Blessed Are the Peacemakers, for They Shall Be Called Sons of God” — Matthew 5:9
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The news cycle bears out Jesus’ promise that “You will hear of wars and rumors of war…for this must take place” (Matt. 24:6). Right now conflict rages in Eastern Europe and the Middle East, as well as in Sudan, Myanmar, the Congo, and Ethiopia. By this time next year the PLA may have attacked Taiwan, North Korea may have attacked its southern neighbor, and India and Pakistan may be in a nuclear conflict. So much conflict.
War is insanely wasteful, useless, and tragic. Why, like a drunk to his bottle, do we keep lurching back to it?
The Book of James gives a penetrating answer:
What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passionsare at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. (James 4:1-3)
War is the manifestation of a problem with our hearts.
Without Christ we don’t have the hearts we need to avoid war.
We want things that we don’t have and have no right to have. So we coerce, quarrel, and fight to get it. We don’t have all we want because God, who allots to each person what they need, has decided not to give us all that we want. Even if we asked God for more things, he would not give them because we are motivated by greed.
If war arises from restless, selfish, and sinful hearts, then the cure for war are hearts full of peace, selfless love, and a love for God and his laws.
We are not born with hearts like that. On the contrary, we are sinful at birth, sinful from the time our mothers conceived us (Ps. 51:5).
We need hearts that love God and his ways, hearts that are satisfied by God.
When we turn from our sin to God and look to Jesus for forgiveness and salvation, we receive new hearts: hearts that are satisfied by God, hearts that put the needs of others first, hearts that love God and his ways.
When we put our faith in Jesus, God adopts us to be his children. We look to him as our Father and know in our hearts that we are eternally safe in his loving arms.
In the end, faith in Jesus brings peace to our hearts and makes us live in peace with God and those around us. Faith in Jesus Christ, adoption as God’s children, and peaceful hearts: These three things go perfectly and wonderfully together, like the roots, trunk, and foliage of an ancient oak. That’s why Jesus said: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God” (Matt. 5:9).
This article is adapted from “Blessed Are the Peacemakers, for They Shall Be Called Children of God” at campbellmarkham.substack.com.
Related Articles:
- “Blessed Are the Merciful, For They Shall Receive Mercy” — Matthew 5:7
- “Blessed Are Those Who Hunger and Thirst for Righteousness, for They Shall Be Satisfied” — Matthew 5:6
- “Blessed Are the Meek, for They Shall Inherit the Earth” — Matthew 5:3-5
- The Sermon on the Mount: How Did Jesus Practice What He Preached?
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Campbell Markham is pastor of Scots’ Presbyterian Church in Fremantle, Western Australia. He is married to Amanda-Sue and they have four adult children. Campbell holds an M.Div. from Christ College in Sydney and a Ph.D. from the University of Western Australia. His dissertation centered on a translation and theological analysis of the letters of Marie Durand (1711–1776), a French Protestant woman imprisoned for her faith for thirty-eight years. Besides his passion for languages and church history, Campbell enjoys playing the piano and daily swims in the Indian Ocean. You can read more of Campbell’s content at campbellmarkham.substack.com.
