Galatians 3:26. For ye are all the children (sons) of God by faith in Christ Jesus.
Morning mih faithful bredrin in Christ Jesus! It’s a bright and sunshiny Friday morning, the coffee’s hot, sweet and strong, and going down nicely on the chest. (smile) Then we have this long weekend, the August Civic Holiday on Monday, to look forward to! Wow! And thus, all’s right with the world! Okay, okay, so you are disputing that last statement, but how much can we as individuals change whatever is wrong with it eh? Not a whole lot, although we can certainly do our small part in our neighbourhoods and workplaces.
However, as the great and mighty and ever-spreading church of Christ, we can move mountains, change the bloody, strife filled, evil world we live in to one where Christ is worshipped and glorified! But it means taking Him and His word seriously and coming together as the ONE together church that He envisions, instead of the one that seems to be continually dividing and breaking up into even more cliques and denominations than we already have.
Oh my people, do you think that Christ ever envisioned His church to be broken up into some three thousand denominations and sub-denominations and all the other supposed Christian groups that exist today? Obviously not! That’s the doing of our sinful, selfish human nature. We all think we know what Christ wants, and if can’t find it where we are at, we go elsewhere and seek it, or just start up a new group ourselves. It’s way too much about us friends, and not enough about Jesus!
Remember Bruh Paul’s words to the church at Ephesus, when he talks about the two groups, uncircumcised Gentiles and circumcised Jews. The former had no part in the blessings of the God of Israel until after Jesus shed His blood on the cross at Calvary and brought them into the fold of God. ‘But now in Christ Jesus, ye who were sometimes (once) were far off are made nigh (near) by the blood of Christ.’ (Eph. 2:13) That is, Gentiles were now brought into covenant worship with God through Christ’s atoning death.
‘For he (Christ Himself) is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition (division) between us. Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make (create) in himself of twain (the two) one new man, so making peace. And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain (put to death) the enmity thereby: And came and preached peace to you which were afar off (Gentiles), and to them that were nigh (Jews).’ (Eph. 2:14-17)
Oh precious people, the long and short of all that is simply Jesus, by His death on the cross broke down the wall in the temple courtyard which physically prevented Gentiles and unclean Jews from entering the temple, as well as disregarded the man-made rules, not God’s commandments, that previously kept Jews and Gentiles apart. Those man-made rules were made to supposedly protect Jews from pagan corruptions, but were terribly abused to make Jews feel superior to Gentiles which obviously caused dire enmity. Jesus’ death on the cross, served the wonderful purpose of abolishing all that enmity and making them One Body, through His Christian church.
Now here is an interesting commentary on Bruh Paul’s discourse above, from the website Bible things in Bible ways. It claims: In short, this is what Paul is trying to say: As sinful gentiles, we had no part in the covenants of promise, and were also excluded from the citizenship of Israel. But when Christ came and saved us through God’s Grace, the partitioning wall that kept us outside, was broken down. No man-made decree can keep us away from enjoying the covenants of promise or the Citizenship of Israel, as all who believe in God are now made into one people. We were once hostile to God, but now through the blood of Messiah, we have been drawn into His sanctuary, not to be separated ever again.’
And all of God’s people shouted loud, proud and grateful: ‘All thanks and praise and glory to the Lord Jesus Christ! May His mighty name and glorious works be spread all over the land! May He reign for ever and ever!’ Yes friends, Jesus came to create ONE body, but we are tarnishing His image, destroying that single entity He envisioned, where all are one, all are welcome, by creating numerous conflicting divisions.
Now listen to these fateful words of Bruh Paul on the subject, to the Galatians nuh. ‘For ye are all the children (sons) of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek (Gentile), there is neither bond (slave) nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.’ (Gal. 3:26-28)
And that’s the living truth my fellow saints in Christ! If we have received Christ as Lord and Saviour, then we have all been made children of God and there are no longer any differences between us! We have been made ONE in Christ through His shed blood on the cross and reconciliation with our heavenly Father. So please, let’s stop dividing nuh, and instead start coming together. That is if we want to be true to the ideals of Jesus and not follow the foolish dictates of man, which has made the world a living hell!
And we can begin right now by going to our heavenly Father in prayer, through our Friday Chant and asking for His awesome help and forgiveness. So as one strong and united voice, let’s pray: ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through this past week. You know it’s been rough… what with all the anxiety, the confusion and havoc that the Covid-19 virus and our many other problems are causing. We can’t seem to fix it on our own Lord, that means we desperately need your help. Oh heavenly Father, with your omnipotent help, and our trusting faith, we know that we can stand strong and steadfast and defeat both the virus and the unrest in our streets.
So Lord, we sincerely ask you today to give the governments and those involved in the forefront of this serious and unexpected storm, the wise guidance to handle the situation properly, with the least amount of loss to life and property as possible. And please help those of us who must go out to work amidst all the confusion, to be responsible and to stay safe, and avoid any more serious setbacks.
And Lord, we fervently pray that You’ll use this situation to bring a lot of backsliders back to your fold, show them the error of their ways. And please introduce a whole new flock, who will embrace your LOVE and compassion by the example, we, your faithful believers set. Yes Lord, please use this pandemic and the unrest in the streets as a means of restoring faith in You, so that our sinful world can wake up and smell the coffee, sweet and strong! We pray this in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen!’
Ah mih people…now it all hangs on our ability to deliver that promise; to be faithful believers and set a good example to unbelievers and backsliders. Much LOVE!
…the church is ONE foundation…in Jesus Christ ALONE…
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