Sermon Central
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What Is A Peacemaker? Series
Contributed by Keith Foskey on Apr 15, 2014 (message contributor)
Summary: The Ultimate Peacemaker is Christ Our First Call as Peacemakers is as Ambassadors for Christ Our Secondary Call as Peacemakers is to Promote Reconciliation Among People Our Call to Be Peacemakers is NOT an Absolute Call to Humanistic Pacifism
Series: The Sermon on the Mount
Title: What is a Peacemaker?
Text: Matthew 5:9
INTRODUCTION: We continue our study of the introduction to Jesus’s greatest sermon on the mount, which are generally referred to as the Beatitudes.
As we have noted, the term “Beatitude” means supreme blessedness.
And Jesus is describing the character of those who are considered to be the blessed of God.
One of the ideas which I have put forward since we began this study is that I do not believe that Jesus is referring to a series of individuals.
I do not believe He is talking about some who are “poor in spirit” and others who “mourn” and others who are “meek” and so on.
I believe He is building a picture of what an individual believer should look like.
A believer will be POOR IN SPIRIT.
A believer will MOURN
A believer will be MEEK
A believer will HUNGER AND THIRST FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS
A believer will be MERCIFUL
A believer will possess a PURE HEART
As a result, when we come to the next-to-last beatitude today, what I hope we see is that this is not a specific call for a specific group of Christians, but rather it is a call which should be understood as addressing all people who claim to be followers of Jesus Christ.
READ: Matthew 5:9
Today we are going to address the questions “What is a Peacemaker” and “What does the call to being a Peacemaker involve?”
There is a lot which I would like to address on this issue, and I want to get right to it by providing you the outline of today’s message:
The Ultimate Peacemaker is Christ
Our First Call as Peacemakers is as Ambassadors for Christ
Our Secondary Call as Peacemakers is to Promote Reconciliation Among People
Our Call to Be Peacemakers is NOT an Absolute Call to Humanistic Pacifism
The Ultimate Peacemaker is Christ
In the Old Testament, a prophecy is given about the coming Messiah.
It is one we usually associate with the coming Christmas holiday.
Isaiah 9:6 “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
This title, Prince of Peace is very important.
When we talk about Jesus being the Prince of Peace, there is a very specific context wherein this applies.
You see, the Jews believed the Messiah would bring peace... but that He would do so by being a warrior.
This was what was so perplexing about Jesus.
He did not have an army; He did not bear a sword.
And He had no intention of overthrowing the Roman authorities.
He told Pilate that He could, but that this was not His purpose.
But peace in Jerusalem was not the peace which Jesus came to bring.
He did not come to be a worldly conqueror who brought peace between warring nations.
Instead, He came to bring a much more valuable and needed peace to mankind... He came to bring PEACE WITH GOD.
Romans 5:1 “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
One of the hardest things for the unbeliever to accept is that he is at war with God; yet, it is the clearest teaching in Scripture.
The Bible teaches that the natural mind is totally at odds with God’s commands.
Romans 8:7-8 “For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. 8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”
The term “hostile” here is sometimes translated as “enmity”
The root of this word in the Greek is EKTHO, which is HATRED.
The unconverted mind actually hates God.
And beloved, there is nothing more obvious than when you try to explain the Law of God to an unbeliever.
They like the idea of God being a blesser and a giver.
But when they realize that He makes demands on their lives, that He knows everything about them, and that He will judge them for their sins, they get hostile.
And often the natural response, “Well if that’s how God is, I don’t want to worship Him!”
This is where Christ comes in.
He is the reconciler - the mediator - between God and man.
He takes the two warring parties, GOD and MAN, and He brings them together and makes peace between them.
He does this by giving Himself as a sacrifice and becoming the appeasement for God’s wrath.
And by giving us the gift of His righteousness, that we can then stand before God as righteous.
This is how He is the prince of peace.
