For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; and the government will rest on His shoulders; and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6)

At the birth of Christ the Messiah, the angels heralded, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.” (Luke 2:14). To be sure, at His second coming He will come like a warrior, as John’s prophecy depicts Him in the final days:

And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He [Jesus Christ] who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war. His eyes are a flame of fire … From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. (Rev. 19:11-15)

In other words, Jesus Christ is no pushover. Being the Prince of Peace implies no weakness. Rather, He is like a conquering hero who symbolically and triumphantly rides on a colt of a donkey into a war-torn city and conveys the end of war and a new and better regime to come. He comes as a prince of peace. Only in Messiah’s case, He entered the world as Prince of Peace before the final battle is won! Now that is some confidence! That can only come from one who is eternal by nature (Eternal Father), who knows the outcome before it happens.

So Isaiah’s proclamation in today’s verse and the angelic announcement at His birth form the ultimate statement of God’s purposes in Christ. That is what the Scripture says: “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him” (John 3:17). For this is His ultimate purpose in the incarnation, “namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation” (2 Cor 5:19).

Peace with God—this is what we need more than anything else, that we would be made right with the One whose image we bear. Unless He makes this happen, there is no hope that we can reconcile ourselves to Him. There is nothing we can do to procure peace with Him—we simply have nothing to give Him that is not His already, nothing that would motivate Him to accept our offerings of peace. But on His side, He is the Prince of Peace, and He demonstrated this by giving us the ultimate peace offering, the sacrifice of Himself (Eph 2:15).

Lord, I am completely contented and at rest with You. You have freed me up to live for You without any fear of judgment. You are my Prince of Peace!