Race

September 27, 2020
Randy Hageman

BIBLICAL PRINCIPLES THAT UNDERGIRD
OUR CONVERSATIONS ABOUT RACE

PRINCIPLE #1 – All people are created in the image of

, and therefore, are to be treated with

Reveal Answer

.

So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. —Genesis 1:27 (NLT)

And [God] made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth… —Acts 17:26 (ESV)

PRINCIPLE #2 – The Fall infected every descendent of Adam and Eve with sin that corrupted

people and

Reveal Answer

relationships.

…therefore the LORD God sent [Adam] out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. —Genesis 3:23 (ESV)

God: ‘Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.’ —Genesis (9:6 ESV)

Every person you encounter is an image-bearer of

, even if their sin has badly distorted that image.

PRINCIPLE #3 – Sin drives human beings to create divisions among people through the sin of

.

Partiality happens when one person superficially evaluates another person’s worth and judges them before getting to know them or their story. We practice partiality when we make judgments about a person’s character based on all things external: their accent, clothing, gender, hair, height, tattoos, skin color, etc. and then treat that person as if our judgment is true. —Pastor D.A. Horton

‘… Be careful what you do, for there is no injustice with the LORD our God, or partiality or taking bribes.’ —2 Chronicles 19:7 (ESV)

God shows compassion, equity and justice not just to those who put their faith in Him but to everyone in the human race.

My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, ‘You sit here in a good place,’ while you say to the poor man, ‘You stand over there,’ or, ‘Sit down at my feet,’ have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? —James 2:1-4 (ESV)

James is very clear that partiality is not consistent with the character of God, and it makes our faith in our God look

to those who don’t believe.

The partiality of racism is part of the bigger problem of all sin, and it’s not going to ever go away

, until Jesus returns, and we meet him face to face.

PRINCIPLE #4 – We need God’s help to see

sins of partiality, including racism.

King David: Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life. —Psalms 139:23-24 (NLT)

One of the tragic aspects of sin is we sometimes don’t realize we’re

it, and this was why David prayed that God would “search” him and “point out anything in [him] that offends [God].”

Jesus: But in fact, it is best for you that I go away, because if I don’t, the Advocate won’t come. If I do go away, then I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment.’ —John 16:7-8 (NLT)

Jesus tells us that one of the purposes of the Holy Spirit is to reveal to us and

us of sin in our lives, including sin we don’t even realize we’re committing.

Sin can be so institutionalized as a part of life that we don’t even

it.

Principle #5 – God is not

, and we shouldn’t be either.

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. —Galatians 3:28 (ESV)

To seek being color blind means to ignore and even dismiss God’s

and love of

Reveal Answer

.

PRINCIPLE #6 – We need to practice

Conciliation.

Ethnic conciliation is accomplished when we affirm (not ignore or idolize) the ethnic heritages of every human being and seek to remove animosity, distrust, and hostility from our interpersonal relationships. —Pastor D.A. Horton

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. —2 Corinthians 5:17-20 (ESV)

Jesus calls us to open the church to all peoples, of every tribe and nation and tongue, because this is what

will be like.

After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!’ —Revelation 7:9-10 (ESV)

New Series Next Week: He Would Love First (HWLF)