July 5 Daily Devotional

Monthly Theme:

By God’s Word and Spirit the world was made, and he uses the same tools to rebuild the creaking cosmos. God does not save some souls from the wreckage of the planet; instead, the whole groaning creation must be delivered from bondage by the love and power of God.

Bible Reading:

Acts 17:22–34

Bible Text:

"From one ancestor he made all nations to inhabit the whole earth" (Acts 17:26, NRSV).

Devotional:

The Greeks considered themselves the only civilized race. They called every one else barbarians. Paul wounded their pride by telling them that all people have the same ancestors. We are all descendants of Adam and Eve.

Racism is bred into us without our awareness. Most of us were raised in a closed society. We lived with our own people in our own towns. And somehow we figured that our race, our nation, maybe even our clan, was superior in the eyes of God.

The Bible knows onjy one division within the human race—the division between Jews and Gentiles. And even that division is abolished in Christ. All pride of race or class or color dishonors God and insults the image of God in all people.

For two thousand years God dealt almost exclusively with the Jewish nation and allowed nearly all Gentiles to live in spiritual ignorance (v. 30). But since the world has been reconciled to God through Jesus' sacrifice on the cross, all people of all nations are equal before God and must express their unity in Christ. In Adam all of us were created. In Christ all of us must be re-created.

Andrew Kuyvenhoven's Daylight, a modern devotional classic, was originally published in 1994. This edition is copyright by Faith Alive Christian Resources, from whom may be ordered Daylight, the predecessor of Twilight.

A man of many accomplishments, Andrew Kuyvenhoven is probably best known for his contributions to Today (formerly The Family Altar), a widely-used monthly devotional booklet associated with the Back to God Hour. Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations for this edition of Twilight are from the New International Version

Be sure to read the "Preface" and the "Acknowledgments" by the author.