Why I seek peace & pursue it.
Was Jesus serious when he said, "Love your enemy"?
Can Jesus enable what he commands when he spoke, "Be perfect, as your Father is perfect"? To me, this question, is my like asking if God could really accomplish what he set out to do, when He said, “Let there be light!” Was there really light that entered in? Or did darkness somehow have an indominable hold on the earth? Do we have the “foolish” Gospel of Peace? Or the “wise” Counsels of War?
"Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this." - Isaiah 9:7
"We all, like sheep, have gone astray, _each of us has turned to _his_own_way_; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth." Isaiah 53:6-7
Finally, this good news of God's love encounters our suffering: Romans 8:36. I find it very instructive that in such a wonderful chapter, Paul is moved to deal with God's incomprehensible love juxtaposed against the incredible suffering we face: tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, sword, ... death, various angels, principalities, powers, past, present, future, etc, etc, etc. I think a religio-political ideology which is waging war on the saints (i.e. Islamism, Buddhism, or Radical Secularism) would fall into that.
NOTHING SEPARATES US FROM THE LOVE OF GOD IN CHRIST!!
It is interesting to me that in Ephesians 4:11-13, Paul describes why there are "ministers" given to the church: "[Christ] Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ."
Somehow, missionary types, prophetic types, gospellers, shepherds & teachers should:
equip saints to serve
build up the body of Christ
working towards the church's unity of trust in & knowledge of the Son of God
until we all become a perfect / mature person
unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.
The end of this section of scripture says that the body grows via love.
Jesus is our measure:
God has given His Scriptures as our rule and constitution.
God has given His Son as our Ruler and King.
God has given His Spirit as our realm and kingdom.
God has given His Salem on Earth as our residence and quarters.
God has given His Sovereign Sympathy as our reason and cause.
God has given His Suffering as our reconciliation and cross.
God has given His Salvation as our righteousness and consecration.
So was Jesus serious about us loving our enemies?
Does this include peace?
A man after God's own heart prayed, "I am for peace, but they are for war when I speak." (Psalm 120:7) This same man was told that he would not be able to build the temple, as he so desired, because he had blood on his hands from during his various wars (1 Chronicles 22:6-10). THUS, it seems to me, that God does not want to be associated with violence, but with peace.
A historical argument to this effect: During the American Revolution/Rebellion in the 1700's, the only church movement that continued to grow was the methodist movement, which was avowedly a-political at the time. In other words, most churches were so eager to take sides in the war, one way or the other (Royal or Colonial), that the Gospel was forgotten. The war was preceded & followed by "Great Awakenings when new life, evangelism, church planting flourished. But only those that single-heartedly refused to be bogged down in politics & warring experienced the over-abundant work of God at the time.
The church is on decline in America, according to many measures ... is it because we have forgotten that the gospel is the gospel of peace and not the gospel of politics? While the Law has a place, the church is not to labor under the law but to labor in love.
Can Jesus enable what he commands when he spoke, "Be perfect, as your Father is perfect"? To me, this question, is my like asking if God could really accomplish what he set out to do, when He said, “Let there be light!” Was there really light that entered in? Or did darkness somehow have an indominable hold on the earth? Do we have the “foolish” Gospel of Peace? Or the “wise” Counsels of War?
"Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this." - Isaiah 9:7
"We all, like sheep, have gone astray, _each of us has turned to _his_own_way_; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth." Isaiah 53:6-7
Finally, this good news of God's love encounters our suffering: Romans 8:36. I find it very instructive that in such a wonderful chapter, Paul is moved to deal with God's incomprehensible love juxtaposed against the incredible suffering we face: tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, sword, ... death, various angels, principalities, powers, past, present, future, etc, etc, etc. I think a religio-political ideology which is waging war on the saints (i.e. Islamism, Buddhism, or Radical Secularism) would fall into that.
NOTHING SEPARATES US FROM THE LOVE OF GOD IN CHRIST!!
It is interesting to me that in Ephesians 4:11-13, Paul describes why there are "ministers" given to the church: "[Christ] Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ."
Somehow, missionary types, prophetic types, gospellers, shepherds & teachers should:
equip saints to serve
build up the body of Christ
working towards the church's unity of trust in & knowledge of the Son of God
until we all become a perfect / mature person
unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.
The end of this section of scripture says that the body grows via love.
Jesus is our measure:
God has given His Scriptures as our rule and constitution.
God has given His Son as our Ruler and King.
God has given His Spirit as our realm and kingdom.
God has given His Salem on Earth as our residence and quarters.
God has given His Sovereign Sympathy as our reason and cause.
God has given His Suffering as our reconciliation and cross.
God has given His Salvation as our righteousness and consecration.
So was Jesus serious about us loving our enemies?
Does this include peace?
A man after God's own heart prayed, "I am for peace, but they are for war when I speak." (Psalm 120:7) This same man was told that he would not be able to build the temple, as he so desired, because he had blood on his hands from during his various wars (1 Chronicles 22:6-10). THUS, it seems to me, that God does not want to be associated with violence, but with peace.
A historical argument to this effect: During the American Revolution/Rebellion in the 1700's, the only church movement that continued to grow was the methodist movement, which was avowedly a-political at the time. In other words, most churches were so eager to take sides in the war, one way or the other (Royal or Colonial), that the Gospel was forgotten. The war was preceded & followed by "Great Awakenings when new life, evangelism, church planting flourished. But only those that single-heartedly refused to be bogged down in politics & warring experienced the over-abundant work of God at the time.
The church is on decline in America, according to many measures ... is it because we have forgotten that the gospel is the gospel of peace and not the gospel of politics? While the Law has a place, the church is not to labor under the law but to labor in love.
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