Racism is an explosive word that should be handled with the greatest care. To bandy it about is to do the devil’s work by lighting fuses of thought that can kindle fires of racial hatred. ‘Beauty is only skin deep’ and so is race. “We too are human beings”, cried a refugee to a TV news team, “We have our families and our homes, like you do. We have emotion like you. We feel the sorrows of bereavement like you do. We were made by the same God as you.”
How good to see athletes from many nations being treated as equals as they compete in the Olympic Games. Nearly 2000 years ago St. Paul preached in the middle of Athens and said, “God has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on the face of the earth.” [ Acts 17:26 ] Today we know that although there are many blood groups no blood is superior to another but there is one glorious exception! The body and blood of the Lord Jesus Christ were completely sinless because of His miraculous virgin birth. Only the voluntary shedding of this precious blood on the cross could make an atonement for our sins. This fact lies at the heart of the Christian gospel (good news). It means that people from all nations can experience an at-one-ment with God when they obey their conscience, turn from their sins and trust only in the sacrifice of Christ for forgiveness. Not only will they then enjoy the relief this pardon brings but because Jesus rose from the dead, they will receive His power. This will enable them to live their life under the smile of their loving Heavenly Father into whose family they have now been adopted.
