Christmas Peace and New Creation Year

I have been listening to some Christmas music and thinking about what meaning they have for us. One song in particular has caught my attention. Before I tell you the song I find it interesting that we can sing about peace one time a year and then pursue violence as a means to an end the rest of the year. Perhaps we should be praying for a less hypocritical spirit instead of us winning a unjust war, just saying. This going to be a bit of a soapbox, but please stay with me. The song in question is "O Holy Night" in particular the last stanza which says:

Truly He taught us to love one another,
His law is love and His gospel is peace.
Chains he shall break, for the slave is our brother.
And in his name all oppression shall cease.
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,
With all our hearts we praise His holy name.
Christ is the Lord! Then ever, ever praise we,
His power and glory ever more proclaim!
His power and glory ever more proclaim!

We often celebrate, at least in the Christian realm, that the reason Jesus was born was so the he could die [for our sins]. What a terrible thing to be born for, he was born to die! Unfortunately we focus so much on Jesus death that we forget that he lived, in fact it appears that his life was more important than his death to the Jewish authors because it encompasses much more of what we call the gospels than his death does. When we put the emphasis on his death instead of his life we miss his true purpose and we miss what these songs are saying too. The portion that I quoted above says, what I think is one of the most important messages of Christianity, one that I believe has be lost. Mainly that bot Jesus and God's message is about love and peace instead of death and destruction as many have supposed. The key of the gospel is that Jesus is Lord and he showed what it means to follow him through his life and proved that he is lord not by his death but by his resurrection in the Creator's power.

As this year comes to an end and the new year is about to begin, may we learn to live with the Prince of Peace as our Lord and bring new creation in the New Year!