Romans 5:1 “…through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ…”
Humanity is at war. Around the globe, nations battle nations. Ideologies, both political and religious, battle against ideology. In these battles, sinful humanity commits one atrocity after another and hate gives birth to greater hate. The battles are not limited to a global scale; they play out on city street corners. Criminal gangs battle for turf, and drive by shootings become the norm. Battles for power and control play out in every area of society. Some battles are not physically violent, but they are fights nonetheless. Many homes are the center of constant fighting and conflict. The damage done not only harms the combatants, it leaves the children of these homes battle scarred and damaged. In the midst of all this human conflict, people cry out for peace.

Humanity believes that if the fighting would only end, that there would be peace. They are wrong. The peace that humanity so desperately needs is not an outward condition that moves to the inward heart. If that were the case, a total surrender would be peace; it is not. True peace can only start on the inside. When we have peace within, we will be at peace even in the midst of conflict. If every person had inner peace, all serious conflict would cease. Before any real peace within can be found, we have to turn to the original relationship from which all other relationships spring forth. God created humanity to have a relationship with himself, but because of sin, we are at war with God. In its relationship with God, all of humanity is guilty of war crimes. We are fighting a war that we have already lost. God comes to us with an offer of pardon and a complete restoration of citizenship into his kingdom. He even offers to adopt us into the royal family. Through faith in Christ, we are reconciled to God, and the war ends. If we truly want peace in our world, we must start at the beginning. We must make peace with God.