Redeemed, Unique, and Unified
Sigh. I knew it would happen eventually, but I wasn’t as prepared for it as I thought I would be. The grandkids were outgrowing several of the toys and craft items I had stashed around our house. Time to declutter.
Most painful was the load of “baby stuff” I dropped into the trash bin – the highchair, the stroller, the crib, the swing. Untouched after many months – gone. You probably heard the thunderous “crack” of my heart breaking that day.
The playhouse that Papa (the accountant, mind you) built from scratch sat vacant for too long before an industrious friend showed up to dismantle and relocate it to his grandchildren’s backyard. New life breathed into a treasured but abandoned cottage – I was so grateful.
Among the items in the craft nook that found their way out the door was a stack of coloring books filled with simple pictures. No longer challenging and detailed enough for budding artists, kids’ coloring books were left behind for sketch pads, watercolor paper, and more intricate designs in adult coloring books. The plain yellow, blue, red, and secondary-colored crayons were replaced by the shading of colored pencils and markers and the soft blending of watercolors.
Sorting out those art supplies turned my thoughts to the Ultimate Creative – the One Who made the world and everything in it. Grass can be a countless number of shades of green. The sky is blue – and a thousand variations of blue at any given moment. Roses are red – and yellow and pink and white and purple and all sorts of colors.
But one of the most beautiful sights we’ll ever behold will be among the distinct but complementary skin tones found at the gathering of God’s people from “every nation, all tribes and peoples and languages” (Revelation 7:9) inside the walls of heaven. The colors, the tones of voices, the melody of languages – each one incredibly unique and yet perfectly harmonious will be cause for unending praise from God’s Church! Each one will stand with upturned face, taking in God’s glory and reflecting it back to Him. Each voice will rise in the eternal song of “Holy, holy, holy!” Each one will perfectly live out all the giftings and callings our Maker put inside of us - for His glory. Each heart will be bursting with joy and adoration in the presence of our God.
In a world that almost seems to thrive on discord and division, what a precious comfort to know that one day, God will redeem the brokenness. He’ll bring His own together under the banner of His Son Jesus, Who spoke every element of creation into being at the beginning of time. The beauty of the diversity of His followers will rival the awe inspired by every sunset, every starlit night, and every ocean and mountaintop view ever witnessed. Songs of forever praise will flow from a unified Church to the Master Artist Who is worthy! Amen and amen!
