Afar Off or Aliens?

          John 10:10 tells us that the thief—Satan—comes to steal, kill, and destroy. So it should not surprise us that the forces of evil are working overtime to steal our unity in the Church, in nations, and in the human race. The Creator gave life to just one race of earthly beings—the Adamic race. All human beings are made in the image of God, as spirit beings with a soul and a physical body comprised of the elements of this earth according to a unique genetic design.
            Within that human design are all sorts of variations in ethnicity, personality, and talents. All humanity faces the same repercussions of our human ancestors’ choice to disobey God and eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. That is, a spirit that is disconnected from God. Every person is capable of doing good and every person is capable of committing evil. What has restrained evil throughout history is a sense of something greater than any one individual. It is the acceptance of the greater heavenly truths encompassed in justice, mercy, and the value of life. It is the nature of lawlessness, sponsored by Satan, to undermine these truths.
            The Chronos Lesson: When the Son of God was given to redeem the human race, Ephesians 2:11-16 describes the overcoming power of that first coming. “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ” (vs.13). Jesus willingly sacrificed His perfect life on behalf of the imperfect human race, thereby overcoming the death sentence from the Fall of mankind. By overcoming death, Christ diluted the significance of our fleshly labels.
            Certainly the distinguishing traits of our being remain, such as male/female, extrovert/introvert, nationality, ethnicity, talents/abilities, and occupation. In addition, every person who has accepted Jesus as the Savior likewise carries the distinction of the Holy Spirit abiding within him or her and being members in His Body. It is the Spirit who empowers us to gain intimate understanding of the realities of being in Christ and being servants of God. Whether Jew or Gentile, we are no longer afar off from God. We are no longer aliens to the New Covenant relationship with the Godhead.
            This is why Paul could boldly declare: “For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:37-39). No matter what lawless things or perilous times or persecution rises up against us, “in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.”
            The only critical truth we need to know about our race is that God created every person, whether or not they acknowledge it. God loves each person perfectly, whether or not they accept it. He longs for every person to be saved. No one aspect of our being, including the color of our skin, condemns a person as being inherently evil—or for that matter, inherently good. For every one of us falls short of the glory of God seen in Christ’s earthly ministry.
            Of course it is important to seek justice and try to come against evil, but not as the fallen world defines it. For it is the nature of lawlessness to call that which is evil good, and that which is good evil. At the end of the day and the end of the Days, the one and only distinguishing human trait that matters is if we are “in Christ” and therefore our name is in the Book of Life.
            “For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren” (Heb. 2:10-12).