Romans 5:3-5 (NKJV) And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
The good, the bad and the ugly in us will surface when we are faced with a difficult situation. God allows us to go through it so that our character will be molded. The good news is we are empowered by the Holy Spirit to love with God’s love when it is difficult to love.
We love because God first loved us. We won’t be able to love people if we base it on phileo love because it is a conditional love. Phileo love means “I will love you if you love me”. It will be difficult to love with phileo love because we live in a fallen and imperfect world so people will fail and disappoint us. We will also fail and disappoint others due to the weakness of the flesh including believers!
Matthew 5:9 (NKJV) Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
One of the many things that sets us apart from the world as children of God is the ability to be a peacemaker in the midst of strife, contention and division.
We are able to love because we have the agape love residing inside us. The Holy Spirit dwells in our hearts and therefore, God’s kind of love will be poured out of our hearts to the people around us. We will have the ability to extend grace when needed and find that we are able to love better with His love. Our character will be molded when we persevere and choose to be a peacemaker under harsh interpersonal relationship. We choose to love instead of retaliating.
We will not be able to play the role of peacemakers until we have fully grasped the biblical truth of how Jesus is the ultimate peacemaker between God and us. God did not wait for us to be perfect before He sent Jesus to redeem us from our sins. In fact, God demonstrated His love for us in this while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. He didn’t wait for us to change, He didn’t wait for us to be worthy of His love and He didn’t wait for us to suffer enough for our sins. He pursued us with His love and established peace with us. We should and need to do likewise for our loved ones and those whom God has placed in our midst.
Since we are made in the image of God, we are able to act as peacemakers and initiate peacemaking. The new creation in our spirit being has the nature of God. We are to put on the new man by constantly reminding ourselves that we are new creation. We have risen to a new life in Christ and we choose to live for Him. We are no longer dictated by our emotions and self-centeredness. We are no longer slaves of sin but slaves of righteousness. We are the children of light. Blessed are the peacemakers.
Sermon Series: Peacemaker
使人和睦的人有福了
罗马书 5:3-5 不但如此，就是在患难中也是欢欢喜喜的；因为知道患难生忍耐，忍耐生老练，老练生盼望；盼望不至于羞耻，因为所赐给我们的圣灵将 神的爱浇灌在我们心里。
当我们面临困境时，我们内心的善、恶与丑陋都会显露出来。神 允许我们经历困境，好让我们的品格得以陶造。好消息是，当我们觉得很难去爱他人的时候，圣灵赋予我们力量，使我们有能力用 神的爱去爱他人。
我们爱，因为 神先爱我们。我们若基于 phileo 之爱 （亲人／友谊之爱）去爱，那么我们是无法爱他人的，因为这是有条件的爱。Phileo 之爱意味着 “如果你爱我，我就会爱你。” 以 phileo 之爱 去爱他人是很困难的，因为我们生活在一个堕落残缺的世界里，所以人们会辜负我们并让我们失望。我们也会因肉体的软弱而辜负他人并使他人失望，这包括信徒在内！
马太福音 5:9 使人和睦的人有福了！因为他们必称为 神的儿子。
作为 神的儿女，我们具备的许多特质使我们有别于世人，而其中一个就是：在冲突、争斗和分歧中使人和睦的能力。
我们之所以能够爱，那是因为我们有agape之爱（神的爱／圣爱）住在我们里面。圣灵住在我们心里，因此 神的爱将从我们心里倾泻而出浇灌到我们周遭的人。我们将有能力在需要的时候施恩，并且发现当我们以祂的爱去爱别人的时候，我们能做得更好。在恶劣的人际关系中，我们若坚守忍耐并选择作一个使人和睦的人，我们的品格将得到陶造。我们选择去爱而不是报复或反击。
耶稣是 神与我们之间的终极和睦使者—除非我们已经完全领悟了这一圣经的真理，否则我们将无法扮演使人和睦的人的角色。神 没有等到我们完全了才差遣主耶稣来将我们从罪恶中救赎出来。事实上，基督在我们还作罪人的时候就为我们死，神 的爱就在此向我们显明了；祂 没有等到我们改变了，祂 没有等到我们配得祂的爱，祂 也没有等到我们尝尽罪的苦涩。祂以圣爱来追寻我们，并与我们和睦／建立和平。。为了我们所爱之人，为了神安置在我们中间的人，我们应当并且需要效法耶稣。
既然我们是按照 神的形象被造的，我们就能够担任和睦使者，并启动和睦进程。我们灵里的新造之人与神的性情有分。我们要不断提醒自己乃是新造的，以此穿戴上新人。我们在基督里获得了复活的新生命，并选择为 祂而活。我们不再受情绪和自我中心的支配。我们不再作罪的奴仆，而是作义的奴仆。我们是光明之子。使人和睦的人有福了。
讲章系列： 使人和睦的人
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