SPIRITUAL GROWTH ENHANCERS
REF NO: 012
Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. Matthew 5:9
THE PEACEMAKERS
The world is in desperate need of God's peace. Our world is in urgent need of peacemakers, those who represent the heart of God to bring peace to broken a broken world and relationships.
The Bible has a lot to say about peace; it appears 329 times in the Bible, with the highest occurrence of 30 in the book of Isaiah.
In the beatitudes, Jesus educated us about certain good Christian conducts that when we emulate will invite the blessings of God upon us. One of them is "Peacemaking". As Christians, we are called to be "peacemakers" not "troublemakers".
Peacemakers in this passage are not those who choose to live in peace but those who choose to live in peace and campaign for peace, tranquility and harmony among people in the family, community and anywhere they find themselves.
In the light of this verse, I want us to look at what peace is in it's clear essence, who the peacemakers are, why are they blessed and why will they be called the children of God?
What Is Peace
According to Strong's concordance, the Hebrew word translated as "peace" is "shalom", meaning "completeness, soundness, and welfare". It comes from the root word shalam which means to make amends or to make whole or complete.
Therefore, to have shalom means to be in a state of wholeness or completeness, without any deficiency or lack.
In Jewish culture, people used shalom in greeting expressions such as shalom Aleichem which means “well-being be upon you,” or “may you be well.” Jesus and New Testament writers often greeted one another and said farewell with peace (John 20:19).
The Greek equivalent for "Shalom" (peace) in the New Testament is from the Greek word "eiréné". According to Strong’s, "eiréné" means, "one, peace, quietness, and rest". It originates from the root word "eiro", which means " to join, or tie together into a whole".
Therefore, "eiréné" means unity; it is to bringing multiple parts together to form a whole, or set it as one again. For example, two friends who reconcile after a fight make "eiréné", that is they come back together, and their relationship is whole.
Who Are The Peacemakers
We are peace ambassadors. We received His peace to promote His peace.
1. Peacemakers seek to reconcile people with God.
Peacemakers, in this context, are those who promote God’s peace. To promote God's peace is to seek to reconcile unbelievers and sinners with God.
God loves the sinner but does not love sin. He loves the sinner but hate his sins.
The Bible tells us the holy nature of our God. He is a holy God and therefore cannot have any relationship with sinful people.
We live in a fallen world. The world is in chaos and in total state of depravity. as it is written, ‘There is none righteous, not even one.’”
Therefore, all people are under the wrath of God because of sin. The current government of Ghana currently is under pressure to succumb to western cultures to legalize Gay and pass the LGBTQ bill to become a legal tender. If this initiative is not to receive foreign aids then what could that be? Foreign aid could mean peace to them. But this is misconstrued!
The Gospel message is the message of God's peace to the world and to the sinner. It is the proclamation of truth that Christ bore God’s wrath on the cross for our sins, so we can have a right relationship with God.
Romans 5:1 says, “Therefore since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Peacemakers are those who devote their lives to sharing this message.
The message of salvation is the message of peace to the world. The great commission is the call to make peace between the world of sinners with God.
The peacemakers themselves are those who have experienced this peace from God and our Lord Jesus Christ and they in turn share it with others—hoping to reconcile people with God.
Are you sharing the Gospel message? This is what peacemakers do. The Gospel is God's peace!
2. Peacemakers seek to reconcile people.
This starts with us and our relationship with others. Matthew 5:23-24 says that if we go to the altar to offer a gift and realize that somebody has something against us, we should leave the gift, reconcile with the person, and then offer the gift to God.
Romans 12:18 (NLT) says, "Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone".
Solomon gives us wise counsel on some of the things peacemakers do:
They build-up. "The wise woman builds her house" (Proverbs 14:1).
They watch their tongues and heal rather than hurt. "A gentle answer turns away wrath" (15:1). "Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones" (16:24).
They are slow to anger. "A hot-tempered man stirs up strife, but the slow to anger calms a dispute" (15:18). "He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit, than he who captures a city" (16:32).
They are humble and trusting. "An arrogant man stirs up strife, but he who trusts in the LORD will prosper" (28:25).
And in this beatitude, Jesus reminds us that an essential part of being God’s children is to act as peacemakers wherever we go.
We are called to model the generous and undeserved love of the Father in our relationships with everyone. Just as Jesus came with a ministry of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5), we are called to be reconcilers in our workplaces, families, neighbourhoods, and marketplaces.
In the face of fragmented cultures and political divisions, those who are God's children are expected to act as ambassadors for peace.
The Greek word translated “peacemaker” in this Beatitude, eirênopoios, means quite literally, “one who makes peace [eirênê].” It seems fairly obvious what this means: one whose life is characterized by creating harmony and not stirring up contention and strife.
Why Are Peacemakers Blessed!
Peace ambassadors are blessed because they will be called the children of God. Imagine the rights and privileges to enjoy as the child of a great famous, wealthy and affluent king? Compare this to that of being called the son of Lord God Almighty who is the King of kings and Lord of lords.
The Greek word translated "blessed" in this verse is one that is also translated as "happy." A blessed person will have joy and contentment. A blessed person is a completely happy and joyous person.
This is because he shares in himself the complete nature of God's. It is his joy to see sinners turn back from their sinful ways to the saving knowledge of our Lord Jesus and receive His peace. It is his joy to depopulate hell to populate heaven.
Why Are They Called The Children Of God
The result of conflict resolution is peace, and peacemakers will be called “children of God.” They will reflect the divine character in their actions. God is the God of peace (1 Thessalonians 5:16) and we show ourselves to be his children when we seek to make peace in the workplace, in the community, in our homes, and the whole world.
The seventh beatitude takes every Christian worker into the task of conflict resolution. Conflicts arise whenever people have differences of opinion. In a fallen and perverse world, Jesus declares that peacemakers are blessed: they have received a good thing, because they will be called sons of God.
And why are they called children of God? The answer is because God is the Father of peace.
First Corinthians 14:33, tells us that Jesus is the author of peace and Prince of peace in Isaiah 9:6. Therefore, all those who seek to promote peace are like him and are worthy to be called his children.
©Oasis WordBank/Social Media Ministry Command
