To follow Jesus is to follow the very Prince of Peace. Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God” (Matthew 5:9). God is a peacemaker. He sent His Son into a hostile world on a mission of reconciliation. “God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself”, and when we are in Christ and Christ is in us we carry on that peacemaking mission. We are not sent to make war with God’s enemies, but we are sent to seek out these enemies and win them over to God.
“And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.” 2 Corinthians 5:18-21 (NLT)
