Pastor's Weekly Musing

Hey everyone!

The angels declared on the day Jesus was born, "Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests."

I get the "Glory to God" part. He deserves all glory and honor and praise, and the miraculous and profound act of God becoming man warrants the highest of it all, to the "highest heaven". Got it.

I also get the "on whom His favor rests" part. His undeserved favor is received by grace through faith, believing in the finished work of Christ on our behalf. We receive it as a gift, sealed with Christ's blood -- it really is finished.

The part I struggle with is the "peace on earth" part.

Peace? During this season? It feels like the opposite happens.

Christmas time is awesome, but now more than ever, we need to focus on exactly what kind of peace God gave us in the birth of Jesus, our Savior. Because He gave us a TON of peace.

For the next three musings, we'll take a brief look at three different kinds of peace that God gave us in the birth of Jesus.

TODAY: In Christmas, we receive Peace With God.

Romans 5:1 says, "Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ."

Paul just spent the previous 4 chapters of Romans making the iron-clad case that we're all sinners in need of a Savior, and that we don't earn that salvation through works, through the Law, through our own goodness, or even our own pursuit of God. We're saved by God's grace alone, received by faith. We're "justified through faith".

Then he says "Therefore, since" that happened, what happens next? The very first thing he says is, "we have peace with God"!

Having peace with God means that the question "God, are we friends?" has been answered. Emphatically. Eternally. You've been set free:

No longer under the demands of the Law, under the guilt of sin, under the illusion of self-sufficiency, under the weight of shame, under the pressure to perform, under the fear of exposure, under the stress of not being enough, under the incomparable burden of a Gospel-less life.

You're free. Unquestionably, incomprehensibly, undeniably, unequivocally free.

And how? Romans 5:1 ends with "through our Lord Jesus Christ."

Enjoy peace with God this week!

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 This Sunday, we'll begin a new series, ADVENT: God and Sinners Reconciled.

Every year we take the month of December and focus intently on one of the two greatest events in human history: the birth of our Savior. (The other, of course, being the Resurrection).

With all the chaos that can come with this season, now more than ever we need an anchor for our soul. As a church body, we will look closely at one of the most beautiful depictions of who Jesus is in all of Scripture: Colossians chapter 1.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, and this week we'll dive right in, with Part 1 - Jesus, Our Gospel.

Looking forward to seeing you all on the walkway!

Pastor Ronnie

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