Following from the previous week, Pastor Andy continues the open conversation about racism and equality. Understanding people’s perspective is a key thing, it is a point of view regarding things going on around us. This can impact our response to issues we face in the world. Various people will have varying perspectives on something and we need to recognise this. This is normal. Our perspective is our view point determined by what is happening. Even how we see things can change as we view from a different perspective. Christians seek to choose and view from another viewpoint, the Kingdom view. This is the perspective of God and His word regarding things we are seeing and experiencing. This perspective is always the one that matters the most. We need to be willing to lay down our perspectives and gain that of heaven. Our identity is fundamental here – we will only choose Kingdom perspective when we fully know who we are in Christ. Citizenship of God’s Kingdom forms a common voice inside us. Colossians 1:13 (NKJV) tells us “He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love”. This is when we receive Jesus as Saviour here on earth. We are then made alive in our spirit to God. Our lives become under the rule and reign of Jesus Christ and His Kingdom. We are triune beings – body, soul and spirit. Our soul can be heavily influenced by the how we see things. Our spirit is now alive to God, we are now able to hear and know Gods spirit and His thoughts. We can access the mind of God, having the spirit within us which is alive to God. In 1 Corinthians 2:9 onwards scripture speaks about what God has revealed to us by His Spirit, how only a person’s thoughts are known by their spirit and in verse 12 how our understanding of God’s Spirit can come from His Spirit ((NIV) “What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us”). In verse 14 we are told that the person without God’s Spirit in his heart will see things as foolish, not understanding them, as here we speak of spiritual discernment, but the person with Gods Spirit will see all things through Godly eyes. In verse 16 it says (NIV) “for who has known the mind of the Lord, so as to instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ”. We have the mind of Christ and can access God’s perspective of things happening on earth. If this does not agree with our perspective we need to be able to change our perspective. We see God’s perspective through His Word and His Spirit that can lead our ways. God designed us to have a spirit alive to him. Our soul is not removed but our choices need to be carefully made – not by the soul as before we accepted Jesus but by the spirit………..let us be influenced by the spirit of who we now are through the Holy Spirit, the mind of Christ. We need to seek first the Kingdom perspective. We must seek to find Gods perspective when we discuss aspects like racism and discrimination. As Christians, we are carriers of the Kingdom of God and this needs to affect our perspective and the way we live. The cure for racism, inequality and such issues is Kingdom Come. We represent a kingdom where all are equal. This is how we need to see life. In Colossians 3:7-11 Paul speaks of who we used to be and how we were, but how we are now, how God sees us….(NIV) “You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all”. This clearly shows no delineation between races, religions, cultures, social or economic distinctions people etc. We are all one in Him and He is one in us. We are one body. Joining the perspectives of the Kingdom of God rather than of the worldly kingdoms is how we may change the world. We are in His Kingdom and He is in us. Let these truths affect how we see ourselves and how we choose to see others. Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness (Matthew 6:33).