Matthew 5:9

Matthew 5:9

Peacemakers

1. Receiving true peace in Christ means being peacemakers in life, so we must receive true peace in Him

1. As Jesus continues to describe the characteristics of the lives of those who truly belong to Him, He now says, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God”. In order to understand this Beatitude we must first understand peace. Most everyone in the world would agree that they desire peace, but despite nearly universal agreement our world continues in peacelessness. But why? It’s likely that if you asked the people who say they desire peace how they define that peace, the likely answer would be “an absence of hostility, conflict, or disturbance in life”. They believe that if they can achieve this circumstantial peace, that it’ll produce inner peace, but it has never worked, it never will, and as they continue aimlessly after this unobtainable false peace, they paradoxically become increasingly more frustrated, bitter, desperate, selfish, angry, and violent. True peace characterized the world in the beginning, and will characterize the new heaven and new earth in eternity, but that peace was forfeited in the garden as a result of Adam and Eve’s sinful, disobedient, and selfish rebellion against God. As a result, violence had to enter into creation as God slayed the first animals to make coverings for their shame and nakedness, the absence of peace and the presence of violence has characterized all of humanity since, and violence and peacelessness will continue to characterize the sons of Adam and Eve until Christ returns. Peacelessness in life is a heart problem and spiritual issue which like all heart and spiritual problems cannot be solved or achieved by human efforts. Yet here we are thousands of years down the line in human history and we’re still desperately and vainly trying to obtain the unobtainable. True peace isn’t the absence of hostility, difficulty, and violence in life because those things are an unavoidable part of our sin broken world. True peace is the presence of something good, or to be more precise, the presence in our lives of Someone good. True peace, or shalom, is a state of wholeness and harmony in our hearts as the result being reconciled positionally or judicially to God through Christ. And true inner peace only comes from judicial reconciliatory peace in Christ, not in the absence of life’s difficulties, but through them. (Gen. 1-4; 6:5, 13; Numb. 6:24-26; Ps. 55:1-23; Isa. 9:6-7; 48:22; 57:21; 59:1-2, 7-8; Jer. 6:13-14; 17:9-10; 29:11-13; Ezek. 7:23; Luke 2:9-14; John 14:27; Rom. 3:10-26; 5:1-5; Eph. 2:1-22; Col. 1:19-23; Jas. 4:1-4; Rev. 21:1-8; 22:22-27) 

2. Receiving true peace in Christ means being peacemakers in life, so our lives must be characterized by peace and a desire for peace like our Father’s

1. Jesus says that those who are blessed by God are the “peacemakers”. If true peace means reconciliation with God by His grace through repentant faith in Christ, then “making peace” must begin by receiving true peace, and then ministering to others in that reconciliation. But then true peace is necessarily a quest for purity, and cannot be obtained by seeking to appease people in their sinfulness. We’re to seek peace through forgiveness with those whom we’ve sinned against, and those who’ve sinned against us. We’re to seek to facilitate peace between believers, and by lovingly holding those who have drifted waywardly away from God accountable through His Word. And most importantly we’re to be peacemakers for Christ through sharing His gospel of peace, love, and hope with those who are suffering hopelessly from peacelessness because of their broken relationship with God. Being peacemakers means that our reconciliation with God through Christ, and the judicial and experienced peace we receive in Him must shape all of our values, priorities, and actions, and compels us to be ambassadors of His reconciliation and peace in our relationships, families, workplaces, schools, social lives, churches, and even towards our enemies. And Jesus doesn’t say that the blessing of being faithful peacemakers is that we’ll experience nothing but peace in life, or that everyone we implore to be reconciled to God in Christ will do so wholeheartedly. In fact Jesus tells us that our results won’t always be favorable, even in our families, we’ll have trouble, and be persecuted for His Name. But the blessing is that we’ll be called sons of God. The word used here to describe “sons” doesn’t just describe someone related to someone else, but some who takes on the exact attributes and character of their parent. Jesus says that the blessing of being peacemakers is that we look and live distinctly from the world around us because we’ll grow to look and live like our Father, grow to love what He loves, desire what He desires, and grow in the experience of  His peace in our lives. But God’s peace didn’t come cheap for Him. He desires human beings to reconciled in peace in Him badly and paid dearly for it at an unimaginably high cost. Are we peacemakers? Do we love people like God, and hate sin like God? Do we pursue peace in others like Him? Do we sacrifice for true peace like Him? (v. 9; Ps. 34:12-14; 120:6-7; Prov. 12:20; 16:7; Isa. 52:7; Matt. 5:43-45; 10:22, 34-36; John 15:18-21; 16:33; Rom. 3:8-17; 12:9-21; 14:17; 2 Cor. 5:14-21; 13:11; Gal. 5:19-26; Eph. 4:1-3, 29-31; 6:14-15; Phil. 4:4-7; Col. 3:12-17; Heb. 12:14; 13:20-21; Jas. 3:17-18; 1 Pet. 8-12)