One Heart - Be One预览

“And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings.” Act.17:26 NKJV

All human beings are descendants from Adam and Eve, one bloodline. The Bible clearly states that God loves all humans equally and does not show favouritism or partiality (Deut.10:17; Act.10:34). There was no racial distinction until after the flood and the building of the tower of Babel. Everybody spoke the same language. However, because they did not believe in God, their oneness resulted in rebellion against God (Gen.11:1-8). God intervened and confused their language. It caused people to be scattered across the earth and to form distinct nations.

God began His work of redemption. He chose Abraham, separated him from his idolatrous background, and promised to make him a great nation in which all the families of the earth will be blessed (Gen.12:1-3). It was the first indication that God wanted a people that was separated unto Himself. His choice was not based on race but on faith. This was God's pattern. In the Old Testament, people were divided between believers and unbelievers; between Israelites (who believed in God through revelation of Himself to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, the nation of Israel, priests, prophets, and kings) and the pagan nations (who believed in their own gods). In the New Testament, all people can believe in God through Jesus Christ. As far as God is concerned, there are only two races on earth —those who have chosen to be a part of His family and those who haven’t.

Racism is the belief that humans are divided into separate and exclusive biological entities called “races”; with inherited physical traits of personality, intellect, morality, cultural and behavioural features; and that some races are genetically superior to others. The term also applies to political, economic, or legal institutions and systems that discriminate based on race or reinforce racial inequalities in wealth and income, education, healthcare, civil rights, and other areas. God makes no such distinction. - “For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him.” (Rom.10:12, NKJV)

John 17 was Jesus' prayer for His disciples the night before He was betrayed. “… I pray that all of them may be one". It is still His prayer today. We would like to encourage you to memorise the chapter of John 17 or at least the verses that speak to your heart this week, to pray it daily and to ask that Jesus' prayer would be fulfilled in you and through you.

CORPORATE PRAYER (Ideally)

Father God, we humble ourselves before You. We have sinned against You and against our fellow humans through racism. We turn from our wicked ways. We need your help to stand against the evil of racism. Please deliver us from this evil. We pray for a work of your Holy Spirit in our hearts, in our families, and in our churches. Search our hearts, Lord, and convict us of our sins. Give us a new heart that will be one as You and your Son are one. Amen.

"The devil knows what he does in hindering the communion of believers; in doing this he hinders the progress of grace, bringing Christians into a declining, wasting state. – William Gurnall