How Many Races Do You See?

Hello ladies and gentlemen, my name is Justin Peters, I hope that you and your family are doing well today. I want to thank you very much for watching this video, and I must sincerely apologize for being a bit derelict in my responsibilities in getting these devotionals to you for the last couple weeks.

It's just been a busy stretch, and I've begun traveling again and preaching. Just returned from my first preaching trip since the COVID -19 thing began. I preached at a really good little church there in Denton, Texas, named the Church at Pecan Creek.

Had a wonderful time there. Kathy went with me. We both had just a really sweet time there the past few days, and so we're back now at our home in Bozeman, Montana, and I want to bring to you this short little devotional.

The Unity of Believers Across Nations and Cultures

Undoubtedly, we are all grieved by what we are seeing transpire in our nation right now with all of the riots, which of course began with the senseless and horrific murder of George Floyd and all the violence that has ensued.

Many people have been killed and murdered since that began. I want to bring to you just a very simple gospel truth here. Look at the picture that I have here. These are some individuals that I have met in my travels over the past several years, and this is just a very, very small sampling, but just a few of the precious people that I've met in my traveling and preaching over the last several years.

Here you see people from Central and South American countries, from several African countries, or I guess in this picture just a couple of different African countries, but some from Fiji, one brother there from the Middle East.

I see some friends and brothers and sisters-in-law that I met in Singapore and in India, just all over the world. One of the tremendous blessings that has been mine is to be able to travel around the world and preach and teach the gospel of Christ.

One Human Race in Adam

I want to ask you a question. As you look at this picture, how many races do you see represented here in this picture? How many different races do you think are represented? Well, the answer is one. There's just one race represented here.

I want to read to you a verse out of Acts 17, verse 26. Luke, of course, the author of Acts, says this, Oftentimes we think in terms of race as being white, black, brown, red, whatever, but that is not a biblical concept.

The whole idea of race is really a man-made concept. It is not a biblical concept at all. All of us as human beings are one race. We are Adam's race, God created from one man, all different. In the Greek, the word is ethnos, ethnicities.

There are different ethnicities, but there is only one race, the human race. And so all of us, regardless of how much melanin we have or do not have in our skin, we are all from one race. There is only one race.

Christian Unity in Christ

And one of the true joys that has been mine, I'm so grateful that God has given me the opportunities to preach that I have in so many different parts of the world. I think as of this recording, I've been in 27 different countries.

Some of those countries multiple times, but 27 different countries. And by God's grace, if he allows me to do so, by this time next year, I'll have added two or three more countries to that list. But one of the beautiful things that I have seen, one of the incredible blessings that has been mine as I have traveled and preached in all these different places over the last number of years, is that it does not matter where I am in the world.

It does not matter what culture I am in. It doesn't matter how much the people have or how little they have. It doesn't matter what language is spoken. When I am with like-minded believers in Christ, there is an instant bond there.

There is an instant kindred spirit there. There is an instant fellowship there. And there is an instant love there. I love these people and they love me because we're family. And none of these superficial differences matter at all.

And what else does not matter is what shade our skin is, how much melanin we have in our skin. And really, we are all the same color even. We're all the same color. Some of us just have a little bit more melanin in our skin than do others.

But it doesn't matter what color our skin is. I can be with someone in some far-flung country halfway around the world, meet them for the very first time, and when we are like-minded believers, there is just an instant connection there.

We're drawn to each other. I feel instantly at ease with these individuals and they do with me, even though we've never met. It's like taking two magnets and you put the two opposite poles together and they just zoom, just like they've drawn to each other.

And the reason for that is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. We are one in Christ. I can meet someone for the very first time and talk with them for five minutes. And when we're like-minded in Christ, I love him and he loves me.

None of these superficial differences matter because we have both been adopted into the family of God by the merits of Christ. And as Christians, you and I have brothers and sisters. We have family members all over the world.

And none of these superficial differences matter. There is neither Jew nor Greek. There is neither slave nor free. There is neither male and female, for we are all one in Christ Jesus. We have been purchased by the blood and death of the Lord Jesus Christ.

We have been redeemed by His work on the cross and we have been adopted into the family of God, sealed by His Holy Spirit, indwelt by His Holy Spirit. We are all one in Christ. And so this whole construct of race, this is something that is trying to divide us unnecessarily.

It's trying to divide us, quite honestly, over something that doesn't even really exist. It's not even a thing. You know, these races, these different races, it's not even a thing. What is a thing is the unity that we have in the Lord Jesus Christ.

And so if you know Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, no matter where on the planet you may be watching me from right now, if you know Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, you're my brother. You're my sister.

I'm your brother. Because we have been adopted into the family of God. Praise be His name. So how many races do you see in that picture? One. Just one. If you're in Christ, we are all one in Christ Jesus.

Praise be His name. I hope that this encourages you today, dear ones. Thank you very much for watching. Until our next time together, may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of His Holy Spirit be with you all.