Jesus Every Day: Who is impartial?

And if you address as Father the One who judges impartially based on each one’s work, you are to conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your temporary residence. 1 Peter 1:17

Are you pleased, I am, that God does not play favorites? Humans do. If you know the story of Jacob and Esau in the older part of the Bible, you likely will remember that the mother, Rebekah liked her son, Jacob whereas Isaac preferred Esau, the outdoorsman. Esau hunted. Jacob preferred to “hang around” the home. This partiality by the parents created significant tension in the family.

If you want to be more like God, that is more like Jesus Christ, God, the Son, you will seek to overcome the natural inclination to play favorites. All of us are of equal value. We are all created in the image of God. We all have built-in intrinsic worth. God values the brilliant inventor but no more than He does the person with a mental disability. Jesus told folks around Him to permit the children to come to him. They were of as much value to Him as were His own mother and siblings. All humans are body, soul and spirit. Bodies will differ. But souls and spirits are equal in the assessment of God. Gender is never a factor in God’s evaluation of the human. Males and females have different functions but all equal in value. The same can be stated of the rich and poor, the educated or uneducated.

“Equal justice under law” is a phrase engraved on the front of the United States Supreme Court building in Washington D.C. While this goal may on be completely achievable, it still is an ideal that comes straight out of the Bible.

May we happily strive for impartiality.

Dr. Jed N. Snyder is the President, Jesus Every Day Ministries, Inc.; and the Pastor at Augusta Street Church, West Columbia. To contact him visit www.jedministries.com or e-mail [email protected].