Peace, Good Will, Towards Mankind

The true meaning of Christmas

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“Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!” Luke 2:14 (NKJV)

This is the message the angels declared to the shepherds as they proclaimed Christ's coming.

I will sheepishly admit that I have not seriously considered this statement. It was just something that was read and said every Christmas. I took it for granted.

I would like to rectify that today. And I hope my exploration is a blessing to you and furthers your conviction that God is good and helps you receive His good gifts with pleasure.

Translation Woes

Any investigation has its less exciting parts. As usual, the translator committees show their doctrinal bias in this verse. I believe this is worth discussing as it plays into what the angels were truly proclaiming.

Basically, it comes down to this: is the peace only for those God chooses to have goodwill towards, or were the Angels announcing a general goodwill towards all humanity?

Some translations even put the empatus upon humanity, basically the angels are announcing peace only to those who already have “good will”.

Thus if you want this peace from God, you must engender good will through your own effort. It is a subtle “works salvation”.

Perhaps the The Pulpit Commentary, Electronic Database. Copyright © 2001, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2010 by BibleSoft, inc. gets at it in a nutshell:

“Good will toward men. A bare majority of the old authorities read here, "On earth peace among men of good will;" in other words, among men who are the objects of God's good will and kindness. But the Greek text, from which our Authorized Version; was made, has the support of so many of the older manuscripts and ancient versions, that it is among scholars an open question whether or not the text followed in the Authorized Version should not in this place be adhered to.”

You can obviously decide for yourself, but in my opinion this is an announcement of how Christ would show God's favor towards humanity. I believe the angels were announcing the good news, or the gospel.

God's Favor or Delight

The Greek word 'eudokia’ is the word translated good will. From Strong's Exhaustive Concordance it means:

“Delight, good pleasure: From a presumed compound of eu and the base of dokeo; satisfaction, i.e. (subjectively) delight, or (objectively) kindness, wish, purpose -- desire, good pleasure (will).”

Philippians 2:13 also uses this word: “for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” (BSB)

Luke 3:22b uses a form of this word where the Father speaks about the Son: “You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased.” (BSB)

In Romans 10:1, Paul uses this word to describe his desire for his fellow Jews to be saved: “Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is for their salvation.” (BSB)

It is clear that this word is used to describe a desire, favor, or pleasure of one subject towards another.

Any inference that we must 'earn' God's favor not only does not fit the general word usage, but it doesn't fit the gospel message.

Again, it is clear to me that the angels were announcing something that God was presenting to humanity.

You could also look at this as if the angels were announcing “world peace”, (made famous by beauty contestant speaches) as if somehow Christ would cause us all to just “get along”.

While certainly if every human received Christ and became transformed, and then walked consistently empowered by that new creation transformation, then this could happen.

But later in Luke 12:51, Christ Himself said: “Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division.” (BSB)

The Matthew 10:34 version of this is even more direct and agressive: “Do not assume that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.” (BSB)

So, who is correct, the angels or Christ? Or could they be talking about two totally different things and focused on two different objects?

Peace between Men, or Peace between God and Men?

So, what were the angels announcing? What would Christ ultimately bring?

Paul answers this question in Romans 5:1: “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Clearly, the peace that Christ brings is between God and humanity. The angels were announcing this good news. This is a gospel announcement.

The good news or the gospel is quite simple: from God's perspective He is at peace with us and has favor for us. We have the gift of peace with God and His favor or pleasure. This is truly good news!

God's Favor is Based in Identity -not Works

It was fully within God's plan that He announced His pleasure with His Son before He started His official earthly ministry. God delights in Jesus because of who He is, not what He does.

Now, because Jesus is God, who He is absolutely defines what He does!

Divinity cannot act in a way other than a divine and good way. God's essence is what defines goodness. There is none good but God.

Yet, it is this very divine nature towards which God shows favor in advance of the fruit it produces. It is because of who Jesus is, not His works, that God favors Him.

The Father expressed favor for the Son long before He fulfilled His calling. It was the knowledge of this favor and a secure belief (faith) in the Father's favor and love that empowered Christ to do what He did.

Any goodness in us and through which we act must come from God. And again, as the angels announced, this peace with and favor from God is a free gift from Him to us.

This Was a New Idea

Particularly for the Jews to whom Christ was first revealed, the idea of peace with God and His favor as a gift would be news to them. The Torah or Law did not allow for this concept.

Under Law, you only received peace and favor with God by keeping it. And this was the mindset into which Christ was born. The announcement by the angels would have defied belief.

This mindset was particularly oderous to the Pharisees, who thought that their ability to “please God” through their law keeping gave them special status.

The announcement by the angels took away this 'status'. And this greatly angered them.

Yet for those 'sinners' who could never keep the law and had given up hope, this announcement was pure joy. They finally had hope.

Reconciliation is not Salvation

The angel’s announcement is confirmed over and over in the epistles as it is pure gospel. Paul's description of this in Romans 5 is just too spectacular to not quote.

Romans 5:6-11: “6-For at just the right time, while we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.

7-Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die.

8-But God proves His love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

9-Therefore, since we have now been justified by His blood, how much more shall we be saved from wrath through Him!

10-For if, when we were enemies of God, we were reconciled to Him through the death of His Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through His life!

11- Not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.” (BSB)

The exegesis of these verses is not my purpose in this article. But this passage describes the fulfillment of the angel's announcment.

I will point out that in these verses Paul describes the whole of the good news, which is consolidated in verse 10.

Notice what it says - we were reconciled with God through Christ “when we were enemies of God”.

Paul gets at this concept in the monumental passage about the new creation: 2 Corinthians 5.

“18-All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:

19a- that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting men’s trespasses against them.”

Now, unless you believe in some of the funny business some isms use and try to say that “the world” doesn't really mean the world but some subset of the world, then clearly this reconciliation was purchased by Christ and offered freely to all. Maybe all doesn't really mean all. But I digress…

Romans 5:10 should clear this up for those willing to hear: peace with God through reconciliation occurred by Christ on the cross “when we were enemies of God”. I defy any scholar to wriggle around the simplicity of those words.

So, am I siding with the 'universalists' who claim all are saved, whether they want to be or not? Of course not, and Paul never indicates this.

Paul is clear that this reconciliation ge describing does not result in salvation. It paves the way of salvation, but it does not result in it. Confusing this can lead to all sorts of errors.

While we certainly rejoice in the reconciliation, as Paul indicates in Romans 5:11, at the end of 5:10 Paul portrays what actually saves us: the life of Christ.

Without the reconciliation or peace with God, we could never receive His life. If God was “counting men's trespasses against them”, then He could never gift His life or nature to them. Sin was a barrier to reconciliation.

Yet, Paul is clear, just as the angels promised, the reconciliation happened for the world on the cross, while we were still 'ungodly' or “enemies of God”.

But if we stop there in our thinking, if we stay on “good Friday”, and don't mature into “resurrection Sunday”, the our idea of 'salvation' will be flawed.

Christ's work on the cross is finished - the reconciliation is complete. Yet the ongoing work of the “living resurrected Christ” is required for salvation.

By putting faith in the good news, in the “ministry of reconciliation”, we become new creations in Christ. We receive His life which makes us alive, with a new heart or Spirit and His Spirit within.

That is salvation - and it is a true unending salvation that continues to save us forever. As Hebrews 7:25 indicates:

“Therefore He is able to save completely those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to intercede for them.”

God's Good Will or Favor

So, we have established that peace with God or reconciliation that the angels announced occurred through Christ.

What about the second announcement, God's favor or goodwill towards humanity? Well, if the first is true, then it follows that the second is also. But let's investigate the word usage further.

Later in Luke 10:21, Christ uses this word again to refer to something that found favor with God:

“At that time Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and declared, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was well-pleasing in Your sight.”

And then in Luke 12:32: “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom.”

Clearly this word is used to express God's pleasure or favor towards an object. In both of these cases, the object of His favor is His own plan of salvation.

The Amazing Announcement

Let's reexamine the object verse. So, I'm not a Greek scholar, but apparently they are in severe disagreement on this, so I will just apply some basic logic.

First, both peace and favor are nouns. This is not being used as an adjective, such as “peace to the favorable people”. It is also not a verb, such as “God favoring people”.

This is clearly God's favor as an object of reference, the same as peace. Both peace and favor are definable things that are being presented to humanity.

The other two important words are 'en' and ‘ánthrōpos’. In the version I originally quoted “en ánthrōpos” is translated “toward men”. But I take some minor issue with that.

The preposition 'en' is nearly exclusively translated 'in' in English. From Strong's word studies:

“1722 en (a preposition) – properly, in (inside, within); (figuratively) "in the realm (sphere) of," as in the condition (state) in which something operates from the inside (within).”

'ánthrōpos’ is a reference more to mankind or humanity. Clearly this is not specific to sex. Again, word studies from Strong's:

“444 ánthrōpos – man, also the generic term for "mankind"; the human race; people, including women and men.”

Perhaps Young's literal translation gets it better than most: “'Glory in the highest to God, and upon earth peace, among men -- good will.’”

But, I'm still not completely sold. Here is how I would translate it: “Glory to God in Heaven, and on earth God's peace and favor within mankind.”

Conclusion

I hope you see that at a minimum this profound announcement by the angels could not mean that only those who obtain favor by their own performance have peace. This idea neither fits the Greek or the gospel.

The other idea that peace only comes to those whom God chooses to favor has week support from the Greek in this passage.

Given the fact that Christ says later that the gospel will actually divide humanity, not bring world peace, I don't believe peace between humans is the intended message either.

I believe it is clear that the angels were announcing the good news or gospel. The fact that the God's peace and favor is announced as 'in' mankind portrays the new creation: “Christ in us the hope of glory.”

God's favor comes because of His great love for us. The angels were announcing what Paul proclaims in Romans 5:5:

“And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us.”

Much like God took pleasure in His Son long before He went on to fulfill His ministry, He takes pleasure in us. His peace and favor is upon us and as believers, within us.

Christ had no doubts about His favor in His Father's eyes. As we mature as believers, we should doubt His favor less and less.

So, let's celebrate and believe this stupendous announcement from God! Every time you hear this phrase this Christmas, ponder with wonder at God's favor upon you.

Because God came in the flesh and accomplished His Father's will and work, we can be assured of God's favor towards us and that we have peace with Him. These are among the most spectacular gifts of Christmas.

Other gifts within the package of salvation include God depositing His love, peace, and favor in our hearts so we can be empowered by it in the same way as Christ while He was on earth.

This announcement of the free gifts of God's goodness was quite the unbelievable concept at the time it was announced. It upended the way of law. It upended all attempts to obtain peace and favor with God through works.

And even today, we struggle to believe how good God is. The gift of God's favor without us having to earn it is difficult for many to accept.

As you watch your own kids, grandkids, or others receive their gifts this Christmas, especially younger ones, pay attention to their attitude.

Are they reticent to receive? Do they insist upon going to clean their room first? Do they throw the gift back in your face proclaiming how unworthy they are to receive it?

Of course not. They receive the gifts as if they deserve them with full expectation of the favor you are bestowing on them by the gift. As they should.

It is only as we become adults that we begin to put price tags on gifts. Perhaps, as Christ emplored us, we should learn from the children.

Go all in on accepting the gift of salvation and all the ongoing benefits without reservation. These benefits can only be enjoyed by faith: a mindset of resting in God's favor at all times and in all things.

In other words, act like a child of God!

Because you are one. Expect the favor and peace that comes from a good Father - the best Father you could ever have.

That is truly a reason to have a very Merry Christmas. I pray you walk in peace, joy, and the favor of God as you revel in this most wonderful announcement of good news!