No sane person wants war. Experienced people know that even a tenuous reconciliation is better than an outright quarrel. The leaders of nations, who are aware of their responsibility, work for peace and they have the support of the majority of their people. We value peace and peacemakers.

The Bible also highly regards temporal peace. It urges that "entreaties and prayers... be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, in order that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity" (1 Tim. 2:1,2).

The Bible also speaks of spiritual peace. God sent His Son into the world to attain this peace. Because man trangressed against God's will he brought down God's wrath upon himself. As a result of the fall into sin natural man does not love God, but rather hates Him. God manifested His love for us by reconciling us to Himself instead of treating us as we deserved to be treated. "God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation" (2 Cor. 5:19). "While we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son" (Rom. 5:10). "He Himself is our peace" (Eph. 2:14). "And He came and preached peace to you" (Eph. 2:17).

Christ has brought about an eternal reconciliation between God and man by paying our debt of sin to God. This is pure love, unadulterated grace and mercy. The Gospel now proclaims this peace to us. Our conscience which feels the pressure of God's anger is freed from its terror. Our sins are pronounced forgiven through the atoning blood of Christ. He is worthy of His name, the Prince of Peace (Is. 9:5).

Christ brings to our hearts a peace that is beyond our understanding, a peace which we cannot adequately describe. Because sin retains a hold on us as long as we live, a constant struggle is going on within us, even though we possess God's peace. Our sins threaten to hide God's love from us and to cause us to forget God's peace treaty. For this reason we must not base our peace on our emotions but rather on the Word of the Gospel, which is God's assurance of peace to us. To this we must cling, and cling most firmly!

Christ's Kingdom is a kingdom of peace. The angels proclaimed this peace already when Christ was born. We possess this peace by faith. It is spread abroad by those who proclaim the Gospel. They are spiritual peacemakers. When we are personally reconciled to God, we want to live in peace with our fellowmen, to forgive them, to cover their faults - in other words to love them.

Are you reconciled to God?