The Great Unifier

Paul's declaration in Galatians 3:26-29 has always meant so much to me about God loving the whole world and our heritage in Hebrew experience. It says:
For you are ALL sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.

The diversity of people is seen around the Passion. Barabbas, the convicted felon whose place Jesus took in crucifixion, has a name that indicates his family background. "Bar" means "son of" and "abba" means father. He was "the son of a father" not named because he probably wasn't known. Simon of Cyrene was from Northern Africa and could have easily been a black man who had the honor of carrying the cross of Christ. Joseph of Arimathea is thought to have been a part of the Jewish Sanhedrin, but is named as a rich disciple of Jesus.

There is a place for all of us as "sons of God through faith." As the Savior, Jesus is also the Great Unifier. Ancestry, race, criminal record, wealth, gender are all meaningless in the Kingdom of God.