Racism is ridiculous because we are rescued by God’s grace not our race...

This week, we are looking at a section of a letter that is recorded in the New Testament of the Bible called the book of Romans. So far this week, we have discovered that the fact that God is right has now been made known through the message of the gospel. And it is the message of the gospel that provides the opportunity for all humanity to receive the forgiveness of sin and enter into the relationship with God that they were created for by believing, trusting and following Jesus as Lord and Leader.

We discovered that God rightly intervened and acted to redeem us, to rescue us from slavery to our selfishness, rebellion, and sin through His Son Jesus in order that we would be able to be declared not guilty of having a problem with God. We talked about the reality that God has every right to judge selfish rebellion and sin. And God cannot ignore His perfect Law and justice. God’s perfect justice demands that the selfishness, rebellion and sin of all humanity be punished. Otherwise God would not be just, would He?

So to demonstrate, or to prove to the universe that God is right, God sent His Son Jesus, who entered into humanity and allowed Himself to be publicly treated as though He lived our selfish and sinful lives, so that God’s right and just response to selfishness, rebellion and sin could be satisfied. You see, Jesus publicly died on the cross to prove that God is perfectly just and that God is perfectly right. The cross is public proof that God is just and demands justice.

We are declared not guilty of having a problem with God because of God’s gracious and generous intervention and activity in the world through Jesus, whose public execution for our selfishness and rebellion serves as the proof that God is right and just and the only One who can declare the person who has faith and confident trust in the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel as being not guilty of having a problem with God. Today we will see Paul reveal the implications that God’s right rescue from rebellion through faith in Jesus have on humanity in Romans 3:27-30. Let’s look at these verses together:

Where then is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith. For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law. Or is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, since indeed God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith is one.

In these verses, we see the Apostle Paul ask a string of questions designed to reveal the timeless implications that God’s right rescue from rebellion through faith in Jesus has on all humanity. First, Paul asks “Where is the boasting”? Paul then answers this question by stating that it is excluded. In other words, there is no room for pride when it comes to our relationship with God. Pride is shut out, there is no opening for boasting and pride to enter into a conversation about our relationship with God.

Now a natural pushback or question that may arise here is “Why not? Why is there no room for pride”? Paul, anticipating this response, responds with a second question: By what kind of Law? Of works? If Paul was asking this question in the language we use in our culture today, the question would sound something like this: “What religious, moral or ethical system did you perfectly follow to make you right with God? Was it what you did for God that enabled God to declare you not guilty of having a problem with Him?”

Paul then answered this question by stating that it was the Law of faith. But what does that mean? Paul’s point here is that it is not what we do for God that can make us not guilty of having a problem with God. Instead, it is what God does for us through Jesus Christ; and it is the placing of our confident trust in what God has done for us through Jesus Christ and the message of the gospel that make makes us not guilty. It is because of God’s activity and not our activity that we are rescued from selfishness, rebellion and sin. And because it is God’s activity and not our activity that rescues us from selfishness, rebellion and sin, there is no room for pride.

Paul reinforces this reality in verse 28 when he states that we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law. The Apostle had a strong point of view; and that strong point of view was that it was by placing ones confident trust in what God had done through Jesus that resulted in a person being declared not guilty and being able to enter into the relationship with God that they were created for. Having a relationship with God was independent of what you did for God in order to remove the guilt that came from selfishness, rebellion and sin.

Now, for the Jewish people of Paul’s day, this would have been viewed as a scandalous statement. This would have put Paul at odds with the religious people of his day, just as the message and teaching of Jesus often offended and put Him at odds with the self righteous religious people that He encountered. Yet, instead of backing down, Paul laid down the gauntlet and dug his heels in with another set of questions: “Or is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles also?”

In other words, Paul is basically asking “do you Jewish religious people think that you have exclusivity because you are God’s chosen people? Do you think that you are somehow better than people of other races because of your race and religious heritage?”  Paul then answered his questions in a way that would have offended the Jewish people of his day: “Yes, of Gentiles also,”?

This answer would have been incredibly offensive for a Jewish person because they took great pride in their race and their religious heritage. They took great pride in being Jewish and being God’s chosen people. They took great pride that God chose them to receive the Old Testament; they took great pride that God chose them to have the temple; they took great pride in their performance and what they did for God because they thought they were better than every other race as a result of God’s choice of them.  

Now the big fancy church mumbo jumbo talk fifty cent theological term for what the Jewish people took great pride in is the word election. The word election refers to God’s special choice of people to experience forgiveness and the relationship with God that they were created for.  The Jewish people believed that God had chosen them to experience a relationship with Him because they had come from the right race as descendants of Abraham and because of their superior performance for God.

Here, however, Paul reveals the reality that, from God’s perspective, there is one way and only one way that anyone is declared not guilty of having a problem with God. There is only one way to receive rescue and redemption from slavery to selfishness and rebellion and enter into the relationship with God that you were created for. And that one way is not based on ones’ performance for God; that one way is by trusting in God’s performance for you through faith in Jesus.

Paul explained that whether you are circumcised, which was a religious act that served to identify someone as being a part of the Jewish religious system, or uncircumcised, which referred to a person who was not Jewish religiously, freedom and rescue from selfish rebellion and sin comes by faith in Jesus. We are united by faith in Jesus as part of the community of believers called the church, regardless of race. And this should remove all possibility of racial pride.

And it is here that we discover a reason why the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel provide the solution to the universal problem of racism. And that timeless reason is this: The gospel best addresses the issue of racism because we are rescued by God’s grace not our race. You see, we are not rescued from the selfishness and rebellion that separates us from God because of what we do for God. We are rescued from the selfishness and rebellion that separates us from God because of what God has done for us through Jesus.

We are declared not guilty of a problem with God not because of our racial or religious heritage. Instead, we are declared not guilty of having a problem with God the exact same way, regardless of racial or religious heritage. No race is excluded; instead every race is included. That is why racism is ridiculous when it is placed in the lens and prism of the gospel. Racism is ridiculous because there are not many gods for each individual race. Racism is ridiculous because there is only One God who is the Creator and Sustainer of every race.  

And that is why the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel alone provide the solution to racism. The claims of Christ and the message of the gospel provide the solution to racism because since there is only one God, all of humanity, regardless of race, is rescued the same exact way. And that way is by God’s gracious choice to rescue, regardless of race, through His gracious activity for us and not our activity for God.

Just as no race is above the need for rescue from selfishness and rebellion that enslaves us and separates us from God, no race is excluded from experiencing God’s gracious choice to be rescued from that selfishness and rebellion that separates us from God through faith in Jesus. That is why racism is ridiculous when it is placed in the lens and prism of the gospel.

 

Racism is ridiculous because we are rescued by God’s grace not our race...

 

 

Wrapping our minds around some church mumbo jumbo talk words to see a simple and amazing truth...

This week we are looking at a section of a letter that is recorded in the New Testament of the Bible called the book of Romans. The book of Romans was written by the Apostle Paul to early followers of Jesus who lived in Rome to prove one timeless and true point. And that timeless and true point was that God is right. In the first two and a half chapters, Paul provided the reality that the fact that God is right is revealed by man’s problem.

After revealing that all humanity has a huge problem with God that is insurmountable and that we are accountable for, we see two small words that provide huge hope for all of humanity. And those two small words are found in Romans 3:21: But now. In other words, all humanity throughout history has a huge problem with God; a problem that human effort and religion has been unable to solve throughout history. But now: But now something has happened. Something has happened that provides hope; something has happened that provides the opportunity for rescue.

Paul revealed the reality that it has become public knowledge that God is right. Paul explained that that fact that God is right became known apart from the Law. The fact that God is right is not connected to our performance for God by keeping the commands of the Law. There is nothing that we can do for God that makes us right with God. However, Paul explains that the Law and the Prophets, or the Old Testament, repeatedly point us to that fact that God is right; a fact that has now become known.

Paul explained that the fact that God is right has now been made known through faith in Jesus Christ. The fact that God is right has been made known to all humanity through the message of the gospel. The message of the gospel reveals that God responded to our problem of selfish rebellion and sin by sending His Son Jesus, God in a bod, who entered into humanity and allowed Himself to be treated as though He lived our selfish and sinful lives so God the Father could treat us as though we lived Jesus perfect life. And it is the message of the gospel that provides the opportunity for all humanity to receive the forgiveness of sin and enter into the relationship with God that they were created for by believing, trusting and following Jesus as Lord and Leader.

In addition, the message of the gospel is available to all who believe. All who place their confident trust in the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel will be rescued, because there is no distinction. Regardless of social, economic, or racial status, it is by faith that we are rescued by God from our rebellion because as Paul states in verses 23 there is no distinction; all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

No one has the perfection that is required and no one is able to achieve that perfection; our selfishness, rebellion and sin is universal and insurmountable in nature and scope. And because of that reality, we all need to be rescued. As Paul continues, we see revealed for us exactly how God rightly rescues from rebellion through faith in Jesus in Romans 3:24-26:

being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

Now to fully understand what Paul is communicating here, we first must wrap our mind around some terms. The word justified here is a legal term that means to be declared not guilty of something. In this case Paul is explaining that we are declared not guilty of having a problem with God. The Apostle then explains that we are declared not guilty as a gift by His grace. The word grace refers to God’s transformational intervention and activity in the world. God rightly intervened and acted in order to rescue from rebellion. How God intervened and acted in order to rescue from rebellion was through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus.

This word redemption is a huge word in our Bibles. As we discovered last week, this word was used in Paul’s day to describe what occurred at a slave market. In Paul’s day, people were placed into slavery as a result of debts that they had accrued and were unable to pay. There was no bankruptcy in Paul’s day, there was slavery. Thus people were sold to pay off their debts. So when Paul uses the words justify and redemption here, he is revealing for us the reality that God rightly intervened and acted to redeem us, to rescue us from slavery to our selfishness, rebellion, and sin through His Son Jesus in order that we would be able to be declared not guilty of having a problem with God.

In verse 25, Paul explains that God rescued and redeemed us through Christ Jesus, whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. But what does that mean? The word propitiation refers to the satisfaction of God’s right and just response to selfish rebellion and sin. This morning, God has every right to judge selfish rebellion and sin. And God cannot ignore His perfect Law and justice. God’s perfect justice demands that the selfishness, rebellion and sin of all humanity be punished. Otherwise God would not be just, would He?

So to demonstrate, or to prove to the universe that God is right, God sent His Son Jesus, who entered into humanity and allowed Himself to be publicly treated as though He lived our selfish and sinful lives, so that God’s right and just response to selfishness, rebellion and sin could be satisfied. You see, Jesus publicly died on the cross to prove that God is perfectly just and that God is perfectly right. The cross is public proof that God is just and demands justice.

And it is in Jesus public execution for the selfishness and rebellion of humanity that reveals that God’s rescue through faith results in a not guilty verdict for all humanity throughout history who demonstrated faith in God and the promises of God. When Paul uses the phrase “because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed”, the word forbearance literally means to display tolerance.

In other words, prior to Jesus life, death and resurrection, God proved that He is was perfectly right and just by deliberately tolerating and putting up with the selfishness and rebellion of all humanity throughout history so that, at just the right time, Jesus would enter into humanity to live the life that we refused to live and die the death we deserved to die. And in verse 26, we see that it is through Jesus life, death, and resurrection that God proves that He is right and that He is not only just, but that He can also be the One who is able to declare the person who has faith and confident trust in the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel as being not guilty of having a problem with God.

Now, since there are a lot of church mumbo jumbo talk words in these verses, let’s look at these verses again, this time replacing the church mumbo jumbo talk words with what these words mean in the language of our culture today, beginning in Romans 3:24:

being declared not guilty as a gift by God’s intervention and activity through the rescue and redemption which is in Christ Jesus; ²⁵ whom God displayed publicly as He publicly died on the cross to satisfy God’s right and just response to our selfish sin and rebellion through His life, death and resurrection. Thus we are declared not guilty through faith in what God did through Jesus. This was to prove that God is right and just, because in the tolerance of God He deliberately chose to put up with the sins previously committed; ²⁶ for the proof, I say, that God is right and just at the present time, so that He would be just and the One who declares a person not guilty who has faith in Jesus.

We are declared not guilty because of God’s gracious and generous intervention and activity in the world through Jesus, whose public execution for our selfishness and rebellion serves as the proof that God is right and just and the only One who can declare the person who has faith and confident trust in the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel as being not guilty of having a problem with God.

Friday, we will see Paul reveal the implications that God’s right rescue from rebellion through faith in Jesus have on humanity and on the issue of racism....

"But Now..."

At the church where I serve we have been spending our time together in a sermon series entitled "Mosaic: the gospel and race". During this series, we are examining the issue of racism from the prism of the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel. During this series, our hope and our prayer as a church is to demonstrate that the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel provides the best explanation as to why racism exists and the best solution to the problem of racism.

This week, I would like for us to look at a section of a letter that is recorded in the New Testament of the Bible called the book of Romans. The book of Romans was written by the Apostle Paul to early followers of Jesus who lived in Rome to prove one timeless and true point. And that timeless and true point was that God is right. In the first two and a half chapters, Paul provided the reality that the fact that God is right is revealed by man’s problem.

And in Romans 3:9-20, the Apostle Paul hammered his point by revealing the reality that the letters that make up the Bible were given to prove that all humanity has a huge problem with God. The message and teachings of the letters of the Bible remove any possible excuse or defense that any human being may have when it comes to our selfish rebellion and sin. The letters that make up the Bible reveals that we are all guilty of having a huge problem with God that is insurmountable. And the letters that make up the Bible also provide the evidence that proves that all humanity is responsible and answerable to God when it comes to receiving God’s right and just response to selfish rebellion and sin.

After revealing that all humanity has a huge problem with God that is insurmountable and that we are accountable for, we see two small words that provide huge hope for all of humanity. And those two small words are found in Romans 3:21: But now. In other words, all humanity throughout history has a huge problem with God; a problem that human effort and religion has been unable to solve throughout history. But now: But now something has happened. Something has happened that provides hope; something has happened that provides the opportunity for rescue. Let’s look together at what happened, beginning in Romans 3:21:

But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets,

Paul begins this section of his letter to the church at Rome by explaining that something happened apart from the Law. And what happened was that the righteousness of God has been manifested. Now a simple and accurate definition of this 50 cent word righteousness is that righteousness is the quality or state of being right. Paul’s point here is that the fact that God is right has been manifested. In other words, it has become public knowledge that God is right.

Paul then explained that the fact that God is right became known apart from the Law. When Paul refers to the Law here, he is referring to first five letters in our Bibles today. Paul’s point here is that it is not keeping a set of rules that makes us right with God. The fact that God is right is not connected to our performance for God by keeping the commands of the Law. There is nothing that we can do for God that makes us right with God.

The law can never declare us as being not guilty of having a problem with God. Instead the Law is what condemns us as having a problem with God. The fact that God is right is independent of our performance when it comes to what we do with the Law. However, Paul explains that the Law and the Prophets, or the Old Testament, repeatedly point us to that fact that God is right; a fact that has now become known. Paul then reveals how the fact that God is right has been made known in verse 22:

even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Here we see Paul explain that the fact that God is right has now been made known through faith in Jesus Christ. The timeless reality is that God is right. God always has been right; God always will be right. And the extent that we are right when it comes to our relationship with God is directly related to the extent that our heads, hearts, and hands line up with what God believes is right, because God is right. And this reality has been made known to all humanity through the message of the gospel.

The gospel is the message that that while all of humanity was created for a relationship with God and one another, all of humanity selfishly chose to reject that relationship, instead choosing to love our selves over God and others. And it is out of our selfishness that we do things that hurt God and those around us, which the Bible calls sin. And it is that selfish rebellion and sin that makes us guilty of having a huge problem with God that is insurmountable.

The message of the gospel reveals that God responded to our problem of selfish rebellion and sin by sending His Son Jesus, God in a bod, who entered into humanity and allowed Himself to be treated as though He lived our selfish and sinful lives so God the Father could treat us as though we lived Jesus perfect life. And it is the message of the gospel that provides the opportunity for all humanity to receive the forgiveness of sin and enter into the relationship with God that they were created for by believing, trusting and following Jesus as Lord and Leader.

In addition, the message of the gospel that provides the means by which God rightly rescues from rebellion through faith in Jesus is available to all who believe. All who place their confident trust in the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel will be rescued, because there is no distinction. Regardless of social, economic, or racial status, it is by faith that we are rescued by God from our rebellion because as Paul states in verses 23 there is no distinction; all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

When Paul uses the word sin, he is referring to our acts of commission and omission that are committed against God and others that flow from our selfish rebellion against God and the word of God. The word fall short here is an interesting word. This word literally means to experience a deficiency or be lacking in something that is desirable. What all humanity lacks is the ability to be in right relationship with God as a result of our own effort or performance. No person has the perfection that God requires. And intuitively we know this to be the case; we even have a phrase for this reality, don’t we; “well nobody’s perfect”.  That is 100% accurate and Biblical.

No one has the perfection that is required and no one is able to achieve that perfection; our selfishness, rebellion and sin is universal and insurmountable in nature and scope. And because of that reality, we all need to be rescued.

Tomorrow we will see Paul reveal for us exactly how God rightly rescues from rebellion through faith in Jesus...

Racism is ridiculous because Jesus died to rescue people from every race, not just our race...

This week we have been looking at a section of a letter that is recorded in the New Testament of the Bible called the book of Revelation. John, the writer of the book of Revelation, recorded a vision that he had received from Jesus where he was ushered into the throne room in Heaven, where he saw God the Father seated on the throne, surrounded by angelic beings worshipping God.

As he saw God the Father sitting on a throne in Heaven, in His right hand was a book written inside and on the back, sealed up with seven seals that contained all of the judgments that will fall on humanity as a result of the selfishness and rebellion of humanity. These judgments on the selfishness and rebellion of humanity will occur during the seven years immediately before Jesus return, which is referred to as the Great Tribulation. In addition, John tells us that this scroll was sealed with wax in seven different places to keep it from opening.

However, it appeared that there was not a single being in the universe that had the power, the ability, and the authority to break the seals and open the scroll so as the reveal God’s right and just judgment to the selfishness and rebellion of humanity. And because of the reality, because of what John saw, John responded by weeping greatly. The reason why John was wailing and weeping, was because he believed that God's plan was being delayed and derailed because there was no one who was worthy to open the scroll.

An angelic being explained to John that there was no reason to be weeping was because Jesus had conquered selfishness, sin and death through His death on the cross and resurrection from the dead. And as a result, Jesus was the one being in the universe who had the power, the ability, and the authority to break the seals and open the scroll and unleash the fulfillment of God's judgment on the selfishness and rebellion of humanity at the end of God's story.

John then explained that Jesus, as the all powerful, all knowing, perfect Lord and Leader of the universe who alone had the power, the ability, and the authority to break the seals and open the scroll, took the scroll that had been written by God the Father into His hands. You see, there was no reason for John to be emotionally devastated and without hope. There was no reason because Jesus was worthy to open the scroll and unleash the fulfillment of God's judgment and justice on the injustice of the selfishness and rebellion of humanity. John then reveals how every being responded to what transpired between God the Father and Jesus in Revelation 5:8-10:

When He had taken the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each one holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying, "Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. "You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth."

John tells us that as Jesus received the scroll from God the Father, the angelic beings that were in the presence of God in Heaven fell on their faces and broke out in an unrestrained song of worship. These angelic beings sang a song that John had never heard before; a song that proclaimed the power, the ability, and the authority of Jesus as the all powerful, all knowing rescuer and deliverer: "Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.”

These angelic beings worshipped Jesus because Jesus alone had the power, the authority, and the ability to open the scroll. Jesus alone had the power and the authority and the ability to open the scroll because Jesus had been slain for the selfishness and rebellion of humanity. And as a result of being slain on the cross for the selfishness and rebellion of humanity, the blood that Jesus shed on the cross purchased something for God. “You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation”.

Now this word purchased, in the language that this letter was originally written in literally means to buy in the marketplace. This was the word that was used to describe when slaves were purchased at the slave market. You see, while humanity chose to selfishly rebel and reject God as a result of their selfishness sand rebellion against God, God chose to send His Son Jesus into humanity to redeem, to purchase, to buy back, those who were slaves to their selfishness and rebellion so that they could be brought back into the relationship with God that they were created for.

Now the big fancy church mumbo jumbo talk word for what God has done to redeem or to buy back from the slavery to selfishness and rebellion back into the relationship with God that we were created for is the word atonement. The word atone means to cover. The concept of atonement is that Jesus sacrificial death on the cross in our place for our selfishness and rebellion atoned, or covered the sins that have been committed. In other words, God sees the atoning sacrifice of Jesus rather than the selfishness and rebellion of humanity so that the penalty no longer had to be extracted from the person who had sinned.

However, notice who God chose to redeem or buy back from slavery to selfishness and rebellion back into the relationship with God that they were created for: “men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.” Notice that it does not say that God bought back all humanity. John here is not saying that Jesus died to provide universal salvation for all of humanity. Not every human being throughout history is saved simply because Jesus died on the cross for the selfishness and rebellion of humanity.  Instead, John tells us that God bought back individuals from all of humanity.

When John uses the phrase “from every tribe and tongue and people and nation” this phrase refers to some people from every part of the human race. This phrase refers to individuals who are representatives from every nationality, without distinction to race, ethnicity, geographic location, or political persuasion. Then, in verse 10, John reveals for us the second line of this new worship song: "You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth."

With this phrase, these angelic beings were proclaiming that individuals from every nationality, without distinction to race or ethnicity, will not only be a part of God’s kingdom over whom He will reign. In addition, individuals from every nationality, without distinction to race or ethnicity, will also share in God's rule. Individuals from every race or ethnicity will not have different roles, responsibilities, or positions based on race or ethnicity but will rule and reign side by side with Jesus in the Kingdom of God.

And it is here, in this act of worship of Jesus by these angelic beings, that we discover a reason why the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel provides the solution to the universal problem of racism. And that timeless reason is this: The gospel best addresses the issue of racism because Jesus died to rescue people from every race, not just our race.

You see, Jesus did not enter into humanity to live the life that we were created to live but refused to live so that He could allow Himself to be treated as though He lived our selfish and sinful lives so that God the Father could treat us as though we lived Jesus perfect life just for white people. Jesus did not enter into humanity to die on the cross for the selfishness and rebellion of only black people. God did not send His Son to earth to redeem for Himself only Jewish people.

Instead, Jesus entered into humanity to live the life that we were created to live but refused to live so that He could allow Himself to be treated as though He lived our selfish and sinful lives so that God the Father could treat us as though we lived Jesus perfect life, so that God could redeem from slavery to selfishness and rebellion and for Himself individuals who are representatives from every nationality, without distinction to race or ethnicity. No race is excluded; instead every race is included. That is why racism is ridiculous when it is placed in the prism of the gospel. Racism is ridiculous because, as we discovered last week, every member of every race throughout history is equally separated from God and is equally in need of rescue. No race is above this selfishness and rebellion, no race is excluded from this selfishness and rebellion.

And that is why the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel alone provide the solution to racism. The claims of Christ and the message of the gospel alone provides the solution to racism because Jesus entered into humanity to live the life that we were created to live but refused to live so that He could willingly allow Himself to be treated as though He lived our selfish and sinful lives, so that God the Father could redeem, to buy back for Himself individuals from every race or ethnicity. Just as no race is above the need for rescue from selfishness and rebellion that enslaves us and separates us from God, no race is excluded from having their selfishness and rebellion atoned, or covered, by Jesus life, death, and resurrection.

That is why racism is ridiculous when it is placed in the lens and prism of the gospel. Racism is ridiculous because Jesus died to pay the penalty for the selfishness and rebellion of individuals from every race, not just our race...

A Strange Scene In Heaven Indeed...

This week we are looking at a section of a letter that is recorded in the New Testament of the Bible called the book of Revelation. In this section of the book of Revelation that we are looking at we are going to discover another reason why racism is ridiculous when it is placed in the prism of the claims of Christ and the gospel. And it is in this section of this letter that we are going to discover another reason why the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel provides the solution to the universal problem of racism.

Yesterday, we looked on as John, who was the disciple that Jesus loved, was trying to explain what he was seeing in the presence of God the Father in the throne room of Heaven. John states that as he saw God the Father sitting on a throne in Heaven, in His right hand was a book written inside and on the back, sealed up with seven seals. This book was actually a scroll with writing on both sides that contained the judgments that would fall on humanity at the end of God's story here on earth.

The source of this scroll was God the Father. God the Father was the author of this scroll and what was written on the scroll was only known to God the Father and would only be made known by a person who was authorized to break open the seals that kept the contents of the scroll secret. That is why the strong angel was asking “Who has the power, the ability, and the authority to break the seals and open the scroll, so that God’s right and just judgment on the selfishness and rebellion of humanity can begin?”

John explained that there was not a single being in the universe that had the power, the ability, and the authority to break the seals and open the scroll so as the reveal God’s right and just judgment to the selfishness and rebellion of humanity. And because of the reality, because of what John saw, John responded by weeping greatly. John wailed because he saw the wrongdoing and injustice of the selfishness and rebellion of humanity and had placed his confident trust that there would be a day that God would rightly and justly deal with the wrongdoing and injustice of humanity.

And now, it seemed that God’s justice and judgment was being delayed and derailed. It seemed that God’s justice and judgment was being delayed and derailed because there was no being that had the power, the ability, and the authority to break the seals and open the scroll so as the reveal and unleash God’s right and just judgment to the selfishness and rebellion of humanity. And John was devastated to the point that he lost all control emotionally. John was devastated until he heard the following in Revelation 5:5:

 and one of the elders said to me, "Stop weeping; behold, the Lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome so as to open the book and its seven seals."

Now to fully understand what is happening here, we first need to ask and answer several questions. The first question that we need to ask and answer is “Who is the Elder that approaches John and tells him to stop weeping?” While there have been many views and suggestions as to who this group of Elders are and who they represent, most likely, based on what these Elders say and do in the book of Revelation, the elders are a special class or group of angelic beings of high authority that assist is the execution of God's divine plan and purposes.

And one of these angelic beings approached John and basically said to him “stop weeping. There is no reason to lose it emotionally. Get it together emotionally.” The angelic being then explained to John that the reason why there was no reason to be weeping was because the Lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome so as to open the book and its seven seals.

Now that leads us to the next question that we need to ask and answer, which is “who is the Lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David"? The Lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David was a prediction that was proclaimed in a section of the very first letter that is recorded for us in the Bible called the book of Genesis. In Genesis 49:9, a man named Jacob, who was the father of the twelve sons who became the twelve tribes of the Jewish people, predicted and proclaimed that a descendant from the tribe of Judah would be a noble majestic King that would rule over the Jewish people and humanity.

And that noble and majestic king, who was from the root, or descendant of David, who was from the tribe of Judah, was Jesus Christ. As the fulfillment of this Old Testament prediction, Jesus life, death, and resurrection overcame, which means to conquer so as to achieve victory over, the power of selfishness, sin, and death.

And because Jesus had conquered selfishness, sin and death through His death on the cross and resurrection from the dead, Jesus was the one being in the universe who had the power, the ability, and the authority to break the seals and open the scroll and unleash the fulfillment of God's judgment on the selfishness and rebellion of humanity at the end of God's story. John then reveals for us what happened next in verse 6-7:

 And I saw between the throne (with the four living creatures) and the elders a Lamb standing, as if slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God, sent out into all the earth. And He came and took the book out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne.

Again, to fully understand what is happening here, we first need to ask and answer several questions. The first question that we need to ask and answer is “who are the four living creatures?” The four living creatures, who form an inner circle closest to the throne of God, are the cherubim that are described in a section of a letter that is recorded for us in the Old Testament of the Bible called the book of Ezekiel. These four living creatures are an exalted order of angelic beings that are consistently engaged in the worship of God.

John states that between these four exalted angelic beings, and the twenty four angelic beings that assist is the execution of God's divine plan and purposes, there was a Lamb standing, as if slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God, sent out into all the earth. To which some of you are thinking right now “Dave this is why I don’t read the book of Revelation. The book is just too weird and too hard to understand. So what is all that supposed to mean?”

The lamb standing, as if slain, refers to Jesus Christ and the selfless sacrifice that He made to provide all of humanity the opportunity to experience the forgiveness of sin and the relationship with God that they were created for. Jesus is standing, because even though He was slain, He is alive, never to die again. Another question that we need to ask and answer is “what is the deal with the seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God, sent out into all the earth”?

In the letters that make up the Bible, the number seven is often associated with the concept of fullness, completion, or perfection. With that in mind the seven horns depict Jesus as being the all powerful warrior and king. The seven eyes refer to Jesus as being all knowing. John is revealing Jesus as the all powerful and all knowing Lord and Leader of the Universe. When John refers to the seven spirits of God, He is referring to the fullness and perfection of the Holy Spirit which proceeded from Jesus.

Just as Jesus proceeded from the Father on the kingdom mission that He was given, Jesus is the One who sent the Holy Spirit into the world to keep in touch with the world and convict the world of sin, righteousness and judgment. John then explains that Jesus, as the all powerful, all knowing, perfect Lord and Leader of the universe who alone had the power, the ability, and the authority to break the seals and open the scroll, took the scroll that had been written by God the Father into His hands.

You see, there was no reason for John to be emotionally devastated and without hope. There was no reason because Jesus was worthy to open the scroll and unleash the fulfillment of God's judgment and justice on the injustice of the selfishness and rebellion of humanity.

Friday, we will see how every being responded to what transpired between God the Father and Jesus and discover another reason why racism is ridiculous...

Losing It Emotionally...

At the church where I serve we are in the middle of a sermon series entitled “Mosaic: the gospel and race”. During this series, we are examining the issue of racism from the prism of the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel. During this series, our hope and our prayer as a church is to demonstrate that the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel provides the best explanation as to why racism exists and the best solution to the problem of racism.

This week, I would like for us to look at a section of a letter that is recorded in the New Testament of the Bible called the book of Revelation. Now for some of you, as soon as you read that we were going to look at a section of the book of Revelation, you started getting really excited. For some of you, as soon as you read that we were going to talk about the book of Revelation, you started getting out your maps and your charts. If I have just described you this morning, you are going to be very disappointed, because we are not going to be using any maps or charts. And we are not going to try to figure out which world leader could be the Antichrist.

However, it is in this section of the book of Revelation that we are going to look at this morning that we are going to discover another reason why racism is ridiculous when it is placed in the prism of the claims of Christ and the gospel. And it is in this section of this letter that we are going to discover another reason why the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel provide the solution to the universal problem of racism.

Now the Book of Revelation was written by a man named John, who was the disciple that Jesus loved.  John wrote the book of Revelation from the island of Patmos, where he had been exiled as a result of the persecution that was facing early followers of Jesus during the harsh reign of the Roman Emperor Domitian 90-96 A.D. The Book of Revelation was written to seven churches that were located in Asia Minor, or modern day Turkey, to reveal Jesus Christ as being large and in charge as the glorious raised from the dead Lord and Leader who will return again to defeat selfishness, sin and death and usher in the Kingdom of Heaven in its fullest sense.

The book of Revelation begins with John, as he was worshipping one Sunday morning on the island of Patmos, having a vision in which he saw Jesus, after He was raised from the dead, in the fullness of His glory. As John fell on his face in fear and worship of Jesus, Jesus reassured John and then began to give John the message that has been recorded and preserved for us in our Bibles today. Jesus began by commanding John to write letters to each of the seven churches in Asia Minor to address the current conditions of each church when it came to following the message and teachings of Jesus and engaging in the kingdom mission that they had been given by Jesus.

Then, in Revelation chapter four, the focus of this letter turned from the current situation of these seven churches, which represent seven types of churches that have existed throughout history and throughout the world, to what would happen at the end of God’s story here on earth. John is ushered into the throne room in Heaven where he saw God the Father seated on the throne, surrounded by angelic beings worshipping God. And it is in this context that we are going to jump into this section of the book of Revelation, beginning in Revelation 5:1-2. Let’s look at it together:

I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a book written inside and on the back, sealed up with seven seals. And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, "Who is worthy to open the book and to break its seals?"

John begins this section of his letter by trying to explain what he was seeing in the presence of God the Father in the throne room of Heaven. John states that as he saw God the Father sitting on a throne in Heaven, in His right hand was a book written inside and on the back, sealed up with seven seals. Now when John refers to a book here, he is not referring to a bound book like we think in our culture today. Instead, the book was actually a scroll that contained writing on both sides. The writing on the scroll contained all of the judgments that will fall on humanity as a result of the selfishness and rebellion of humanity. These judgments on the selfishness and rebellion of humanity will occur during the seven years immediately before Jesus return, which is referred to as the Great Tribulation. In addition, John tells us that this scroll was sealed with wax in seven different places to keep it from opening.

Now a natural question that could arise here is “Well Dave, why did they need seven seals to keep the scroll shut? Why couldn’t they just use one seal?” That is a great question. You see, as a scroll was unrolled, each seal would keep the scroll from opening to the next section of information that was contained in the scroll. So, you opened the first seal, to see the first part of what that seal revealed. However, to see what was revealed on the second section of the scroll, you would need to break open the second seal. That way the information that was on the scroll would be revealed in a progressive manner instead of all at once.

This is a picture of the reality that God’s final judgment on the selfishness and rebellion will occur in progressive stages. In addition, the seals kept what was written on the scroll a secret. Also the only person that could open the scroll was a person who had the authority to break the seals of the scroll. You see, the source of this scroll was God the Father. God the Father was the author of this scroll and what was written on the scroll was only known to God the Father and would only be made known by a person who was authorized to break open the seals that kept the contents of the scroll secret.

That is why the strong angel asked the question that was asked in verse 2: "Who is worthy to open the book and to break its seals?" In other words, the angel is asking “Who has the power, the ability, and the authority to break the seals and open the scroll, so that God’s right and just judgment on the selfishness and rebellion of humanity can begin?” We see what happened next in verse 3-4:

 And no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the book or to look into it. Then I began to weep greatly because no one was found worthy to open the book or to look into it;

John explains that there was not a single being in the universe that had the power, the ability, and the authority to break the seals and open the scroll so as the reveal God’s right and just judgment to the selfishness and rebellion of humanity. And because of the reality, because of what John saw, John responded by weeping greatly. Now when John states that he was weeping greatly, this phrase, in the language that this letter was originally written in, refers to an unrestrained wailing and weeping.

In other words, John lost it emotionally. John lost all control of his emotions in expressing the hurt, grief, and sadness over the reality that there was no being in the universe who was worthy to approach God the Father and begin to open the scroll. Now a natural question that could arise here is “Well, why would John lose all control over his emotions just because no one could open the scroll. Why was this so big a deal that he would lose it emotionally?

You see, the reason why John lost all control of his emotions; the reason why John was wailing and weeping, was because he believed that God's plan was being delayed and derailed because there was no one who was worthy to open the scroll. John wailed because he saw the wrongdoing and injustice of the selfishness and rebellion of humanity and had placed his confident trust that there would be a day that God would rightly and justly deal with the wrongdoing and injustice of humanity.

And now, it seemed that God’s justice and judgment was being delayed and derailed. It seemed that God’s justice and judgment was being delayed and derailed because there was no being that had the power, the ability, and the authority to break the seals and open the scroll so as the reveal and unleash God’s right and just judgment to the selfishness and rebellion of humanity. And John was devastated to the point that he lost all control emotionally.

John was devastated until he heard something that was communicated to him. Tomorrow, we will look at what John heard…

Racism is a sin problem not a skin problem...

This week, we are beginning a journey through the month of February addressing the issue of racism. We talked about the reality that racism, simply put, is prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one's own race is superior. Racism is the belief that your race is the superior race, regardless of what race you are. Racism gives preferential treatment to a particular race based on the belief that a particular race is superior.

We then began looking at an event from history that is recorded for us in a section of an account of Jesus life in the Bible called the gospel of Luke. After arriving in His hometown of Nazareth, Jesus attended synagogue on the Sabbath. On this particular Sabbath, as Jesus volunteered to read during synagogue, one of the leaders handed Jesus a scroll that contained a letter that is recorded for us in the Old Testament of the Bible called the book of Isaiah. Jesus then opened the scroll to a section of the book of Isaiah that we know today as Isaiah 61.

After reading Isaiah 61:1-2, Jesus gave a one sentence sermon: "Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." In other words, Jesus basically said to them “God’s promise of a Messiah has been fulfilled today as you hear Me speak. I am the Messiah. I am the Promised One who is anointed by the Holy Spirit to proclaim the good news of God’s rescue from selfishness, sin and rebellion that will usher in the beginning of God’s kingdom”.

The crowds in the synagogue responded to Jesus one sentence sermon with glowing approval. The crowds also recognized that Jesus was one of their own: "Is this not Joseph's son?" they said. You see, the crowds believed that because Jesus was one of their own, because Jesus was Jewish like they were Jewish, that the result would be that they would benefit from an extra dose of God’s favor because of their close connection with Jesus as Jews.

The crowds believed that they would receive some spiritual brownie points from God because, as Jewish people, they were insiders with Jesus when it came to God. And the crowds believed that their insider status as Jewish people would provide them with insider privileges when it came to their relationship with God and when it came to their relationship with the people and nations around them.

The Jewish people expected to experience “Jewish privilege” because after all, they were God’s chosen people. And as God’s chosen people, they must be superior people to the other races that were around them, otherwise God would not have chosen them. However, the crowd was not prepared for what Jesus had to say next, which Luke records for us in verse 23:

 And He said to them, "No doubt you will quote this proverb to Me, 'Physician, heal yourself! Whatever we heard was done at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.'"

Jesus, sensing the crowds glowing approval of Jesus and growing expectation of what they thought Jesus would do for them, responded by quoting a well known proverb of the day: “Physician heal yourself”. This proverb, if communicated in the language we use in our culture today, would have sounded something like this: “Do for you what you do for others.” This proverb basically says “you must not refuse to do for those who are close to you what you have done for those who were far from you”.

You see, the residents of Nazareth believed that Jesus would do the miraculous for them simply because they were fellow Jewish people who were insiders with God. The residents of Nazareth believed that because they were God’s chosen people who were insiders with Jesus, they should get the best from Jesus. As Jewish people, they believed that their “Jewish privilege” should result in Jesus focusing on meeting their needs first and foremost and then dealing with those who were outsiders. After quoting this well known proverb, Jesus changes the tone of the entire encounter in verse 24-27:

 And He said, "Truly I say to you, no prophet is welcome in his hometown. "But I say to you in truth, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the sky was shut up for three years and six months, when a great famine came over all the land; and yet Elijah was sent to none of them, but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. "And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian."

Jesus confronts the crowds by making the claim that no prophet is welcome in his hometown. Jesus is claiming that no person who proclaims the truth about God to those who consider themselves insiders is met with approval by those who consider themselves insiders. And to back His claim, Jesus refers to two different events from the history of the Jewish people. First, Jesus reminds the crowds of an event in history that is recorded for us in a letter in the Old Testament of our Bible called the book of 1 Kings.

In 1 Kings 17, God sent the prophet Elijah to a widow in the land of Sidon during a time of severe drought that plagued the entire Middle East. The land of Sidon was a region of the Middle East that was dominated by the worship of false gods. In addition, the people of Sidon were looked down on by the Jewish people as being inferior and were considered outsiders who were far from God. Upon arriving in Sidon, Elijah miraculously provided food for the widow and her son during a time of extreme drought.

Jesus point is that while Jewish people considered themselves to be a superior race than the people of Sidon, God did not send Elijah to do the miraculous for the Jewish people. Instead, Elijah, as God’s messenger, was sent to do the miraculous to those who the Jewish people viewed as being inferior and as being outsiders who were far from God. Elijah was not sent to the Jewish people, who viewed themselves as being superior as a result of being “God’s chosen people”. Instead, Elijah was sent to those who were viewed by the Jewish people as an inferior race.

Jesus then reminds the crowds of an event in history that is recorded for us in a letter in the Old Testament of our Bible called the book of 2 Kings. In 2 Kings 5, the prophet Elisha was used by God to miraculously heal a military leader from what is now the nation of Syria from leprosy. This military leader was part of a nation that worshipped false gods and was the enemy of the Jewish people. This was a nation who was viewed by the Jewish people as being inferior, as being outsiders who were far from God.

Jesus point is that while Jewish people, who considered themselves to be superior to the races and nations around them, had many people who suffered from leprosy, God did not send Elisha to do the miraculous for the Jewish people. Instead, Elisha, as God’s messenger, was sent to those who were viewed by the Jewish people as an inferior race. You see, the Jewish people who viewed themselves as being the superior race had repeatedly rejected God and the word of God through His spokespersons the prophets. The Jewish people did not approve of the prophets or their message.

Those who considered themselves to be a superior race; those who were “God’s chosen people”; those who considered themselves deserving of preferential treatment by God and who had God’s predictions and promises in the Bible to point them to God had rejected God. Jesus is revealing the reality that these self righteous religious people who consider themselves superior to others would reject His message just as they rejected the prophet’s message.

And Jesus is revealing the reality that His message, the message of the gospel was not simply for one race. Instead, His message, the message of the gospel was for all of humanity. Jesus was sent not simply for the Jewish race. Instead, Jesus was sent to proclaim the message of the gospel to every race. Jesus was sent to proclaim the gospel to those of the Jewish race who were far from God and those of every race who were far from God. Luke then records for us how the crowds responded to Jesus claims in verse 28-30:

And all the people in the synagogue were filled with rage as they heard these things; and they got up and drove Him out of the city, and led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city had been built, in order to throw Him down the cliff. But passing through their midst, He went His way.

Upon hearing Jesus claims, Luke tells us that the crowds were filled with rage. They were filled with rage because they were offended by the idea that God would extend the opportunity for forgiveness and a relationship with Him to those who were not Jewish and who they viewed as being inferior outsiders. And in their rage, the crowds rose up from their seats, drove Jesus outside of town, and attempted to throw Him off the edge of the cliff that the town was built on. Jesus however, like a scene from a matrix movie passed through their midst and traveled back to Capernaum, which was His base of ministry.

And it is here, in this event from history that we discover a timeless answer to the question “Where does racism come from?” And that timeless answer is this: Racism is a sin problem not a skin problem. You see, this issue is not “White privilege”; the issue is selfish privilege. The issue is not “Black power”, it is the power of selfishness, sin and rebellion. The issue is not “We are superior because we are God’s chosen people”; the issue is “I am superior because I chose me as being better than other people.

Throughout human history, across continents and cultures, there has been the tendency to view one race as being superior to every other race.  Throughout human history, across continents and cultures, there has been the tendency to view our race as being superior to every other race. This tendency is due to the fact that we all have a temptation and a trajectory that leads us to selfishly believe that our race is better than every other race. Every human being on the planet from every race, throughout human history has had this tendency. The issue is not the color of one’s skin; the issue is the selfishness and rebellion that is within.

Now the big fancy church mumbo jumbo talk word for this reality is the word total depravity. Now total depravity does not mean that every person is as bad as they can be. What total depravity does mean is that no person is perfect in God’s sight. Total depravity also means that not only none has the perfection that one requires, no one is able to achieve that perfection; our selfishness, our rebellion, and our sin is universal and insurmountable in nature and scope. Every human being throughout history, regardless of race, is infected and affected by a selfish rebellion that chooses to love ourselves over God and over those who were created in God’s image.

And as a result, our natural selfish bent apart from Jesus is to view ourselves and those who are like us as being superior to those who are not like us racially. This morning no race is excluded; every member of every race is infected and affected. That is why racism is ridiculous when it is placed in the lens and prism of the gospel. Racism is ridiculous because every member of every race throughout history is equally separated from God and is equally in need of rescue. No race is above this selfishness and rebellion, no race is excluded from this selfishness and rebellion.

And that is why the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel alone provide the solution to racism. The claims of Christ and the message of the gospel provides the solution to racism because Jesus entered into humanity to put an end to the idea that any one ethnic group should be treated as superior or privileged. Jesus entered into humanity to live the life that we were created to  live but refused to live in community with every race so that He could willingly allow Himself to be treated as though He lives our selfish and sinful lives, so that God the Father could treat us as though  we lived Jesus perfect life.

Jesus, life, death, and resurrection provide the opportunity for every race to be rescued from the selfishness and rebellion that leads to racism so that we can experience life in communion with God and in community with others regardless of race….