“Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;”
Ephesians 2:19
We hear much about racism in the western world today. In fact, it has become the “ace-in-the-hole,”argument-stopping trump card in any dispute or debate. Looking at this biblically, we understand that the whole concept of “race” is ill-conceived. There is only one race, that is, the human race. In Paul’s magnificent address to the Athenian philosophers, he declared, with authority, that God “hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us” (Acts 17:26-27). Every human being traces his ancestry back to original man, Adam. As such, all people everywhere are made savable by the redemptive work of Jesus. “We trust in the living God,” wrote Paul, “who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe” (1 Timothy 4:10). Though there is only one race—the human race—humanity is divided into two families. On the one hand, there is the redeemed family of God, the household of faith, as today’s verse passage refers to us. Paul expounded on this point in his epistle to the Romans. He wrote, “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ;” (Romans 8:14-17). These amazing blessings are reserved for those who have received Christ on faith. Those who have not, sad to say, are still in Satan’s family. “Ye are of your father the devil,” said Jesus to the religious leaders of His day, “and the lusts of your father ye will do” (John 8:44). Here, in this powerful indictment, the Lord reminds us that our nature and conduct determines our ancestry. In this regard, Cain was Satan’s son (1 John 3:12) and rebellious Jews in Ezekiel’s time were said to be of Canaanite, Amorite, and Hittite ancestry (Ezekiel 16:2-3). John sums up the matter: “In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother. We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death” (1 John 3:10, 14). May we walk like fellow heirs of the kingdom, our love for one another an irresistible witness to the world that we are indeed Christ’s disciples (John 13:35).
God bless you dear saints,
Pastor John
English