Colossians 3:10-11

Let me invite you to take your copy of God's Word, which I hope you have with you today, and turn to Paul's letter to the church at Colossae.

! It's the book of Colossians, chapter 3.

Colossians 3 · chapter mention

I remind you as we begin that this is God's Word to us, that it was written for His glory and for our good, and that we would all do well to listen to it in order to believe its promises and obey its commands.

As a way of introduction, just to be sure that everybody's on the same page together this morning, I'm going to remind you, this is a letter written by Paul.

It's one of his prison epistles. He was likely imprisoned in Rome. We don't know this for sure, but this is probably where he was at.

And he's writing to a church that he did not found. We believe that Epaphras founded it.

Again, we don't know this as fact, but it's largely accepted this is the case.

It's in that Epaphras became a believer, became a disciple of Christ upon visiting Paul in Ephesus.

He traveled back to his hometown of Colossae, and the church there was begun.

Colossae was a rather insignificant town.

That's of great encouragement to me that one of Paul's most beautifully theological books was written to a town that was fairly obscure.

Rome had recently moved the highway around Colossae and through Laodicea, and it was kind of falling into unimportance in the time.

And the encouragement to me in that is that there is no unimportant church.

The city itself may have been unimportant, but what was happening in this church mattered.

It grieved Paul as Epaphras has traveled to him and reported to him that there are some heresies encircling and within the church.

And Paul is then compelled to write this letter to them.

We don't know the exact nature of the heresies.

We can pick up on some clues in it as Paul teaches as he addresses unspecifically some of those heresies.

But as we've seen so far in the first two chapters, Paul is establishing, in large part, the major effort of the first two chapters,

is to develop a very clear Christology in the minds of the Colossian believers.

To be sure that they understand that Jesus is himself, the Son of God.

He is deity, and that his sacrifice on the cross was sufficient for their salvation.

That they are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.

There's no longer any need for a piling up of work to earn salvation.

But as he always does, as he turns from the doctrinal to the more practical, he gives application in his letters.

He says, now because of these great truths, because of what God has done on your behalf,

because of who you are in Christ, your life should begin to look this way.

And that's where we find ourselves in chapter 3.

He's beginning to unfold this for us.

Beginning of chapter 3, we're exhorted to, if we've been raised with Christ,

if we are in fact Christians, that we are to seek the things that are above.

That we're to set our minds on those things that are above, and not on the things that are on earth.

We've died to those things, and now we're meant to live to Christ.

And this text that we're kind of narrowing in on in these couple of weeks,

as Daniel came and read to us 5-17,

he begins to tell us some things that we're to put off,

our old self things, and things that we're to put on.

Things that we ought to be doing now as Christians.

Last week I showed you that the primary exhortation of 5-17 is found in the last part of verse 9,

and the first part of verse 10.

Seeing that, you have put off the old self with its practices,

and have put on the new self.

And we took as two points, we only developed point one last week,

what that is to put off the old self.

Stated in the negative, do not do these things any longer.

And then secondly, to put on the new self.

There, stated in the positive.

Instead of those things, rather, you should live in this way.

And to remind you of last week, to lead us up to our text today,

we're to put off the old self.

He says it again in verse 5 and in verse 8,

put to death therefore what is earthly in you.

He doesn't mean so literally, but figuratively.

Put to death those things.

Mortify your flesh.

In verse 8, but now you must put them all away.

And he gives us two lists.

These aren't exhaustive lists of all sin,

but they're very aimed lists.

They're very particular lists.

And those were sins of unrighteous love,

or misplaced or perverted love.

We saw those as sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, covetousness.

And then secondly, sins of unrighteous hate or wicked hate.

There are things in this world to hate rightly, properly, righteously,

but this is unrighteous hate he's talking about.

And we saw those to be anger, wrath, malice, slander, obscene talk, and deceit or lying.

And he gives us in that text two reasons that we should put sin to death.

Firstly, that sin brings God's judgment.

This is the thing that we invite upon ourselves when we sin.

Verse 6, on account of these, the wrath of God is coming.

Now, those who are found in Christ, have put on Christ,

are raised with Christ, using this language that he's used so far,

those sins have been bore in Christ's body.

That wrath of God for us has been poured out on him.

So that's not what Paul's saying.

He's saying if we're in Christ,

we ought not participate in these sins

because this is the reason that the world is being judged.

These sins are the reason that God's wrath is coming.

And those who are friends of God, children of God,

part of his kingdom, should have nothing to do.

With these things.

We should want nothing to do with it whatsoever.

No part in it at all.

And secondly, we should put sin to death

because sin is part of a believer's past.

Verse 7, Paul wrote,

In these you too once walked when you were living in them.

In the last part of verse 9,

seeing that you have put off the old self.

That's who you once were.

Your identity has changed completely now.

You're no longer children of wrath.

You're children of God.

And therefore should look different from the world.

And this morning, we're going to begin to look at the second exhortation of 5-17.

We're going to begin to look at it

because we're only going to look at verses 10 and 11.

And next week, I hope to tackle the rest through 17.

We'll see.

But that is, put on the new self.

Verse 10, I'll read to you again.

And have put on the new self,

which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.

And I want you to notice a few things about this.

Let me see how many things.

Three things I want you to notice about verse 10.

Notice firstly that our sanctification is progressive.

Our sanctification is progressive.

It's beginning phrase in verse 10,

have put on the new self.

The have put on is a single Greek verb.

It's in the aorist tense,

which denotes a snapshot,

a picture of a completed event.

The English translation does a great job here

putting it in the past tense.

You have put on the new self.

Those of us who are found in Christ have been changed.

We have been set apart.

This is accomplished work.

It's already completed.

But note then the rest of the verse,

which is being renewed.

Here, this which is being renewed,

believe it or not,

it's all one verb in the Greek,

and it's in the present tense,

which portrays an event that is currently happening

with no respect to its completion whatsoever.

It's in process,

and it's going to continue to be processed.

So we've been set apart,

and we're continually being set apart.

As Christians, we have been redeemed.

We have been made new,

but yet we still have our flesh,

and we struggle with it,

but we're being made new and perfect

each and every day,

moving towards the high goal

of glorification in Christ.

That day when we shed our earthly bodies,

when we're set free from sin entirely,

and we're found perfect in Him forever.

It is as if to say,

you have put on the new self,

so put on the new self.

You've put it on,

so keep it on.

It's essentially what Paul is communicating

here in verse 10.

And we have a sure promise of help in this.

Philippians 1.6, Paul writes,

and I am sure of this,

that He who began a good work in you

will bring it to completion

at the day of Jesus Christ.

He began the work,

and He will complete the work.

And he writes this later in 2 Corinthians 4.16,

So we do not lose heart,

though our outer self is wasting away.

Our inner self is being renewed day by day.

As I get a bit older,

and for those of you who are guests,

I'm 35,

and I know that that's not old

in many people's perspective,

but I'm beginning to feel age

as the years come on.

And it's encouraging to me to know

that I'm being perfected in the spiritual sense

as I'm becoming less perfect

in the physical sense.

I mentioned the wedding earlier,

and yesterday I was changing a light bulb.

This one.

Nope, that one.

And all of the sound equipment

was hidden in the back corner.

It was all stuffed around.

I couldn't move anything.

So I decided to climb up on top of the bass amp

to change the light bulb,

and I fell off of it.

And took a huge chunk of skin out of my shin

on a music stand.

And I asked Wes if he was coming up later,

can you help me change the rest of the light bulbs later?

Because I just took a big fall.

And he said, are you okay?

And I said, yeah,

I just wish I wouldn't hurt myself

doing stupid things.

And I used to do cool things and get hurt,

and now it's just stupid things.

So praise God that I'm being renewed in spirit

day by day.

I'm being perfected,

and I'm working toward that

even as my body is wasting away.

The late William Hendrickson,

a 20th century New Testament scholar,

said this of this text today,

when a man is led through the waters of salvation,

they are ankle deep at first,

but as he progresses,

they become knee deep,

and they reach through the loins

and are finally impassable

except by swimming.

And he means that as a positive thing,

a good thing that we must swim in God's grace

in our understanding of the gospel.

2 Corinthians 3,

18,

another expression of this truth,

Paul says,

and we all with unveiled face,

beholding the glory of the Lord,

are being transformed into the same image

from one degree of glory to another,

for this comes from the Lord,

who is the Spirit.

So there's a progressive sanctification

for those of us who are found in Christ.

Set apart for a special purpose,

the glory of God,

and being made perfect in our lives.

Secondly,

notice the means of our renewal.

Notice the means of our renewal.

Just read to you in 2 Corinthians 3,

2 Corinthians 3:18

verse 18,

for this comes,

sanctification,

this process of being changed

from one image of glory to another,

this comes from the Lord,

who is the Spirit.

And we must ask the question,

how does the Spirit of God,

who exists within those

who have placed faith in Christ,

accomplish this?

What does He do?

And we talked about this at length last week,

but I want you to see it again

here in verse 10,

in knowledge.

This phrase,

in knowledge.

I gave you a slew of texts last week.

I would encourage you to go look it up

if you care to see this in greater depth.

But Romans 12, 2,

the first part of that says,

do not be conformed to this world,

but be transformed,

changed from degree of glory

to degree of glory

by the renewal of your mind.

Think differently.

You are a child of God.

Understand that truth.

You don't have to be intelligent

to be a Christian.

You don't have to be high-minded

to be a Christian.

But when you become a Christian,

it necessitates upon you

that you think.

And that you think about God.

You become a theologian

when you become a Christian.

You must know the truth.

We've been given God's revelation.

He came down to become an author.

He wrote us a book.

And beloved, we should know it.

This is the way that the Spirit changes us.

There's further case for this.

Colossians 3.16a.

Later on in our text,

let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly.

And then Paul writes in 2 Timothy 3.16-17.

I hope you're familiar with this verse.

All Scripture is breathed out by God

and it's profitable.

What is it used for?

It's profitable for teaching,

for reproof,

for correction,

and for training in righteousness.

And what's the result of that?

That the man of God may be complete,

equipped for every good work.

Our progressive sanctification

is carried about by the Spirit

in knowledge.

He uses the Word of God

to shape us.

And if you're not finding,

if you're in Christ

and you're not finding

that you're progressing in sanctification,

more than likely,

the diagnosis for you

is read your Scripture.

Know your Bible.

Invite God to work it in your life

by the power of the Spirit

that you may be changed

from one degree to the next.

Thirdly,

notice the end

or the goal

of our renewal.

This last little phrase,

is after the image

of its Creator.

Now,

its is referring back

to the new self.

The Creator of that

being Christ.

We are being made

to look more like Christ

or

we are not His.

We are being made

to look more like Christ

or

we are not His.

If you have put off

the old self

and put on the new self,

then there will be progress

for you

in godliness.

This is the great work

of God on our behalf.

Changing our hearts.

Regenerating us.

Taking the old dead us

and putting in us

a heart that beats

for Him.

You will progress

in godliness

if you are found

in Christ.

Now,

in verse 11,

Paul does,

upon first reading,

a very curious thing.

It doesn't follow

in my logic

and the way I think

that this is where

he would go next.

difficult a bit to go.

Verse 11

almost seems like

it stands alone.

Like it's like

Paul suddenly had

this random aside

and he thought

he would just

throw it in

for the fun.

Verse 11 reads,

Here,

there is not

Greek and Jew,

circumcised

and uncircumcised,

barbarian,

Scythian,

slave,

free,

but Christ is all

and in all.

Let me show you

the way in which

that doesn't

stand apart,

that it is in fact

logical and flows

in what he's

trying to say.

He has been talking

about these sins,

these particular sins,

these sins of

unrighteous love

or these sins of

unrighteous hate.

He's been talking

about these things

and all of these sins

are relational sins.

They have to do

with the way in which

we interact

with one another.

I believe he's

particularly talking

to the church.

The way in which

you interact with

each other

as Christian people.

Certainly we can

take the implications

out beyond

the borders

of our body,

but specifically

this is what

he's referring to.

And so he's

turning now

and saying

here is the

proper way

in which

you should live.

And he starts

with these

borders,

these barriers

that have been

put up

by people

of the day.

The way in which

they were so

obstinate toward

one another

around these

particular things.

So he begins

by breaking

those things

down.

And in the next

week we'll see

the way in which

they're meant

to love each other.

In spite of

your differences,

in spite of

your barriers,

you should live

this way

together.

This is a great

exhortation

for the church

today.

Ephesians 2

13-16

says this,

but now

in Christ

Jesus,

you who

once were

far off

have been

brought near

by the blood

of Christ.

For he himself

is our peace

who has made

us both one

and has broken

down in his

flesh the

dividing wall

of hostility,

the barriers

of hostility

between us

by abolishing

the law of

commandments

expressed in

ordinances

that he might

create in

himself one

new man

in place of

the two,

so making

peace.

It might

reconcile us

or bring us

back into

right relation

both to

God in

one body

through the

cross,

thereby killing

the hostility.

So the gospel

cuts the head

off the snake

of hostility.

It does away

with these

barriers that

are created

by men.

And they exist.

They're real.

They function

in our world.

We're going to

look at this

list of them

here and these

were barriers

to be sure.

Paul mentions

the dividing

wall.

These were

lines that

were not

crossed in

this day.

The closest

thing that I

can think of

in our

modern day

world is

India's

caste system.

And actually

as I began

to do some

research on

the caste

system,

it seems

much looser

than these

barriers were

in this day.

These were

strict things

that everyone

obeyed.

And he is

saying that

the gospel

destroys those

walls.

It changes

us in a

very peculiar

and wonderfully

God-glorifying

way in

this world.

So he

tells us

about some

varying

barriers.

Firstly,

the ethnic

barriers.

Greeks

and Jews.

These were

people groups.

Real people

groups that

really exist.

Bloodlines

that exist.

Greek and

Jew.

He talks

about religious

barriers.

Those who

were circumcised

and those

who were

uncircumcised.

You know

much of your

Bible or

history,

you know

that Jews

were commanded

to be

circumcised

and those

outside the

faith were

uncircumcised.

We would

typically refer

to these

people as

Gentiles.

I think

all of us,

unless somebody

who hears of

Jewish descent

ethnically,

are probably

counted in that

number.

The uncircumcised

that the gospel

advanced to.

We were able

to receive the

good news of

Jesus Christ.

What a blessed

thing that is.

These things,

these barriers

have been broken

down.

There's a very

serious level

of animosity

in this day

between Jews

and Greeks.

Gentiles is a

broader category.

They had

nothing to do

with one another.

Jewish people

refused to

enter into a

Gentile house.

Refused to

go into a

Gentile house.

You know why?

Because they

believed that

all Gentiles

aborted their

children and

put them down

the drains in

their homes.

And therefore

they couldn't

go in or

else they

would be

defiled.

Very severe

judgment cast.

Now some of

this maybe

happened,

but all of

them was the

Jewish

understanding.

They would

not eat a

meal or

purchase meat

that was

butchered by

a Gentile.

When they

returned to

Jerusalem,

it was the

practice.

Not occasionally,

but everyone

that was Jewish

when they

returned to

Jerusalem would

show their

disdain for

the Gentiles

by shaking the

dust off their

clothes and

sandals.

To shortly

be dirty back

up as they

continued in

Jerusalem.

It was a way

of saying we're

not even going

to carry

Gentile dust

into our

city.

They hated

them and the

Gentiles the

same.

They returned

the disdain

for one

another.

Do you

recall the

reluctance of

the apostles

to accept

Gentile believers?

It was a

difficult thing

for them to

get past,

understand the

gospel of

grace.

I would

encourage you to

read Acts 10

and 11.

You can read

about Peter's

vision, the

way that God

had to come

and give him

this vision and

then Peter goes

and sees

conversions and

spirit filling

of Gentiles and

then commends to

the rest of the

apostles that this

is right and

proper and a

work of God.

A great deal of

animosity between

one another.

And Paul is

saying that the

gospel destroys

that division.

The old man

held to these

things, the new

man thinks

nothing of

them any

longer.

He points out

cultural barriers.

He talks about

the barbarians

and the

Scythians.

The barbarian

was a broad

term for those

people, particularly

the Greeks and

the Jews who

tended to be a

very educated

people, to

speak of those

people who

were uneducated.

They were

inarticulate in

their speech.

In fact, the

term barbarian

comes from what

they jested that

they sounded

like, that they

just talked like

this, bar,

bar, bar, bar, bar.

They said nothing

intelligible at

all.

That's where this

phrase barbarian

comes from.

The most feared

of the barbarians

were the

Scythians.

This was actually

a people group.

The Jewish

historian Josephus

in Against

Apion wrote,

the Scythians

delight in

murdering people

and are little

better than

wild beasts.

Right?

Hated.

The way they

were as an

aggressive people

was hated by

the Jews and

the Greeks.

Paul speaks of

social barriers.

Slave and

free.

Slaves in this

day had

extremely low

social standing.

Less than

people.

Does that sound

familiar at all?

Aristotle records

that they were

considered living

tools to be

used and then

discarded.

And the gospel

here again

breaks this

down.

Paul writes

in Galatians

3.28,

there is neither

Jew nor

Greek.

There is neither

slave nor

free.

There is no

male and

female.

He adds yet

another social

barrier that's

been abolished

by the gospel.

For you are

all one in

Christ Jesus.

He says it

again in 1

Corinthians 12.13,

for in one

spirit we were

all baptized

into one body,

Jews or

Greeks,

slaves or

free,

and all

were made

to drink

of one

spirit.

All of these

differences that

we have are

no longer of

any importance

whatsoever because

now we have

Christ.

The gospel of

Jesus destroys

them, breaks

them down,

ethnic,

religious,

cultural,

and social,

abolishes them

altogether because

it's phrased at

the end of verse

11, Christ is

all and in

all.

Christ is

all and

he is in

all.

And I believe

what Paul is

trying to say

is that Christ

is everything.

He is the

great equalizer.

If we have

Christ then we

have the

greatest thing

in common

that we could

possibly have

in common.

All of a sudden

all of the

differences between

us become

entirely

insignificant

because we

have

Christ.

We are so

apt as

people to

be a number

of things,

to define

ourselves in

a number

of ways,

to add up

a list of

things and

somewhere in

that list of

things that I

am I place

Christian.

Oh, oh and

I'm a disciple

of Christ.

If you are in

Christ you are a

Christian first.

Great difference

between people in

this world are

those who are

enemies of God

and those who

are friends of

God, those who

are outside of

Christ and those

who are in

Christ.

This should be

the first thing

that we list,

the first way

that we think

about ourselves.

I am Nathan

and I am a

Christian and

I do this or

I do that.

I am married,

I have children,

etc.

etc.

etc.

I am a

Christian first.

It should

invade all

of who I

am.

We are so

apt to

segment

ourselves off

as Christian

people.

Beloved,

this should

not be so

with us.

We're drawn

together by

affinities and

I think the

great issue

there is

because we

don't talk

about Jesus

Christ as

much as we

should.

We don't

talk about

the thing

we have

in common

and share

in that

enough,

but we

want to

talk about

whatever

sports we're

into,

our favorite

team,

our gardens,

what we're

doing on

our house,

our children.

We should

be talking

about Christ

more than

those things.

We could

talk about

those things,

but more

than those

things,

and we

should see

what we

share in

common.

We should

so love

Jesus that

we want to

see the way

in which he's

working in

other people's

lives.

We should

hunger for

that,

to say to

other people,

how is the

Lord working

and changing

you?

I need to

see a fresh

picture of

grace today.

Sometimes I

fail to

believe the

gospel in

my activity,

in my day.

I fail to

remember that

it has power

to change me

because I

stop looking

at the way

in which it's

working in

other people's

lives.

We divide

ourselves up

by the

stupidest of

things.

This is why

I am against

affinity-based

churches.

They infuriate

me that we

target a

particular hobby

in order to

build a

church around

a hobby.

It makes

no sense to

me whatsoever.

I'm okay with

hanging out with

people that like

to do stuff I

like in order to

share the gospel

with them,

but to do

everything you

do in order to

attract a

particular little

segment of

society,

I think,

it's my

opinion,

is sin.

people.

Our evangelism,

the way in

which we go

out into the

world should

be entirely

indiscriminate.

Entirely.

Because we

see people.

The great

thing that we

have in

common apart

from Christ

is our

sin.

People need

salvation.

Everyone is

headed without

Jesus to

eternal

destruction.

There's the

affinity.

What do

they need?

The gospel.

This is how

we should

build our

churches.

Now it

happens that

we gather

around

affinity.

There are

a lot of

college students

in our

congregation,

are there

not?

But that's

based on

relationship,

based on

people you

know,

and who

you invite,

and who

you're sharing

your faith

with.

That is

good,

and fine,

and acceptable,

but when we

narrow our

reach,

I think it's

sin.

Christ is

all,

and he's

in all,

the great

equalizer,

the great

thing that

we have

in common.

Back in

the beginning

of verse 11,

Paul says,

here there

is not.

And this

here refers

back to

verse 10,

to the new

self.

This new

self that's

being renewed

in the image

of its

creator.

The NASB

version,

I think,

renders this

well to

help us

understand,

says,

a renewal

in which

there is

no distinction

between

these varying

barriers.

A renewal

in which

there is

no distinction

between.

It does

not

belong

amidst

the people

of God.

So this

is what he

says should

not cause

conflict.

There should

not be

barriers

between

these

things,

these

ethnic,

religious,

cultural,

social barriers.

These are

realities,

real things,

real barriers

that should be

abolished by

the gospel.

But I want

you to also

see this

morning what

he doesn't

say,

what he

doesn't talk

about.

Sometimes the

silence of the

scripture screams

something to

us.

And in this

case, I think

we need to

see that he

does not

talk about

race.

He does

not mention

race.

Not because

race is not

abolished by

Christ,

not because

it didn't

have the

power to

do so,

but because

race does

not exist.

race is

not a

real

thing.

Before your

head explodes,

racism

certainly

exists.

Racism is

a thing

that's been

created.

It exists,

but race

does not.

And I'll

tell you,

as I go

on to prove

this to

you,

that reality

makes racism

extremely

ridiculous.

It's

childish.

It's

stupid.

And we

have men

in some

of the

highest

offices in

our country

that act

as if

everything

hangs and

depends on

this reality

of race

and it

doesn't

exist.

I'd encourage

you to stop

listening to

such men.

Ethnic,

religious,

cultural,

social barriers

have a

basis in

reality.

Race is

based on

features.

characters.

It's

based on

appearances

most

prominently

on skin

color.

Now,

I'm not

going to

deal for

a long

time with

this because

we just

don't have

time.

I owe

you guys

a shorter

sermon.

I'm aware

of that.

There's

more to

be said

about this,

but I

hope this

will start

a conversation

concerning it.

Anthropologists

have agreed

for centuries,

centuries,

that race

is socially

constructed,

and that is

to say that

we invented

it,

that we

made it

up to

serve our

ends.

Listen to

this.

This is an

article written

by the

American

Anthropological

Association,

and this

is their

statement on,

and I love

that they

do this,

quote-unquote

race.

Every time

they say

it in

this article,

it's race.

Here we

go.

Historical

research has

shown that

the idea

of race

has always

carried more

meanings than

mere physical

differences.

Indeed,

physical

variations in

the human

species have

no meaning

except the

social ones

that humans

put on

them.

Today,

scholars in

many fields

argue that

race,

as it is

understood in

the United

States of

America,

was a

social

mechanism

invented

during the

18th century

to refer

to those

populations

brought

together

in

colonial

America.

The

English

and other

European

settlers,

the

conquered

Indian

peoples,

and those

peoples of

Africa

brought in

to provide

slave labor,

created race

in order to

perpetuate

the things

they were

trying to

accomplish.

Further in

the article,

race thus

evolved as

a worldview,

a body of

prejudgments

that distorts

our ideas

about human

differences and

group behavior.

Racial beliefs

constitute myths

about the

diversity in

the human

species and

about the

abilities and

behavior of

people homogenized

into racial

categories.

The myths

fused behavior

and physical

features together

in the public

mind,

impeding our

comprehension

of both

biological

variations and

cultural behavior,

implying that

both are

genetically

determined.

Racial myths

bear no

relationship to

the reality of

human capabilities

or behavior.

Scientists

today find

that reliance

on such

folk beliefs

about human

differences in

research has

led to

countless

errors.

I'm going to

sum that up for

you in my

terminology in

case you lost

me in that

language.

What they're

saying is that

race has been

socially constructed

in order to

perpetuate ideas

about people who

look different

and that the

appearance of

people has

nothing to do

with their

ability as

people.

But we have

tied the two

together and

invented this

thing which I

am calling

racism.

We categorize

people in

this way.

A very

severe example

of this

working out

in our

world with

a tragic

outcome is

the 1994

Rwandan

genocide.

I hope you're

familiar with

this.

I hope you

are paying

attention to

the news and

seeing these

types of

events.

In 1994

in an

approximately

100-day

period from

April 7th to

mid-July,

an estimated

500,000 to

a million

Rwandans

were killed.

It is tragic

to me that

we have to

estimate it,

that we don't

even know

the real

number of

people that

were slaughtered

in this

genocide.

The mass

slaughter of

Tutsi were

genocide by

the Hutu in

Rwanda.

Now to give

you just a

little background

history,

the Hutu were

the people that

were indigenous

to the land

of Rwanda.

The Tutsi

migrated from

Ethiopia in

the 14th

century.

Interestingly,

the Tutsi

were originally

called the

Kushites.

Anybody

remember in

the scripture

someone who

married a

Kushite?

Moses.

Moses were

married to

a black

woman,

quote unquote

black woman.

But the

Tutsi migrated

from Ethiopia

in the 14th

century.

So 500

years have

passed.

Rwanda is

a nation

state.

It was

taken over

by Germany

after World

War I was

given to

Belgium.

This is

kind of the

background.

This has

become a

people,

the Rwandan

people.

This has

happened.

But in

order to

segregate

them,

many of

the Tutsis

had risen

up.

They were

in a lot

of the

ruling

places.

But in

order to

continue to

perpetuate

that,

to keep

that going,

Belgium

brought coffee

production.

They needed

a large

class of

workers.

They

divided

them.

You know

how they

divided

them?

They set

a standard

for what

qualified you

as a

Tutsi and

what qualified

you as

a Hutu.

They took

measurements.

they required

people to

be cataloged.

They took

measurements of

their head

size and

their nose

size and

their height.

The Tutsis

were believed,

it was

postulated,

that because

they were

from Ethiopia

that they

were more

European and

therefore were

more excellent

than the

Hutu.

These people

had lived

together for

500 years.

It had no

real basis of

ethnicity any

longer.

They were

Rwandans and

yet they were

divided along

these lines of

measurements.

So socially

constructed,

you see what

I'm saying?

They created

two races based

on appearance,

two races,

and the end

result of that

was a great

hatred for

one another

that ended

in this

mass,

mass genocide.

Severe

example for

sure.

But do you

not see the

way those

same types

of things

are at

work in

our nation?

So what

does the

Bible have

to say about

race?

Number one,

the Bible

correlates

Adam as

the head of

the physical

humanity and

Jesus Christ

as the head

of the spiritual

humanity.

We have one

descendant in

Adam.

We are the

human race.

We all have

the same

great,

great,

great,

great grandfather.

Noah,

if you prefer.

And Jesus

Christ is the

head of the

spiritual

humanity.

Read Romans

5,

1 Corinthians

15,

20-22

says,

But in

fact,

Christ has

been

raided from

the dead,

the first

fruits of

those who

have fallen

asleep.

For as by

a man came

death,

by a man

came also

the resurrection

of the dead.

For as in

Adam all

die,

so also in

Christ shall

all be

made alive.

You're seeing

the connectivity

there.

The scriptures

support the

idea that we

have a

single source

for who we

are as

people.

Secondly,

the Bible

makes the

common origin

of humanity

God.

It goes a

bit higher

and above

that.

Acts 17,

24-26,

this is

Paul preaching.

He says,

the God

who made

the world

and everything

in it,

being Lord

of heaven

and earth,

does not

live in

temples made

by man,

nor is he

served by

human hands

as though he

needed anything,

since he

himself gives

to all

mankind life

and breath

and everything.

And he

made from

one man

every nation

of mankind

to live on

all the face

of the earth,

having determined

a lot of

periods and

the boundaries

of their

dwelling place.

So Paul

then draws

the proper

distinction

between

nation,

ethnicity,

but he

draws us

all up

to God.

We have

a single

origin

of our

humanity.

God

through

Adam

and now

our

spiritual

reality

in

Christ.

The Bible

speaks

clearly

that this

race

does