Spirit-Born Citizens

This post was inspired by a podcast message from Rodney Shaw, ‘I was born here’
Psalm 87:1-7 NKJV
1 A Psalm of the sons of Korah. A Song. His foundation [is] in the holy mountains.
2 The LORD loves the gates of Zion More than all the dwellings of Jacob.
3 Glorious things are spoken of you, O city of God! Selah
4 “I will make mention of Rahab and Babylon to those who know Me; Behold, O Philistia and Tyre, with Ethiopia: ‘This [one] was born there.‘ ”
5 And of Zion it will be said, “This [one] and that [one] were born in her; And the Most High Himself shall establish her.”
6 The LORD will record, When He registers the peoples: “This [one] was born there.” Selah
7 Both the singers and the players on instruments [say], “All my springs [are] in you.”
As I think about the times we live in and I grieve for our nation.  There is a spiritual battle for our nation.Will we be a Christian nation or a secular one?  We all feel the pressures of the carnality.  Entertainment, love of money, sexual perversion and the one that has gripped us most recently (although an ancient problem) racism.
I want to go on the record and say that if you look at a group of people and find them inferior; you are living in sin.
Division among humanity stemmed from sinful nature. Man in his arrogance tried to reach heaven by his own hands. They were so determined to accomplish this that God scattered their language so they could not accomplish their goal.  (Genesis 11:1-9)
Because of this, people scattered and settled with those they had language in common with.
But God had a plan to bring us back together.  On the day of Pentecost he poured out the Holy Ghost and those that received it spoke in a heavenly language (Acts 2:4-6 NKJV 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. 5 And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven. 6 And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language.)
I do not think it was happenstance that  there were people in Jerusalem from every nation to hear in their own language the glorifying of God through this event.  Acts 2 records at least 16 different groups of people hearing in their own language the wondrous works of God.
God chose the his Holy Ghost to be the uniting factor of every race and every tongue.  The new birth; Spirit born citizens.
If we look at Psalm 87 we can see that the psalmist is referencing the heavenly city.
verse 1  The LORD loves the gates of Zion More than all the dwellings of Jacob…
In this he notes people from other places are counted as being born there.
Rahab (could be a representation of Egypt), Philistia, Tyre and Ethiopia.
Individuals from countries that were not only Israel, but were terrible to them through out history were numbered as being born in Zion. “…those who know me…this one was born there.”
The Lord makes a roster of people from different nations that know him and counts them as born citizens. They are not proselytes, they didn’t take a class, they are born again into the kingdom of God.
Galatians 3:28-29 NKJV 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you [are] Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
God’s kingdom is multi-cultural with only one people, those that bear his name.  Jesus said all the law hangs on two commandments: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind; Love your neighbor as yourself.
So start off by loving God and then loving people.  Don’t get caught up in fights not worth fighting.  Don’t let the political pundits from both sides swing you into a fight that doesn’t matter. Pray for God’s kingdom to come.
I echo the statement I have seen floating around. “Turn off the news and love your neighbor.”
-David Overall
Assistant Pastor

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