The peace of Christ
I saw a photograph in one of last week’s newspapers which has stayed in my mind and troubled me greatly. It was of young Israeli children writing messages on the sides of missiles bound for Lebanon. That evening on the news a large bomb crater was shown in Nazareth where two young children had been killed by a rocket launched from within Lebanon. As both a teacher and a father I am distressed and disturbed by the horrors of war and its impact on children in particular.
Such hostility is not new. Conflict has been a part of human existence from the very beginning. But this is not an excuse for ignoring it or passively accepting it. Jesus Christ said, “Blessed are the peacemakers”. He also came to bring peace between people and God and between different groups of people. The apostle Paul was taught to believe that God was only interested in his race and religion. But his encounter with Jesus Christ changed his outlook. He wrote,
“14 For Christ himself has made peace between us Jews and you Gentiles by making us all one people. He has broken down the wall of hostility that used to separate us. 15 By his death he ended the whole system of Jewish law that excluded the Gentiles. His purpose was to make peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new person from the two groups. 16 Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his death, and our hostility toward each other was put to death. 17 He has brought this Good News of peace to you Gentiles who were far away from him, and to us Jews who were near. 18 Now all of us, both Jews and Gentiles, may come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us.” (Ephesians 2:14-18 NLT)
Through his death on the cross Jesus makes it possible for us to “come to the Father” without fear of rejection. At the same time he has broken down the “wall of hostility” that used to separate one race from another. As a result people who have lived “without hope and without God in the world” can now find a place to call home and belong in God’s family together.
War and racism are two of the tragic curses of our age. Inevitably, it is children who are the greatest victims. Jesus Christ is the source and foundation for both personal peace and international peace. We can contribute to this becoming a reality by our prayers for peace. We can also do this by our presence as we stand alongside those who are troubled and in need of peace. Finally, we can proclaim Jesus Christ as the source of all true peace by our words.
Do you know the peace of Christ in your life? Are you an instrument of his peace in our troubled world?
Such hostility is not new. Conflict has been a part of human existence from the very beginning. But this is not an excuse for ignoring it or passively accepting it. Jesus Christ said, “Blessed are the peacemakers”. He also came to bring peace between people and God and between different groups of people. The apostle Paul was taught to believe that God was only interested in his race and religion. But his encounter with Jesus Christ changed his outlook. He wrote,
“14 For Christ himself has made peace between us Jews and you Gentiles by making us all one people. He has broken down the wall of hostility that used to separate us. 15 By his death he ended the whole system of Jewish law that excluded the Gentiles. His purpose was to make peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new person from the two groups. 16 Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his death, and our hostility toward each other was put to death. 17 He has brought this Good News of peace to you Gentiles who were far away from him, and to us Jews who were near. 18 Now all of us, both Jews and Gentiles, may come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us.” (Ephesians 2:14-18 NLT)
Through his death on the cross Jesus makes it possible for us to “come to the Father” without fear of rejection. At the same time he has broken down the “wall of hostility” that used to separate one race from another. As a result people who have lived “without hope and without God in the world” can now find a place to call home and belong in God’s family together.
War and racism are two of the tragic curses of our age. Inevitably, it is children who are the greatest victims. Jesus Christ is the source and foundation for both personal peace and international peace. We can contribute to this becoming a reality by our prayers for peace. We can also do this by our presence as we stand alongside those who are troubled and in need of peace. Finally, we can proclaim Jesus Christ as the source of all true peace by our words.
Do you know the peace of Christ in your life? Are you an instrument of his peace in our troubled world?
posted by Peter Wilson at 2:05 PM
2 Comments:
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I also saw the photograph, and it was disturbing.It is amazing that God has made a way for us ALL to be close to him, and that he so clearly wants to love our neighbours, and yet his name is used as an excuse for neighbour to attack neighbour. We need to return to the fact that he is the Father of us all, and we are all connected to each other.
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