Peace On Earth   This peace is totally for food for thought and needs far more research before becoming a stated position.  I do this because the words spoken by the angels to the shepherds on the night of Jesus’ birth seem to have been mis-appropriated and mis-applied to the wrong idea.   I started thinking about this during the recent Christmas season as many people, both believer and non-believer, Christmas cards, politicians, television shows take the opportunity to express these words as a message of hope to the rest of the world and their viewers.   From what I can gather the majority of these heralds seem to refer to a physical peace on earth, one where all men get along despite their theological, ideological and personal differences.  Also, it seems to refer to hope that all wars will be stopped ad en can live life in a manner they think God intended when He created the Garden of Eden.   But if we take a closer look at the facts, Jesus’ purpose, His words and at the other meaning of the word peace, this may not be and probably is not the meaning of the angel’s proclamation.  We read in the New Testament, where Jesus said, ‘I came not to bring peace but a sword’ and we can wonder what He means by that when we are clearly told that peace has come.   We need to look at other scriptures to get the other meaning of the word ‘peace’ that I believe this declaration really means.  We read about ‘my peace I leave with you’ or ‘the peace that passes all understanding’ and many, many others which do not mean nor indicate  physical peace among mankind.   These scriptures refer to the peace that God gives all men which frees them from worry, fears and other stressful characteristics which cause people to fret over their lives.  These verse speak of a confidence that we can have that no matter what God is looking after our children, spouses, personal possessions and so on.   This is the peace I think the angels are referring to when they announce the birth of Christ.  This announcement is not one of hope where the Romans will be vanquished and the Israelites obtain independence rather it is one which says, ‘do not worry, someone has come who brings relief, hope and salvation.  ‘  along with, ‘you know have someone to turn to when times get rough, who understands what you are facing and can do something about it.’   It is a peace that God grants to our spirits so that we can look to Him in all things, though the world remains the same and troubles happen everyday.  It is a peace that contains a solution to our lives and we do not have to ‘go it alone’, we can look for and receive a traveling companion.   So the next time someone says, ‘peace on earth’ we know those words do not mean the elusive world peace everyone is searching for, instead we can take hope, for God sent His Son not only to be our Savior but much , much more and we do not have to worry anymore.