The Gospel
A Message Of Conflict
The angelic host proclaimed "peace on earth" at the birth of Jesus (Luke 2:14). He is called the "Lord of peace" (2 Thessalonians 3:16) and his Father is the "God of peace" (Romans 15:33). King Jesus reigns over a kingdom of peace (Romans 14:17) which is governed by the "gospel of peace" (Ephesians 6:15). He pronounces a blessing upon those who are peacemakers (Matthew 5:9). All of these truths have their root in one great principle: "For God is not a God of confusion, but of peace" (1 Corinthians 14:33). Even a simpleton could hardly fail to understand that God's way is one that seeks peace among all men and between all men. One of the most compelling attractions of heaven is its atmosphere of perfect peace.
In spite of these truths, the Lord warned that He came to "cast fire upon the earth" and division rather than peace (Luke 12:49, 51). When Jesus first sent the apostles out they were to go spreading peace (Matthew 10:13). But they were warned that the message of peace would stir up enmity, strife and opposition, leading to their arrest, betrayal by their own kindred and persecution and hatred in general (Matthew 10:16-23). After the gospel began to be preached on Pentecost, it was not long until the conflict began to rage. Arrests, warnings, then beatings and finally the callous murder of Stephen all resulted from the preaching of the "gospel of peace." The conflict followed the preaching of the word as Paul carried it to the Gentiles. By the close of the first century Imperial Rome was persecuting the people of God "wholesale" for refusing to worship the image of the emperor. Opposition has not always come in the same form through the centuries since them, but it has always been present for God's faithful people.
While it is the nature of the gospel to bring peace, it is as truly its nature to bring conflict. Perhaps this is why the word of God is called the "sword of the Spirit" (Ephesians 6:17); it is both a peace treaty and weapon of war. While God willed it be for peace, He knew that man's stubborn will would generally oppose it because it made demands of him that he would be unwilling to meet. The truth of the matter is that if the world is not opposed to the message I preach or the kind of life that I live, I am not living or preaching the gospel! We are not to beware when people oppose us, but when all speak well of us (Luke 6:26). The gospel reproves the world and it doesn't like it. This is what makes the gospel a message of conflict.
From Our Archives, 1987
By: Dub McClish