We see division in our lives every day. It may be loyalty to one sports team vs. another. It may be pride in the state or nation in which you live that looks down on others. It shows up in political affiliations. It is a reality in belief systems. Division is part of the sinful, fallen world in which we live. Not just in our society, but everywhere in the world. And the God of creation is aware of the situation. In fact, you can even say He is the cause of division.

Luke 12:49–53  “I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is completed! Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

Jesus came to bring division? That doesn’t sound right, does it? Didn’t He have the attitude of “Can’t we all just get along?” Wasn’t His birth supposed to bring peace to the world? Was Jesus really advocating divisiveness?

Yes and no. God certainly wants unity. He wants all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:4). But He also knew that not everyone would believe in Him and His plan of salvation for the whole world. Jesus said He would bring fire to the earth, hearkening back to the prophet Jeremiah.

Jeremiah 5:14 Therefore this is what the Lord God Almighty says: “Because the people have spoken these words, I will make my words in your mouth a fire and these people the wood it consumes.

Jeremiah 23:29 “Is not my word like fire,” declares the Lord, “and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?

Fire is the work of the Law, to expose, judge and punish the sin and transgression that separates people from each other. Part of the message Jesus came to proclaim to fallen mankind was the Law. But He also came as the very embodiment of the Gospel promises. Bearing the sin of everyone on the cross, he was consumed by the fire of the Law in our place, giving us a clean slate. That is why He could say, “How I wish it were already kindled.” He wants the suffering to be done and the rescue to be complete!

John 3:17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.  

Jesus knew that to accomplish the world’s salvation, He must proclaim the Law so that we can understand just how bad things are without Him. Then He would fulfill the Law for everyone with His perfect life. He was and is the only one who can save and rescue us from our deserved punishment. He did that by taking our place in punishment so that we could be forgiven. He wants you to put your faith in Him.

Yet there is the division. It is difficult to think of the one we know as the Prince of Peace saying: Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. We are divided by faith. Either you believe that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself or you don’t. And that has eternal consequences. Jesus spoke of the division that would take place on the Last Day, when His judgment would be announced.

Matthew 25:41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.  

This is what will happen to those who do not believe that He is God’s Son and the Savior of all.

There was a similar dividing in the Old Testament at Mt. Sinai when Moses came down and found God’s people worshipping a Golden Calf. There was a division so that not all of them would be destroyed by God’s fire. Moses called the faithful to repent and return to the Lord. Some did. Others did not and suffered the consequences (Exodus 32).

God wants everyone to be saved. Those of us who have been led to faith know that. He is still calling those who do not believe to come and do so. And that is why we need to share the Good News of Jesus with those who have not yet believed.

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Cheryl and I will be co-hosting a trip to Greece next year with Donna Snow:  “Walk in the Footsteps of Paul.”

Links to the registration and brochure can be found at the link below.

https://www.revmattil.org/footsteps-of-paul/

If you want more information, email mike@revmattil.org.