“there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female”

Galatians 3:24-29 (ESV)
24 So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, 26 for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. 27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

We are all one. It’s not “them”. It’s us. This is what God is about and the world doesn’t seem to get it. Why not? Isn’t that what the West is screaming for – equality? Christ was the first to let us know that it’s true, we are all equal before Him, coming out of a culture (that still exists today in many parts of the world) that is in conflict with what Christ has taught us.

Yet, we fight Him instead of embracing Him. We focus on our differences, not our commonalities. We focus on what’s wrong instead of what’s right. We focus on the wrong things. We judge each other harshly and with a mind closed by self righteousness.

John 12:47 (ESV) If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world.

Christ calls us to work together, to reconcile our differences, to unite under Him and the love that He is. He does not call us to brand each other based on our differences. We do that because it’s who we are without Him.

Matthew 5:17-18 (MSG)
17-18 “Don’t suppose for a minute that I have come to demolish the Scriptures—either God’s Law or the Prophets. I’m not here to demolish but to complete. I am going to put it all together, pull it all together in a vast panorama. God’s Law is more real and lasting than the stars in the sky and the ground at your feet. Long after stars burn out and earth wears out, God’s Law will be alive and working.

A vast panorama of living a true life under God’s law. At the end of the day, isn’t this what we want? Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; this is the vast panorama that is ours when we turn away from ourselves and toward Him.