Luke 12:51 Do you think that I have come to give peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. (52) For from now on there will be five in one house divided, three against two and two against three. 1 John 5:19 We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies in the evil one.
[Part 1 of 2]Here the Lord asks if the disciples thought that He came to give peace on the earth. In a sense, the Lord did come to give peace. When He came, peace came, for He brought peace to mankind. When He was born, the multitude of the heavenly army praised God and said, "Glory in the highest places to God, and on earth peace among men of His good pleasure" (2:14). Hence, the coming of the Savior rendered glory to God in the heavens and brought peace to men on earth. In Ephesians 2:14 Paul even says that Christ is our peace. But, in another sense, the Lord did not come to give peace but rather division. The Lord spoke a similar word in Matthew 10:34: "Do not suppose that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword." The whole earth is under Satan's usurpation (1 John 5:19). The Lord Jesus came to call some out from his usurpation. This certainly arouses Satan's opposition, and he instigates the ones under his usurpation to fight against those called by the Lord. To be sure, the Lord's coming did not bring peace but a sword. The conflict between the satanic life and the divine life is actually a warfare between the kingdom of Satan and the kingdom of God. A kingdom is a matter of life; that is, a certain kind of kingdom has a certain kind of life. For example, we may speak of the vegetable kingdom. The vegetable kingdom depends on the vegetable life. In the same principle, the human kingdom depends on the human life, and the kingdom of God depends on the life of God. Since we have the life of God, we have the reality of the kingdom of God, and we are in this reality. [Continued tomorrow] (c) 2007 Living Stream Ministry.
Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from Witness Lee, Life-study of Luke, pp. 255-256. Both are published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA. Please visit us at www.emanna.com. Send comments to: [email protected].
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