We are not who we used to be
In November, I delivered a message titled “Dead to the World.” In that message, I talked about what it meant to be dead to sin and to the things of this world. But the focus of the message was on what it means to be spiritually alive without the shackles of the Adamic nature that has been destroyed.
As I continued to think about this spiritual transformation, I began thinking about my own personal salvation and, for lack of a better word, how “odd” it was. Even though this message, “We Are Not Who We Used To Be,” is not Part 2, you could say it’s a close relative. ?
I died in the summer of 1966. I was 10 years old. I didn’t realize it at the time. After all, I was still breathing. And no one else seemed to notice either, not even my own family. At 10 years old, I had died to everything that linked me to this world. Now, I ask you, how could I die and not know that was dead? And how did no one seem to notice I was dead? But I had. I guess you could say, at 10 years old, I became one of “the walking dead.” ?
And the strange thing about my death was this: there were others around me who were also dead and no one seemed to notice them either. I mean, how can a person die and not know that he is dead and how can those around him not notice he’s dead? Yeah, I know this is the second time I asked this question, but it’s an important question. And, there’s a good chance that you are dead too and hopefully, unlike me at 10-years old, you know that you are dead.
I’m going to repeat something that I said in November: “I am dead to the world.” “You are dead to the world.”
When I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior in 1966, I died to this world and to a nature ruled by sin. I just didn’t know it. Now, I’m sure you’re asking yourself, Bro. Barry, why didn’t you know? No one told me that I would die when I got born again. And because I died, Jesus was able to give me God’s most precious gift – eternal life! But, I had to die to this world in order to receive it.
You see, ladies and gentlemen, I had to die so that I could truly live! And so did you.
The moment I died was the very moment I was re-born. Jesus calls it being “born again.” In John 3:3, Jesus says, “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again (born from above with God’s life), he cannot see (know, be acquainted with, and experience) the kingdom of God.”
In 1966, God became my Father even though I still had an earthly father. He and my mom had died years earlier, but just like me, they didn’t know it. And the people they knew, who had also died to this world, didn’t know that they were dead. I just didn’t understand the magnitude of what had happened to me. I don’t believe many in that little country church knew that when they accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior, they died too. I mean, after all, on the outside, nothing had changed. They looked the same.
It took me a while to understand this. Let me pause here for a moment. You see, it’s this “death” that forever separates people in eternity. Spiritually, there are only two races of people. One has God’s DNA. God’s nature lives in them; they are going to heaven. The other, the one everyone is born into originally, has Adam’s corrupted DNA. His nature lives in them and they are going to the lake of fire unless they repent and accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior. No other races exist.
Ladies and gentlemen, what I’m talking about has eternal ramifications.
When we die – when our physical bodies cease to function – our spirits will join their family. That cannot be changed once we die – once we stop breathing. The only way to change spiritual families is while we still wear “human clothing.” Once we take off our “earth suits,” there are no do-overs.
Merriam-Webster’s definitions drive this point home. One says “race” (a noun) is a family, tribe, people, or nation belonging to the same stock (source or origin).
There is only one race in the kingdom of God and it’s based on spiritual DNA. If you don't have God's DNA, if you don’t have God’s life living in you – the exact same life that lives in Jesus – then you're not a part of His family, or mine. And, you are not going to Heaven. If you don’t say “yes” to Jesus now, nothing else will matter because your eternal destination will not include Him.
I said all of this to get to an issue that’s tearing the body of Christ a part – the issue of race and racism. And what’s so sad is that most don’t realize that it’s a problem IN THE FAMILY. Ladies and gentlemen, race, as an identifier of people groups, is a man-made concept. As I said earlier, scripturally, there are only two races of people. You are going to spend an eternity in heaven or you are going to spend an eternity in the lake of fire. There is no wiggle room.
Now, when we use the word “race,” we want to distinguish one people group from another people group. I’m pushing the pause button. Think about it, ladies and gentlemen. The word “race” and how it’s used today divides us; it never unifies us. Do you hear me? Please, let that sink in. And who has the most to gain by keeping Christians divided? Do I really need to answer that question?
Whenever we use race to identify people groups – and this is what most people, including Christians don’t understand – what we are really doing is talking about the group’s “ethnicity.” You see, it is the ethnic group, not the race that shares similar customs, language, social views and mores.
Remember one of Webster’s definitions for race? One says “race” (a noun) is a family, tribe, people, or nation belonging to the same stock (source or origin). In other words, “race,” in the very first definition is related to family. Do you see this? And, to repeat once again, you are either part of God’s family or you are part of Adam’s family.
But I do have an interesting question for you related to ethnicity. Is it possible that the true followers of Jesus, whom He calls disciples, are an ethnic group? Think about it. They share the same customs, language, social views and mores, right? Now, those “who say” they are disciples but don’t share the same customs, language, social views and mores – are they really Jesus’ disciples? If words mean anything, the answer is a resounding “No!”
Now listen to me carefully, from a spiritual point of view, Satan has used ethnicity to lead people into “groupthink” – a form of forced consent and conformity to group norms and values. And the members who step outside of how the group thinks, are demeaned, ostracized and, in some cases, even threatened.
But, this world is not my home and how it thinks is not supposed to be our homes. When we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, the Bible says we are no longer associated with the things of this world, including earthly ethnicity.
Turn to Galatians 3, beginning with verse 26.
(26) For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.
(27) For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
(28) There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3:26-28)
Do you see the words neither and nor? They are essentially the same Greek word, ou (#3756 and #3761), which communicates an “absolute negation” of something. When a person is a child of God, all “worldly identifiers” no longer apply to him. Period. If a person was born a Jew, he’s no longer Jewish. If a person was born a Gentile, he’s no longer a Gentile. And because this no longer applies to him, he ceases to live with a groupthink mentality.
Look at Ephesians 4. We’re going to begin with the last verse.
(32) And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.
Let’s continue with chapter five.
(1) Be ye therefore followers of God (imitators who walk in His footsteps), as dear children;
(2) And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savour.
As children of the God who loved us so much that He gave His Son to die in our place, we are to love just as He loves – especially, especially, to members of our own spiritual family!
Why is this so vitally important?
The moment I was born into God's family, I ceased being a person with an African-American heritage. My DNA is no longer from my earthly father’s sin-natured, spiritually dead, gene pool. Now, my DNA is from my Heavenly Father’s spiritually alive gene pool. Praise God! And if you have confessed Jesus as your Lord and Savior, this is true for you too.
I don’t view myself as a hyphenated American. I am a Christian whose skin is brown. To be anything else means I am not of God’s spiritually alive gene pool. To be anything else means God is not my Father. Are you following me? It means I’m still living with the dead, going to the lake of fire gene pool that my earthly father passed down to me. And Daddy could only give me what was given to him – spiritual genetics that guarantees an eternity without God.
Now, this also applies to Christians who were once White, Asian, Hispanic, Chinese, Indian, Muslim, etc. Am I pushing aside part of a person’s earthly heritage? Absolutely not. However, when God becomes our Father, we leave our earthly heritage and everything associated with it behind and become part of God’s heavenly heritage.
If we have spiritual genes from any of these “pools,” we are outside of the family of God. We will spend an eternity in the lake of fire, which was originally intended for the devil, his friends and colleagues, and death and hell. I can’t speak for you, but that does not appeal to me!
Earlier we read Galatians 3:28 from the King James: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.”
I want you to see this verse in the Amplified Bible. “There is [now no distinction] neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is not male and female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
As Christians, if we are all one in Christ Jesus, then how can we talk about our family as if they’re not family? I will not – I cannot – allow my earthly heritage to dictate how I live my life in my heavenly heritage. And neither should you.
Ladies and gentlemen, we must begin seeing life through the “eyes” of scripture and not through the eyes of our ethnicity.
Being part of God's family frees us from the shackles of conformity in the black community, the white community, the Hispanic community, the Asian community, the Chinese community, the Indian community, the Muslim community, etc, etc, etc. Each “community” has beliefs and ideologies that “members” are expected to affirm and support.
But because of what happened to us when we said “yes” to Jesus, we are now free to think and make decisions, not based on assumptions and expectations related to ethnic interactions, but on the principles and ideals that our Father has put in place in His Word – the Bible.
Listen to me closely because this is an eternal marker: A follower of Jesus will not agree with, support or endorse anything that God does not agree with, support or endorse. Nothing. If he or she does, the person’s eternal future is in question. I hope you hear me.
Turn with me to Acts 4.
(19) But Peter and John answered and said unto them, Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than to God, judge ye.
(20) For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.
Now flip over to chapter five and look at verse 27.
(27) And when they had brought them, they set them before the council: and the high priest asked them,
(28) Saying, Did not we straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name? And, behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.
(29) Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.
What determined how Peter, John and the other apostles responded to the Jewish leaders? Was it their Jewish heritage? No. They knew what was expected of them, but being Jewish was no longer who they were. Their Jewish heritage was no longer their “frame of reference.” Jesus told them that they were not of this world just like He was not of this world (John 17:16) What Jesus had taught them about the kingdom of God was now their frame of reference. How can ours be any different?
Ladies and gentlemen, we have God’s heart. Now it’s time to let beat with our Father’s heart. We are free! We can love and cherish our families, even when they don’t think and behave like those who are part of the family, but don't know their Father. The parable of the "Forgiving Father" in Luke 15:11-32 is an excellent example of this.
We getting close to closing. Let me show you our Father's heart for His children. It’s found in Galatians 5:10. . “As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.”
In 1966, I died and didn’t know it. How many Christians today don’t know that they are dead? Maybe that’s why so many support things that their Father does not support – they died to this world but don’t know they’re dead. Maybe that’s why some cannot stand in agreement with God when He says a sin is a sin, because they died and don’t know it. Or, maybe they thought they were dead, but really aren’t. I pray this is not you.
Ladies and gentlemen, the Bible is clear about who we are and what should be our focus as a result of being born into the family of God.
Colossians 3:1-4 says
(1) If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.
(2) Set your affections on things above, not on things on the earth.
(3) For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.
(4) When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.
Now turn to Philippians 4. We’re going to read verse 8. “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.
In a message several years ago, Gary Carpenter, a very dear brother and teacher of the gospel, said “God needs ‘dead people.’ You have to be ‘dead’ enough to hear Him, THEN ‘dead’ enough to obey Him.”
Let’s end with something Jesus said to the disciples in John 17 that speaks to all who are born again. We’re going to read verses 14 and 16. “I have given them thy word; and the world hath hateth them, because they are not (ou) of the world, even as I am not (ou) of the world. ... They are not (ou) of the world, even as I am not (ou) of the world.”
Okay. One more verse. To drive the point home that we are not (ou) of this world, First John 4:4 says it this way – “Ye are of (ek) God, little children.” The word “of” is the Greek word ek, which is a preposition that identifies, in this case, the primary, direct or immediate source of origin. We are no longer of the world because we have a new source of origin – God is now our Father! Woo hoo! I’m doing my happy dance!
Everyone please stand.
