Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.
Colossians 3:11
At every theme or amusement park, there are certain rides that are not made for everyone. You can only do some things if you meet the requirements. There are websites that also aren’t appropriate for all eyeballs. There are also some foods and drinks that are not good for everyone.
Every one of these things, and more, comes with a warning. You can’t get on a ride unless you’re so tall. You can’t buy certain things unless you’re over a certain age. You can’t do some things unless you’ve got a license.
Right here and now I’m giving you a warning. I’m going to tell you something about myself that will just shock you. If you’re standing up, you may want to sit down. Or at least lean against a wall or grab hold of something. If you’re at all weak, if you have a heart condition, you may well want to skip this and move on.
Are you ready? Have you fastened your seatbelts and secured all baggage underneath your seat or in the overhead compartment? Is your seat and tray table in the upright and locked position? Have you turned off all personal electronic devices, including laptops and cell phones? Because, as Matt Damon says in The Bourne Identity, “We got a bump coming up[1].” Here we go.
As a child, I didn’t always listen when someone told me “No.” It could have been my parents. My big brother. My aunts and uncles. My teachers. The librarian. The school crossing guard. Anyone and everyone.
When it came to living my life, what to do, how to live my life, I was the only person who was going to tell me what to do and how to do it. I had more information, more experience, more power when it came to deciding what to do. I told you it was going to be shocking! Sound like anyone else you know?
When Paul says that there’s no difference between all these kinds of people, it’s more than just a statement of fact. He’s not making a casual observation that he happened to notice the other day. He’s not just dashing off a few quick words on daily blog. No, it’s something so much more important.
So, when it comes to how people in the Colossian church were supposed to think about one another, treat one another, the great Apostle Paul pulls out the big guns. Since he’s speaking for and from God, he pulls out the top thing that they need to do. Paul tells them that there’s no real difference between people. He’s going against every tradition. Against all the experts and leaders. He’s going against the current of everything he’s ever learned. That they’ve ever experienced.
He’s saying more than just to treat people the same. He’s almost shouting that in Jesus, there’s a giant impossibility of there being any difference between all the different kinds of people. When he paid for our sins and their sins, he did it equally for everyone. He didn’t do it more for one group over another. In the words that I grew up with, there “ain’t no way” that these people are separated from God or one another. In Christ, all the walls between different people have been broken down. Blasted to smithereens.
We all started out on the same level. Everyone of the people that have ever walked on this planet, and everyone that ever will are all the same. We’ve all separated ourselves from God. We’re all sinners[2]. Each and everyone of us have wandered off, gone astray from our loving Heavenly Father and creator[3].
But because of who Jesus is and what he did on the cross, God created another place where we all can be on a level place. Inside God’s family, those who’ve admitted their need and dependence on Jesus’ sacrifice, everyone’s a child of the king[4].
And that equality within God’s family starts right here and now. Within the body of Christ, we’ve been made new. We’ve been given a new nature, to be energized so that we can live a new life[5]. We want to please the one that loves us. But it doesn’t end here in this life. It continues throughout all eternity.
After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”!”
Revelation 7:9,10
Everyone’s standing in front of God. There’s no priority seating. There are no skyboxes in eternity. We all worship together. On the same level. There’s no first class with God. And when God says no about these things, he means no.
Noodling Question
What’s your immediate reaction when someone tells you no? Why?
How do you see people who are different from you? Live life differently?
How can God see and treat everyone the same? Why can’t we?
[2] Romans 3:23
[3] Isaiah 53:6
[4] Romans 8:17
[5] Romans 6:4.
Comments