Equity

¹⁶ For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (NIV) John 3:16


Rescue, Equity and Restoration were demonstrated in the coming, death, burial and resurrection of Christ. The "whoever" in this familiar verse reminds us that God is no respecter of persons (Romans 2:11), and in His kingdom, there is equal coverage, and sufficient grace for us all.


Lord, help us to treat others with fairness and equity, realizing that you alone are judge and King. Amen.

In a previous post we talked about the 8 Kingdom categories that describe the coming Kingdom. The first is Justice. Dr. Amy Sherman divides kingdom justice into three categories: rescue, equity and restoration.


This follows the pattern of the Cross and God's demonstration of love toward us. He rescued us from the penalty of sin; He made the sacrifice equally available to all; and it restored our relationship with the Father from the Fall.


As we attempt to translate justice on earth, as it is in heaven, we see rescue as a theme in the "consummated kingdom"as Sherman calls it. We have the privilege of being used to help God rescue those from injustice, just has has rescued us "from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom(Colossians 1:13)". 


In practice that looks like many things: like representing those who have no representation; like shoring up broken legal systems; advocating for refugees; providing children with a home through adoption and or foster care-- the list could go on and on.


The example that Sherman uses is of a man who on a short-term basis came alongside the Ugandan Christian Law Fraternity (UCLF) mentored paralegals and law-school students to train them in "maintaining justice in the courts" (Amos 5:15).


The Fraternity itself is bold in it's mission to reach students: "If integrity in a hopelessly corrupt environment can be inculcated at an early stage [in students] then UCLF believes that these students can behave in a radically different way from those around them, pulling up standards of honesty, output and client care across the legal profession. The UCLF believes that it is moulding a strong generation of Christian lawyers who will transform access to justice for the marginalised in Uganda in years to come."


The Fraternity is a beautiful picture of the full Gospel of individual transformation through the saving grace of Jesus Christ leads to systematic transformation, and how God allows us to be used to help rescue those He is concerned about.


Lord, allow me to partner with you in rescuing those who you are concerned about. Please let the transformation that you have done in me be reflected in my participation in systematic transformation and the rescue of those who are first in the Kingdom. Amen.

Many of us hear about heaven, and have a vague idea of what it will be like from the many media impressions, including movies, TV and writings.

What heaven will be like is a mystery, but the Bible paints image of the kingdom to come that is a snapshot into heaven itself.

Dr. Amy Sherman in Kingdom Calling categorizes the scriptures that tell of creation renewed that describe the kingdom into 8 categories:

Justice
Equity
Restoration
Shalom
Peace with God
Peace with Self
Peace with Others
Peace with the Creation

Have you ever longed for, or worked for or any of the above? In the days to come, we'll unpack the scriptural texts she uses to paint a picture of the Biblical preview of the kingdom to come.

In the meantime, we pray: Lord, Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done. On earth, as it is in heaven.
Amen.