“For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 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 3:27-28

There is great encouragement and great challenge in the extraordinary truth of these verses! When we put our faith in Christ, we are born again, new creation, one with Christ, and one in Christ. We are adopted as children of God and become one with all our brothers and sisters in Christ of every race, nationality, ethnicity, and social status. This is glorious!!!

The encouragement is that we are equal and we are one in Christ. The external circumstances of our lives are radically unimportant compared to the internal reality of who we are in Jesus Christ. There is no place for racism, xenophobia, or class division in Christ. There is no place for the radical separations and divisions encouraged and embraced by our secular culture. This is the encouragement of this truth.

The challenge of this truth is that we are truly one in Christ. What affects one of us affects all of us and we must care for the pain of any fellow Christian. Thus there should be no injustice or hurt committed against one Christian, one group of Christians, or one race of Christians that we don’t all feel deeply and minister to. There can be no casual dismissing of the deep cries of pain and injustice raised our brothers and sisters of other races. We are one in Christ. Thus we must be concerned with the genuine well-being of all those with whom we are united – black or white, rich or poor, free or persecuted, citizen or immigrant. We are one!

“Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree’— so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.” – Galatians 3:13-14

It’s good to periodically reflect on what exactly Christ did for us! As He died for us on the cross, He literally became a curse, cursed by God to suffer in agony and die hanging on the cross. He carried the weight of our sin on that cross and suffered God’s righteous anger for it. Jesus did it to redeem us – to buy our freedom.

On the cross, Jesus bought our freedom from a life of grinding, exhausting, and ultimately futile legalistic rule following that could never restore us to relationship with the Lord. He bought our freedom from the power of sin to control us, dominate our lives, and determine our fate. He bought our freedom from separation from the Living God of the Universe. He bought our freedom from death.

Through faith in Jesus Christ, God’s long-promised blessing of all tribes and tongues throughout the Earth becomes reality and all who put their faith in Christ are united with Him and filled with the Holy Spirit.

“The grass withers, the flower fades,
but the word of our God will stand forever.”
– Isaiah 40:8

As humans, we intensely feel the moment we’re in. We feel its crushing weight, its fears and anxieties, its passions, pleasures, and pains, its highs and its lows. We intensely feel the burden of recent weeks, months, and years.

Scripture reminds us that all these things are temporary. Our greatest achievements and also the horrors of the present will fade away. The empires we build and the indignities we suffer will one day be no more. Pandemics and politics will all pass away.

The Word of God isn’t temporary. The glorious truths of Scripture stand unchanging no matter what changes around us. God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit transcend time. God is sovereign over all things. God’s grace, mercy, love, patience, faithfulness, righteousness, mercy, holiness, and justice have no limits. We too will live forever (whether eternally in God’s presence or eternally separated from God in the Christ-less eternity of Hell). These things are permanent.

We must seek a godly perspective as we’re tempted to be swept up in the passions and crises of the present. The present is important and we must glorify God in the present, but the present is not all there is. Indeed, the present will soon be past. However, God’s Word, God’s truth, and God Himself stand forever. We must invest in forever, represent forever, find our hope in forever, and enjoy the peace that comes from living in the present with a forever perspective!

“Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
and he delivered them from their distress.
He made the storm be still,
and the waves of the sea were hushed.”
– Psalm 107:28-29

The ancient words of this psalm speak not only to God’s faithfulness in dangerous circumstances, but they reveal the true nature of Jesus. Hundreds of years after this psalm was written, Jesus and His disciples were journeying across the Sea of Galilee when a terrible storm arose and the disciples cried out to Jesus to help them. Jesus did what God did in this psalm – stilling the winds and calming the sea. In that moment, His disciples began to recognize that Jesus was truly God among them – Immanuel.

In life, we will experience storms, some years more than others. For followers of Jesus, we should always remember Who it is that promised He would never leave us nor forsake us: it is the God who calms storms. As you navigate the storms of life, never hesitate to cry out to God. Sometimes Christ will calm the storm. Other times, He will calm you amidst the ongoing storm. Either way, know and take comfort in Who is with you until the age of this age.

“And the Lord said:
‘Because this people draw near with their mouth
and honor me with their lips,
while their hearts are far from me,
and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men,
therefore, behold, I will again
do wonderful things with this people,
with wonder upon wonder;
and the wisdom of their wise men shall perish,
and the discernment of their discerning men shall be hidden.’”
– Isaiah 29:13-14

God always wants our heart. He isn’t particularly interested in our rituals, ceremonies, traditions, or forms of devotion, though these are often our highest priorities and the things we get most upset about. God cares that our hearts are near Him and desiring to draw nearer still.

In a year that’s focused on changing forms, traditions, and structures for public worship, too little attention has been paid to deepening our personal heart devotion to the Lord when we worship. The heart is far more important than the form when it comes to worship! We need to turn to the Lord with our hearts.

In ancient days, God saw this situation and promised Israel new wonders to draw their hearts to Him. He promised wonders that would confound the so-called earthly wisdom that dominated the marketplace of ideas. Lord, we need this today!!!

Lord, pull us away from the foolish wisdom of the world. Draw us nearer to you. Help us to overcome the idolatry of empty worship with our lips and into deep worship from our heart!