{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"4. Racial Reconciliation","description":"God loves all the people of the world, and why wouldn't He?  All humans are created in His image.  God's "fingerprints" are found all over humans.  The apostle Paul says, "From one man he (God) made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth." ~ Acts 17:26 The people and ethnicities of the world are God's plan, it is what he designed.  Not only do we know this is how designed it from the beginning, we also get a snap shot of how it is all going to look in the end.  John, the author of The Revelation describes this image of those standing before Jesus (the Lamb) at the conclusion of time. "After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands.  And they cried out in a loud voice:           \u201cSalvation belongs to our God,           who sits on the throne,           and to the Lamb.\u201d ~ Revelation 7:9-10  So whether one starts at the beginning of Creation or goes to the end of the story, there is this consistent theme in which God not only loves every tribe, nation, tongue, and ethnicity, but He has redeemed them to spend eternity with Him.  The Bible is very clear in describing God's intention regarding all people.   The disconnect seems to happen, when God's people don't represent His character, especially when it comes to loving all ethnicities.  Why is that?  Simply put, it's always been about sin.  Sin leads to pride, jealousy, discrimination, and injustice.  So what is the solution?    A deeper understanding at to what the gospel is really all about.  Most people simply think that the gospel is this: Jesus dying on the cross for our sins, and then being resurrected, and if we believe in him we will go to Heaven when we die. That is a part of the gospel, for sure.  However the gospel is even better then that!  The gospel is that God's Kingdom has come, and through his atoning death and resurrection, King Jesus has reconciled us back into his Kingdom.  To be clear, this isn't a future Kingdom, but his Kingdom...now.   This Good News means that through faith in Jesus, we are not only reconciled into God's Kingdom, but we are also reconciled back to each other...we are reconciled into God's Family! The mission we have as God's Kingdom People, is to not only help reconcile people back to God, but to also reconcile people back together!  Do you want to learn more?  Give a listen to the conclusion of this series Outside In and take a look at how the early Jesus followers wrestled with, and then carried out this amazing mission of reconciliation.  You do not want to miss this!   ","author_name":"Iowa City Church Podcast","author_url":"http:\/\/iowacitychurch.libsyn.com\/website","html":"