The first thing to understand in this discussion is that there is only one race—the human race. Caucasians, Africans, Asians, Indians, Arabs, and Jews are not different races. Rather, they are different ethnicity's of the human race. All human beings have the same physical characteristics (with minor variations, of course). More importantly, all human beings are equally created in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:26-27). God loved the world so much that He sent Jesus to lay down His life for us (John 3:16). The “world” obviously includes all ethnic groups.
God does not show partiality or favouritism (Deuteronomy 10:17; Acts 10:34; Romans 2:11; Ephesians 6:9), and neither should we. James 2:4 describes those who discriminate as “judges with evil thoughts.” Instead, we are to love our neighbours as ourselves (James 2:8). In the Old Testament, God divided humanity into two “racial” groups: Jews and Gentiles. God’s intent was for the Jews to be a kingdom of priests, ministering to the Gentile nations. Instead, for the most part, the Jews became proud of their status and despised the Gentiles. Jesus Christ put an end to this, destroying the dividing wall of hostility (Ephesians 2:14). All forms of racism, prejudice, and discrimination are affronts to the work of Christ on the cross.
Jesus commands us to love one another as He loves us (John 13:34). If God is impartial and loves us with impartiality, then we need to love others with that same high standard. Jesus teaches in Matthew 25 that whatever we do to the least of His brothers, we do to Him. If we treat a person with contempt, we are mistreating a person created in God’s image; we are hurting somebody whom God loves and for whom Jesus died.
Racism, in varying forms and to various degrees, has been a plague on humanity for thousands of years. Brothers and sisters of all ethnicity's, this should not be. Victims of racism, prejudice, and discrimination need to forgive. Ephesians 4:32 declares, “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” Racists may not deserve your forgiveness, but we deserved God’s forgiveness far less. Those who practise racism, prejudice, and discrimination need to repent. “Present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God” (Romans 6:13). MayGalatians 3:28 be completely realised, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
Sadly, racism has been a plague on humanity for thousands of years. In the first half of the Bible, the Old Testament, God divided humanity into two groups: Jews and Gentiles. The Jews were an ethnic group of people descendant from Jacob. A Gentile was, well, everyone else. God intended for the Jews to lovingly minister to the Gentiles in a way that honoured and glorified Him. Instead, the Jewish people mostly became prideful of the status God had given them and ended up hating the Gentiles. Thankfully, Jesus Christ put an end to this, breaking down the dividing wall of hatred between the two ethnicity's (Ephesians 2:14).
Jesus says to love one another as He loves us (John 13:34). If God is unbiased and loves us equally without showing favouritism, then we need to love others in the same way. It doesn't matter what people were raised to believe, where their family came from, how they act, or even who they're dating. Jesus loved everyone and died for them ALL.
This may sound like a tall order, and, yes, it is. Loving everybody equally is not something we can do by our own strength, but with Christ, we can. Because love is a Somebody, and that Somebody is Jesus, Jesus alone can teach us love and help us to love others more as we grow to know and love Him.
Take a minute to read Matthew 25. Jesus is teaching that whatever we do to the least of His brothers, we do to Him. Basically, if you show hatred or racism/prejudice/discrimination to any person, it is like we are disrespecting God Himself. Why? Because He made that person in His image, He loves that person too, and that person was equally important to Jesus—important enough to die on the cross in their place.
Yes, racism and prejudice are a reality, but it isn't how life should be. God is not biased and doesn't show partiality or favouritism (Deuteronomy 10:17; Acts 10:34; Romans 2:11; Ephesians 6:9), so we shouldn't either. James 2:4 talks about people who discriminate as "judges with evil thoughts." This is where that dandy Golden Rule comes in. Did you know it originates from the Bible? God tells us to treat others as we'd like to treated, or, "love our neighbours as ourselves" (James 2:8).
Every form of racism, prejudice, or discrimination, whether it seems big or small, is a sin and yet another reason why Jesus was nailed to the cross.
If you have been the object of racial hate, prejudice, or discrimination, you must forgive those who have hurt you. Ephesians 4:32 says, "Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you." We may not think racists deserve our forgiveness, but we didn't deserve Christ's forgiveness either. Though He was beaten, tortured, and strung up to die a painful death, He still willingly and lovingly said, "Father, forgive them!"
This is why it's so important that we allow God to heal our hearts and forgive others. Not forgiving someone only hurts you more. Just like loving people, forgiving someone can seem impossible. But as Christ is the ultimate example of forgiveness, through Him, nothing is impossible. Allow Him to teach you how forgiveness can set you free from the hate.
Galatians 3:28 says, "There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." If you currently hold hatred in your heart for a group of people because they are a different ethnicity or religion or social group or whatever, there is only one thing that needs to be done: repent.
Repentance is a part of obedience to God and is different from confession. It is not asking God to forgive each sin individually (that's confession), because He fully paid the price for sin and forgave us when He died on the cross. Instead, to repent is to completely turn away from your sin and to sincerely desire and to change your behaviour to become more like Christ. So what about you? Do you need to forgive or repent regarding racism, prejudice, or discrimination? Or simply learn to love the diversity of the people on this earth more? God loves all people equally and with His help, you can learn to do the same.
Scientifically, humanity is comprised of exactly one race. Although the world has different ethnicity's, geographies, citizenship's, and cultures, all human beings are nearly identical genetically. The genetic differences that reflect variation in physical appearance across all mankind involve 0.01% of our genes. And all humans are made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-27), brought to life by His breath (Genesis 2:7), and imbued with an immaterial and immortal soul. Despite the genetic and spiritual unity of the human race, racism still exists, as people choose to treat others poorly because they look different or are from a different culture.
God was clear in His rules to the Israelites regarding those from different nations. In Deuteronomy 10:17-18, Moses asserts God's love of the foreigner and then exhorts the Israelites to love them as well (verse 19). God did make a distinction between foreigners who desired to follow Him and/or blessed His people and those who didn't. In 1 Kings 8:41-43, Solomon acknowledges that foreigners will pray to God, and God will hear them. Nations that respected God's will were to be blessed (Genesis 12:2-3). However, nations that practised widespread child sacrifice and temple prostitution were to be destroyed (Deuteronomy 20:17-18). This was not a racial issue. It was God protecting His people from sinful influences.
Jesus exemplified God's grace. In John 4, He had a long conversation with a Samaritan woman, although the Samaritans were an ethnic group the Jews despised. As a result, many from her village followed Him. He was quick to heal Gentiles and praise their faith (Matthew 8:5-13; 15:22-28). And He taught His church to do the same (Acts 10-11). The Apostle Paul's ministry was to the Gentiles. The inclusiveness of Jesus' message is summarised in Galatians 3:28: "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus."
Unfortunately, humanity has twisted the Bible to try to justify human fears and prejudices. Some consider the "curse of Ham" to be an excuse to hate those of African descent. Others insist that the Jews were responsible for Jesus' death and deserve our derision. Both views are patently false. The Bible tells us that God's judgement is not based on appearances but what is on the inside (1 Samuel 16:7), and those who do judge according to appearances do so with evil intent (James 2:4). Instead, we are to treat one another with love (James 2:8), regardless of ethnicity (Acts 10:34-35) and social standing (James 2:1-5). Christian love negates all prejudice, and the Bible condemns racism.
Obama’s race speech did NOTHING to help people or this nation deal with this scourge, since the victory over racism isn’t going to come from the flowery words of a politician whose only motive and goal is to get elected President. No my friend, if people and this nation are going to truly get victory over racism, it has got to come from an understanding of what God says about this issue and by people who are willing to follow what God says in the Bible. If Senator Obama had intended to really take a leadership role on the race issue, educate the nation and provide real answers for how to get victory over this inhumane way people treat others who are different than they are, then he would have told people what God says about racism. God says MUCH about this issue, but Senator Obama didn’t find it worth including even one verse of Scripture.
*THIS IS WHY I TELL YOU SO OFTEN THAT IT WILL NOT BE A POLITICIAN, BUT A MAN GOD HAS CALLED TO LEAD PEOPLE IN THE WAYS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS"!!!!
The fact is, there is only one race, the human race! People may have white skin, black skin, brown skin, yellow skin, red skin, or any other colour skin, they may have different ethnic backgrounds, but they are all part of the same race, the human race! The Bible says that ALL MEN are created in the image of God. God created all men equal. I tell you frequently that satan is the great perverted. It is satan, not God, who seeks to divide men by their skin colour, ethnicity, financial means, and any other way you can dream up to divide people. God created men equal to live in harmony with one another. It is satan who introduced division into the human experience.
In God’s plan of redemption, there is no division. John 3:16 says that God so loved the world, ALL men. It says that WHOSOEVER BELIEVES. That is a universal call to ALL MEN regardless the colour of their skin or where they live. In 1 John 2:2, it talks about how Jesus laid down his life for EVERYONE. Everyone means ALL MEN, the entire human race. This satanically inspired way we have of dividing ourselves through racism, prejudice, and discrimination all make a mockery of what Christ did on the cross. He faithfully and obediently went to that cross to die for the sins of ALL MANKIND.That is why all of the black pastors I know repudiate the false black liberation theology Dr. Jeremiah Wright has been teaching for over 3 decades.
Wright is actually a student of James Cone who made this perverse theology popular in the 60s that teaches the Bible is the basis for blacks to be liberated from social, political, economic, and religious bondage. Barack.Hussein Obama is a liar when he states he never heard the types of comments made by Dr. Wright the media has been playing, since that is the foundational teaching of the black liberation theology Wright has been preaching in Chicago for over 30 years. The fact is the Bible DOES teach liberation theology, LIBERATION FROM SIN!!! It was not written to people with dark skin, but to all people regardless of their skin colour. We are all part of the human race, which means we are all born with the sin of Adam, we all sin during our life, and that is why Jesus went to the cross. He gave His very life on that cross as the payment for the sins of all mankind, that through faith in Him men might be find freedom from their sins. There is nothing in the Bible to support this false black liberation theology Dr. Wright preaches, since the liberation theology of the Bible is about the freedom from sin for ALL MEN!
You also have the Biblical example of Jesus during His earthly ministry. Again, racism is not a new phenomena to the United States in our brief 232 year history. Forms of racism have been part of the human expedience since the very beginning. Jesus commanded us in John 13:34 to love each other as He loves us. He used people of other ethnic backgrounds often in His parables. One of the most powerful is the story of the Good Samaritan. If you remember, the Jewish religious leaders passed by the man who had been robbed and beaten and laying on the side of the road, leaving him to die. It was the Samaritan, the non-Jew, who honoured God by stopping and ministering to the needs of the injured man. Don’t forget, it was Jesus who told his followers to make disciples of EVERY NATION, reaffirming the value of all men.
I love you and care about you so much. If B. Hussein Obama had wanted to give a real speech on racism to move hearts and lead people in this issue, THIS is the message he should have delivered. It would have been a message from God’s Word that laid the Biblical foundation all men are created equal and those who seek to divide men by the colour of their skin are not of God, but of satan! It would not have been the self serving, politically crafted words to try and help him weasel out of his 20 year association with a pastor and church that preaches and teaches division based on the colour of a person’s skin. Dividing men by skin colour, ethnicity, are the works of the devil.
Those who truly seek to serve and follow the Lord are not looking to divide men but unite them. A true follower of Christ understands that God created all men equal, that we are all part of the human race. Racism, prejudice, and discrimination are NOT of God, since we are hurting someone God created and loves and Jesus died for! Sadly, 11 am on Sunday morning is the most segregated hour of the week in this nation. That is truly a shame since the one sanctuary from racism should be the church. Yet sadly, most churches don’t lead the culture, they allow the culture to lead them. So rather than modelling what God says about this issue, in far too many churches, they perpetuate this ungodly attitude men have for other men who look different than them. They better wake up since when we die, and stand at the gates of Heaven, there won’t be a line for whites, or a line for blacks, or a line for Asians, or a line for Hispanics, or a line for those from the Middle East, just like there won’t be a line for Catholics, or Baptists, or Methodists, or Pentecostals. No my friend, when you take your last breath there will only be two lines. One for those who have put their faith in Jesus Christ and one for those who have rejected Christ. The Bible proclaims those who reject Christ will be cast into the flames of hell for all eternity, and those who know Jesus will be welcomed into their eternal home with God their Creator in Heaven. At that moment, Galatians 3:38 will be realised, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus!”
RACISM SCRIPTURES PROVES GOD LOVES ALL RACE AS ALL ONE! (ESV English Standard Version of the Bible)
No comments:
Post a Comment