As we work through the Bible, book by book, we let the Scriptures dictate the content of our sermons. Sometimes we get beloved themes, sometimes we get controversial ones – like sexual ethics, wrath and race. As I prepare sermons on weeks like this I am so thankful for the timeless and universal truths revealed to us in God’s Word.
His truth is true for all people, everywhere, all the time. And his way is better.
This Sunday we looked at a verse that was revolutionary in the first century church.
Colossians 3:11
Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.
Human history has demonstrated a stubborn propensity towards prejudice, discrimination and division. We are always classifying and judging people based on external factors like ethnicity, nationality, social class, etc.
It can be as simple as kids on a playground segregating themselves or it can rise to the level of genocide. Wherever this kind of separation exists, the kingdom of heaven seeks to tear it down.
Jesus inaugurated a new society on earth, with an entirely new humanity and a new way of living. In Christ’s kingdom there are no distinctions.
Why?
Because Christ is all.
And he is in all.
Those two sentences are … There is no word for what they are.
Christ, the source and sustainer of all creation, comes to dwell in the hearts of everyone who believes in him – without distinction.
Whatever differences we have, if you are in Christ, He who is all is in you. This changes everything.
Tom Brown is the planting pastor of Vintage Faith Church in Wichita. Tom and his wife, Mandy, have worked together in ministry for over 20 years and have four children. More about Pastor Tom Brown