Taffi Dollar - Overcoming Inequality
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We’re gonna jump right into what I believe God wants us to share with you today, and we’re gonna talk about overcoming inequality, overcoming inequality. I realize that there’s a lot going on in the world today, the racial wars that are going on, gender wars that are taking place, economic wars, things that are taking place all over this world. And so thank God for the road map that we have, thank God for the guide that we can use as a reference to how we are to govern ourselves and how we as the body of Christ are to operate in these last days.
And so we’re, as the Bible says, living in tumultuous times, perilous times. But we know that through God that we can do all things, and we look to him today for peace, we look to him for help, we look to him for solitude, all the things that we need in our everyday lives. And so we just know that wherever you are work, home, wherever you are in your car, we just pray that this world will encourage you in the things of God. And so I’m gonna read some from The Message translation, wanna read some also from, probably, King James. But we’re gonna do our best to tackle this topic concerning inequality. This is something that is very dear to me. I’ve spent quite a bit of time studying the subject of equality versus inequality and inferiority versus superiority.
This is something that I’ve dedicated my life work to bring clarity and do my part, as I believe that these things must be properly reconciled in the Word of God, you know. This is an issue that goes back to Jesus’s day, but I think we’re getting closer. We’re getting to a place where the body of Christ is awakening, thank God, to the importance of the discerning of the body, seeing each other as God sees us, seeing each other the way that we should be seen, and that we are one body, and the body can no longer operate in division, no longer operate in prejudice, racism, division, strife, all these different schisms. But it’s time to really benefit from what Jesus’s blood was designed to do, and that was to bring us together, to reconcile us together, and to make us one so that we can really live the new birth that his blood and his plan was designed for us to experience.
And so we’re gonna start in Galatians chapter 3 and we’re gonna look at this scripture here from The Message translation, from The Message translation. I believe that this will really speak to your heart. So it says in Galatians 3, verse 26 in The Message, it says, «In Christ’s family there can be no division,» in Christ’s family there can be no division, «into Jew and non-Jew, slave and free, male and female». And so it’s important that we recognize what he talks about. Any family that is divided against itself can only function at a very limited capacity because the enemy dwells in division, he dwells in darkness, he dwells in places of strife. And so he says in Christ’s family, in the body of Christ, which is based on love and founded on love, why is it that we see the importance of there no division being in existence?
So he says, «There can be no division into Jew and Gentile, slave and free, male and female». He says, «Among us,» among the Christ’s family, among the body of Christ, the family that has no division between race, economic status, division between genders, he says, «among us,» Christ’s family, «you are all equal». «Among us you are all equal». So he says, «That is, we are all in a common relationship with Jesus Christ». And so there is this word «equal» as he references here in The Message translation because I think that is what the basis of gender wars have been about for centuries of time, is the issue of equality between men and women, equality between Jews and Greeks, blacks and whites, browns and red. It’s the issue of equality, rich and poor.
And so we must begin to look at what the Bible says concerning this very important topic so that we can understand and see one another in light of the Word of God. So he says, «Among us,» this is the apostle Paul writing here. He says, «You are all equal. That is, we are all in a common relationship with Jesus Christ». He’s referring to the Jew and the non-Jew, he’s talking about the slave and the free, male and female. «All in a common relationship,» having access to God. You gotta understand that before Jesus came, there was no common relationship between believers and between the children of God.
And so you had the Jews and you had those who were privileged, and as a result, they were in the position to receive an inheritance. Males were given inheritance, those who were Jewish were in the position to receive an inheritance. But as a result of Jesus coming and expanding the opportunity that we all have, he says, as a result, there’s a common relationship that we can all have with Jesus Christ. He says, «Also, since you are Christ’s family, then are you Abraham’s famous 'descendant, ' heirs according to the covenant promises». And so I want us to really zero in on this verse here in 26 where it says, «Among us you are all equal». Somebody say, «I am equal».
And so you’ve got to understand how the enemy has fought for there to be the spirit of inferiority and superiority for centuries of time. When Jesus came, he came into a world that was filled with self-righteousness, a world that was filled with superiority, where you had a certain sect or group of people, certain cult of people, who thought they were better than others. They thought that they were more righteous than others. They thought that because of the religion that they were in and all the things that were taking place that they could look down on each other. And so Jesus came into the world that was already divided and that he, in turn, as the scripture said, had to put it right side up and things that were upside, down.
And so inferiority has always been something that has stemmed from the book of Genesis chapter 2 and 3 where the enemy came into the Garden of Eden. And as a result of Adam and Eve eating of the fruit of the tree, the spirit of division came in. And so it talked about in chapter 3, verse 16, that Eve and Adam’s relationship would be affected. And he said to the woman that «the man would rule over you». And so there’s always been, as a result of the curse that came into the Garden of Eden, there’s always been this issue of division and strife and inferiority and superiority. And so thank God for what Jesus came to do, and it was because of his blood that he redeemed us from the curse of inferiority and he gave us the rights and the privileges that we can all stand together on equal ground and have equal access.
And we could go before God, regardless of the color of our skin, regardless of our background, regardless of our economic status, but that in Christ, the scripture says, that we can all stand as one body in Christ. And so I want us to look over here in 1 Corinthians chapter 12 because I want us to really understand some things concerning overcoming inequality, because that is the topic and what we wanna deal with today, this issue of inequality. And so when we look at what Jesus came to do, he redeemed us from inferiority. And inferiority is a persistent sense of inadequacy. It is to feel powerless, small, unimportant, to feel as if you fall short.
And so when Jesus came into the earth, the 33 years that he walked the earth, there was a lot of inferiority and there were those who were in a place of superiority, but he redeemed those who felt a sense of inadequacy. They felt powerless. The woman at the well, the woman who ministered to him with the alabaster box, the blind man who couldn’t see, the man who was at the well, the pool, who couldn’t get into the water. So these were all, in most instances, overlooked, looked down upon, shamed, until Jesus came and validated their purpose and the reason for their existence. And so that was what happened when Adam and Eve ate of the fruit of the tree. The spirit of inferiority came into the earth. And as a result, this shifting and this changing of attitude came into being.
So it is a persistent sense of inadequacy to feel powerless, small, unimportant, to feel as if you fall short. And so thank God for the blood of Jesus that gives us the right to see ourselves in line with one another and that we are all, as a result of what Jesus did, we’re on a level playing field. So as an African American woman, I have every right now because of what Jesus did to access his promises and be a part of the body of Christ. I can stand side by side with my husband. I don’t have to stand behind him. I don’t have to be, you know, ahead of him. But now as a result of what Jesus did, it gives us the right that we can stand side by side. The African American can stand side by side to the European, or Caucasian.
And so that’s what happens as a result of us understanding this spirit of reconciliation that God wants us to all walk in. And so it’s that mindset that has to be renewed, the changing of the thinking, so that we can see ourselves, see one another, as Christ sees us. And so this is a paradigm shift that must become operable in our everyday lives, that will not allow the external things to dictate and to determine how one is treated. So you gotta understand, in Jesus’s day they looked down on those who were sick, those who were broken, they, you know, were despised, they were rejected. In many instances, worthless, just, were not considered human beings. But Jesus came and he empowered the woman at the well, the woman with five husbands, working on the fifth one.
But he says he had conversation with her and he talked to her at the well. And you gotta understand that that was unheard of, that was unorthodox, that was not anything that Jews would do. In fact, most women were ignored. And the fact that Jesus had a conversation with her, and in fact, it was considered to be the longest private conversation that Jesus had. It’s believed to be about 45 minutes. And so, it was to validate and to empower her and to elevate her status. You gotta understand her status was, I’m sure, very low, number one, because she was female, and secondly, because she had been married so many times. And so, we have this example that Jesus modeled for us because he went out of his way to empower, to elevate the status of everyone who he came in contact with.
He didn’t leave them in the same state that they were in, but as a result of his life, his example, and him shedding his blood, we are beneficiaries of that. And so as we read in Galatians chapter 3, that now we can stand as equals, now we can see one another as equals, he says to the husband and to the wife that… husband, to dwell in knowledge with your wife and see that your prayers be hindered. He talked about how you’re heirs of the grace of life, you’re heirs, together, of the grace of life. And so now both husband and wife can go before God in prayer and, as a result, have answers to their prayers. And so it’s not under the Old Testament, where the male had the rights and the privileges to access God, but now as a result of Jesus coming and elevating the status of women, elevating the status of those who are Gentiles, and we are all able to have an intimate and personal relationship with him.
So that’s what we wanna look at this morning, so we can renew our minds and understand that this war has already been won, the fight is fixed, we win. We look at the end, Jesus has already obtained the victory for us. And so it’s important that we always stay in a position and in a stance of victory because the war has already been won. And so, we are to carry it out and to demonstrate what Jesus came for us to experience. And so, I know I said to go to 1 Corinthians, but go to 2 Corinthians. I wanna look at that for a few minutes here. I think this may help to connect the next dot. So follow along with me, and I’m just believing that it’ll all come together and you’ll see yourself in light of the plan of God, see yourself in light of what he wants to do.
So in 2 Corinthians chapter 5, look at what he says here in verse 14. And I think I probably should read this from the King James or the Amplified. So, you guys can pull that one up on the screen. So chapter 5, verse 14, «For the love of Christ constrains us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then we’re all dead: And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again. Wherefore henceforth know we know man after the flesh».
So when we know someone out of the flesh, we know them by the color of their skin, we know them by their gender, we know them by their economic status. We know them to either be Jewish, the privileged, we know them to be Gentile. He says, «Henceforth know we no man after the flesh». So this is the apostle Paul talking here in terms of how we should acquaint ourselves one with another. It shouldn’t be based on the external things such as race, gender, should not be based on whether you’re rich or poor. He says, «Don’t know one, or acquaint yourself based on these things». «Yet not henceforth know we no more». It’s like, okay, what does all that mean, the Elizabethan language?
Let me read it to you from the Amplified. «Consequently, from now on we estimate and regard no one from a [purely] human point of view [in terms of natural standards of value]». So to know someone after the flesh is to estimate and regard them from a human point of view. So what God was saying here and what the Word of God is saying through Paul is to not look upon and determine or regard someone based on the «natural standards of value». And so he goes on to say, «No, even though we once did estimate Christ from a human viewpoint,» just as a man, a carpenter’s son, someone who, you know, was Mary and Joseph’s boy. He said there was a time when people knew him from a human point of view and as a human, as a man. He says, «Yet now [we have such knowledge of Him that] we know Him no longer [in terms of the flesh]».
Now he’s the first begotten of the Father. He’s the risen one. He is the captain of 10,000. He’s the captain of our souls. He’s our Redeemer. He’s our sanctifier. He’s no longer just, you know, a guy who went around operating as a carpenter. But now, because of what Jesus did, we don’t see him in that way. We don’t regard and estimate him upon his human abilities. We regard him according to how God sees him and what Jesus was assigned to do in redeeming us and being the propitiation, the scripture says, of our sins, and standing in the gap for us and allowing us to be in the position where we can have a personal relationship.
So he took on our sins, he took on our unrighteousness, he took on our inequality, he took on our sickness, he took on our addictions, our habits, our bondages. He took on all those things so that we can be free to have a personal relationship with God and so that we can experience the new creation, the new specie, the new level of living. And so, these are things that the apostle Paul encourages us here in chapter 5, verse 16 so that we no longer know Christ in terms of the flesh. Then in verse 17 it says, «Therefore if any man,» or any woman, that word «man» includes men and women. «If any person be in Christ, he or she is a new creature,» a new specie, a new person who’s never existed before.
«Old things are passed away; and behold, all things are become new». The Amplified says, «Therefore if any person is [ingrafted] in Christ (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature all together); the previous, the old [previous moral and spiritual condition] has passed away. Behold, the fresh and the new has come»! So once we come in Christ, once we are in the position that we have a personal relationship with him, we understand the previous condition where inferiority existed, where superiority and all these things, racism, divisions, all these things concerning strife and separation, he says those things, the previous, the moral and spiritual condition, those things are to pass away. They were supposed to go away as a result of the new birth. And he says, «Behold, the fresh and the new has come»!