For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross.(Colossians 1:19-20)

Read: Jeremiah 4:19-6:15, Colossians 1:18-2:7, Psalm 77:1-20, Proverbs 24:23-25 

Relate: “No. This is a lie. I don’t know how to prove it to you, but I know this is a lie.”

With this statement, I knew that any further discussion in this direction would get nowhere. It was the end of a conversation barely more than an hour ago. A Muslim man wanted prayer for peace of mind. I prayed, along with a couple other Christians for him for a short while, and then asked:
Do you believe in Jesus?
Yes.
Are you a follower of Jesus?
Yes.
Do you believe He died on the cross and rose again?
(A very hesitant affirmative nod)
Do you believe Jesus is God?
No. He was a prophet.
If Jesus was a prophet, did he speak the words of God?
Yes.
So when Jesus claimed many times and ways that He was God, was He speaking truth or lies?
No. This is a lie. I don’t know how to prove it to you, but I know this is a lie.

Unfortunately, there was not the opportunity to continue this further. This man’s brother has converted to Christianity and we encouraged him to talk with his brother when he is more ready and willing, but we had to leave it at that. I truly so wish that I had read this verse before and not so shortly after our conversation so I could have shared it with him. Colossians is not one of the books I have memorized and so I do not yet have it on instant recall.

React: Another conversation I had just the night before was with another unbelieving friend on world politics. We talked about how North Korea seems to be taking an increasingly aggressive stance, how this past month was the worst of the year for civilian casualties in Syria, of the vote for independence in Kurdistan and Catalonia, and how Turkey is mobilizing near the border in a clear attempt from our vantage to prevent by any means a Kurdish nation from forming on its border. In essence, we talked of wars and rumors of wars. He said he felt as though this world was a pot on the verge of boiling over in war. We both agreed on the problem, but he did not agree with my proposed solution. I told him that I believe that only when the Church more actively carried out its mission to be peacemakers can disaster be averted.

This is true on local as well as global scales. We all have neighbors like the gentleman I spoke with today who are seeking us out individually for peace. We all are citizens of nations that need us collectively to bring with us peace. We are Christ’s body. We are His hands and feet. He is the one through whom this world’s peace was purchased… but are we doing our part to bring it into our world?

Respond:

Dear God,
You stepped down from heaven to invade this world to bring peace. In You dwells the fullness of Divinity and only through You can humanity reach the fullness of its potential. I am so thankful for the cross and the empty tomb. I am thankful that I have found the peace You purchased at such great cost on the cross. Help me now to be a better carrier of the peace that can only come through You. Help me personally and help us as a church to bring Your peace to our world.
Amen