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.