Romans 12: The Noble Peace Prize

Read Romans 12:1-21

The Noble Peace Prize!

If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.
~Romans 12:18

Digging Deeper: No—you heard it right: Noble, not Nobel…the Noble Peace Prize.  Nothing is as prized by God as the noble efforts his children exert to achieve peace.

Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers!”  That proclamation of blessing came from Jesus’ very first sermon—the Sermon on the Mount—found in Matthew 5-7. He was just launching his messianic ministry, and in the opening lines (Matthew 5:1-12) of his first public address, he spelled out his kingdom agenda in bullet form. These “kingdom talking points” have come to be known as the beatitudes. This particular bullet point for blessing, peacemaking, along with seven others, reveal what God values most, what God blesses most, and what God expects most from his people as they expand his kingdom throughout planet earth.

God not only promises peace to his people (“and the peace of God will guard your hearts and minds” — Philippians 4:7) and expects his people to allow peace to govern their relationships with one another (“Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts since as members of one body you were called to peace” — Colossians 3:15), he also calls his people to be emissaries of his peace to a human race at war with itself, and with him.

Yes, that is our call—emissaries of peace, representing the agenda of the one who was known as the Prince of Peace. Peacemaking is high on the kingdom platform of him who is known as the God of peace. (Romans 15:33, Romans 16:20, Philippians 4:9, I Thessalonians 5:23, Hebrews 13:20) How else will the world surrender their worship to the God of peace, and accept the Prince of Peace as their savior, and come under the rule of the kingdom of peace unless the subjects of that kingdom flesh out that peace in their everyday, ordinary, sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life”?

So that is your assignment today.  Mine, too.  There is no more noble pursuit. Will you be successful at achieving peace in your home, at work, while you are at school, or in your little corner of the world?  I don’t know.  But I do know that if it is possible, as far as it depends on you, your life can be a powerful catalyst for peace.

And if you will give that your very best shot, “the God of peace will be with you!”  (Philippians 4:9).  And not only will he be with you, he will bless you, for he has promised blessings to those who are “the peacemakers”. (Matthew 5:9)

“You’re blessed when you can show people how to cooperate
instead of compete or fight. That’s when you discover
who you really are, and your place in God’s family.
~Jesus Christ, Matthew 5:9 (Msg.)

This Week’s Assignment:

Read: Romans 12:1-21

Memorize: Romans 12:1-2

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

For Your Consideration: Stop at the very first word of chapter 12: “Therefore”.  Whenever you come to a “therefore” in your Bible reading, you ought to ask yourself, “what is it there for?”  What Paul goes on to say in these first two verses comprises what is arguably the most important duty of all true Christ-followers: The offering of our everyday lives to God as our only and reasonable act of worship.  “Therefore” …what is the basis of this call to Christian duty? (Hint: Go back to Romans 11:36.)