Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons and daughters of God. Matthew 5:9.
Last time we ended with the question, ‘Since Jesus left His peace for all believers (Jn 14:27), why don’t we see more of it?’ Especially since the peace that Jesus gives is often sited in evangelistic messages as one of the greatest reasons to give your life to Jesus? Not all followers of Jesus walk in this kind of peace on a consistent basis. Ever wonder why?
That’s exactly what Jesus was talking about when He spoke today’s verse: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons and daughters of God.” The Body of Christ at large does not put much of a value on sonship and daughtership. We focus on a lot of things, but often that’s not one of them, even though we routinely refer to God as our Father.
So first of all, a peacemaker is known as a son or daughter of God. That means we enjoy peace with God. That’s where peacemaking starts. But peace with God does not display itself in our lives automatically…it’s not simply a byproduct of ‘saying the sinner’s prayer’, or of becoming a Christian.
Of course Jesus has already made peace and we come to God accepting His terms of peace which is Jesus (Rom 5:1, Col 1:19,20). But living in that peace comes from trusting God, and that is a continual growing activity. The more we experience the faithfulness of God, the more we trust Him from the heart, and the more at peace our hearts become. (more…)