Blessed be the PEACEMAKERS

By R.v.Leerdam

Brothers & sisters in our Lord Jesus Christ,
Peace is more than an absence of war. There are some who would say, ‘peace, peace, but there is no peace.’

Peace is all about completeness, wholeness, harmony and unity.
There is no peace when there is brokeness, deceit, lies, envy and malice. Attitudes that ought not to be. Our greatest need is to have peace with God.

Having peace with God we are able to begin ‘as much as it depends on us’, to live in peace with others in this broken and fractured world. God promises to give us peace. A sense of well-being and wholeness , ‘shalom’. Those who have peace with the one true living God can say, ‘it is well with my soul.’
The question I ask is this:

How can we have peace with God when our sins condemn us and we are deserving of God’s righteous and just punishment?

Let me quote some verses from Ephesians 2;
“You were dead in your transgressions and sins…we
were by nature deserving of wrath.
But because of his great love for us, God who is rich in
mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were
dead in transgressions – it is by grace you have been
saved… for it is by grace you have been saved, through
faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of
God – not by works, so that no one can boast.”
So my friends, again I ask, ‘How can sinners have peace with a holy, righteous and just God?’ How is it possible to escape the punishment we deserve?

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23
“The wages of sin is death. But the gift of God is eternal
life in Christ Jesus our Lord.“ Romans 6:23
By the grace of God, we may with confidence and by ‘faith’ say, ‘It is well with my soul because God goes with me.’ ‘His face, He has turned towards me and given me peace.’ His grace He has shown us in Christ. By faith in the sovereign God who loves us, all things, He works for the good of those who know, love & fear Him.
“Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called the sons of God.” Matthew 5:9
The one true and eternal Son of the most high God, Jesus Christ is the ‘Prince of peace’ and is our peace!
Through the sacrifice of the Son of God, sinners have peace with God and have been adopted as sons and daughters of the living God.
Though our sins condemn and we are deserving of God’s just punishment, we have been given peace with God though the perfect sacrifice of the one true son of God.
‘Amazing grace, how sweet he sound that saved a wretch like me!’

The first of the beatitudes are all about God’s grace.
God in His grace lifts up those who plead for mercy. The poor in spirit are given a glorious inheritance in the kingdom of heaven. The Christian mourns over His sin – ‘against you, you only have I sinned’ and calls on God for mercy.

God comforts the repentant sinner with forgiveness – wiping every tear from their eyes. God comforts them with the assurance that he has washed us clean with the blood of Christ and that He is making all things new – ‘You are a new creation!’.
The Christian is one who is meek – He acknowledges that nothing is his by right – all rights have been forfeited because of sin. Yet the meek are not to be door mats to be trampled by the feet of those who would use and abuse them, treating them as a rag to wipe their dirty hands on. Rather, the meek choose to turn the other cheek and walk the extra mile, seeking for peace and pursuing it.

All the beatitudes work together forming a picture of the nature of the kingdom of God.

A Christian is before he acts.
Actions result from what you are – your primary predisposition or character. Christians offer their lives to God as instruments in His hands. Paul after his conversion was able say, “I live, yet not I, but Christ who lives in me.”
The Holy Spirit controls our innermost being – our heart, will, thinking, outlook and as a result our actions. Hence all our actions are to be the result of the spiritual rebirth that God has done in us by His Holy Spirit.

Now we come to the reason peacemakers are blessed.
Peacemakers are the adopted ‘Sons/daughters of God.’ They are like God.
‘The apple does not fall far from the tree.’ We are changed so instead of selfishness governing our lives, we desire to live a life that pleases God.

Jesus, the prince of peace, has come to give us peace with God.
Let us never ever forget the price that Jesus paid so that we might have peace with God.
“He (Jesus) was pierced for our transgressions, he was
crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was laid on him,
and by his wounds we are healed.” Isaiah 53:5
‘Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me.’

Having received a heart that seeks after God, a heart that is ‘after God’s heart’, we long for peace. ‘In as much as it depends on us, we seek to live at peace with everyone.’ Peace, unity and harmony is part of the nature of the triune God.
Man’s sin caused God so much pain that he sent His one and only Son to deal with the curse and the broken and fractured relationships that resulted.
God’s justice needed to be satisfied.
God himself paid for our sin with the death of Christ.

Hence we see that all the qualities referred to in the beatitudes are manifest in the person of Jesus. The virtues written in the beatitudes are part of God’s nature and being and are to be reflected in our life. So we pray,

‘Make me a channel of your peace, where
there is hatred, let me bring your love; where there is
injury, your pardon, Lord; and where there is doubt,
true faith in you.
Make me a channel of your peace, where there is
despair in life, let me bring hope; where there is
darkness, let me bring Your light; and where there is
sadness, ever joy.

Make me a channel of your peace, it is in pardoning
that we are pardoned; in giving to all people we
receive; and in dying that we’re born to eternal life.’

The more we see God as He really is and love what He loves – our lives are being transformed – bit by bit. God’s intention is to make us more and more like Jesus. Seeing God’s grace working itself out in our lives gives us the assurance that he has adopted us to be His sons and daughters. As we set our hearts on the things of God, we see more and more of His glory. In view of the mercy of God, his love and grace, let us look deep into the well-spring of our being – our hearts!

Are we keeping in step with the Spirit of God?
What lives in our hearts?
What motivates us? Is it of God or is it of self?

“Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you harbour bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.”

But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.  Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.” James 3:13-18

The peacemaker is not one who is easy-going.
We are not content to let ‘sleeping dogs lie’.
We do all we can to promote peace and maintain it.
Peace with God – be reconciled to God!
Peace with all people – be reconciled to each other!
Christians are to be impartial and sincere, working to bring conflicting sides together. We seek the glory of God and the honour of His Name. So often life is not what it could have or should have been – so often relationships are messed up because none of us can see the full picture. Every story has at least 3 sides – my side, the other side and Gods’ side – He alone perfectly sees the full picture clearly.

There are times when we long for things to be different.
If only there was real peace, harmony and unity?
Yet, peacemakers, seek peace and pursue it!
We pray, ‘Lord, take the plank out of my own eye so that I can see clearly to take the speck out of my brothers’ eye.
We are to listen before we speak.
We do not repeat things that are going to bring harm – unworthy and unkind things are not worth repeating. They only bring hurt, bitterness and bad blood.

View every situation in the light of the Gospel.
Look for means and methods of making peace. If your enemy is hungry feed him, if thirsty – give him something to drink. Repay evil with good.
Peacemakers are selfless, loveable, approachable, not standing on their own dignity.
People will see by the way we behave as to whether the Spirit of God is controlling our whole being.
“They will know you are Christians by your love.”
The beatitudes, reveal the true nature of the kingdom of God. God’s kingdom, reign and rule is all about restoring relationships that have been severed by sin. I am reminded of the incident in Acts 15:36-41 Paul and Barnabas “had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for
Cyprus, but Paul chose Silas and left … He went through Syria and Cilicia strengthening the churches.”
Sometimes we just have to move forward trusting that in the end each will be used by God to achieve his purpose.

It is now possible for the sons and daughters of God – as they keep in step with the Holy Spirit – to enjoy relationships which reflect God’s nature and being. The redeemed of God have heard Almighty God say,
“I am your God and you are my people.“
God has written His law on our hearts so that we love the things God loves. So if we hear the Lord’s voice, let us not harden our hearts. God continues to refine us like gold in the furnace. Mother Teresa of Avila touches on the Ascension shaped mission of the church when she said,

“Christ has no body now but yours, no hands, no feet on
earth but yours. Yours are the eyes through which
Christ’s compassion looks upon the world.
Yours are the feet with which he is to go about doing
good.
Yours are the hands with which he blesses the world.”

Then go! Be who you are – the living presence of the ascended Lord Jesus – the prince of peace!

How can we grow in this fruit of the Holy Spirit?
‘The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace …
By looking at God. Look at the person of Jesus. See yourself and the world through God’s eyes. The saints have a freedom and peace that surpasses all understanding which the world cannot take away. The world cannot take away the peace, promise, faith, trust and hope which the blessed believer enjoys. We have freedom to enjoy with thankfulness all God’s good gifts and look forward to the day when God will be all in all.

In the meantime, let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other… carry each other’s burdens and in this way you will fulfil the law of Christ. Gal. 5 & 6

One final work of caution.
Accepting Jesus as Lord and Saviour is not a guarantee that God will give us everything that we would desire as we live in a world which is still broken and suffering under sins’ curse. The Gospel of peace with God is not a promise of a life
of health, wealth and worldly happiness. Indeed, we will experience troubles, persecution, times of grief and sorrow when our tears flow like a river.
Circumstances and trials of various kinds will arise through which God tests our faith. Because we are sons and daughters, we can expect the Lord’s discipline.

“Endure hardship as discipline … God disciplines us for
our good, in order that we may share in his holiness.
No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful.
Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness
and peace for those who have been trained by it … make
every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be
holy; without holiness no one will see God.” Hebrews
12:7, 11, 14.

Jesus’ invitation, ‘Come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest”, also comes with the call to, “take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” Matthew 11:28,29

Amen.