NLT Matthew 10:34
“Don’t imagine that I came to bring peace to the earth! I came not to bring peace, but a sword
Why is this ponderable?
I came, not to bring peace, but a sword. By the "sword" may be meant the Gospel, which is the means of dividing and separating the people of Christ from the men of the world, and from their principles and practices. Over time, the belief in the Gospel will pit family members against each other. It will be the cause of divisions, discords, and persecutions. That clearly was not the intention and design of Christ. He did not come into the world to foment and encourage such things. Instead, it was the malice and wickedness of men who rejected him and his Gospel. If, as the apostles wished, he had blunted out all the malice and wickedness in the world, that would have also negated free will and each soul's choice to choose its own destiny.
In this respect, God dispenses both Justice and Mercy in the same fiat. The Mercy comes in the form of a way out of the hell that malice and wickedness have created on earth. The Justice comes in the form of the hell on earth these people have created for themselves. Both souls have a place waiting for them when they part from the earth. The followers will find themselves in the abode Jesus has prepared for them, where they will dwell in peace and love forever. Those who rejected Jesus will find themselves in an abode not too different from their fate on the earth. They will share everlasting darkness, malice, and resentment against each other with no way out.
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