Romans 5:1
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
It can feel like peace is in short demand. Conflict seems to happening all around us and at every level. Countries at war with each other. Political, religious, racial; it seems like any way that people can be divided they are. Even within families, one family member refuses to have anything to do with another, and the entire family is robbed of peace.
To resolve these conflicts one side must make some show of contrition and restore whatever was lost that created the conflict in the first place. Sometimes this is possible other times it is not.
Scripture tells us that we have been God’s enemies and have been engaged in conflict with him through our rebellion in sin. When we turned into ourselves for our purpose and direction in life, and we lost our lives. We disconnected ourselves from the source of our life and well being. How could that sort of conflict be resolved and peace restored? What act could give God back what we had taken and destroyed? The unfortunate truth is that nothing could be done. There was, and is, nothing that we can do to restore our relationship with God.
But God has done what we could not. He has made us right before him. He has resolved the conflict within himself, through the Son Jesus Christ, and then given us the faith to trust what he has done. He, by himself, has restored the peace that was lost and then has given us the faith to receive and enjoy that peace.
