United By The Blood

The beauty of the Church is that it is not homogeneous. It can't be. You and I are now family, no matter where we live, what we have done, what we look like. In the same worship center we will find police officers and ex-criminals, politicians and voters, the wealthy and the poor, the elderly and students. In many churches you will find people who speak all kinds of different languages, different skin colours, different origins. But regardless of our differences we have one thing in common: The grace offered through Jesus.

When we live in the Spirit the Church is a thing of great beauty; when we live by the flesh our differences make it an ugly place. It is vital that we understand that the Church cannot exist according to the flesh. It is not a club, a thing of business, something of this world. The Church is not a thing to be managed by a board of elders. It is a living thing that has life through the Spirit. Without the Spirit there is no life and it is an institution like any other institution of man.

As members of this living Body we are united by the Spirit under the headship of Jesus and this one thing must be remembered:

All have sinned and fall short of God’s glory, but all are treated as righteous freely by his grace because of a ransom that was paid by Christ Jesus. (Romans 3:23-24)

That is something else we have in common: We have all been found wanting by Yahweh. We have all fallen short of his standards. None of us can get there because we have all been in rebellion to him; we have all sinned. It doesn't matter about any of our differences, no one is better than anyone else because all sin is in rebellion to Yahweh. However, Jesus changed all that.

Jesus gave us something better to have in common with each other. Jesus paid the price so grace could be applied to all of us and in this grace all of us are treated as righteous, regardless of our past, regardless of our sin. In the Church there is no one better than another, no one great, no one small, no one more privileged than another. There is no male or female. There is no rich and poor. There is no colour. There is only us and our relationship with Jesus. This is the Church, the Body of Christ.

To anyone without Jesus, the Church is a bizarre place, filled with a collage of people. It is not homogeneous in the flesh but it is in what cannot been seen by the eye. In Jesus we are all the same, we are all children of Father and we are all covered by the blood of the Lamb. What was impossible for man was possible for Yahweh. We are family.

Borders Do Not Exist In The Kingdom

At the prayer meeting last night we had a discussion about our citizenship. We were discussing the different political situations in the world and the up-coming American election. We talked about the importance of realizing that the only place we call home is the Kingdom of God and, although we vote for those who best represent Jesus, we do not belong to the process. We have no part in civilian affairs. We are Kingdom dwellers.

Now this morning, I open the Word of God to see what I will be writing about today and I read this:

Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit. (Ephesians 2:19-22)

Citizens with God's people, members of his household. Not Canadians, Americans, Brits, or anywhere else but citizens of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ. Sometimes we live as if we have duel citizenship but this nullifies the most important citizenship. With Jesus it is all or nothing. We are only passing through here, and God has placed us exactly where he wants us because he needs us in that place. We are passing through this place but we are passing through with purpose.

It doesn't matter where we were born, what language we speak or what traditions we follow, when we accept Jesus as Lord all that stuff falls away and we stand as a new citizen of the Kingdom. We are part of God's family. That is how we must see each other. If I meet a brother from Russia I do not see a Russian but a fellow citizen of the Kingdom. We do not allow to exist any differences between us because we are united by the same Spirit, have the same King and are loved by the same Father.

As citizens of the Kingdom we must rise above any boundaries or traditions that would attempt to divide us. There are brothers and sisters being killed in various parts of the world because of the name of Jesus. Egypt and India are bad places to be as Christians but our Father has placed them there for a reason and they must stand their ground. What are we doing to support them. Are we praying? Are we reaching out in support? Or is it because they are not from our country that we don't care?

This is crazy. We can't let things of this world divide us. Politics of this world cannot be a wedge. It doesn't matter your age, sex, nationality or tradition when it comes to our citizenship. The Word tells us:

There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3:28)

For our American friends I would like to add Republican nor Democrat. For those in Canada, especially Quebec, I would add, Federalist nor Separatist. You are familiar with your part of the world and know the things that divide there so consider them. In many of the countries were there is Muslim unrest, our brothers and sisters are suffering. We look at the news and want to wash our hands of the whole thing, but our brothers and sisters are there with a purpose. Don't allow the traditions of this place to blind you to the work of the Kingdom.

We need a real good shacking up so the blinders will fall from our eyes allowing us to see with God's perspective. Far above everything else we are citizens of the Kingdom. We have a responsibility to support, encourage and build up our fellow citizens. It dishonours our King for the citizens to tear each other down over things that have nothing to do with the Kingdom. There should be no differences between us, only love, peace and joy. It would do us good to remember which of our passports is for eternity.

God Has Done A New Thing

I realize that politics and government are boring subjects to many people. We would rather just deal with what is important to us and leave the important stuff to other people to figure out. Even in the Church we only want to deal with worship and prayer, leaving other matters to the pastors and elders to deal with. But there is one subject that is important for us all to grasp and deal with. It is important for us to understand our relationship with Israel.

Wow, I actually heard a number of people switch off there. No, seriously, it is important for us to understand our relationship with Israel because there are those who believe that we have replaced the Jewish nation. They teach that the Jews have been kicked to the curb and the Church has been raised up in their place. This is wrong.

We can never forget that we have been grafted in but the Jews are natural to the vine. Although they have been allowed to exist in the darkness of their rejection of Jesus, they will not remain like this. Those who are natural to the vine will awaken to the truth and when they do it will be a beautiful thing. What is really important for us to understand is that we will be one with them. We have not replaced them. God has done a new thing, tearing down what was and creating something new, in which the natural and the unnatural have become one and the same:

For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. (Ephesians 2:14-15)

That's where the Jews struggle, over the law issue. Who can blame them? The law has defined them for thousands of years and then God says, "No, I am doing a new things." Suddenly instead of leaning on the law they have to lean on Jesus. Yes, in order to be part of this new thing God is doing, both the natural and unnatural must enter through the cross, the blood of Jesus Christ:

His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. (Ephesians 2:15-16)

Now there is no longer the natural and unnatural, the Jew and the Gentile. God has done a new thing and we are one in Jesus. The Jew no longer has the advantage of the law, it is no longer what defines them. We are no longer excluded, left out in the cold, considered foreigners. We are as natural to Jerusalem as the Jews. We all have the same Father and we all have access to him by the same Spirit:

He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. (Ephesians 2:17-18)

It is why we pray for and support Israel. We have not replaced Israel but instead, together, we have become something new through Jesus Christ by the will of the Father. Many may be in the dark right now but soon they will see. In fact, many Jews have abandoned even the Law, abandoned God and have nothing to do with faith. Pray that the conviction of the Spirit and the faith of God will descend on these people so we will see our brothers and sisters rise in Jesus and take their place with us. May God receive the glory in the love we show to Israel.