Acts 17:26-27 And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, 27 so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; NKJV

As Paul preached to those in Athens concerning the one God, he had a high mountain to climb in getting the Athenians to at least consider his message. The Athenians, as all other nations, were prejudiced against the Jews and the doctrine of monotheism, which stated that there is only one God. And when Paul preached the idea of the resurrection of the dead, well, they just couldn’t stomach that idea. Most commentators have acknowledged that of all the places Paul preached, he received a cooler welcome in Athens than any other place.

But the truths that he preached there are still true, and Christians must learn from these things to be the people God intends for us to be.

In Acts 17:26 Paul clearly teaches, by inspiration of the Holy Spirit (thus, by God himself), that every nation on earth is of one blood. As far as God is concerned, there is only one race of people – the human race. When he created man, he made man the pinnacle of his creation, and the Bible again makes it clear that we all came from Adam and Eve. Eve is described as being the mother of all living (Genesis 3:20). Do we believe that? Do we believe that we are of one blood, and of one human race?

Sometimes I hear brethren say (and sometimes I have made the statement myself), “I’m not a racist or prejudiced, but . . .” BUT WHAT! We have to learn to look at all people the way God does – as precious souls for whom he gave his son and whom he loved.

I believe we do the same thing many in the world do – we say we believe it in our hearts, but we fail to live it with our lives. We know it to be true, but when someone of another race does something which we do not approve of, then we are ready to judge the entire race based on the actions of the few.

The world does that to Christians. It seems sometimes that the ones the world points to are not the good Christians striving to be like Jesus. The world loves to point out the hypocrite, or the Christian that is struggling with some sin. Recently, a study was made asking the world what they thought of Christians, and the majority said that Christians are not living up to the things they claim to be following. And, just as it is not fair to judge Christianity on the basis of some Christians whose lives are not in keeping with what God says, it is not fair nor right for Christians to judge ethnic groups on the basis of the actions of a few. We are called to a higher standard, and be above the world in the way we look at people.

Jesus died for the whole world. And the whole world needs to “seek after him, in hope that they might find him, though he is not far from every one of us.” The world’s only hope is found in Jesus Christ, and it doesn’t matter what color your skin is, or to what social caste you belong. May the church lead the world in this matter of understanding that God has made of one blood all nations of the earth! May we preach the whole gospel to the whole world as God has given us command (Matthew 28:19-20; Mark 16:15-16).

In Love
Tommy