Today's Guest Devotional is by Mike Loveridge, assistant pastor of Manor Park Church
Sermon on the Mount – The Blessed Peacemakers
We are now on to the 7th Beatitude which reads:
Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called
children of God.
Once again, this Beatitude is Jesus setting the character of
His true disciple in direct opposition to the common viewpoint and particularly
that of the Jewish viewpoint of Jesus’ time. The Jews were taught to despise
the Gentiles, not to make peace with them. The Jews were expecting a Messiah
who would come and wage a war against the Romans, Greeks, Egyptians to avenge
for the suffering they had inflicted on the Jews. They were looking for a
Messiah who would establish them as an elite master race, who were destined by
God to dominate the world. To this idea Jesus gives an emphatic no! Instead he
sought to show how the Jews had their expectations of Jesus establishing His
kingdom totally wrong and as a result were not peacemakers. Jesus wants His
people not to be people who seek violence and revenge but to be peace spreaders
who avoid violence, hatred and conflict. This concept would have shocked the
Jews. This Beatitude tells us that as we follow Jesus and have the Holy Spirit
within us we should strive to spread peace amongst men here on this earth. In
our world of hatred, conflict, racism, and warfare the reconciliation that
Jesus brings is our only hope of true and lasting peace.
To understand what it means to be a peacemaker we need to
understand what peace is. So, what is peace? The Hebrew word conveys a wide
range of meanings. Not only does is refer to the end of hostilities and wars
but it also has a positive aspect in which it describes health, safety and
prosperity. So, peace is not just the absence of evil but the presence of good,
not merely the freedom from trouble but the enjoyment of prosperity.
The Bible clearly tells us that true peace is something only
achieved through faith in Jesus (Luke 1:79). Paul also shows us this when he
says that Jesus came “and preached peace to you who were far off and to those
who were near. For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father”
(Eph. 2:17-18). Peace comes through the death and resurrection of Jesus through
which he paid the full cost for all our wrongdoing to make us right with God.
Without Jesus there is no true peace to be found since without Jesus you are
always an enemy of God. The transforming power of salvation through faith in
Jesus turns the violent to peace lovers.
So, if true peace comes through salvation in Jesus, how do
we go about being peacemakers as followers of Jesus?
The first condition of being a peacemaker is that you are a
follower of Jesus. Unless you yourself are in a place of true peace you cannot
be a peacemaker. If you refuse to make peace with God, you cannot make peace
amongst men. As I have pointed out before, the Beatitudes are a series of
events -one leads to the other. You must be right in your relationship with God
before you can act in the right way to other people. The Bible teaches that all
sin, trouble and warfare begin in the heart (Mt. 12:35); that out of the heart
proceeds evil thoughts, hatred, murder, unlawful violence and contention (Mt.
15:19). We must deal with our heart before God before we can be a peacemaker.
So, the first question is are our hearts pure before God?
Secondly, to be a peacemaker we must look to the Bible to
ascertain what is truth and God’s design for this world so that we can seek
peace in accordance with scriptural truth. Being a peacemaker does not mean
accepting every way of the world. Far from it! We do not sidestep truth in
order to bring peace but instead seek to align the two. The avoidance of
conflict should not be confused with peace since the protection of gospel truth
comes first. We must never compromise truth for the sake of peace.
Thirdly, to be a peacemaker involves telling people about
their need for salvation through faith in Jesus. Earlier we saw that true peace
only comes through faith in Jesus. It follows therefore that we must be active
in telling people about Jesus if we want them to find true, lasting, eternal
peace. Whilst sharing the gospel we need to be mindful that genuine peace
cannot be attained by human efforts, for only Jesus can give true peace. Peace
begins when Christ reigns in our hearts.
Fourthly, to be a
peacemaker will mean actively pursuing peace in all areas of our lives. Being a
peacemaker is particularly prominent in our personal relationships and to be a
peace maker we need to approach them with a humble and meek attitude. As we
share truth, we are peaceful in the way in which we speak. We speak with grace,
mercy and love not condemnation since we desire peace. In all circumstances we
should speak in a way that preserves peace and at times when it is not over an
issue of Biblical truth that will mean we sometimes need to learn to hold our
tongue. Actively pursuing peace begins in our hearts and it means that we are
carful not to have a judgemental spirit within us but instead a forgiving and
gracious spirit. Being peacemakers at times will mean doing good to those who
have wronged us but is that not the example Jesus set us. Jesus is the greatest
peacemaker - he made peace between man and God! We have wronged him plenty, but
he still makes peace for us. Let’s imitate Christ!
What is the blessing
of being a peacemaker? If you are a peacemaker, you will be called a child of
God. This is because as you work for peace and seek peace in all areas of your
life, you imitate our Lord and Saviour Jesus who is the greatest peacemaker. To
engage in peace-making is to engage in God’s work, especially as it so heavily
relies on sharing the gospel so that others can find true and eternal peace
like we have already found through faith in Jesus.
Where in your life can you seek to be a peacemaker?
Prayer for today
Our loving heavenly Father,
We thank you for Jesus who is the greatest peacemaker. We thank you that you sent him into this world to make peace between man and God through His death on the cross in our place. We ask that you show us where in our lives we are not fully surrendered to you and where we are still running after this world since those are the places where we do not find true peace.
We also ask that you help us to be peacemakers here on earth. Give us boldness and courage to share the news of the gospel so more can come to an understanding of who you are and find eternal peace with you through faith in you.
Help us to be peacemakers in every area of our lives as we live in full surrender to you, seeking to serve you in all we do.
We ask all this for your glory,
Amen.
Photo by Daniele Levis Pelusi on Unsplash
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