Anchor My Faith

Peacemakers

Scripture: Matthew 5:9

We have considered six characteristics of the nature of life in the kingdom: poor in spirit, mourn our sin, meekness, hunger and thirst for righteousness, merciful, and the pure in heart. We now add one more, the last, which is “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God” (Matthew 5:9).

In the beginning when, we disobeyed God, our sin resulted in us being alienated from God. We could have been left in that position, but God brought forth his plan of redemption to provide peace between us and him and ultimately to bring peace to the whole world. This is so clearly seen in Isaiah 9:6 – 7 (ESV): “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.”

Because of sin we act like we are little gods who seek our own will. We have jealousies and selfish ambitions, resulting is disorder and every vile practices (James 3:16). This produces strife and conflict among us with little hope for peace and unity. The peace that God brings into our situation does not bring a cessation of hostilities, tolerance, or the readiness to give away, but does provide a form of peace that the world does not understand. That peace comes as we are reconciled with God and as we are we are able to become reconciled with others.

To be reconciled with God required one to die in our place on the cross for our sin. With the death of Jesus, justice was served and our salvation purchased. This provided us with forgiveness and the right to become children of God, through spiritual birth, through faith. “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:12 – 13 ESV). Then, possessing spiritual life and having the Holy Spirit dwelling within, we are equipped to experience peace and to bring peace to those alienated from God. Those who do so are called sons of God.

As children of God, as his disciples, how are we to promote peace and thus be known as sons of God? The gospel that Jesus brought with him from the Father was a gospel of peace. Our job is to share this gospel with those around us and by promoting reconciliation within the household of faith.

^{Eph 2:8} “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, ⁹ not a result of works, so that no one may boast. ¹⁰ For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (ESV). We understand and accept verses 8 and 9, but we tend to skip over verse 10, which describes us as being his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for the purpose of doing good works. Those good works are doing faithfully the two points made in the above paragraph: sharing the gospel of peace and promoting reconciliation within the household of faith.

Prayer

Father, it appears from this lesson that we are acting more like “children of God” and not “sons of God”, by the fact that we are not very active in sharing the gospel of peace with those near and far or in promoting reconciliation within the household of faith. As a result, the church has lost value and power in its influence of our culture by becoming more and more like the world. We have allowed ourselves to become “of the world” and not “in the world” to produce good works.