Because of Jesus I Am...নমুনা

In Christ, I Am Equal

Verse - “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:28)

Think - When I was a teen, I remember going to a local farm to get hay and alfalfa for the horses and donkeys at the Christian campground where my father was a director. I would have to park the truck at the bottom of the pile of hay in an open barn and load my own bales into it.

One day, another guy was also getting hay. As we were loading our trucks, we got to talking, and I found out he was the mayor of Chino, CA – a large city southeast of us. I never would have known that by the way he acted, how we interacted, or how he made me feel. In that moment, we weren’t a teen guy and an important city leader; we were just a couple of guys getting hay.

That sense of equality is something people feel is severely lacking in our day. It’s being fought for intensely, particularly in ethnicity, rank, or biological sex. It’s nothing new; these distinctions and battles for equality have been raging for ages. Paul boldly declares that while those distinctions exist, they don’t (or shouldn’t) matter because of Christ.

At the cross, Jesus united all of us into one family where the things that could and do divide people in this world aren’t barriers to fellowship within the family of God. Here we recognize each other as brothers and sisters – as equals – regardless of our ethnicity, station in life, or sex. This is GREAT news!

Apply - Regardless of what is happening in this world, how you feel about others, or the conflict within the culture, the good news and hope is Jesus! Whatever you may be experiencing or have experienced that has left you feeling inadequate, lift up your head and realize there is no distinction, caste system, or hierarchy in Christ. We are one. We are equal. We are loved. We belong!

Pray - Lord Jesus, thank you for breaking down the barriers that previously divided us, both between us and you because of our sin and between us and others because of our distinctions. May the truth that you have made us one with you and equal with each other give us joy, confidence, and peace, and may we live this truth out in bringing that unity and peace to others by inviting them into this special and unique family – your family – the family of God!

Bio line - Joel Wood is the Family Life Pastor at Keystone Church in Paradise. He moved from Los Angeles to Quarryville last year with his wife and four girls and has found Lancaster County to be truly home for them. They enjoy being around, on, and in water whenever possible and love having fun at amusement parks.