One of Jesus' earliest sermons was the "Sermon on the Mount" and He gave eight Beatitudes to His disciples.

'Beatitudes' are defined as 'Supreme blessings or happiness.' 'Blessed' is defined as 'Made sacred or consecrated', 'bringing happiness.'

Let's read the Beatitudes in Matthew 5, "And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him. {2} Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying: {3} "Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. {4} Blessed are those who mourn, For they shall be comforted. {5} Blessed are the meek, For they shall inherit the earth. {6} Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled. {7} Blessed are the merciful, For they shall obtain mercy. {8} Blessed are the pure in heart, For they shall see God. {9} Blessed are the peacemakers, For they shall be called sons of God. {10} Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. {11} "Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. {12} "Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you."

Let’s focus in on the seventh beatitude in verse 9, "Blessed are the peacemakers, For they shall be called sons of God."

The Greek word for ‘peace’ in this verse is ‘eirene’ [i-ray'-nay] which means peace, harmony, tranquility, concord, unity, contentment. This Greek word corresponds to the Old Testament Hebrew word ‘shalom’ which basically means the same thing. The words ‘shalom’ and ‘eirene’ were commonly used as greetings. Peace as a fruit of the Spirit is more than a greeting. It is a supernatural state of inner tranquility.

Sin can rob us of our peace. Isaiah the prophet said: "Your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear (Isaiah 59:2.) Isaiah also recorded: "There is no peace," Says my God, "for the wicked" (Isaiah 57:21.)

When we sin and do something wrong, it produces guilt, which works on all levels of consciousness and causes mental distress and can cause physical illnesses. The way back to peace is to confess our sin and forsake it and "He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9.)

We must make our peace with God and be reconciled to Him through Jesus Christ our savior.

The apostle Paul said: "For if when we were enemies (of God) we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life" (Romans 5:10).

We have been reconciled to God and have peace through the blood of Jesus’ cross (Colossians 1:19-20).

Jesus is our peacemaker between us and God the Father.

It is wonderful to be a peacemaker, but the common assumption is that being a peacemaker is acting as a mediator between two other people fighting. That is a good way to get a black eye or a bloody nose. Don’t use peacemaking with meddling in something that is none of your business.

Proverbs 26 verse 17 says: "He who passes by and meddles in a quarrel not his own, is like one who takes a dog by the ears."

If you take a dog by the ears you might get bit, or mangled, so don’t meddle.

What we see from this verse (Matthew 5:9) is that if we want to be a son of God, to be a part of the God Family, then we must be a peacemaker. One of the ways that we can be a peacemaker is to keep God’s Ten Commandments to the best of our ability. David the psalmist said: "Great peace have those who love Your law, And nothing causes them to stumble" (Psalms 119:165.) By keeping God’s Law we show God that we love Him and we love our neighbors.

Another way to be a peacemaker is to watch what we say. Words can hurt. Arguments and quarreling can escalate into strife, hatred and murder. We need to nip this kind of an attitude in the bud. We need to remember one of Solomon’s proverbs: "A soft answer turns away wrath, But a harsh word stirs up anger (Proverbs 15:1.)

The ‘Love Chapter’ gives us some real meat when it comes to being a peacemaker. "Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; {5} does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; {6} does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; {7} bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things" (1 Corinthians 13:4-7).

It takes two to argue. If you are arguing with someone, STOP! Then the argument is over. You can be a peacemaker by stopping your side of the fight.

With each beatitude there is a reward. In this beatitude the reward is: "For they shall be called the sons of God."

To be a peacemaker we need to be humble and meek. Let’s notice that there is a reward for doing this: "But the meek shall inherit the earth, And shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace" (Psalms 37:11.) This is a reference to the millennial Kingdom Age in which peace will prevail and they will beat their swords into plowshares and nations will not learn war any more. (Isaiah 2:4.)

Jesus said in Luke 20 verse 36, "For they cannot die anymore, because they are like angels, and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection."

Jesus tells us more about this resurrection in Revelation 20 verse 6, "Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years."

On Passover evening Jesus told His disciples in John 14:27 ""Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you."

In conclusion: God’s purpose for mankind is to be part of His family as His sons and to enjoy eternal life in peace with Him. God is the author of peace (1 Corinthians 14:33), He has called us to peace (1 Corinthians 7:15) and we must live in peace (2 Corinthians 13:11). We need to be peacemakers with our families, friends, church brethren, co-workers and neighbors.

"Depart from evil and do good; Seek peace and pursue it" (Psalms 34:14).