Joy, Peace, and Goodwill

By Colly Caldwell

“¹⁰Then the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. ¹¹For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. ¹²And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger." ¹³And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: ¹⁴"Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!" (Luke 2:10-14).

   There is a wonderful story about Abe Lincoln in which he received a letter from an eight-year-old girl telling him that he would have a better chance to be elected President if he grew a beard to hide his homely face. Rather than being offended, the humble Lincoln answered her letter personally and thanked her for the suggestion. He further added that when his campaign came to her town, he would like to meet her. Months later, the local Republican Party officials announced that Lincoln was coming. Everyone dressed, the mayor wrote his speech, and the band rehearsed its music. Her father reasoned that this event was for politicians, not little girls, and so he left her home. As the train approached town, it was forced to stop for repairs. Waiting, Lincoln set out across the field on foot to the back side of town where he asked to find the house where the little girl lived. When he knocked on the door, she and her playmate welcomed him as if they were expecting him. They had a pretend tea party and talked to Mr. Lincoln for an hour. He came to that town for her. This little girl was worth his personal visit.

   JOY. When Jesus came to us, it was such a special time. God had corresponded with man and told him that He would act in history…that God would come to earth…that a Divine child would be born (Isa. 7:14). Now, the angels announce it. What joy! He has come! Would His people receive Him? Will we receive him, comfortably, like the little girl, into our homes, joyfully? He came for you and me.

   I wish we knew more about angels and their role in God’s great purposes. In heaven, the emphasis is upon God and not the angels; so we don’t have a full explanation of their activities or even their inter-relationships with God. There have been a host of films portraying angels and I am told that in 1992, five of the ten best-selling paperback books were about angels. Nevertheless, we seem to know much less than we would like. We do know, however, that their message about Christ was a happy one and it came with praising God and singing, “Glory to God in the highest.”

   PEACE. The prophet said that when on earth, this Child, Son of Man and Son of God, would be called the Prince of Peace. There would be no end to the increase of His government and the peace that He would bring (Isa. 9:6-7). Peace is one of those welcome words in our vocabulary. Every leader yearns for peace. Every generation seeks it.

   You may have heard the World War I story of soldiers (German and British) across the trenches from one another on Christmas Eve. It was very cold and they were miserable from disease, lice, and dysentery. But suddenly at nightfall, the shooting stopped. There was no formal cease fire; but there was no shot fired all night. In the dawn of the next morning, a German soldier noticed something extraordinary. At the edge of his bunker were chocolate bars and packages of cigarettes. A lone British soldier had crossed over to leave them.

   That leads us to our third word: GOODWILL. In verse 14, the King James translations appear to define or equate “peace” with the phrase “good will.” That would be “peace which is good will.” Such is not the construction of the original language (NU). The angels are speaking of blessings from God…joy and peace and good will. They are saying that as a consequence of the birth of this “God-child,” there is peace toward (or “within”) men who have received the good will of God.

   The expression “good will” is elsewhere translated “good pleasure” (Eph. 1:5, 9; Luke 10:21; Matt. 11:26). It refers to the “will of God.” The “good pleasure,” or “good will” of God, proceeds from Him, not from men who are blessed to have experienced it. The idea is that the Father sends peace on earth into men who have received God’s good pleasure.” All of that is a consequence, of course, of sending His Son to be our Savior.

   The message of the angels was, therefore, a message of JOY, PEACE, AND GOODWILL: joy in the birth of the Christ-child who offers hope of salvation; peace in the restoration of fellowship with God, the uniting of God’s children, and the absence of anxiety in the soul; goodwill in the provision of God’s noble and lovely pleasure which offers mercy and hope to dying mankind. How appropriate it was for God to send angels to announce that to us. How excited were the shepherds to have heard it. How blessed are we to experience it. Absolute humanists have no lasting joy, peace, or good will from God. They base their lives on the things of the world without God. Only Christ can provide these blessings. How happy the angels were to announce His coming. How happy we should be to accept Him and give our lives to Him.