Sumter Pastor Joey Durham: God is forming church with no prejudices
The thought on my heart for today is, "Biblical Race Facts, not Theory," and my text is Acts 17:29-31, where we see, "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. And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: Because he hath appointed a day, in 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." (KJV)
In these days when confusion concerning the truth of God's Word is on the increase, it is important to be reminded of some rock-solid facts from the Word of God. There is but one race of people, the human race, created by God with every human being having come from Adam, the first man. (Genesis 1:26-27)
Adam sinned in the Garden of Eden, and his fall in sin is the root cause of all hatred and prejudice against people for whatever reason. (Romans 5:12)
Because of the wickedness of man, the entire human race was destroyed by a worldwide flood except for Noah and his family. (Genesis Ch. 6, 2 Peter 3:6)
Every person on this Earth today has descended from Noah and from one of his three sons. (Genesis 9:18-19) The different nations and languages began as a result of God's judgment at the Tower of Babel. (Genesis Ch. 11) God chose one nation, the descendants of Shem, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to point the human race to the one true God and to be a witness of God's goodness to all the nations of the earth. (Isaiah 43:10)
It was through God's earthly covenant people, Israel, that God sent His only begotten Son to be the Savior of the world and to die for the human race. (John 3:16, John 4:42)
Today, God is visiting the nations with the Gospel of the grace of God, calling out "a people for His Name." (Acts 15:14)
In the church that God is forming today, there are no racial prejudices or barriers; all are accepted in the beloved. (Galatians 3:28, Ephesians 1:6) God's plan of redemption is to "whosoever" and includes all people of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation. (Revelation 5:9) In a day when man creates barriers and is determined to foment hatred, may we share the good news of God's love for all people and His desire that anyone can come to Jesus Christ and be saved and come to the knowledge of God's truth. (1 Timothy 2:1-6)
Joey Durham is pastor at Open Bible Baptist Church at 180 Old Manning Road in Sumter. You can contact Pastor Durham at durham.joey@yahoo.com or call the church office at (803) 481-9315.