Our Deepest Bond

Introduction

The Brotherhood of being an American

Over 5000 (of 150,000 men in the army) African-American men fought on the side of the Continental army when the American people won their independence from the British and became the United States of America.

One million (of 16 million) African-American men fought in the American armed forces in World War 2 as together we defeated the wickedness of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan.

Although still stained with the sin of segregation, the nation fought as one army against our foes. Time and time again we have bled and died together on the battlefield, as one nation…one people…united under one flag.

Together, we birthed a nation upon the idea that all men are created equal, with inalienable rights and equal opportunity to pursue life, liberty and happiness. And together…we have defended this vision through the sacrifice of wars, economic depressions and even civil strife.

Today our country is in the midst of such civil strife. For many this unrest is rooted in the struggle for racial equality and the full realization of those ideals which white, black and Americans of all races fought to win and defend through our history.

These folks challenge us to use the phrase, “Black Lives Matter” in an effort to shine light upon the lack of worth and value many have placed upon our people of color. I choose to say instead that “Black Lives are Precious.” The phrase “Black Lives Matter” has been coopted by those who are actively fighting against the very principles we of all races have fought to preserve through our nation’s history.

From the BLM Website: We disrupt the Western-prescribed nuclear family structure requirement by supporting each other as extended families and “villages” that collectively care for one another, especially our children, to the degree that mothers, parents, and children are comfortable.

We foster a queer‐affirming network. When we gather, we do so with the intention of freeing ourselves from the tight grip of heteronormative thinking, or rather, the belief that all in the world are heterosexual

BLM is fighting to tear apart and destroy the nuclear family as well as Biblical sexuality.

I will not buy into or support the Marxist, anti-Christ organization called Black Lives Matter. I expect you as my fellow American…black, white or whatever color…to reject the wickedness of those who seek to destroy the nuclear family and the normalcy of heterosexual relationships…two things the BLM movement says they intend to do.

God has taught us to love one another. My love for black lives is simply a matter of loving my neighbor as myself. He has taught me to love everybody. As a believer in Christ I need not be reminded by the world to do so. I seek to love everyone and hopefully you do too!

I expect all of us as Americans to stand up against the wickedness of ANTIFA, BLM all and those who desire to burn down our cities, families, police departments and culture.

We have stood together in the past and we must stand together again to defeat the evils which seek to destroy the bounty and blessing God has so graciously given us as a people.

We are Americans...and we stand or fall together…just as we always have…we are a family and like all families we have our squabbles…we even fight one another. But we are one people, under God, seeking liberty and justice for all. Let us once again join together to make certain these things are realized by all of our people…and defeat those who would seek to take them from all of us.

But there is a deeper brotherhood than being an American. There are deeper bonds than found among a people fighting for a nation on earth.

As a child I was taught the song, “Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world. Red and yellow, black and white they are precious in His sight. Jesus loves the little children of the world.” Truth be told these colors are a bad indicator of the differences between peoples. There is really only one race…the human race.

There is on average only a .1% genetic difference between any two people on earth. This means that all of us in this room are 99.9% alike genetically speaking.

We are all one family…the human family. So perhaps the song’s recent revision really is best, “Jesus loves the little children, All the children of the world.  Every color, Every race, all are covered by His grace.” We may look different shades and be parts of different races or offshoots of the family tree…but we all go back to the same root…two parents in a Garden.

And this leads us to the deepest bond we each share with one another…our spiritual bond.

Sinners

Romans 3:9-18 We are all sinners. We are born a slave to sin and we do just that…sin! We can’t get away from it on our own because it owns us. Sin has power over us.

Romans 3:23

Romans 3:23 NASB95

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Each of us were in the body of our first parents when they sinned in the Garden of Eden. All of us joined together, with Adam and Eve, to reject God and rebel against Him.

Every single one of us are conceived in sin. We are born with a sin nature, separated from God. We are born spiritually dead. All of us…regardless the shade of our skin tone…regardless the nation of our birth…regardless our political affiliations…are all born to the same spiritual condition…completely and utterly lost.

Some of us have remained in such a sad condition and others have been delivered from it. Those of us who are in Christ have been delivered to a bond which supersedes what can be naturally known by human beings on earth…but more on that in a moment...

Mankind is just that…men and women after the same kind. We are 99.9% genetically the same...so physically we are almost identical…but spiritually…our spiritual man is born into the exact same condition…spiritually speaking we are 100% identical…each of us are sinners and lost.

Each of us have fallen short of God’s glory…His intended plan for our existence.

Jesus died on the cross to save each of us from this lost condition…He died to deliver us from sin and death…to deliver us from hopelessness and fear of what was to come.

All who receive Jesus as our Savior and Lord (A,B,C’s) enter into a new brotherhood…a bond deeper and stronger than blood, race or sin…we enter the spiritual family of God through Jesus Christ. We become Christians.

As Christians, through our bond in Christ, we are 100% identical spiritually. We are each, completely forgiven of our sin, delivered from the power of sin and set free from the fear of death unto eternal life.

All Christians have equal access to God, the Holy Spirit and new life in Christ. And all of us will someday go the same eternal reward in a new heaven and new earth.

God means for mankind to be united in spiritual, eternal brotherhood through Him. He means for us to enjoy our connected-ness through Him and see our life, and one another, as a part of His Body…united and working together with Him, for His glory.

This is the glory we fell short of because of our sin and this is the glory God intends to make us a part of when we place faith in Him. It is the glory of right relationship with Him and subsequently one another…relationships which result in our working together with Him.

Conclusion

As Americans we have again and again joined together to fight enemies both foreign and domestic. Today we are called to do so again against those who have hijacked the legitimacy of calls for equality and equal rights in order to champion instead anarchy, lawlessness and marxist ideals.

Together, all of us, regardless of race must pray and stand to protect our freedoms and the ideas upon which our nation was founded. The idea that all men and women are created equal…all have inalienable, God given rights and all have the right to pursue life, liberty and happiness.

But for those of us who know Christ there is a bigger battle to fight...there is a deeper bond, deeper commitment…a bond with Jesus and the call to be a part of what He is doing in the world around us. A call to bring glory to Him and win souls to the eternal freedom found only in Christ.

We are called to sacrificial living for the glory of God so those still suffering the common bondage of humanity to sin might find their deliverance and be bound together with us in the bonds of the love, salvation and eternal life in Christ.

Ours is a call to revival…a turning back to God and calling all mankind to Him. It is time to wake up and answer the call…time to pray.

“It is not what men eat but what they digest that makes them strong; Not what we gain but what we save that makes us rich; not what we read but what we remember that makes us learned; not what we preach but what we practice that makes us Christians.”

Being fired up by a sermon isn’t enough… 2 Chronicles 7:14-15

2 Chronicles 7:14–15 NLT

Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land. My eyes will be open and my ears attentive to every prayer made in this place.

We must get serious and turn…without a spiritual move of God our nation is robbed of a future, God is robbed of glory…the Lamb is robbed of souls.