Peacemakers

Matthew 5:9 “Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.”

Isaiah 9:6 ” For unto us a child is born, unto us a  son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. God the Son, Jesus Christ came to earth that He might redeem us from all iniquity. He came to make peace between God and sinful man. So then those who walk in the footsteps of Christ should be peacemakers, people who strive to live in peace with God and man. To be a peacemaker means more than just keeping to oneself in order to avoid disturbances and contentions. A peacemaker is one who actively seeks the highest good for all mankind. But in order for this to happen one must first be at peace with God. Ephesians 2:14-16 ” For He is our peace, who hath made both one and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us. One man said peace is merely the brief, glorious moment in history when everyone stops to reload there weapons. In Genesis 6:11  the earth was filled with violence. That’s why there was the flood to destroy. David in Psalm 55:9 says I have seen violence and strife in the city. History tells us in the 400 years between Malachi and the New Testament there were 5 bloody wars for Jerusalem. So what a message Jesus brings, as He says Blessed are the peacemakers. You see the Zealots expected from Him a military, national, materialistic kingdom that He would defeat the Romans and set up kingdom. They thought He was coming as a man of war to conquer the enemies and set up the society that they had longed for. But again He turned everything upside down. You see true peace comes from the heart. And only God can make a peacemaker. So the reason there is so much violence and unrest in the world we live in is because we have a heart problem. Jesus Christ is not in most people’s hearts. We may have a head knowledge, but until we get a heart knowledge of Jesus Christ their will be unrest. You see the whole point of the beatitudes including this one is if we are to have anything from God than the I must die. The I must be crucified. Paul says I die daily. That is the old man dies daily. In Galatians 2:20 ” I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live yet not I but Christ lives in me and the life which I know live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.” This is how we will ever achieve true peace in our lives, by putting down the flesh. We can not do it on our own. It only comes from Christ. John 14:27 ” Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you not as the world giveth give I unto you.” Sadly the problem is everybody says I want this, I want that, I feel like that, I want to fulfill my desires, my passions, my instincts. But God says Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God.

No one has ever been converted by violence.       Jim Forest