Only the Gospel of Jesus can unite us all

THE Gospel of Jesus Christ is scandalously good! In it, we see that anybody can be found in right standing before a holy God, apart from his good works, super-spiritual practices or even legalistic observances, but simply through active faith in Jesus.

The Bible teaches that it is not about us making ourselves good so we can be accepted by God, but it’s about God coming down and dying for our sins, so he can justly accept us, on the basis of his goodness and what he has done.

In other words, the determining factor in our relationship with God is not our past, or our work, but Christ’s past and his work! Additionally, the Gospel not only has the power to transform individuals, but entire communities.

The Apostle Paul says in Colossians 3:11: “Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.”

Paul is testifying of the change that has taken place in the city of Colossae since the Gospel was received.

To fully appreciate what he is saying, we need to understand the lie of the land in Colossae. It was a great and diverse city with different religious groups (“circumcised and uncircumcised”), different ethnic groups (“Jew and Greek”), and different cultural groups (“barbarian and Scythian”). It was also diverse socio-economically (“slave and free”). Unfortunately, it was not only a diverse city, but also a divided city. Because, although there were all these different groupings, none of them actually got along.

Then something amazing starts to happen – the Gospel is proclaimed and various people start to put their faith in Jesus. Jews convert, Greeks surrender to Christ, barbarians are baptised, Scythians are saved, and so on. For the first time, diverse peoples and cultures begin to gather together under the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

The effect of the Gospel is that a new community starts to gather that would not exist anywhere else in the city. In fact, what Paul has written implies that elsewhere (“out there”) this kind of grouping is unheard of. Out there it’s diverse but divided; but “here” it’s different; it’s diverse but united (“but Christ is all, and in all”).

The big question our society is asking is, how is it possible to be unified and diverse all at once?

Is there a message big enough and strong enough to transform not only individuals but also communities?

Yes, the Gospel of Jesus! Jesus is able to sustainably knit together people who would never normally gather together. And when Jesus is the “main Chief” then all our secondary differences will find their place under His Lordship and leadership.

Greg established the Covenant Grace Church in Humewood in 2008. He also planted a church overseas.