Read Revelation 21:3-4
Forever is a hard concept for us. As humans, it’s hard for us to commit to something as simple as a Facebook event, let alone commitments that last a lifetime! We can hardly grasp a lifetime, let alone forever. We understand it conceptually, but when we’re offered promises of “forever,” they seem distant from our practical, everyday experience. “Peace” is another elusive concept. Living in 21st century, peace can feel like an impossible endeavor. Sure, people say they desire world peace, but when we look around and notice the predicament in which we find ourselves, peace seems like the furthest thing from reality.
So how are we to respond when we’re offered permanent peace? What do we do when Jesus is named our Prince of Peace in Isaiah, and when, at the end of Revelation, we’re promised a world of peace forever? John describes a beautiful destiny in Revelation 22. It’s a place where every tear is wiped away, where death doesn’t exist, where grief and pain and suffering are completely done away with. It’s like a dream — and, unfortunately, I think many of us treat it as such. Most days, it feels easier to put it in the category of “impossible” or “only happens in the movies.”
But permanent peace is exactly why Christmas is such good news. The hope, comfort, joy, and peace of Christmas don’t just come and go. Jesus has made a way — a permanent way — to experience everything we’ve discussed in this devotional book. Jesus’ coming in human flesh to live a perfect life on our behalf, his carrying the weight of sin in order to put it to death, and his defeating death by raising back to life — his story is now our story… forever. It’s our new narrative, today and every day.
Forever doesn’t just mean way far in the future. Forever means today. Today is the day for you to experience peace with God, joy in new life, comfort in his love, and hope in his presence.
Reflection and Response
Christmas came and went, but your peace is permanent. What are you doing today to experience peace with God?
By Yvonne Biel
