Give Peace a Chance

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

When we look around our world today it is easily understood that there is very little, if any peace. It has been said that out of the nearly 3500 years of recorded history, only 268 of them have seen no war. The newspapers and televisions are always littered with the most recent foreign and domestic conflicts. There are no shortages of men like Osama Bin Laden, Sadam Hussein, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and Kim Jong-il who are always threatening or creating war. We know there should be peace and our hearts long for it, but it always seems to elude us and our world. What will it take for us, our families, country, and world to know peace? The answer is to be found within this twelve word verse.

Before we tackle trying to make peace in the world, we must first make peace with God. Man has been taking part in a continual war with God since Genesis 3, with absolutely no years in which there has not been enmity. The Bible considers us enemies of God until we join his side and make peace. The only way we can do that is through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The Bible says in Romans 5:8-11, “But God demonstrates His love towards us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.”

Because of God’s holiness and shear otherness, you could not make a truce with Him on your own; therefore Jesus provided the only white flag opportunity between God and man. By faith in the wonderful work of Jesus we can become sons and daughters of God instead of His enemies.

The healed breach with God, though key, does not end our endeavors to make peace. He has asked us to join in on the peace-making process. I see this process as three-fold: making peace with yourself, bringing others to make peace with God, and you making peace with others. This equation consists of our upward relationship (God), our inward relationship (ourselves), and our outward relationships (others).

First, concerning making peace with yourself, Jesus said, “he who the Son makes free, he is free indeed.” (John 8:23) As Christians, we are free from the guilt that Satan would have us forever burdened under. Satan’s desire is to keep you suppressed and minimized your entire life. He would have you to believe the lies that there is too much wickedness in your past and that your present sin will never be overcome. Do not believe it! Jesus has broken your bonds and wants you to walk around with your head held high in victory. Forgive yourself, release your guilt, and become whole!

Secondly, in regards to making peace with others, people often misinterpret what being a peace-maker is all about. William Barclay alludes to that possible misinterpretation writing that, “It very often happens that if a man loves peace in the wrong way, he succeeds in making trouble and not peace. We may, for instance, allow a threatening and dangerous situation to develop, and our defense is that for peace’s sake we do not want to take any action. There is many a person who thinks that he is loving peace, when in fact he is piling up trouble for the future, because he refuses to face the situation and to take the action which the situation demands. The peace which the Bible calls blessed does not come from the evasion of issues; it comes from facing them, dealing with them, and conquering them. What this beatitude demands is not the passive acceptance of things because we are afraid of the trouble of doing anything about them, but the active facing of things, and the making of peace, even when the way to peace is through struggle.”

Being a peace-maker is active in orientation. If you are having a disagreement with someone, do not avoid the conflict but rather actively seek resolution. Jesus says, “If therefore you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you leave your offering there before the altar, and go your way; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering.” (Matthew 5:23-24)

The writer of Hebrews adds, “Pursue peace with all men, and sanctification without which no one will see the Lord.” (Hebrew 12:14) And the Apostle Paul states, “If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.” (Romans 12:18)

The last part of the peace-making puzzle is bringing others into a relationship of peace with God. Paul sums up this point better than I ever could by saying, “the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; and He died for all, that they who live should no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf. Therefore from now on we recognize no man according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer. Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. Now all these things are from God, Who reconciled us to Himself through Christ, and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were entreating through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Corinthians 5:14-21)

Jesus one day will restore true peace to the world, but until that day comes, it is up to us to be God’s ambassadors on this earth, spreading the message of hope, reconciliation, and peace to a world at enmity with God and with each other.

Are you a peacemaker? If not, give peace a chance!