Peacemakers

[Pamelasv]

How would you explain what a peacemaker is?

[missmuffet]

Matthew 5:9 Blessed are the peacemakers,

    For they shall be called sons of God.

 

The peace of knowing God.A person has to have a real relationship with God before he or she can help others know God.

[gamnot]

It is ironic that I wrote a short post on facebook on the topic: "Was Jesus a peacemaker?" I was not going to post it here, but I think that I might do it now.

[gamnot]

Christology: Was Jesus a pacifist? Many people want to create an interpretation of the meaning of the life of Christ as pacifist Jesus was created to know how to choose good and refiuse evil. According to the written documents, that is what he did. He went through life choosing good and refusing evil. He indicated by his own words that he didn't come to make peace, but to be power assertive against the corrupt secular and religious powers of his time. His abiltity to articulate and express essential and existential truth caused friction and consternation in his adversaries that resulted in the showdown at the cross. ....................... that should have been "Was Jesus a pacifist?"

[missmuffet]

Question: "Was Jesus a pacifist?"

Answer: According to Webster’s dictionary, a pacifist is someone who is opposed to violence, especially war, for any purpose, often accompanied by the refusal to bear arms by reason of conscience or religious conviction.

While Jesus is the “prince of peace” (Isaiah 9:6), He was not, and is not, a pacifist. Revelation 19:15, speaking of Jesus, declares, "Out of His mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. He will rule them with an iron scepter. He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty." Ecclesiastes 3:1, 3, & 8 say, “There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under the heaven…a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build…a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.” Daniel 9:26 says that “war will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed.” Matthew 24:6-8 says, “You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains.”

Jesus Himself said, “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn ‘a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law---a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household’” (Matthew 10:34-36). “From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it” (Matthew 11:12).

We are commanded to hate what is evil and cling to what is good (Romans 12:9). In doing so we must take a stand against what is evil in this world and pursue righteousness (2 Timothy 2:22). Jesus did this and, in so doing, spoke openly against the religious and political rulers of His time because they were not seeking a righteousness from God, but rather of their own making (Luke 20:1-2, Romans 9:31-33). Zeal for God’s righteousness consumed Jesus, and He was not afraid to stand up against those who opposed and dishonored His Father (John 2:15-17, see also Numbers 25:11). “Those who hate Him He will repay to their face by destruction; He will not be slow to repay to their face those who hate Him” (Deuteronomy 7:10). “While people are saying, ‘Peace and safety,’ destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape” (1 Thessalonians 5:3).

The Old Testament is full of examples of how God used his people in war to bring judgment upon nations whose sin had reached its full measure (only a few examples: Genesis 15:16, Numbers 21:3, 31:1-7, 32:20-21, Deuteronomy 7:1-2, Joshua 6:20-21, 8:1-8, 10:29-32, 11:7-20). In raising the moral consciousness of the world, God must take the people as He finds them and introduce principles of righteousness within the moral framework with which the people can identify. We can be assured though, that it is always with justice that God judges and makes war (Revelation 19:11). “For we know Him who said, ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ and again, ‘The Lord will judge his people.’ It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:30-31). What we can learn from these and other Biblical examples is that we are only to wage war when it is the will of God and not at our own discretion (John 18:11, Numbers 14:41-45). It is God’s choice as to how and when He brings judgment of sin upon this world and its inhabitants, to display His holiness. We are simply called to follow Him (Matthew 16:24-25).

All of this may sound contradictory to the teachings of Jesus, God Himself, in which He instructs us to “love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 19:19), turn the other cheek (Matthew 5:39), as well as the command, “you shall not murder” (Exodus 20:13). After all, we are told that God is love (1 John 4:16) and “Blessed are the peacemakers” (Matthew 5:9). The Bible also says in 2 Corinthians 10:4, “For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine powers to demolish strongholds.“ While all this is indeed true, it helps in examining these seemingly contradictory concepts from an eternal perspective, that we may gain a more complete understanding for Jesus’ purpose in coming to this earth.

At the beginning of human history, God commanded mankind to rule over the earth (Genesis 1:26-31; Hebrews 2:6-8). When man disobeyed God, sin entered the world (Genesis 2:17, 3:6-7). By this one action, man sold his right to rule this world to Satan and at the same time became captive to sin himself (John 8:34, 12:31; Romans 6:6;Ephesians 2:2, 6:12). As a result, sinful men live in a world full of corruption, each person doing what is right in his own eyes, the whole time being led astray by their own evil desires (Psalm 8:6, 51:5; Proverbs 14:12; Genesis 3:17;Romans 8:20, James 1:14-15). It isn’t hard to see that the whole world lies in Satan’s power (1 John 5:19). Even Jesus did not dispute with him over the fact that he ruled the kingdoms of the world (Matthew 4:8-10). Therefore, there can be no lasting peace or restoration of the land until Jesus returns to redeem the land and man (Galatians 4:4-5).

Jesus came in the likeness of mankind, while still retaining his full authority as God, in order that He might redeem men from their sentence of death, and re-establish, for the believer, man’s authority to rule (Philippians 2:6-8, 1 Corinthians 15:21-22, 54-57, Revelation 20:6). When Jesus died on the cross, He purchased back the land and men’s souls from the dominion of Satan through the shedding of His own blood, the purchase price for redemption of man’s sin (Hebrews 9:22, Acts 20:28, 1 Peter 1:18-19, 1 Corinthians 6:20). A day is coming, after severe judgment upon the earth, when Jesus will break the seal of the deed and end Satan’s rule (Revelation 5:1-10, 6-18,19:11-21). At the end of Jesus’ 1,000 year reign upon this earth, Satan will be set free for a short time and war once again will be waged (Revelation 20:7-10). It is only at the end of that war, once the murderer of man, Satan, is destroyed by Jesus and His servants’ blood is finally avenged, that wars will cease and peace will once again be established in the new heaven and new earth (John 8:44, Deuteronomy 32:43, Daniel 7:13-14, 2 Peter 3:3-13,Revelation 21:1-4). Until that time we are called to fight the good fight and keep the faith (2 Timothy 4:7).

http://www.gotquestions.org/Jesus-pacifist.html

[Esther4:14]

A peacemaker is someone who submits to another out of reverance to Christ (Ephesians 5:21). 

[gdemoss]

A peacemaker is one who seeks to make peace and there are many. A true peacemaker is one who seeks to bring others into a state of true peace with God and man. A mediator. A peacemaker may not always use nonviolent means to acheive their end but rather always use the best means to acheive that end. There was plenty of peace after the flood. There is a time for everything and everything is beautiful in its time.

[FresnoJoe]

How would you explain what a peacemaker is?

 

~

 

A peacemaker is someone who submits to another out of reverence to Christ (Ephesians 5:21). 

 

 

submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ. Ephesians 5:21 (ESV)

 

~

 

Peace

 

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counseller, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6

 

Maker

 

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. John 14:27

 

His Name Is Jesus

[Ezra]

How would you explain what a peacemaker is?

A peacemaker is one who does not promote conflict but reconciliation, within the home, the workplace, the nation, or among nations.

 

But there can be no genuine reconciliation with men, unless first there is true reconciliation with God through Christ. God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself, but we are to be reconciled to God through repentance, faith, and submission.  Because the majority of men and nations are enemies of God, there is little or no peace on earth.

 

At the same time, the peacemaker knows that because of Satan, there will always be conflict with righteousness and truth.  Therefore the peacemaker does not seek a false peace, but stands for the truth.  That results in the enmity of Satan (and all those opposed to the truth), and can lead to persecution and death. All the martyrs were essentially peacemakers, but that did not prevent them from being martyred. That reveals the hatred of the Enemy against the peacemakers, the epitome of which was the Cross of Christ.

 

While the Lord Jesus Christ is the Prince of Peace and the true Peacemaker, He has also made it clear that He came to bring division -- a "sword" -- conflict between those who are in the light and those who are in darkness, those who are saved and those who are lost. And He said that often this conflict would be within the same household.

 

Pacifism is not the basis of peace, neither is weakness in the face of predators. Nations which want peace must first eliminate those who want warfare.  Christ will first destroy all of His enemies before He establishes genuine peace and righteousness on earth (Rev 19: 11-20:15).  This will not be palatable to pacifists, but it is God's truth.

[Leonardo Von]

On 8/9/2015 at 9:24 PM, Pamelasv said:

How would you explain what a peacemaker is?

Dear sister Pamelasv,

 

Grace and mercy and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

I liked very much of your answer, sister Esther 4:14.

On 8/10/2015 at 0:15 AM, Esther4:14 said:

A peacemaker is someone who submits to another out of reverance to Christ (Ephesians 5:21). 

 

In fact, the idea is for Jesus to use our lives to reconcile our neighbor with Him:

 

·        “Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” (Matthew 18.18-20).

·        “And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; to wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.” (2Corinthians 5.18-20).

 

That is, whenever we are to relate to someone, the peace of Christ must be our decision (Colossians 3.15), that is, what we should follow (Hebrews 12.14).

 

·        “Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:” (Hebrews 12.14).

·        “And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.” (Colossians 3.15).

 

May Jesus bless that our words and actions always promote peace between us, Jesus and the neighbor.