Bible Studies

Peace on Earth

by Doug Laird 
12/24/23
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We see the phrase, PEACE ON EARTH, on Christmas cards and displays everywhere during the Holiday Season.

Most Christians are well-familiar with the angelic proclamation announcing peace on Earth at the First Advent.

‭‭“Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among people with whom He is pleased (Luke 2: 14 NASB2020).”

But  it  is the, “among people with whom He is pleased” part that is often over-looked. This oversight results in confusion among believers, and is the basis for skeptical criticism among unbelievers.

During His three-year public ministry, Jesus made clear that He did NOT come to bring interpersonal or international peace on the Earth. “Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword (Matt. 10: 34 NASB2020).”

Not only would His coming bring global conflict, but conflicts within the closest of interpersonal relationships.

‭‭”For I came to turn a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a person’s enemies will be the members of his household (Matt. 10: 35-36 NASB2020)”

Religion (including Chrristian religion)  has played a role in many of the persecutions, “wars and rumors of wars (Matt. 24: 6 NASB2020) that have been, and will continue to exist, throughout the course of human history.

Misinformed Christians and skeptics alike will ask, “Where is the peace on Earth that was announced by the angel at the First Advent?”.

The answer, in part, is found in the concluding phrase of Luke 2: 14 NASB2020, “ among people with whom He is pleased.”

So who are these “people” with whom God is pleased, and what type of peace is it that the First Advent Angel announced?

The prospect of the type of peace spoken of in Luke 2: 14 is based on reconciliation between the collective and individual souls of Fallen Man and God. Those who have been “born-again” (John 3: 5, 7) are the ones with whom God is pleased.

He is not pleased with them because of something that THEY did or didn’t do, but because they chose to BELIEVE in what God has done for them on the cross.

Fallen Man comes into this world with a nature that is inherently hostile (Romans 8: 7) towards God and the things of God, and with a spirit that is dead. Upon making the Luke 2: 14 peace with God (by being born-again), they have established an eternally secure relationship with God. Born-again believers have been permanently sealed (marked for identification) as a clhild of God, by God the Holy Spirit (Eph. 4:30), and have had, what was, their dead spirit, regenerated (Titus 3: 5).

Many things can impact the way one feels. Being guided by our feelings can be a satanic trap.

The Luke 2: 14 peace can be a great source of comfort when we find ourselves in the deep valleys of life, as it assures us that there IS Light at the end of the tunnel.

If you have not secured the Luke 2: 14 peace with God, I pray that you will do so now.

It takles a one-time decision to believe in the Gospel Message encapsulated in John 3: 16, 18. ‭‭“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but so that the world might be saved through Him. The one who believes in Him is not judged; the one who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God (John 3: 16-18) NAS 2020).”

The Holiday Season an be an especially hard time for many who have been wounded by what life has brought to them. Even the joy of others can be like salt being thrown into an open wound of a broken heart.

Christians are no exception. In fact not only are Christians subject to the to the same pain and suffering as everyone else, they have the additional suffering that is associated with living a godly life in an ungodly world.

If you are a born-again believer, but are struggling with present circumstances of life, I pray that you will experience the Phil. 4: 7 type of peace now, by focusing on the Light at the end of the tunnel, and what Eternity holds for the people with whom He is pleased.


“And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Phil. 4: 7 NASB2020).”

Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year to all from BATMQ.net