Recently I discovered by casual curiosity a kitchen towel with a label that said---Made in Brazil. That set me searching for other products that I use that were made in other countries. Sure enough, one pair of pajamas was from Bangladesh and another from China. As my search continued, I also found articles from Jordan, India, Indonesia, Vietnam, Honduras, and on and on. On the other side, some autos “made” in the U. S. are foreign makes such as Volkswagen, Toyota, and Honda. Many products are assembled in one place from materials from somewhere else. We are becoming an international society, at least as far as our goods and services are concerned.
People are not literally “made” in the same way as material thing, but the popularity of DNA kits shows that they desire to know their heritage and what they are made of. There are often surprises and folks discover that their backgrounds and roots are quite different than what they had always believed. Lots of us find out that we are more “Heinz 57” than purebreds.
New Testament Christians are spiritually “made” when they are born again of water and the Spirit (Jo 3: 3-8) (Acts 22:16) (Rom 6:3-7). They are all one in Christ but made up of all different nationalities, genders, cultures, and races (Gal 3:26-28). The only label they wear is “made in Christ” because they have “clothed themselves with Christ” (v 27).
There are still plenty of people who boast of their ethnicity, nationality, culture, or race. The Jewish leaders of Jesus’ day aptly called Abraham their Father and ancestor (Isa 51:1-2). However, John the Baptizer quickly disproved the notion that bloodlines alone give one bragging right and eliminate everyone else. He said, “ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children of Abraham” (Mt 3:9). Paul explained that those who have been given the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38) and belong to Christ are Abraham’s spiritual seed and heir according to the promise (Gal 3:29) (Rom 8:15-17). In that glorious reunion in heaven there will be a great multitude…from every nation, tribe, people, and language standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb wearing white robes (Rev 7:9). The only boasting there will be is in the Lord and in His cross (1 Cor 1:31) (2 Cor 10:17-18) (Gal 6:14).
-Jim Bailey
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