“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.” (Matthew 5:9)
What does it mean to be a “Son of God”?
This is a focus of the Gospel of John:
But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but [of the will] of God. (John 1:12,13)
If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me. Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word. You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. (John 8:42-44)
Paul on adoption (Romans)
For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” (Romans 8:14,15, also Galatians 4; Ephesians 1)
BUT WHAT IS A PEACEMAKER?
This is the only occurrence in the Bible
From … GK 1515 eirḗnē
Name, Irene.
From eirō, “to join, tie together into a whole” – properly, wholeness, i.e. when all essential parts are joined together; peace.
For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross. (Colossians 1:19,20)
But whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’ And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest on it; if not, it will return to you. … But I say to you that it will be more tolerable in that Day for Sodom than for that city. (Luke 10:5,6,12 [Matthew 10:13-15])
What we learn from Jesus’ saying:
“And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matthew 10:28)
Daryl Davis’s question: Why do they hate me when they do not know me?
- https://youtu.be/ORp3q1Oaezw
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waVrJEIfahc
- https://www.npr.org/2017/08/20/544861933/how-one-man-convinced-200-ku-klux-klan-members-to-give-up-their-robes
PEACE ONLY BEGINS WHEN WE ARE REFORMED INWARDLY
“The outer self is reformed by means of the inner self when the outer self refrains from the evils that the inner self intends to avoid because they are from hell. We are more completely reformed when for that reason we abstain from [evils] and fight against them. In this way, what is within is intending and what is outside is acting; for unless we do what we intend, there is a lack of real intention inside that eventually becomes unwillingness.” (Divine Providence 151)
Recorded on Sunday 6 October 2024
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