Advent Devotional 2025: Part 3
by Bruce Billington
Advent Devotional – Part 3
This week, we will continue with the Advent – the coming of Christ, or the Incarnation. This third session looks at the third great gift of Advent: peace.
There is a beautiful word for peace in the Old Testament – it is shalom and appears there more than 250 times. Shalom is a powerful and expressive word. It is not simply the opposite of war, but the absence of any disturbance that disrupts peace at all.
It speaks of bodily health, prosperity, contentment, peaceful sleep, safe travels when going away, and good relations between all nations and people. When Moses passed on this blessing to Aaron and his sons, he uttered the well-known phrase in Numbers 6:24-26.
The LORD bless you, and keep you; The LORD make His face shine on you, And be gracious to you; The LORD lift up His countenance on you, And give you peace.’ (my highlight).
Shalom is a gift from God and can only be received in His presence. In the New Testament, we can experience the fullest expression of shalom by welcoming the coming of the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:5-6) and accepting salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus is the Mediator of peace, and His coming established the Kingdom of God, and He is the bearer of reconciliation (Romans 5:1, Colossians 1:20). Luke 2 picks this up in a beautiful expression of the coming of Christ when it says,
Luke 2:13-14 – “13 And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 14 Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.”
Interestingly, Verse 13, describing the incarnation, is the only New Testament passage that states that a multitude of the heavenly host were praising God. This highlights what an incredible event the coming of Christ to earth symbolised.
The verse first reveals what is happening in heaven and then celebrates the results on earth, bringing them all together into one beautiful word – peace, or shalom.
Speaking of this, Adam Clarke’s comments deserve to be expressed fully when he said,
The design of God, in the incarnation, was to manifest the hidden glories of his nature, and to reconcile men to each other and to himself. The angels, therefore, declare that this incarnation shall manifest and promote the glory of God, not only in the highest heavens, among the highest orders of beings, but in the highest and most exalted degrees.
For in this astonishing display of God’s mercy, attributes of the Divine nature which had not been and could not be known in any other way should be now exhibited in the fullness of their glory, that even the angels should have fresh objects to contemplate, and new glories to exult in. The incarnation of Jesus Christ is an infinite and eternal benefit. Heaven and earth both partake of the fruits of it, and through it angels and men become one family.
Focusing on peace here, we can state that this peace is both obtained and maintained through communion with the Lord Jesus Christ. If we engage in this, we can deepen our participation in the peace of God as we apply His ways to our lives.
The Scriptures encourage us to be at peace with one another (Mark 9:50). We are also taught that the Kingdom of God is centred on righteousness and peace (Romans 14:17), and again, we find that peace is one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22).
One of the mandates we have on this earth is to bring this wonderful peace into all our human relationships. This has only become possible through Christ’s arrival on earth. The incarnation demonstrates God’s goodwill to dwell among us.
We have strong reasons to praise Him, reflect on this with wonder, hold it in our hearts, and show it in all our relationships.
God bless you and bring you peace.
Bruce Billington