God of Everyone
For by him all things were created, in heaven
and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or
authorities—all things were created through him and for him. (Colossians 1:16)
It is known to us as Christians, those who follow
Christ, that God created everything, including us and that He loves us as His
children.
When we come to the Lord and ask Him to forgive our
sins and to come into our hearts, we know that we have God. We have His Holy
Spirit and can call on Him at any time. He is always with us. He is our God.
And we are intelligent enough to know that others know and have our God also.
We would be silly to think otherwise.
Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we
are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. (Psalm 100:3)
We are blessed because
of God’s great love for us. He loves us so much that He sent His only son to
die for our wrong doings, to free us and to save us. We want His love to flow through us. What a magnificent God we love
and serve. There is nothing that can separate us from God’s love. He is ours
and ours alone – or is He?
Yours, O Lord,
is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty,
for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom,
O Lord, and you are exalted
as head above all. (1 Chronicles 29:11)
Our God, the God that
saved us and lives in us is also the God of everyone else. They may not know
Him. They may follow the devil and completely turn their back on God, even to
the point of not believing He exists. But He is still their God. He still
created them and loves them.
He continues to stand
next to them and knock on their heart’s door, loving them and wanting them to
answer His call. He is even God of the people we don’t like, and sinners, the
hateful, criminals, those who belong to other religions, and those who hate
Christians. He is still their God whether they know it or not.
Behold, to the Lord your God belong heaven and the heaven of heavens, the
earth with all that is in it. (Deuteronomy 10:14)
We often hear that in
our behavior and in our attitude and words, non-believers will see God. Seeing
his love in us may be the only time they see what God can do in lives. They may
ignore what God is doing all around them, but they will either see God in us,
or they will see how we fail Him and they will judge God and Christianity by what they see in us.
If we fail to show His love in our lives, they may continue in their unbelief. We belong to God and His love should shine through to everyone. We are not
required to show Him only to those who already believe, but to all of His
children.
Sometimes in our desire
to serve God and to do what is ‘right’ we turn away from sinners. We may
believe that God’s word tells us not to associate with unbelievers. We need to read His word carefully. It does instruct us not to marry an unbeliever. It tells us that hanging out with
bad company will ruin our morals. And it tells us not to associate with other believers who continue to sin and that we are not to take part in sinning.
Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For
what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has
light with darkness? (2 Corinthians 6:14)
Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good
morals.” (1 Corinthians 15:33)
But now I am writing to you not to associate
with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality
or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat
with such a one. (1 Corinthians 5:11)
Take no part in the unfruitful works of
darkness, but instead expose them. (Ephesians 5:11)
God’s word does not tell us to ignore the parts of humanity who do not follow Him. Instead we are to spread the gospel to all the world. But, thinking we
are doing right, we turn away from the homosexuals, the abusers, the murderers,
and thieves. We turn away from the Muslims, the drunkards, and the mentally
ill. Remember that showing the love of God through us is not an acceptance of their sin. We hate the sin. We need to love the sinner. These are human beings
that were created by God. These are people He loves, and, in whose lives, He
continues to work for His glory.
“So whatever you wish
that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the
Prophets. (Matthew 7:12)
Some of us have been
saved out of sinful lives and some of us have been blessed to grow up knowing God. Somewhere along the line, we each chose to follow God.
Others also need this opportunity.
Though it is difficult
for us to love those from different life styles, especially those who hate us
we must remember that they have a void in their hearts that can only be filled
by God because He created them. Help them recognize their father
among the multitude of false gods out there. If we never knew our father, how
could we recognize Him? Someone, (we)
must introduce Him. We cannot introduce Him if we are avoiding His lost
children. We must be brave. He is their God too.
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood,
but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over
this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly
places. (Ephesians 6:12)
Prayer:
Lord, in all things and with all people let us act as You would act. Help us
show Your love, Your compassion to everyone. Stop our tongues from repaying
evil with evil. Stop our actions from being just like the world around us. Help
us be different. Help us be Your servants and work with others to help them
hear your knock. Fill our hearts with love instead of hate, boldness instead of
fear, and compassion instead of disgust. You are the God of everyone. Amen
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