Peace With God And Man

Our pride should melt away when we consider what it cost Christ to bring us together. He gave up His life so that we could be brought together as one. Will we show disregard for what Christ has done by not loving our fellow Christian?

When I survey the wondrous cross,

On which the Prince of glory died,

My richest gain I count but loss,

And pour contempt on all my pride.—Isaac Watts

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported that firefighters in Genoa, Texas, were accused of deliberately setting more than forty destructive fires. When caught, they stated, "We had nothing to do. We just wanted to get the red lights flashing and the bells clanging."

The job of firefighters is to put out fires, not start them. The job of Christians is to help resolve conflict, not start more of it (Fresh Illustrations for Peaching & Teaching, 28).

Colossians 3:15 declares, "Let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body." In other words, "as members of one body you were called to peace" (NIV). We are called to peace! We are called to put out fires, not start them.

II. CHRIST HAS MADE PEACE BETWEEN MAN AND GOD (vv. 16-17).

"AND THAT HE MIGHT RECONCILE BOTH UNTO GOD. . . ."

What does "RECONCILE" mean? The Greek word that has been translated "reconcile" in this verse is found in only one other place in the entire Bible. "And, having made peace through the blood of the cross, by him to RECONCILE all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven [one day all things will be reconciled to God]. And you, that were sometimes alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he RECONCILED" (Col. 1:20-21).

• Reconciliation is a change from a hostile relationship to a friendly relationship.

• Reconciliation is a reuniting.

• Reconciliation is complete.

• Reconciliation is a restoration of something that was there before.

• Reconciliation was initiated by God.

A. Man’s greatest need is peace with God.

We know that a car is made to run on gasoline, and it would not run properly on anything else. Now God designed the human machine to run on Himself. He Himself is the fuel our spirits were designed to burn. There is no other. That is why it is no good asking God to make us happy in our own way. God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing.

"Peace, peace to him that is far off, and to him that is near, saith the Lord; and I will heal him. But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked" (Isaiah 57:19-21).

Without God, man is restless and unhappy.

Robert F. Kennedy once said, "Everybody basically has an empty hole inside of them that they try to fill with money, drugs, alcohol, power—and none of the material stuff works" (Nelson’s Complete Book of Stories, Illustrations & Quotes, 259).

Boris Becker, the former tennis star, said, "I was rich. I had all the material possessions I needed. . . . It’s the old song of movie stars and pop stars who commit suicide. They have everything, and yet they are so unhappy. I had no inner peace. I was a puppet on a string" (Nelson’s Complete Book of Stories, Illustrations & Quotes, 259).