Seated and Secured: A Rooted Identity, a 5-Day Plan by Brittany Turnerનમૂનો

Promise #3-I am Unified

God has always been the God of the outsiders. He has made it clear throughout the Bible that He always desired that the whole world would be saved, not just those in the house of Israel.

While Israel was His chosen people, they were given that role to demonstrate His desire for a close and intimate relationship with His creation. They were chosen to show the world what it looked like to be a nation set apart to honor God alone.

They were just an example, not the end.

Born a Jew or from some other place (a Gentile), there is one thing that we all have had in common–each of us were at odds with God. Jew or Gentile, rich or poor, religious or “outsider,” we were all consumed by sin, and not one of us could escape our need for a savior.

It has been the heart of God that each of us would be saved and brought near to Him. This was always His plan. (1 Tim 2:4; 2 Pet 3:9; Ez 18:23, Matt 23:37)

We can see it in the Old Testament through the story of Ruth, a Moabite woman who wasn’t just accepted into Israel’s family, but was included in the lineage of both King David and Jesus Christ! We can see it in the Judge, Othniel, a Gentile who not only served God, but also led the Israelites in Judges 3:9. We can consider Rahab, not just a pagan woman with an unsavory occupation, but one whose faith saved her entire family. Or even Jael, a Kenite woman, whose hands God used to grant victory for Israel in the book of Judges.

In the New Testament, we can examine the Ethiopian eunuch that Philip ministered to who accepted the Gospel in the book of Acts or the Greeks that came to Jesus before his death in John 13, just to name a few.

Heaven was always set for all of humanity–never just a portioned few.

In these verses, Paul is exhorting the church of Ephesus to remember that no matter our divided histories, we are all in need of a Savior, and as a result, we are all found equal at the feet of Jesus.

No one has an advantage when it comes to our need for the cross. Our hearts have failed us, but in Christ, we find the complete cure (Jer 17:9-10). For the modern-day Christian, this means that no matter how long any of us have walked with Jesus, we still need Him just as much as the day before. We find even footing before our Savior.

He saves us in an instant, sanctifies us over a lifetime, and graciously unites us all together under the banner of His love.

While our unity in Christ means that our heritage gives us no spiritual advantage over each other, it does not erase the uniqueness of His creation.

We can see in Revelation that there is still the distinction of every tribe, nation, people, and language gathered around His throne. He was slain for them all (Matt 28:18–20; Rev 5:9–10; Rev 7:9–10).

He marvels at the beauty of diversity and does not erase it. Instead, He joins us through the tapestry of our differences to create a banner that can display His goodness and grace to the full world around us.

He does this so may we be knit together, united, with love as our sign to the world, embracing our differences but not allowing them to divide us. May the world know us by how we love and the abundance of His mercy demonstrated in our own lives.

United with Christ may we endeavor to remain united as His bride and fully embody our place as His own.

Affirmation: I am united in Christ and a member of His beautifully diverse body. I will admire and respect the differences reflected in His creation and uphold the banner of love and grace above all. I accept His mercy and love and extend it to those around me so that the collective church can be known by our love as a reflection of His love for us. I am not an outsider; I am His.

Questions: How can you increase your circle to include those who are from different cultures and backgrounds than your own? How can you extend love to those in the body of believers and encourage those around you to do the same? How much do you still depend on God’s power and help in your life daily?