Friday 5 March 2010

No partiality

For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality nor takes a bribe. – Deuteronomy 10v17

I love how some of these sections of praise just seem to pop up throughout the narratives in the Old Testament. There are several words of praise in this one little verse, but I want to focus on just one this morning.

God shows no partiality. He cannot be bribed or bought off. Aren’t we fortunate to serve a God who is not a God of partiality? God’s desire is that all men would be saved. We don’t see it as clear in the Old Testament which deals primarily with the Jews, but in the New Testament the teaching becomes very clear. In Christ there is no Jew or Greek or male or female or circumcised or uncircumcised or barbarian of Sycthian or slave or free. God is not a respecter of persons.

Christian nationalism is a dangerous teaching. Sadly, it is not unusual. Christians is some country get the idea that somehow their country is more special to God than any other country. Tragically, this jingoistic attitude can eventually begin to affect, if not actual theology, at least church ethos.

God shows no partiality. All men are equal in His sight. There are only two groups of people in His sight – the saved and the lost. His desire is that all men come to repentance and come into His family.

Jesus loves the little children (and adults). All the children of the world; red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in His sight. Jesus loves ALL the children of the world.

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