Welcome back to Defender’s Voice. This is Paul Kattupalli. Today let us talk about the rise of racial supremacist movements in America and around the world. White supremacist leaders like Richard Spencer are going around and preaching racial superiority theories in college campuses. Last weekend he spoke at University of Florida, Gainesville campus. A state of emergency was declared in and around the campus with hundreds of police and national guard. Watching these things is heartbreaking.
White supremacists believe that whites are superior to non-whites. The ideas of superiority are not limited to the West. In India we have caste system. I remember when I was in college in India students used to organize caste meetings. Students of different castes would hold different meetings talking about the greatness of their caste. The speakers would say, ‘my caste is great, my caste is superior to other castes’.
So, this is everywhere: one human being feeling and thinking he or she is superior to other human beings. My skin color is superior to your skin color, my race is superior to your skin color, my language is superior to your language, my tribe is superior to your tribe, my caste is superior to your caste…these ideas are universal.
We should evaluate all our ideas and proclivities in the light of scripture. Apostle Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 10:5, “Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ”.
There are so many ideologies in our society which raise against the knowledge of God. It is our responsibility to bring all our thoughts to the obedience of Christ. First, let us see what the Bible says about equality. Personally I found 7 areas in which God declared all human beings as equal. These are
Creation, Cohabitation Callousness Corruption, Calling, Christ, Condemnation
In Acts chapter 17, we see Apostle Paul interacting with the citizens of Athens. Greece was a polytheistic culture that practised slavery and discrimination of all stripes. When Paul went to Athens, it was full of idols. With all its idols, it still could not get rid of its emptiness. They built an altar with an inscription, To the Unknown God. Apostle Paul gave them a beautiful summary of Christian truth. Let us read a few verses from Acts chapter 17:
22 Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars’ hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious.
23 For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, To The Unknown God. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.
Apostle Paul, a Jew is speaking to the Gentiles. He repeatedly addressed them with the pronoun ‘we’, what we are in the sight of God, What we are as human beings irrespective of all our differences.
- Creation, We are equal in creation.
24 God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;
25 Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;
26 And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;
Paul told them we are made of one blood: We are equally created. All human beings are equal in creation. In Genesis 1:27, we read, So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
- Cohabitation: Then, we are equal in cohabitation.
26 And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;
Paul told them God determined our times and the bounds of our habitation. The children of Adam and Eve migrated around the world. They settled in different regions of the world. It was God’s plan for humanity. He determined the bounds of our habitation. We live in God, we move in God, we have our being in God. We are all his offspring. So, it is against the Word of God to think that people of one region are superior to the people of other region. We are equal in our cohabitation.
- Callousness: Then, we are equal in our callousness towards God.
v.27 That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from everyone of us:
God has been looking at humanity: Does anyone seek me? Does anyone feel after me? Does anyone search for me? But we were not seeking or feeling or searching for God. We had hardened our hearts. So, all of us, no matter what race we belong to, are equal in our callousness towards God.
- Corruption: All of us are equal in corruption.
29 Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device.
We are equal in corruption. We changed the glory of God into corruptible things. We turned to false religions and idols made of gold, silver, stone and art. Romans 3:23 says,
23 For there is no difference: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
Please note those words. When it comes to spiritual corruption, there is no difference. We all have sinned against God and fell short of His glory.
- Calling: Then we are equal in our calling. Verse 30.
30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent:
Now God commandeth all men everywhere to repent. We are equal in our calling because God is calling all of us to repent and turn to Him.
The most famous verse in the Bible, John 3:16 says, For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
For God so loved the world. When I was a teenager in India, a missionary from Canada told me those words: ‘For God so loved the world’. I became a Christian after hearing the gospel of Christ from this Canadian missionary. India, Canada, United States, China, Africa, wherever you are from, we are all equal in our calling by God.
- Christ: We are equal in Christ. Verse 31.
31 Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.
Apostle Paul was talking about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ here.
Lord Jesus Christ: He came to save all of us. Don’t you like that? He did not come for a particular race, for a particular nation, for a particular region. He came to save all of us. He loved all of us. He raised from the dead for all of us. He gave hope and assurance to all of us. Paul wrote in Galatians chapter 3
26 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.
27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
We are all children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. That is the central tenet of Christian faith. By faith in Lord Jesus Christ, we all became the children of God. Paul goes on to say,
28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.
We read in Romans 3:24
24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
The uniqueness of Christian faith is God offered his salvation, his justification, his grace, his righteousness, his love, his hope, his faith, his assurance to all of us for free, absolutely free in Christ. God is implicitly and explicitly declaring our equality in our salvation.
- Condemnation: We are equal in judgment.
Verse 31, Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness
All believers will stand before the judgment seat of Christ to give an account of their lives. All unbelievers will stand before the Great White Throne of Christ to receive the judgment for their sins. Every human being will receive a fair hearing when he or she stands before Christ. So, we are equal in judgment. God has no pet nations or pet races. He judges all races by the same standards of His righteousness.
So, two thousand years ago, when Apostle Paul, the Jew of the Jews met the Gentiles in Athens, he proclaimed them the gospel of Christ. He told them the equality of both the Jew and the gentile before God. From his Mars Hills sermon, we have seen seven things in which God proclaimed our equality.
Creation, Cohabitation Callousness Corruption, Calling, Christ, and Condemnation.
We are equal in creation, God created us equal
We are equal in cohabitation, we all live, move and have our being in God
We are equal in callousness, all of our hearts hardened towards God
We are equal in corruption, all of us sinned against God
We are equal in calling, God called all of us
We are equal in Christ, in Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek.
We are equal in condemnation, God disciplines and judges all human beings irrespective of their skin color.
So, Apostle Paul presented the gospel of Christ to the citizens of Athens based on the universal principles of God’s righteousness, justice and love. Christianity has the best solution to deal with racism: God. In the triune God, we have three distinct persons yet they are one. U pluribus unum: out of many one. God himself shows us the first u pluribus unum: One God out of three persons. These three persons – Father, Son and the Holy Spirit – they love each other, they respect each other, they thank each other, they enjoy each other, they serve each other, they sacrifice for each other. All the racism in our society will disappear if we follow the example of trinity.
Athens had innumerable gods except the God of the Bible. They erected that statue to the Unknown God. The Unknown God of ancient Athens was the God of the Bible. Our society is becoming like ancient Athens. We have so many gods in our society. Sadly, the God of the Bible is becoming the ‘Unknown God’. Our society has erected many statues to pagan gods.
Materialism, hedonism, environmentalism, Islamic radicalism, Eastern mysticism, socialism, Darwinism, humanism, atheism, and racism.
White supremacism is another idol our society built upon its Darwinian worldview. You see, there is no justification for racism in Christian faith. You can only built it upon atheism and Darwinism. White supremacism and Neo-Nazi philosophies were built upon Darwinism as the foundation. Nazis detested Christianity. Hitler and Nazi ideologues believed and embraced Darwinian naturalistic worldview. They believed they were on the highest branches of tree of evolution. That tree of evolution will only bring disorder and destruction. God planted the tree of life in the Garden of Eden. God created one couple – Adam and Eve as the parents of whole human race. God sent one Savior to redeem the whole humanity. There is only one solution to the rising tides of racism in our society: Preaching the account of Genesis creation and the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. May God have mercy on our generation and help us see the truth.
PRAYER: Dear Lord Jesus, we are saddened to see the rise of racism and bigotry in our time. You created one couple – Adam and Eve and put them in the Garden of Eden. Their offspring multiplied and covered this planet you so beautifully created. We forgot, often mocked the fact of creation and now we are fighting among ourselves based on race, region, religion etc, etc. Please forgive our sin of racism. Help us love you more and love the people around us regardless of their skin color. We thank you for being our Creator, redeemer and Savior. In your precious name we pray, Amen.