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Expect Conflict, Not
Peace
For 6,000
years, the world has rarely experienced significant
periods of peace. Nations have conflict with other
nations, and people often are in a state of conflict
with each other. Most people say they want peace.
Much of the world claims to want peace. Many pray
for peace, some march for peace, others work for
peace. But genuine peace can’t come apart from
being in a right relationship with the true God,
the God of Israel. How can there be real peace,
lasting peace in a universe that is in the midst
of a great cosmic battle, in a world that is in
a state of rebellion against the good King of
the universe? Wholeness and genuine well-being
can’t come until we end our rebellion against
the King of the universe, and submit our wills
and ways to His will and ways.
People
think that Yeshua is the Prince of Peace - and
He is. People believe that Messiah is a kind,
gentle loving shepherd - and He is. But, it is
important for us to know that from His first coming
to His return, Messiah did not come to bring peace
to the world. He did not promise to bring peace
between nations, or even peace to families. In
fact, He knew that His coming would result in
even more conflict!
Here is
what the Prince of Peace said to a crowd of people,
which included His disciples: I have come to
cast fire (bring conflict) upon the Earth.
A world that is under the control of dark, evil,
demonic forces and is in conflict, needs to be
liberated! The world made up of lost human beings
can’t be freed from the powerful forces that are
destroying us - Satan, sin and death - apart from
initially creating even more conflict.
If your
daughter was kidnaped and you knew she was being
her tormented by her kidnappers, wouldn’t you
do everything you could to find her, go to her,
and rescue her, even if it initially escalated
the conflict? Of course you would!
God the
Father loves us. Caring for His ruined sons and
daughters, and knowing that we are being tormented,
the Son of God left the peace of Heaven, and came
to Earth. In this comic conflict between God and
Satan, good and evil, life and death, Heaven and
Hell, Satan and human beings, the seed of the
serpent and the seed of the woman, the Captain
of the Lord of Hosts personally entered the battle.
El Gibor, God our Mighty Hero decided to fight
for us!
Like David
facing the evil giant Goliath, standing between
the forces of Israel and the Philistines, single-handedly
doing battle on behalf of Israel, Messiah entered
the battle and fought for us!
The Prince
of Peace, who enjoyed the peace of Heaven, and
will one day restore peace to the universe, expressed
the desire that all the conflict, pain and suffering
that would have to take place to redeem humanity
from the satanic slave-market of sin and death,
was already over and done with, and the world
was in a state of peace. I have come to cast
fire (bring conflict) upon the Earth.
And how I wish it were already kindled!
The Son
of God knew that in this great battle to rescue
humanity, He would ultimately be victorious. He
knew that would crush the head of the serpent,
and overcome all of the evil that the Adversary
has done. And he also knew that in the battle,
He Himself would be severely hurt. The Seed of
the Woman would be wounded by the serpent on His
heel. The Redeemer knew that in this great conflict,
He Himself would suffer - a lot, and that knowledge
upset Him. But I have a baptism to undergo,
and how distressed I am until it is accomplished!
He had
already suffered conflict and rejection by many
of Israel’s leaders, and people from His own home
town, and from some who had been His disciples
but left Him, and even from members of His own
family. But Yeshua knew that a more intense time
of suffering, an immersion into suffering, was
coming, and that knowledge caused Him emotional
distress.
2,000
years ago most Jewish people thought that when
the Messiah came, He would bring peace to the
world. He would restore peace between Israel and
the nations, create peace between man and God,
and restore peace to a damaged creation. War and
injustice would end, the Temple would be established,
true worship would cover the Earth, righteous
and prosperity and peace would prevail everywhere.
The Prince
of Peace understood that those kinds of peace
would only happen at His second coming. From His
first coming until His second coming, He knew
that He could only make peace possible for those
who know who He is. He could only make peace between
those believing human beings and God; He could
only create peace within a transformed human heart;
He could only create peace among human beings
who become part of His believing community.
In fact,
from His first coming to His return, the Prince
of Peace knew that like for Himself, the conflict
would escalate for His followers! To clarify the
issue of peace versus conflict, Messiah asked
a question: Do you suppose that I came to grant
peace on Earth? I tell you, no, but rather division;
for from now on five members in one household
will be divided, three against two and two against
three. They will be divided, father against son
and son against father, mother against daughter
and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against
daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law."
Most of
us don’t like conflict. We try to avoid conflict.
We don’t want conflict, especially with our families.
We want peace in our families. But, for followers
of the Son of God, peace is not always possible.
Messiah
wants His disciples to know that our responsibilities
to God come before any other responsibilities,
and that may cause conflict for us - even in our
families, and that is a price that we must be
willing to pay.
Our identification
with God and Messiah and Messiah’s Community;
our declaration of the truth; our bold proclamation
of the Good News comes before keeping peace in
the family!
Each one
of Messiah’s disciples has to be willing to give
up peace in their family, in their home, among
their people, peace with the rest of their nation,
in order to be faithful sons and daughters of
God. Are you?
We must
not be people who keep silent about the truth,
withholding vital information from our families,
friends, neighbors and co-workers because we want
to keep a kind of false peace that will result
in them going to Hell!
That kind
of bold faithfulness to God is not easy, but it
is necessary; and it is possible!
It is
possible if our confidence in God is real.
It is
possible if we really believe that Messiah came
and died and rose from death and can eternally
save us.
It is
possible if the Holy Spirit is living in us and
filling us.
It is
possible if we trust God’s promise that His grace
will be sufficient for us.
It is
possible if we have an inner peace that comes
from knowing God and Messiah; an inner peace that
comes from having a sure hope of salvation and
eternal life.
Don’t
make excuses that there isn’t enough information
for you to get right with God; make peace with
your Creator the way He wants you to; make the
decision to become a bold, faithful follower of
God and Messiah. There is plenty of information
available to anyone who will look for it!
And
He was also saying to the crowds, "When you
see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you
say, 'A shower is coming,' and so it turns out.
And when you see a south wind blowing, you say,
'It will be a hot day,' and it turns out that
way. You hypocrites! You know how to analyze the
appearance of the Earth and the sky, but why do
you not analyze this present time?
And
why do you not even on your own initiative judge
what is right?
How can
we know that Yeshua really is the Messiah that
God sent to us?
We have
the evidence of the prophecies in the Hebrew Scriptures.
The Messiah
had to be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:1-2). Yeshua
was!
The Messiah
would be more than an ordinary man. He would be
God in human form (Isaiah 9:6-7, Jeremiah 23:5-6,
Psalm 110:1, Proverbs 30:4). Yeshua was!
The Messiah
had to come before Jerusalem was destroyed in
70 AD (Daniel 9:24-27). Yeshua did!
The Messiah
had to be a direct descendant of King David, a
member of the royal family of Israel (Jeremiah
23:5-6, Isaiah 9:6-7). Yeshua was!
The Messiah
was to be tried and unfairly condemned, even though
He was perfectly innocent (Isaiah 53:8). Yeshua
was!
The Messiah
would die to make atonement for the sin of Israel
and the world (Isaiah 53:5-6, 8, 10-12; Daniel
9:24-27; Zechariah 9:9, 12:10; Psalm 16:10, 22).
Yeshua did!
The evidence
of the prophecies in the Hebrew Scriptures lets
us know that Yeshua really is the Messiah that
God sent to us.
How can
we know that Yeshua really is the Messiah that
God sent to us? We have the evidences of His miracles
that were witnessed and recorded by reliable eyewitnesses.
Few prophets in Israel's long history ever performed
miracles - Moses and Joshua, Elijah and Elisha,
and a few others, but Yeshua's miracles exceeded
them all!
He turned
water into wine, walked on water, healed the sick,
cleansed lepers, cast out demons, brought sight
to the blind, hearing to the deaf, fed five thousand
men from a few loaves of bread and some fish,
raised the dead and stilled the winds and waves
with just a word. He is the greatest miracle-worker
of all time! Yeshua’s miracles let us know He
is the Messiah.
How can
we know that Yeshua really is the Messiah that
God sent to us? We have the evidence of His resurrection.
The New Testament records that, after His death
and resurrection, Yeshua appeared to a wide variety
of reliable eyewitnesses, in varying numbers,
and under varying circumstances. His resurrection
transformed the lives of His followers, and they
turned the world upside down.
Messiah’s
resurrection makes Him absolutely unique in the
history of the world, putting Him on a level far
higher than any of the prophets of Israel or the
leaders of any other religion. Only Yeshua, of
all human beings, has overcome death and is alive
now. Yeshua’s resurrection let’s us know that
He is the Messiah.
How can
we know that Yeshua really is the Messiah that
God sent to us? We have the evidence of Yeshua’s
impact on history. The Messiah was to be a light
to the nations, so that God's salvation could
reach to the ends of the Earth (Isaiah 49:6).
Yeshua
has become the most popular, the most studied
and the most influential figure in the history
of mankind. We are now in the year 2008, which
means that nearly 2,008 years have passed since
Immanuel came to Earth. He is so important that
much of the world measures time because of Him!
Twenty centuries have come and gone, and yet today
Yeshua is the central figure for much of the human
race. Yeshua’s profound influence on history let’s
us know that He is the Messiah.
Just as
there is enough climatological information for
people who are interested to figure out some of
the daily weather patterns, there is more than
enough evidence to be able to figure out that
Yeshua was sent by God to be the Messiah and the
only Savior of mankind!
The problem
is not that there is insufficient evidence. The
problem is with you and your unbelieving heart,
your indifference to God, your unwillingness to
go against the majority, your unwillingness to
suffer for the truth and experience conflict!
If you
are wise, you will accept the evidence for Yeshua
and you will become one of His bold, courageous
disciples! You will make peace with God, and you
won’t delay! Today is the day of salvation, and
today is the day to make peace with God, and today
is the day to serve the Lord with all your heart.
If you don’t there will be serious and unpleasant
consequences.
Rabbi
Yeshua concludes His remarks with a warning to
make peace with God and with Himself before it
is too late!
For
while you are going with your opponent to appear
before the magistrate, on your way there make
an effort to settle with him, so that he may not
drag you before the judge, and the judge turn
you over to the officer, and the officer throw
you into prison. I say to you, you will not get
out of there until you have paid the very last
cent."
If you
are still estranged from God; if you are not following
Yeshua with boldness and courage, make things
right! Make your peace with God! Act now! Don’t
put it off! Don’t delay! Too much is at risk!
Don’t be like the man who has a conflict with
another man, is sued, goes to court, loses the
case and is thrown into prison until he fully
pays his debt.
Here is
your choice: We live in a universe at conflict.
You can’t escape it. You can avoid conflict with
God, or avoid conflict with godless humanity.
It is far better to make peace with God and Messiah
and have conflict with other human beings, even
members of your own family, than have peace with
the world and be at conflict with God, who one
day will be your judge and punish you for your
rebelliousness, faithlessness and cowardice.
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