God will unify His Church, whether Christians do or not

By Kenneth C. Ulmer, Op-ed Contributor Saturday, August 01, 2020

Bishop Kenneth C. Ulmer is the senior pastor of Faithful Central Bible Church in Inglewood, California and Presiding Bishop of the Macedonia Baptist Church Fellowship in Johannesburg, South Africa. | Courtesy of Kenneth Ulmer

In Galatians 3:28, we find God’s present-day plan for the Church: “There is neither Jew nor Greek” — one version says Jew nor Gentile — “neither slave nor free, neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ.” So, there is unity in God’s plan. From the beginning, it was a unity of blood. We are all one in Christ.

The church, if no other element in society, should be a demonstration of unity, and unity with diversity, and diversity in that unity. We are one as a demonstration of the plan of God. So, how does this oneness thing end up?

For the answer to that, let’s jump to the end, the book of Revelation, and take a look at a few verses. Revelation 5:9 says, speaking of Jesus, “And they sang a new song: You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood, you purchased for God persons from every tribe, every language and people and nation.” So, the people of God are from every tribe, every nation, every tongue.

Now to Revelation 7:9, “After this, I looked, and there before me was a great multitude coming up from every nation and no one could count them, from every nation, every tribe, every people, every language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, and they were wearing white robes and they were holding palm branches in their hands,” emphasizing victory.

Now to Revelation 5:14, “The four living creatures said, amen. And the elders fell and worshiped.” They triumphed. They took victory over the enemy. Another way to say it: “They conquered the enemy by the blood of the lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.”

Here’s what we have: In the end times, heaven will be inhabited by every race, every creed, every color, every nation, every tongue, every language. Not a couple, not a few, not just some of these and some of those. All. Every.

I wonder...if I look down on someone here on earth, where am I going when all the Saints will be together in heaven? Do I think I’m going with the non-haters to a place where discord and division and separation is not allowed? If you don’t like me here on earth, where are you going when all the Saints join together in heaven, where haters and discord and division and separation are not allowed?

We may claim to Jesus as the gates of heaven are being shut to us, “Lord, Lord, did I not speak in your name and go to church and pray?” But if we harbor malice and sow discord and support racial separation and disparage God’s children, all due to their skin color, should we expect to be counted among those who honored God’s Word?

Don’t bet on it.

There’s an emphasis on unity in the eternal plan of God, and it involves all believers and lays out the dos and the don’ts. No spirit-filled church can tolerate, allow, or maintain an atmosphere of racism. Let that simmer down into you for a moment. We cannot preserve, abide or permit such an atmosphere. We cannot wink at it. We cannot play games with an atmosphere that acknowledges and accepts, or intentionally overlooks, a spirit of racism. It is anti-God. Which, put another way, is anti-Christ.

Think on that for a moment.

You serve the will and the spirit of antichrist when you sow or allow racial disunity among God’s creations — whether they are believers or not. Because all are God’s, His plan is that we all came from one blood and, therefore, from one blood, from one man, the earth would be filled. How will the earth be filled with God’s glory if they’re not people who declare his glory?

God says that those declaring his glory in every part of the world shall be of every tribe, every nation, every tongue, every language. That means there are people who don’t look like you at all — and that’s a part of God’s perfect plan. The divisions and the breaches and breaks and schisms do not exist in the Kingdom. We are all one.

Adapted from “Walls Can Fall,” by Bishop Kenneth C. Ulmer, senior pastor of Faithful Central Bible Church in Inglewood, California, now available for purchase.

Bishop Kenneth C. Ulmer, Ph.D., is the senior pastor of Faithful Central Bible Church in Inglewood, California, current Presiding Bishop of the Macedonia Baptist Church Fellowship in Johannesburg, South Africa and the renowned author of several acclaimed books, including Knowing God’s Voice, Passionate God, and his most recent release, Walls Can Fall.