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Galatians 3:28 - Revival
Victoria Boyson
"There is (now, no longer) neither Jew nor
Gentile, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus" Galatians 3:28 (emphasis mine).
Galatians 3:28 is like a book containing the keys to
life's greatest blessings and happiness that has been lost on a shelf waiting for the Bride of Christ to discover the depth of treasure it possesses. Truly, this scripture holds the power to release a massive worldwide
revival and transform the church as we know it.
When I read it, it makes me want to sing, "Red and yellow, black and white they are precious in His sight" But it's not a fluffy children's
song. It's a stick of dynamite. And if we will embrace it, it will completely rock our world. Literally!
The Lord showed me what was truly meant by this scripture. He said, "This is true revival.
This is what My end-time bride will look like - what makes her without spot or wrinkle. This is what heaven looks like."
When God looks at you, He sees Jesus - plain and simple. He does not see your race,
sex or social standing - He sees His Son's blood covering you. To Him, we all look alike. Yes, He knows us each separately and intimately, but, through Christ, we are made equal. He doesn't see race or sex - to Him it doesn't matter, and if we want to be like Christ, it won't matter to us either.
Beautiful Bride
How we treat people does matter to God. That is why He spends so much time talking about it. Seeing Galatians 3:28 manifest in our lives is important to Him, because He knows the hindering power of
pride and wants desperately to free us from it. For "He is apposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble" (James 4:6) and He wants to pour out His grace and favor on us!
The Lord's heart
explodes with joy when His beloved seeks to please Him by loving without bias. Yet, how deeply grieved He is when He sees His lovely bride allowing discrimination to be a part of their lives. Indeed, we show the world how
to love everyday and our love should exemplify His.
Racism, sexism and nepotism are not the way of God's Kingdom, and when Christ talks about His bride being without spot or wrinkle (see Ephesians 5:27),
He is talking about a church that shows no partiality, and loves without hesitancy. This is what He's leading us to - to become His beautiful spotless bride who loves as He loves.
When the Good Samaritan (see
Luke 10:25-37) took such wonderful care of the man who'd been attacked on his way to Jerusalem, it showed those around him how they should be living. The priest and the Levite were known to be Godly men, yet did nothing
for the injured man. The Samaritans were known for their degradation and violent culture, yet he went out of his way to help the man recover from the attack- he refused to walk away.
What Christ was trying to reveal
through this parable was what truly mattered to Him. It doesn't matter to Him if you are a scholar, pastor, or teacher, but that you are revealing the character of Christ through your actions. By loving without
conditions, we reveal Christ on Earth - we are bringing heaven to Earth. People believe what we do much more than what we say, and to some, we may be the only Bible they will ever read.
Broken Chains
But
honestly, what does Galatians 3:28 really look like? It looks like equality. It looks like being absolutely treated as an equal with the same equal status and capabilities. We should not look at anyone and judge him or her
to be inferior or to disqualify them by their race, gender or social status, nor value them by how much money they have. To do so would be to discriminate against them, as though God Himself created them inferior.
It
is quite clear that Christ came to dismantle the traditions of men and show us how to love in His church. Galatians 3:28 simply destroys all the man made levels or sects of society and gives to each human being the gift of
absolute equality. Through Christ, the curse of the fall (or the curse of where you came from) is broken.
Yet, racism and sexism are still prevalent in our churches, and sexism is even seen as pious, Godly behavior
by some. Sadly, many times we turn a blind eye to the scripture in James that says, "If you give special attention and a good seat to the rich person, but you say to the poor one, 'You can stand over there, or else
sit on the floor'--well, doesn't this discrimination show that your judgments are guided by evil motives?" (James 2:3-4).
We need to think about and be reminded of the basic truths of Christ's
mission - to liberate the captives. And those who are held by the slavery of discrimination should especially find freedom in us, the church. It should be our kingdom mission to see that they are raised up and
encouraged to do the "greater works" Christ spoke about.
Azusa Street
One of my favorite revivalists is William J. Seymour. He was an African American preacher in the early1900s God used to
usher in the Azusa Street revival and help establish the Pentecostal movement. What I find so fascinating about him is his incredible hunger and humility.
Seymour and his family lived in abject poverty and suffered
the many injustices of racism found in the south during that time, yet God used him to pour out His spirit on this nation as he continually crossed race and gender barriers.
In 1905, Seymour moved to Houston,
TX where he attended a Bible school lead by Charles F. Parham who taught about the baptism of the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues.
Seymour wanted to attend Parham's classes, but because of
the segregation laws of the times, was forced to sit outside in the hallway and listen to Parham's teachings through an opened door. He submitted himself to this humiliation because he was so desperate for God.
Moreover, though sexism was a hot issue in the church, he allowed himself to be led by many spiritual women. Indeed, it was through a woman, Lucy Farrow that he first encountered the gift of praying in tongues and
it was she who introduced him to Parham.
Throughout his ministry, Seymour continued to release women of all races into all forms of ministerial leadership. He saw first hand the spiritual impact women had on the
meetings they led and valued the anointing on their lives.
Even though women greatly helped usher in the Azusa revival, it is unfortunate that, as the Pentecostal movement became more organized, women were assigned
mainly subordinate roles and, sadly, the movement split along lines of race.
Even after the outbreak of revival, Seymour continued to experience racial and gender bias by Spirit-filled Christians, which led him to
believe that the breaking down of the race and gender barriers were a more sure sign of revival than that of speaking in tongues. Truly, this is a very important and powerful truth and one that should stay in our
focus as we endeavor to move into greater realms of revival.
"Key to Church Growth?"
Loren Cunningham is another person of faith I dearly admire. He's the author of one of my favorite quotes.
He says, "When God begins a dramatic work of His Spirit, women are often in the forefront"* He has done much to promote women in ministry and has empowered, encouraged and sent women of all ages all over the
world.
In Cunningham's book that he co-authored with David Hamilton, he quotes Dr. Cho Yonggi of South Korea who leads the world's largest church of 1,000,000 people. Dr. Cho was asked what the key to his
church's growth was. He said simply, "Release your women!"*
Cho started his church at the home of Choi Ja-shil, a strong woman of faith and his associate in ministry. He said his church did not have the
breakout growth until he allowed the anointed women of his congregation to take leadership roles and to preach and teach the people. It was then they experienced massive growth and power.
Personally, Dr. Cho had no
problem with women preaching. But in order to release them in their calling, he had to overcome the traditions of generations. The funny thing about traditions is they seem so normal because we are so used to them. Little
more than a century ago, slavery was thought to be normal and some even taught it as Bible truth.
Of course now, such a short time later, we know slavery to be one of the most shameful and decadent issues in our
history. Was it right then, but wrong now? No, it was wrong then too.
Some of the biases in the church today have their origins, not in God's Word, but in traditions. Truly, if we want God's Spirit, yet we
don't like the vessel it is coming through, we don't really want His Spirit after all, do we? If we are hungry for Him, we will toss out our traditions and embrace God's blessing.
Truly, God beams with
pride when His children are willing embrace the full measure of Galatians 3:28. For anywhere women, the poor or minorities are protected and treated as equals, God shows up. What joy and freedom we flow in when we allow our
hearts to love unconditionally, without bias; what supernatural power we unleash as we embrace the liberty of this compelling scripture.
So, dear friends, if you hunger for revival, remember Galatians 3:28! If you
want more of God, remember Galatians 3:28! If you want God's glorious miracle-working power evident in your life, remember Galatians 3:28! Galatians 3:28 is simply and truly LOVE! And God IS love!
* "Why
Not Women" by Loren Cunningham and David Hamilton pgs. 24 & 67
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