Dear BPCWA worshipper, Today is Christmas Eve, and tomorrow we commemorate the birth of Christ when He came to earth and took on human flesh more than two thousand years ago. Last Lord’s Day, we sang the hymn “The First Noel”, which resounded with the chorus “Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel, Born is the King of Israel!” As the Light of the world, the announcement of Christ’s coming through this momentous birth would bring unparalleled joy and eternal hope to mankind.

The world when Christ was born. Israel was God’s chosen witness to the world and appointed in God’s plan to bring forth the promised Messiah, Christ. God intended Israel to point all men to the Almighty God. God would give Israel His commandments to live by, telling them that it will be “your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people. 7 For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the LORD our God is in all things that we call upon him for?” (De 4:6-7). But Israel failed to live by God’s commandments and by the last book of the Old Testament, God takes up a reproach against Israel His chosen nation when He says “A son honoureth his father, and a servant his master: if then I be a father, where is mine honour? and if I be a master, where is my fear? saith the LORD of hosts unto you, O priests, that despise my name. And ye say, Wherein have we despised thy name?” (Mal 1:6). This was followed by about 400 years of silence from God. By the time the announcement of Christ’s birth came, the nation of Israel had lost its independence and sovereignty and was ruled by the Roman Empire. In their conquest of Jerusalem, Rome desecrated the temple’s Holy of Holies and ruled Israel, leading to great anger and resentment by the Jews.  It was to a tense and unhappy Israel that the angel announced to Mary the virgin birth of a Saviour “And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. 32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: 33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.” (Lu 1:31-33). A child would be born in the line of David and would be the promised King of Israel. This child would be the promised Messiah, the Son of God, a fulfillment of God’s prophecy in Isa 9:6-7. God offered light to Israel in a time of great darkness.    

The rejection of the Prince of Peace. Israel’s prime interest at that point was for their Messiah to deliver them out of their despised Roman rule. What they failed to acknowledge was that the underlying cause of their problems was spiritual and that their problems were the LORD’s chastisement. This chastisement was intended to drive them back to the LORD Himself, whom they had forsaken. Bemoaning their rejection of God’s messengers throughout most of Israel’s history, we see the very heart of God when Christ said “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!” (Mt 23:37). The nation that was formed by God to reflect His glory had degenerated into one that had a façade of religiosity while abandoning its spiritual purpose. Christ was foreordained to be the King of Israel, the Prince of Peace, the only one who could give them the true peace that they were seeking. But they had their own ideas of what the Messiah should be and what they wanted Him to do for them. Hence, God indicts, “He came unto his own, and his own received him not” (Joh 1:11). In their ultimate rejection of Christ, they used the very Roman system which they despised to kill Him, even screaming with hatred and stubbornness, “His blood be on us, and on our children” (Mt 27:25). Although they had experienced God’s chastisement earlier, the worst was yet to come. There will be no peace for Israel until the day they receive their King. “For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord” (Mt 23:39).

The world today needs Christ. As we approach another Christmas, we are reminded once again of the angels saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men” (Lu 2:14). The situation has not improved, and there is certainly no peace between men and nations. Wars are being fought in different parts of the world. In Jerusalem where the angels first proclaimed the coming Messiah, tensions and unrest remain, if not even escalating. But it is not because God’s promise has failed. It is because man has rejected God and the only path of peace. The peace the angels proclaimed begins with peace with God through faith and belief in the only Saviour, Jesus Christ. Today, Christ’s redemptive work has been completed through His birth, perfect life, death, and resurrection. But there is no peace in many men’s hearts and there is certainly no peace between men. This is because of the rejection of the Prince of Peace, born to save men from their sins. Man’s greater concern must first be to reconcile with God through Christ, the Mediator. All other man-made peace is but a façade and will never last. One day, true peace on earth will come, when Christ reigns in the hearts of man and upon the earth. Until then, there will only be “wars and rumours of wars” (Mt 24:6). Meanwhile, as Christians, we can personally have the peace that Christ gives, “not as the world giveth”. And so, “Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (Joh 14:27). As Christ has come before, Christ will come again. We look forward today to the glory of His second coming when there will truly be peace on earth because of God’s goodwill toward man in giving to us His only begotten Son. Eventually, in the new heaven and the new earth, it will be a time of endless peace, when no truce or ceasefire is needed, because there will be no more wars. In that age, Christ will reign as King over Israel and all the earth.

Isa 9:7 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.

Yours in our Lord’s service,
Pastor