Monday, November 8, 2010

The Beatitudes (7)

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.” Matthew 5:9
The first four beatitudes concern our relationship towards God. Once these are taking place in our lives, the last four will follow, concerning our relationship with other people. Here we read about the peacemakers being called sons of God.
If we are a child of God – born again by His Spirit into His spiritual family – we can know His peace. Peace is a fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22), it was promised by Jesus as a hallmark for a believer’s life (John 14:27), and Jesus Himself is called the Prince of Peace (Isa. 9:6). And you can be sure: in times of turmoil and strife, people will notice that you have an unshakeable inner peace that will witness to them. The absence of peace is fear and worry. War arises because one nation is afraid of another. And man’s conflict with one another is merely an expression of his conflict against God.
As the old Christianese slogan goes, ‘No Jesus, no peace. Know Jesus, know peace.’ But it’s true. The only way people can have peace is when they live righteously, live for God, and thus live for the purpose for which they were created.

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