Prince of Peace (A Christmas Devotional)
By: Kristen L. McNulty
Reprint rights available on request. Email the author at kristenmcnulty@hotmail.com.
When prophesying about the birth of the Messiah, the prophet Isaiah said:
"For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." Isaiah 9:6
Today I want to unpack that last name, Prince of Peace, and the implications it has for you and I today. When reading the verse it's easy to read the words through the lens of our English language, where the word peace means the absence of war and conflict, but the words we find for peace in God's Word carry different meaning.
Shalom Peace & Eirene Peace
The Hebrew word for "peace" is "shalom", which speaks to our well-being, calmness, harmony and tranquility as individuals. While the Greek word for "peace" is "eirene" which means unity, accord and to join together what was once separated.
So when we read that Jesus Christ, Emmanuel, is the Prince of Peace the words used for peace in the Bible show us there is both earthly and eternal implications to the peace He brings.
Jesus came to this earth to bridge the gap between man and God, becoming the one-time sacrifice for our sins, and thus bringing eirene peace, as in unity between us and God, joining together the bond that had been broken by sin (2 Corinthians 5:18-19). Those are the eternal implications.
The earthly implications come with the shalom peace Jesus brings into our lives when we invite Him to come in, the calmness, tranquility, and harmony He brings that help us weather any storm this earth can produce while we wait for our storm-free eternity (John 14:27).
Peace For Today & A Promise For Tomorrow
Those two gifts change our lives from inside out when we come to believe in Christ and follow Him as Lord and Saviour. He gives us peace for today and the promise of an eternity with the God we are now reconciled with for tomorrow. The Prince of Peace comes in and will completely comfort and transform your life if you will let Him this Christmas. And I can't urge you enough to do so as there are tears in my eyes as I tell you He makes all the difference and I know Him to be 100% real, true and faithful as I once again discovered not too long ago.
An Encounter With The Prince of Peace
Allow me to share my experience with the Prince of Peace with you. At the end of October 2018 I underwent sinus surgery. Going into the surgery I was completely at peace, there was not one trace of fear and hesitation, and if you've listened to this show for a while or read one of my books, you'll know that's not a natural thing. Based on my past experiences with surgery I should have been extremely uneasy, but I was completely calm thanks to the peace He brings.
The surgery happens, all looks fine, I go through recovery and just about when they are getting ready to release me from the hospital to go home, I start feeling what turns out to be blood gushing down the back of my throat, then it starts pouring out of my nose. It's like a scene out of a medical show on TV as a team surrounds me, frantically working to try and stop the bleeding that just won't stop. It got so bad that I had a blood clot a few inches long going down the back of my throat that they had to suction out and the hemorrhaging caused blood to start coming out of my eye, blinding me at the moment because the blood had no where else to go.
A Peace That Surpasses All Human Understanding
Now as you picture the scene, gruesome as it was, what do you think the girl on the stretcher is feeling at this point? Probably panic, fear, sick to her stomach, dread, horror, the list goes on right? But do you want to know what the girl on the stretcher was actually feeling? Peace, peace so strong despite the circumstances that for the first time in my life I actually understood what the Apostle Paul was talking about in Philippians 4 when He called Jesus' peace one that "surpasses all human understanding". The peace was so strong it made no sense in my circumstances, to the point that I had numerous people on the medical staff ask me why I was so calm as it didn't make sense to them either. In fact the only moment I honestly felt anything but peace was when the bleeding through the eye started because I thought I had permanently lost my vision as that was a risk of the surgery. But the fear that was creeping in left as quickly as it came when my surgeon said it wasn't permanent. Here I was bleeding out and about to be rushed into emergency surgery and I was fine and that had nothing to do with Kristen McNulty and everything to do with Jesus Christ, my Lord, Saviour and Prince of Peace!
Not only did I have the feeling of peace and calmness that came from Him, the shalom, but when I heard from a nurse that I was likely going back to surgery and things didn't look too good, the same girl who feared death most of her life had no fear because I knew that through Christ I had eirene peace, the broken bridge between myself and God had been repaired and rebuilt because of the Prince of Peace. Jesus had paid the sacrifice for my sins and gave unity between God and I, thus paving my entrance into heaven for all eternity. I knew if the worst happened, I was heaven bound because of what Jesus Christ did for me.
"Therefore, since we have been made right in God's sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us." Romans 5:1
Claiming His Peace For Yourself
This incredible peace I experienced on that day and on so many others can be yours today. It doesn't matter what you've done, how long you've walked away from God for or how many regrets you have. Celebrating Christmas is celebrating the Son of God stepping into mankind, loving us depsite how far we've fallen and bringing us peace for today and peace for eternity. His sacrifice will cover your sins and restore you to the right relationship with your God, the very One who created you!
It's not complicated to accept, all you have to do is invite the the Prince of Peace in. As the book of Romans tells us:
"If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved." Romans 10:9-10
So won't you take that step? Then today declare and believe. Let's pray.
Lord Jesus, thank you for coming down into our world over 2000 years ago, thank you for dying on the cross for my sins and reconciling me with God. I believe in you, that you were born, died on the cross and were raised again on the third day. I invite you to come into my heart and life, forgive me of my sins, fill me with your Spirit and the peace that only you can give. In the name of Jesus I pray amen.
If you just prayed that prayer with me, you're about to experience some pretty drastic change in your life. And why don't you let me know so I can send you some free stuff to help you grow in this new faith. Email madradioshow@hotmail.com or connect with me on
the MAD facebook page.
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