One of the many ways that Jesus revolutionizes our lives is by providing a peace that cannot be experienced in any other way. Learn three ways that Jesus provides peace – and deserves the title “Prince of Peace.”

<p>One of the many ways that Jesus revolutionizes our lives is by providing a peace that cannot be experienced in any other way. Learn three ways that Jesus provides peace – and deserves the title “Prince of Peace.”</p>

<p>Free sharing permitted under the Creative Commons <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/">BY-NC-ND 3.0 (US)</a> license.</p>

Dalton SDA Church

The Characteristics and Titles of Jesus

Chester Clark

Jesus: The Creator

Jesus: Prince of Peace

Jesus: The Promise Keeper

Jesus: The Good Shepherd

Jesus: Older Brother

Jesus: Wonderful, Counselor

Jesus: The Truth

Jesus: Light of the World

Jesus: The Morning Star

Jesus: One of Them

Jesus: Promised Seed

Jesus: One of Us

Perhaps 1 of the longest periods of peace, relative peace I might add, this world has ever known, is what has been termed by historians the Pax Romana, the Roman peace.

You see, Rome was such a powerful empire that after it had sort of established itself and strategically distributed its military around the world where areas of resistance might rise, There came upon that part of the world a period of peace that lasted for more than 200 years.

The Roman peace, a peace that was purchased through a rise to power of bloodshed and strife.

Now, there was a very special ceremony that took place when Caesar Augustus had defeated Antony and Cleopatra in Egypt.

Caesar Augustus was now going to preside over a new era of peace.

And in order to let the empire know that there was this new era of peace, that his enemies had been defeated, Antony and Cleopatra, Caesar Augustus initiated a very, very dramatic ceremony in Rome.

You see, we have to go back quite a few years, over 700 years prior to this, to the second king of Rome, Numa, Caesar, who had inherited the kingdom from his father.

In fact, when his father died, and actually, I don't think he was dead yet, but they were looking for a successor to the kingdom, as I recall.

Numa was chosen as the 1 who should be the next Caesar, the next king of Rome, not the empire yet, but the city of Rome that was growing and expanding.

And Numa was approached and Numa said, no, I'm not going to.

Now, if you've noticed politics today, most people, or the people who are going to be selected to be the world's leader are usually wanting the job, right?

By the way, this is an aside, not related to Roman history, but do you know 3 times George Washington had to be approached to be convinced to accept the presidency of the United States.

Things have changed a bit since then, but we won't get into that today.

Numa said, I don't really want to be the emperor or the Caesar, the king of Rome, But he said, let's see what the people say.

He was asked by the people then to be the king, and he said, let's see what the gods say.

Of course, not a worshiper of the God of heaven, but a pagan worshiper.

He asked the various deities for signs and became convinced that in fact he was the 1 who was called to be on the throne at that time.

He was a peace loving man and 1 of the first things that he did is he dissolved the guard that his father Romulus had had around him at all times, 300 soldiers that had been his bodyguard, the secret service basically.

Numa said I don't need these, I'm going to be at peace with the people.

And right there on the main road coming into the Forum from the northeast, there he built this temple.

And the Temple of Janus, Janus is an interesting deity, or I put that in quotation marks, you understand, a Roman god, because Janus was 1 of the few gods that didn't come from the Greeks.

He's the god of beginnings and doors, of gates and openings and borders.

And this god was the god who was, in Numa's mind, would be the god of peace, I guess you might say, having established borders there would be no more controversy so in the temple of Janus there were 2 doors 2 gates and what What the ceremony became is that when the Roman soldiers went out to war, they would have to go through the Temple of Janus, in 1 side and out the other, otherwise they wouldn't have Janus' blessing.

Now you understand I don't believe in all of this, any of this, this is historical data.

The soldiers would have to go through the Temple of Janus and those doors would remain open as long as they were out fighting.

But if the doors of the temple were closed, that meant the empire was at peace.

The soldiers weren't out doing the business of war.

Do you know during Numa's reign, those doors remained shut.

1 of the first things he did besides dissolving the secret service, he also made peace with his neighbors.

In fact, the temple was inscribed, it's of course gone today, part of the ruins of the Roman Forum, but here's 1 of the coins that I believe it was Caesar Nero, yeah, Nero had made and here you have a picture of the Temple of Janus with the gates of Janus closed.

A number of Caesars used this as sort of a propaganda thing, but Caesar Augustus, after defeating Cleopatra, closed those doors for 1 of the first times, only the second time, since the end of Numa's reign.

They were closed again in 26 or 27 AD by Caesar Augustus.

And many people believe that it's Janus, the God of Beginnings, which is the namesake for the first month of the year, January, the beginning of the year, which still comes to us in English today.

Janus, the god of peace, chosen by the peaceful second king of Rome.

But today that's not what we're talking about.

We want to talk today about the Prince of Peace.

Jesus is called here in Isaiah 9, verse 6.

The last title that is used to describe him is the Prince of Peace.

In fact, there are many titles that are given here of Jesus, but it ends with this Prince of Peace.

And if we read verse 7, it says, of the increase of his government and peace, there will be no end.

We skip down and it says towards the end of that sentence, is from that time forward, even forever.

Peace that continually grows and expands like the waves of the sea rolling across the sand, a peace that knows no end.

Well, the Bible's clear that it's not now that there's that Prince of Peace.

Not even in Isaiah's time was he at peace.

If we turn to the book of Revelation, Revelation chapter 12 and verse 7, Revelation chapter 12 and verse 7, we're going to read here for just a few moments in the last book of the Bible, the book of Revelation.

We're going to see how Jesus is described and it's not exactly peaceful, the picture that we find here in Revelation chapter 12.

Revelation chapter 12 and verse 7 it says, war broke out where?

Of all places, the last place that you would expect war to be found is in heaven.

The place that should be the most under the control of the God of heaven, the Prince of Peace.

But the Bible says the war broke out in heaven.

Michael and his angels fought with the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought.

Now I want us to just establish something here.

Do you wanna just see why I believe that real quickly?

Can you keep your finger right here in Revelation chapter 12?

I do not believe, and I think we made it clear last week in our sermon about Jesus the Creator, I do not believe that Jesus is a created being.

And yet He is described in the Bible as being over the angels or the archangel.

Let's just keep a finger here in Revelation chapter 12 and look back in John chapter 5.

We're going to look at 3 verses that together are going to show us that Jesus is Michael.

So we're going to look at John chapter 5 first of all and we're going to read the prophecy of the resurrection that Jesus gave here in John chapter 5 and verse, we'll begin with verse 25.

Most assuredly I say to you The hour is coming and now is in which the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live.

The hour is coming when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live.

Look with me now to 1 Thessalonians, the writing of the Apostle Paul.

1 Thessalonians chapter 4, as he describes the first resurrection in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, and we're going to see that at the second coming of Jesus, there is a voice, just like Jesus said, that wakes the dead, 1 Thessalonians chapter 4.

And we're going to look at, let's see what verse is it here?

Verse 16, let's start with verse 15, For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain to the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep, for the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a what?

Shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise." So whose voice on that resurrection morning is going to awaken the dead?

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The Characteristics and Titles of Jesus

Jesus: Prince of Peace

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