Our nation continues to experience tension and violence because of the long standing tensions between black and white citizens due to racism. Some individuals and groups seek to inflame the bitterness and keeps the vicious cycle of retaliation going. Jesus came to reconcile us to God and one another by removing what the Bible calls the “wall of hostility” between the races, genders, differing socioeconomic groups, the young and old, and anything else that tends to divide us.
For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us. 15 He did this by ending the system of law with its commandments and regulations. He made peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new people [literally “man”] from the two groups. 16 Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his death on the cross, and our hostility toward each other was put to death. 17 He brought this Good News of peace to you Gentiles who were far away from him, and peace to the Jews who were near. 18 Now all of us can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us. Ephesians 2:14-18 (NLT)
Before Christ’s death and resurrection, all people could be divided into two overall groups – the children of Abraham, who were also called children of the promise, and the Gentiles, who had no access to God or his covenant promises. The people of Israel were the physical and spiritual children (including converts) of Abraham, with whom God made a covenant to make him and his descendants a blessing to the entire world. Circumcision was the mark of that covenant that existed between God and these people, who became the nation of Israel. To a large extent (except in the case of Gentile converts), being a part of the covenant nation was racially based via genetic descent from Abraham, as long as the covenant was embraced by successive generations.
Within the Jewish religious system, men had a place of higher privilege than women in the religious and social order. There also was an established order based on family lines, which either privileged a person to do the work connected with the Temple and the sacrifices or excluded him. These lines of demarcation were based on physical attributes – race, gender, and family. In addition, the Jews separated themselves from all outside influences and contaminants in an effort to keep their ethnic and religious identity.
All of this created what was called by some a “wall of hostility” between Jew and Gentile that went all the way back to Cain and Abel, Isaac and Ishmael, and Jacob and Esau. The chosen sons down through history received the promises and blessings, but the rejected children were excluded from God’s best, which gave birth to resentment and bitterness, which are still evident in the Middle East and elsewhere. Jesus came to change all that.
Our New Identity in Christ
Man’s inhumanity to man is rooted in his separation from God.
Cut off from God, the source of life and identity, because of our sin, we look in other places for a sense of worth, identity, and meaning. In an effort to feel better about ourselves and defend ourselves from the scary unknown, we tend to persecute and hurt those not like us. In order to feel okay about doing this, we usually dehumanize the “enemy” in some way. Jews referred to Gentiles as “dogs.” Some whites in this country at one time held the opinion that Native Americans and blacks did not have souls. Today the most persecuted group are unborn infants. Those who justify abortion claim they are not yet humans. Nothing much has changed. Ironically many of those who complain the loudest about black-white inequities promote abortion. There are none righteous in God’s sight. We are all sinners in desperate need of mercy.
Jesus arrived on planet earth on a mission to overcome our separation from God and destroy the deeply rooted hostilities associated with race, gender, socioeconomic, and religious bias. He did this by putting those things death on the cross and creating in himself one new people who transcend all these hostilities.
When Jesus rose from the dead, he created a new edition of humanity and an entirely new reality for those who are born into the kingdom of God, one that transcends the things that previously divided us.
The Death of Racial Privilege
When Jesus died, it marked the death of the privileges connected with being a racial Jew. Jesus was the most important Jewish son ever born. He was the ultimate Son of Promise, the Messiah, the “seed” prophesied to Eve and to Abraham (Genesis 3:15, 22:18).
When Jesus died, not only did sin lose its power over those who trust in Christ, the privilege connected with being a racial Jew, as opposed to being a Gentile, was also put to death.
We can and should extrapolate this glorious truth to include all forms of racial privilege. In Christ, racism officially died on the cross. Now the only reality that matters is answered by how we answer the question, “Who is your Father?”
All those who are born of God through faith in Christ have one and the same Father. Therefore, we are all brothers and sisters in the same family. There is no place for racial or any other sorts of divisions in the Body of Christ.
Unfortunately, many people, even those who profess Christ, have not heard or do not believe that the war has ended.
For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on the character of Christ, like putting on new clothes. 28 There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you. Galatians 3:26-29 (NLT)
The Death of Gender Privilege
Jesus, the perfect man of God died at Calvary, and with him died gender-based privileged access to God and the work of ministry. In Christ and the new resurrection reality, there is nothing remaining that excludes anyone from the blessings and privileges of sonship in Christ. This is because all believers are now included in all that belongs to the Resurrected Son of Promise. What is his has become ours. Our relationship with God is qualitatively the same relationship as the Eternal Son’s (excluding, of course, his divinity) because his Spirit indwells us.
By faith and through the new birth, in Christ we are all “sons.”
But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. 5 God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children. 6 And because we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, “Abba, Father.” 7 Now you are no longer a slave but God’s own child. And since you are his child, God has made you his heir. Galatians 4:4-7 (NLT)
Now before you begin to put words into my mouth and make assumptions about where this line of reasoning is taking us, let me affirm that I know we live in a world in which we have bodies that are definitely male and female. Paul would not have disputed this. Sexual differentiation makes men and women different physically, emotionally, and functionally. By saying that there is no longer any gender-based privilege or access to God or ministry, I also am not denying the clear teaching of Scripture which affirms that God, for the present time, has given headship responsibilities to the husband in the family and to elders in the church – roles that are distinctly masculine. I also recognize that God has given men and women gender-specific roles in life, such as mother and father and husband and wife.
That being said, in terms of our identity in Christ, there is no qualitative difference. In addition, God has, can, and does appoint women to leadership and ministry roles, as he pleases. This has a Biblical precedent in the Old Testament in the case of Deborah, who ruled Israel and commanded its military leaders. It can also be argued from the New Testament, but that is beyond the scope of this meditation. I hope we can agree that the resurrection reality is that there is “no male or female” (Galatians 3:28). God is able to import that reality into our present historical context any time he chooses, just as he did with Deborah.
What will be our experienced reality in the resurrection and is already true in Christ.
The Death of Religious Privilege
The religious aspect of the wall of hostility came down when Jesus, the high priest according to the line of Melchizedek, died. The historic Old Covenant privileges associated with the line of Aaron came to an end at Calvary. The Old Covenant sacrifices and offerings were fulfilled in Christ as well, making them obsolete and soon to fade from existence.
When God speaks of a “new” covenant, it means he has made the first one obsolete. It is now out of date and will soon disappear. Hebrews 8:13 (NLT)
Christ’s death and resurrection destroyed the clergy-laity divide, making all of God’s people priests.
But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light. 10 “Once you had no identity as a people; now you are God’s people. Once you received no mercy; now you have received God’s mercy.” 1 Peter 2:9-10 (NLT)
Each follower of Christ is called, equipped, and anointed to do the work of the ministry and to offer New Covenant sacrifices, such as offering ourselves in service to Christ, giving to the needy, offering praise to God, and showing hospitality.
Jesus rejected the established way of achieving prominence in the religious world of his day. He did not attend the schools which were designed to accredit, prepare, and propel a man into a religious career. Instead he depended on God to prepare, anoint, and accredit him. In addition, Jesus chose simple men and women to be his disciples and trained them using his own methods, which were a combination of teaching and doing. He taught and modeled the behavior he desired and sent his disciples out to test their wings. In three years he produced a band of followers, who, through the power of the Holy Spirit, turned the world upside down.
The church will flourish as it puts into practice the Reformation doctrine of the priesthood of the believer, equipping and launching people into Great Commission disciple making.
The Death of Socioeconomic Privilege
The socioeconomic divide was also removed in Christ. Jesus, the glorious King of Kings, set aside his incomparable wealth and privilege as the Eternal Son of God and was born in a manger, lived as a relatively poor man in an oppressed nation, associated with the poor and the outcasts, was crucified as a criminal, and was buried in a common tomb that belonged to someone else.
When Jesus rose from the dead, rich and poor were made equal because of the liberating power of the Gospel and the Holy Spirit.
His mighty arm has done tremendous things! He has scattered the proud and haughty ones. 52 He has brought down princes from their thrones and exalted the humble. 53 He has filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich away with empty hands. 54 He has helped his servant Israel and remembered to be merciful. 55 For he made this promise to our ancestors, to Abraham and his children forever.” Luke 1:51-55 (NLT)
Conclusion
All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. Ephesians 1:3 (NLT)
All blessings and our identity in the new creation order of things is found in Christ. Outside of him, we are lost and impoverished. In him, we are part of God’s family and incalculably wealthy and privileged. All that divided people because of religious, racial, ethnic, social, and gender issues has been removed by Christ. All believers are part of the one new perfect man who pleases God in every way. When we choose to acknowledge and live according to this new reality, we confirm the truth of the gospel and honor our Lord.
