At the opening of this Black History Month I celebrate my ethnicity before the God who in His perfect creative wisdom made me what I am and will be forever! My celebration is not intended to exalt blacks as superior, discredit or exclude the reality of my brothers of other ethnicities since we are together what the same God made us to be as the creature, man, leading to celebration by all of our existence from Him. While it is a sad fact of history that my celebration of black history came about from evil circumstances, I am not mad at anyone in it. However, even with improvement, I do at times painfully realize America has still not arrived at an appreciative biblical worldview of ethnicity.
Clearly, from the beginning, God our Creator intended that mankind should be displayed in a variety of physical hues, size dimensions and features though, He created from the dust just the one man, Adam (Genesis 2:7, 5:1-3). As scientists that are Christian and/or honest now understand, the variety of hues, size dimensions and features among the human race are the result of genetic programming in the human body. This programming includes gene copying and mutations over time that point to the logical, inescapable conclusion of an intelligent design by a purposeful Designer; a Designer the Bible declares is God (Exodus 4:11; Proverbs 20:12; Acts 17:26; Romans 1:18-21)!1
In spite of all of the negative associations with ethnicity sinful men have created over the centuries to this hour, another evident intent of God concerning mankind is that we should retain our ethnicities eternally! This is plainly seen in the global extent to which the salvation of God through the Gospel of His Son, Jesus Christ, was to be proclaimed (Isaiah 49:5-6; Matthew 28:18-20; Mark 16:15; Luke 24:44-49; John 20:19-23; Acts 1:8). It is also seen and celebrated in the outcome of the proclamation to the end of this present age; the Lord’s labor beginning through His faithful apostles with the Jews (Acts 2:36-47, 10:34-48, 13:1-3, 14:21-28; Romans 10:14-18; Revelation 5:9, 7:9-10).
Finally, God’s intention to retain the ethnic diversity of mankind forever is seen in His prophetic Word. Indeed, as the Lord led me to write in the two-part post, Revelation’s Seven Churches In Time, starting January 5, 2020 under the category, Bible Prophecy, individual saints are shown as from every nation or ethnicity of man in the new, eternal future God has planned (Revelation 21:1-14, 22-27). Knowing these truths, Christians more than all other people on earth are to appreciate and celebrate the wonder and beauty of humanity’s ethnic diversity as the “very good” work of our Creator (Genesis 1:31, NKJV). But we too, with the world have issues with bigotry that degrades ethnicity.
As I wrote of God’s racial diversity initiative in another post, ethnic and racial prejudice is still just as prevalent among professed Christian churches in large numbers as it is in wider secular society.2 To its credit, secular society is making a serious though, spiritually and morally flawed effort through its newly invented political correctness, tolerance and multiculturalism to do better. Among some churches, an effort is being made not to recognize ethnicity or race at all as a means to show progress in race relations. While this should be done as it relates to love in interpersonal relations, to deny or ask someone to deny their ethnic or racial heritage is not biblically consistent with God’s will.
No one should be forced to downplay or made to feel ashamed of their ethnicity because God is the source cause as our Creator! Instead, we are to celebrate what we are as creatures purposely “formed,” “fearfully and wonderfully made” and “skillfully wrought” by God (Psalm 139:13-15, NKJV).3 Wickedly, the recognition and special celebration of black Americans in American history came about because whites in the majority refused to include them in the curriculum and text books of their segregated public and private educational institutions. This flagrant act of bigotry was endorsed with the purposeful support and willful silence of those that also called themselves Christians as though Jesus Christ--who is Jewish, was okay with this.4
As a Christian black American aspiring to be a strong man of God in the image of Christ,5 I rejoice in the truth the Lord is not a bigot! Too, in His perfect will, He does not support demoralizing oppression to the point of rendering an ethnicity worthless through attempting to erase their history though, He has allowed it as one of the many negative outcomes of sin and His judgment in the world (Ecclesiastes 4:1-3; Jeremiah 5:15-19, 16:10-13; Lamentations 1:1-11). I am grateful to God for His mercy that last century inspired Carter G. Woodson to launch an observance of black history6 which I mark in days now that have only moderated in overt ethnic and racial bigotry. Elimination awaits Christ’s Second Coming on the way to God’s new eternal order (Isaiah 11:1-10, 56:6-8).
1 View David Rives’ Creation In The 21st Century Episode On Race for a biblical and scientific discussion.
2 See the December 6, 2015 post, Celebrating God’s Racial Diversity Initiative, under the category, Call Repent.
3 Thus, for example, so-called progressive minded predominantly black American churches that do not want to engage in purposeful evangelism and ministry among
those that share the same ethnic and racial heritage because of concern about offending their white and mixed race members are foolish. In every city Paul, the
Jewish apostle to us Gentiles, started with fellow Jews because of his natural ethnic and spiritual relation to as well as love for them in their shared heritage (Acts 9:
10-22, 13:1-5, 13-17, 42-47, 14:1, 17:1-3; Romans 9:1-5). No one faults our white brothers in their predominantly white churches for naturally connecting to their
own, but only that they or anyone for bigoted reasons should purposely avoid and exclude others. God’s heart in me like the apostle Paul is that I should preach the
Gospel and witness Christ to all as the Holy Spirit gives opportunity and also be burdened (as I am) to make sure those from among whom I have sprung ethnical-
ly in America with our shared heritage of slavery and racism hear accurately from a biblical worldview to the end of becoming victors rather than victims! Those that
would nobly (though, deceitfully) exalt themselves above recognizing ethnicity even in a positive way are deluding themselves and not impressing God as they think
since He is the Author of ethnicity. Read my May through November 2006 series of Journals, The Renewing Of Our Minds to see what worldview such uninformed
thinking arises from at https://fromslaverytovictory.org/Journal-Archives .
4 Read the February 3, 2019 post, Christianity In Black And White, under the category, Black History.
5 I write about the way of Jesus Christ, the Strong Man of God in my book, The Strong Man Of God: Back To Basics. Get a print copy or digital download of the book
at major internet booksellers such as Amazon, Barnes & Noble, ChristianBooks.com and Apple (digital only). You can also get a print copy in this Ministry's
Strong Man Store.
6 So, clearly, God gets the glory for caring enough to inspire the courage of Mr. Woodson to create the observance! This truth should serve as a warning rebuke to
those black Americans that are guilty of focusing almost exclusively on individual human achievements and success in the observance which are truly shallow in
the context of the deeper and richer spiritual realities of God’s purposeful involvement in our common historical experience. God’s involvement is evident in the bib-
lical worldview of black history presented in the continuing educational spirit of the observance by Open Door Communication Ministries, Inc. in our From Slavery To
Victory Victory Education Project. Learn more at https://fromslaverytovictory.org. To God be the glory!
When I hear otherwise solid Bible teachers make an extra special effort to forcefully and corruptly insert women into Scripture passages clearly directed to men, I know the demonic deceit of feminism in these latter days is at work. Nowhere in the Bible does God make any apology for directing His Word to men as a first audience nor will the Son of God do so upon His glorious return! This is because God is purposeful in addressing Himself to His chosen leaders from among the progeny of the first man and federal head of his kind, Adam (Genesis 1:26-28, 2:7-25, 4:1-2, 5:1-4).
As the Lord leads, I write to follow-up the July 21, 2019 post, Worship In God’s House under the category, Call To Repent. My aim is to attempt to help those that will be helped to grasp something of the magnitude of the blasphemy and sin professed Christians and their churches that are guilty are engaged in by brazenly refusing to honor the roles, rank and responsibilities God has assigned men and women in the human family and His house. Repentance is God’s only accepted way out of the severe judgment His holiness demands for this egregious iniquity of His people acting in concert with the world led by Satan in rebellion to profane Him (Ezekiel 22:23-31; Hebrews 10:26-31)!
Roles, rank and corresponding responsibilities are of eternal origin and fully bound up in organization and its related order. Every kind of organization of God and His creation feature roles, rank and corresponding responsibilities within a set order. When the heavens and the earth were created, for example, in relation to and for the benefit of a formless earth beneath waters and in darkness, the triune God set about the business of bringing order to the creation on the very first day by speaking physical light into existence (Genesis 1:1-5). The sun (with other stars) as a “greater” and the moon as a “lesser light” in rank were made on the fourth day (Genesis 1:14-19, NKJV).
As revealed in the Bible’s book of Genesis and science is beginning to understand, the physical creation is an organizational whole with a set order. Though incredulous science naysayers are unwilling to go as far as God’s Word does in making the earth the central object of the vast physical creation, it is so with purpose! As seen in the organizational whole of physical creation, there are assigned roles, rank and responsibilities within a divine designed order among inanimate matter and elements as well as all living things including God’s highest creature, man, whom He created on the earth and holds accountable to govern it (Psalm 8)!
Roles, rank and responsibilities for the proper functioning and order of an organization originate with God not only as something He designed for His creation, but as that which is the natural operation of the divine Family. Indeed, before there was ever any created thing, God--Father, Son and Holy Spirit--as I wrote in my book, The Strong Man Of God: Back To Basics1 and a previous post.2 Though equally God, the Father ranks highest in the divine triunity as the Son of God asserted in His submission and declared as a matter of fact during His mortal sojourn on the earth, while the Holy Spirit waits to do the Father and Son’s will (John 1:1-18, 5:16-23, 14:28, 15:26-27, 16:5-15).
The greater the rank, the greater the responsibility! In the divine Family, the Father is over and responsible for all (Ephesians 3:14-19, 4:4-6; James 1:16-18). The angelic creatures God created are organized in rank and order to serve the divine Kingdom (Isaiah 6:1-4, 37:15-16; Daniel 10:13). Fallen angel, Lucifer, patterned his rebel kingdom of darkness after God’s with himself as the “father” head followed by “principalities,” “powers,” “rulers of the darkness” and “spiritual hosts of wickedness” in rank and order (Isaiah 14:12-15; John 8:44; Ephesians 6:12, NKJV). Mankind too, was purposely organized by God with roles, rank and responsibilities within a set order beginning in the family.3
Man the male is God’s appointed head as seen in him being created first followed by his female companion and helper wife that was taken out of him for him (1 Corinthians 11:8-9; 1 Timothy 2:13). When Adam’s wife usurped him and led them into sin, God voiced His perfect will in correction of her and all her daughters to follow for all time in this present age: ‘“And he shall rule over you,’” (Genesis 3:16c, NKJV). This commanded role of men by God is seen to be honored by women with few exceptions throughout the Old Testament across many cultures and is affirmed in the first century New Testament churches filled with Gentiles by Paul, the Jewish apostle to the Gentiles personally ordained by Jesus Christ (Acts 26:12-18; 1 Corinthians 14:33-40; 1 Timothy 2:11-15).4
Paul plainly lays out Heaven’s order of rank: God the Father, Christ, man, woman (1 Corinthians 11:3). Lost today due to the rebellion of feminism and apostasy (but no less required by God)5 is how the apostle lays out the visible respect of rank men are to give Christ our Head and women their husbands as their immediate heads in fulfilling all of the roles and responsibilities of God’s set order of the family that carries over into His house (1 Corinthians 11:4-16; Ephesians 5:22-6:4; Titus 2:1-8). The apostle Peter confirms Paul’s instruction (1 Peter 3:1-7).6 Therefore, professed Christians in rebellion with the world against God’s will ought to repent now! The risen, living Christ continues His cry among American churches, "Who is on the Lord's side?"
1 Get a print copy or digital download of the book at major internet booksellers such as Amazon, Barnes & Noble, ChristianBooks.com and Apple (digital only). You can
also get a print copy of the book on sale in the Strong Man Store.
2 Read the July 27, 2014 post, God Of Order, under the category, Instruction.
3 Roles, rank and responsibilities in a set order exist in every kind of organization of mankind beyond the family to include governments, militaries and corporations. Only
the most extremely deluded of rebels resist the reality of this truth!
4 The usually cynically and wickedly asked question invariable arises here: “So, what can women do in the church” as if being seen taking authority over and leading men
is the only worthwhile way to serve God in His house. Neither men nor women should be seeking to do anything in God’s house to be seen which is of the flesh. But
God has intentionally organized and ordered His house to operate through the agency of the Holy Spirit who equips each member with spiritual gifts to serve the divine
will. And while there are gifts, callings and ministries that are more visible than others, every gifted person has their important part in the Body of Christ as the apostle
Paul also taught (1 Corinthians 12:1-26). Thus, there is no Heaven ordained reason, for example, to purposely put women up to say anything during a full assembly of
the church just so they are included. Men do this for whatever reasons out of the sinful flesh and demonic deceit of religion (Mark 7:5-13). Also, the Holy Spirit is not
confused. He does not gift and call women to disobediently rule over men in God’s house. See the May 20, 2018 post, The Value Of Women To Jesus Christ, under
the category, God’s Creatures.
5 Just because His people refuse to obey His will and God chooses not to severely jump on the disobedience with judgment right away, does not invalidate His will as king
Josiah realized when the lost “Book of the Law” was brought and read to him (2 Kings 22:8-13, NKJV).
6 In my book, I reference the excellent book by P.B. Wilson, Liberated Through Submission, (Eugene: Harvest House, 1990), where she comes to be amazed at just how
much responsibility men have under Christ in their family roles as husbands and fathers. As a result, she urges her Christian sisters to embrace voluntary submission
to their husbands as God’s will rather than in line with the demonically inspired rebellion of feminism, seeking to usurp them in disobedience. Being the head is not just a
title of authority, but a major responsibility God has given men He holds accountable to carry out in His image and likeness. Again, the greater the rank, the greater the
responsibility! For those that wickedly assert God’s will in this is taking people and churches backwards, shame on you! Our blessings come from God through obedi-
ence, not rebellion (Philippians 2:5-11; Hebrews 5:8-9)!
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