To follow up on the thought from a couple days ago, about peace on earth. The angel said: Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace. . . Luke 2:14 But the one thing we don't see is Peace, not any place on earth. Oh people talk a lot and they really do seem to try. But everyone has their own agenda to pursue.
All over the world there are well-meaning and earnest people who are trying to heal the brokenness of humankind. "Let's reconcile the blacks and the whites, the Jew and the Arab, the men and the women, the young and the old, the haves and the have-nots, the rich and the poor." The list of battlegrounds seems endless. Is reconciliation possible? Is peace possible?
So far it hasn't been by any human means. Paul lived in this world of conflict, but his vision and spiritual insight gave him the answer. In his letter to the Corinthians, he said: God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself.... [He] hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:19, 18). In the Ephesian letter he emphasizes the "In Christ" theme. Time after time he sounds this note.
Our harmony with the universe, our harmony with God's plan, and our harmony with the people around us, ALL depend upon our being "in Christ." "But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace" (Eph. 2:13-16).
Can different cultures live in harmony? Can families? Can religious groups who worship the same God worship together? Can people who love God actually love each other? It's natural to believe that if everyone were more like us in thought and behavior that we could have peace in the world. Is this possible? Can races live in harmony? Only in Christ! Listen: "For through him [Christ] we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father" (Eph. 2:18). What a remarkable concept. Through Christ, the Son, we (now together) all by one Spirit to the Father may come together in harmony.
As Zacharias prophesied in Luke 1, Jesus came to guide our feet into the way of peace. But peace in our socio- political world will never be accomplished until and unless all mankind come to acknowledge the truth that He is our peace!
There is no other way to experience Peace on Earth.
All over the world there are well-meaning and earnest people who are trying to heal the brokenness of humankind. "Let's reconcile the blacks and the whites, the Jew and the Arab, the men and the women, the young and the old, the haves and the have-nots, the rich and the poor." The list of battlegrounds seems endless. Is reconciliation possible? Is peace possible?
So far it hasn't been by any human means. Paul lived in this world of conflict, but his vision and spiritual insight gave him the answer. In his letter to the Corinthians, he said: God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself.... [He] hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:19, 18). In the Ephesian letter he emphasizes the "In Christ" theme. Time after time he sounds this note.
Our harmony with the universe, our harmony with God's plan, and our harmony with the people around us, ALL depend upon our being "in Christ." "But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace" (Eph. 2:13-16).
Can different cultures live in harmony? Can families? Can religious groups who worship the same God worship together? Can people who love God actually love each other? It's natural to believe that if everyone were more like us in thought and behavior that we could have peace in the world. Is this possible? Can races live in harmony? Only in Christ! Listen: "For through him [Christ] we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father" (Eph. 2:18). What a remarkable concept. Through Christ, the Son, we (now together) all by one Spirit to the Father may come together in harmony.
As Zacharias prophesied in Luke 1, Jesus came to guide our feet into the way of peace. But peace in our socio- political world will never be accomplished until and unless all mankind come to acknowledge the truth that He is our peace!
There is no other way to experience Peace on Earth.
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