[Mt 5:9] Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.
It says here, peace. In Hebrew, “peace” is “shalom”. You have heard of this word before. That means peace.
The Israelites truly longed and desired for peace. If you look at the Old Testament, the Israelites lived among so many difficulties and hardships. So many other countries came and took over their country; they lived in so much great difficulty. That is why the greatest hope of the Israelites was peace. But that is why they truly longed for and desired peace, and asked God for peace. So they truly truly wanted and longed for peace. That is why their greeting was “shalom” ? that is, “peace.” That is how much they waited for that world.
So what kind of God is God? God is the God who brings them the peace.
Old Testament:
[Ps 29:11] The Lord gives strength to his people; the Lord blesses his people with peace.
[Ps 85:8] I will listen to what God the LORD will say; he promises peace to his people, his saints – but let them not return to folly.
[Isa 9:6] For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
[Jer 14:13] But I said, “Ah, Sovereign Lord, the prophets keep telling them, ‘You will not see the sword or suffer famine. Indeed, I will give you lasting peace in this place.’ ”
[Jer 33:6] “‘Nevertheless, I will bring health and healing to it; I will heal my people and will let them enjoy abundant peace and security.
New Testament:
[Ro 15:33] The God of peace be with you all. Amen.
[Ro 16:20] The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.
[2Co 13:11] Finally, brothers, good-by. Aim for perfection, listen to my appeal, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.
[Php 4:9] Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me – put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
[1Th 5:23] May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
[Heb 13:20] May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep,
We will look at one in the OT, and one in the NT.
[Ps 29:11] The Lord gives strength to his people; the Lord blesses his people with peace.
[Ro 15:33] The God of peace be with you all. Amen.
God Will Recover Peace So how is God? God will truly one day recover this frightening world. He will recover the world of peace. This is what the Bible records, and what the believers believe in.
Sons of God Work for Peace The seventh blessing here is telling us that the true sons of God are the ones who work for this kind of peace. It says here, the peacemakers. The peacemakers are the sons of God. In this world of hatred and jealousy and fighting and war, those who live and work for peace ? the true people of God are the ones who work for this peace, in this kind of world. Those are the ones who will truly be blessed. And truly they will be the ones to gather those kinds of crops.
[Jas 3:18] Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.
Natural Law They will harvest the fruits of righteousness. If you live for peace, then truly you will be able to harvest crops of righteousness. What is peace? Peace is living according to the natural law. If you live the opposite way, living according to the unnatural law, then you won’t find peace. So how is living according to the natural law? The natural law is living according to the truth, the Word of God. When we live in the Word of God, with the Word of God, we can truly find peace.
Original Peace So Jesus gave us this kind of peace. Jesus said that the peace I give you is different from the peace of the world. The peace of this world is temporary peace that you get through violence. You press and press and get temporary peace, this is the peace of the world, and it is not the peace that Jesus gives. The peace that Jesus was talking about, the peace that he gives us, is the original peace that was there from the beginning ? the Love of God. So this is how Jesus lived; he showed this world of peace and this world of love. Jesus is the one who sacrificed himself, and became the bridge in between God and us, so that we can find peace, and become harmonious with God. He became the bridge.
[Ro 5:10,11]
10. For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!
11. Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
Sons of God are the Bridge Because of our sins, we became like the enemies of God; we were living among sin. But Jesus was the one who came and allowed peace and reconciliation between us and God. That is why he is the true son of God. Because he sacrificed his own self, we received peace and reconciliation. So what kind of person is the true son of God? We should also live as the bridge to this world, bringing peace to this world. So when we fight, that is when peace is broken. So we need to recover and restore the relationships. The ones who work to recover and restore the relationships, for peace and for reconciliation, these kinds of people are the sons of God. Wherever we go, we need to be the ones bringing reconciliation. We need to be the ones introducing and proclaiming the peace of God, the peace that the Lord gave us.
Satan Breaks Peace Then where does the breaking of peace start? Where is the origin of broken peace? Satan breaks and shatters the peace.
[Jn 8:44] You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
Lies What does the devil do? What does satan do? He makes lies. He is a liar. Why lie? Because when you lie, your relationship is cut off. The purpose of lying is estrangement. Satan came and lied, and that is how he cut off the relationship that God had with man. What does God really hate? He hates lies, and he hates estrangement, and dissension.
[Pr 6:16-19]
16. There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him:
17. haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood,
18. a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil,
19. a false witness who pours out lies and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers.
Here it lists the things that the Lord hates. We will look at all of them, because we should not do anything that the Lord hates.
Dissension Here the last one is dissension. So God hates dissension. Dissension is splitting apart. That is opposite of peace. So when Satan enters us, and when Satan is with us, we begin to hate each other, and the relationship is all broken up. That is dissension. If you look behind dissension, there is always lies. That is how relationships break apart.
Sons of Light So how are the Sons of God and the sons of Satan ? the Sons of Light and the sons of darkness ? distinguished? Among the Sons of the Light, there is no dissension. Among the true children of God, there is no dissension. They don’t lie. Satan always makes you lie, and splits the relationship apart. We need to know this. Because we are the Sons of Light, we need to live the opposite way. We shouldn’t break apart. We shouldn’t split apart. But instead, go and become the instrument to unite everything.
Holy Spirit When the Holy Spirit is among us, it is possible. This is the power of the Holy Spirit. In a church is the power of the Holy Spirit. That is why we all open our hearts and lower ourselves and listen to others, and there is peace. Jesus lowered himself, he showed himself lowering. So when we truly lower ourselves, and when we truly serve one another, then we will find true peace. But if you do the opposite, if you are arrogant, and instead of trying to listen you only say what you want to, and become like this, then peace will break apart. We should truly be the peacemakers. And I wish that by doing so, we will truly be blessed, being called the Sons of God.