love the way Gabby put it.
God loves you intensely, and hehas made the way for you to be
right with him, to experiencepeace with him now and forever
by faith.
They're trusting in him.
So if the answer to thisquestion is not a resounding yes
(31:28):
in your heart, then I want toinvite you.
I don't believe it's an accidentthat any person is here right
now.
You've been brought here by GodHimself to hear the greatest
news in the world that you mighthave peace with him today.
So I just want to inviteeveryone to take a moment right
now, just to close your eyes.
(31:49):
And I ask you to do this just toput aside every distraction and
to think about this question.
Do you personally know Jesus asthe Prince of Peace?
And if the answer to thatquestion is not a resounding yes
in your heart, and I want toinvite you just to say to God
(32:12):
right now, God, you say this inyour heart.
God, I confess I've chosenconflict with you.
But today I believe that youhave made the way for peace with
you.
I believe that Jesus died on thecross for my sins and rose from
(32:36):
the dead so I can have life withyou as my Lord.
So I am turning to you andtrusting in you as the Prince of
Peace.
SPEAKER_00 (32:51):
We hope you've enjoyed this week's episode of
David Platt Messages.
For more resources from DavidPlatt, we invite you to visit
radical.net.
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