All Lives Matter To God

In the aftermath of last week’s mass shooting of Dallas Police officers followed by more violent protests in Minnesota, a Facebook posting showed a local black man holding a sign which read “All Lives Matter, Support APD.”  I do not know this man and have no idea of his faith, but I admire his courage and applaud his efforts to be a peacemaker.  As Satan continues his attack against God’s people by fanning the flames of bigotry, racism, and hatred in our Country, we, as Christians, have an obligation to just say NO to discrimination and to fight back with the most powerful weapon ever created – Love.  

Scripture tells us that God does not favor any one race or ethnicity.  Genesis 1:26 records God as saying, “Let us make man in our own image, in our own likeness, and  let them rule over the fish of the sea and the  birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”  The Hebrew word used for “man” here is “adam” which is literally translated as “Man” or “Mankind” and is used as an all-encompassing term for human beings.  For those of you who may have not given it much thought, Adam, the original man, was not a Caucasian Anglo-Saxon Protestant…he wasn’t even an American!!  🙂

God’s original plan was for all mankind to have eternal life.  There was no design for any one particular race or ethnicity to be superior to another.  God, in His Sovereign Grace, chose Abraham to be the Father of the nation of Israel, a people God would use to bless all nations of the earth (c.f., Gen. 12:1-3).  Jesus repeats the admonition to equality among peoples when He instructs His disciples to “go and make disciples of all nations…” in Matthew 28:19.  

 Scripture is replete with God’s emphasis on His love for the whole world (see John 3:16).  As Christ-followers we must do everything within our power to show His love and His saving power to a dark and lost world.  ALL lives matter to God and we need to be out there proclaiming His message and living out His love.  Let’s start with prayer.

-Pastor Dave Jones