Definition of unity:
1a : the quality or state of not being multiple : oneness
I have often struggled with the word “unity,” but I have been confronted with it over and again lately.
A few examples:
-Looking for it in the middle of a conflict with my spouse
-Hearing it touted as the goal for America by government leaders
-In issues of racism, unity is the cry of many.
-The church is called to be unified over and again in scripture
I have struggled with the word unity as it just seems like this unattainable mountain when I look at it with my human eyes. I think, because I want to “feel” something before I can be unified with something. I want to make something happen, ultimately, justice, before considering unity. I need to know that I can trust the person who is calling me to be unified in the area, or with person xyz.
Funny how you can know the truth for so long, but then one day, your “knowing” hits you in the face as brand new revelation. You realize that you have been knowing wrongly.
I recently read Ephesians 2:
But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 15 by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, 16 and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. 17 And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens,[d] but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by[e] the Spirit.
For the believer, those who have been made new in Christ, UNITY is not a feeling. Nor, is it something we can attain or construct on our own.
For the Christian, unity is a reality that Christ already attained for us, that we are to simply… walk in. We don’t have to “feel” unified. Unity is our reality.
In ch. 2 of Ephesians:
Verse 14: Christ himself is our peace, and in His flesh, He broke down the wall of hostility and made us one.
Verse 15: In Him, he made one new man instead of two
Verse 16: He Killed the hostility of God towards us and thus us towards each other
Verse 17: In Him, we have access to the Father in ONE Spirit.
Verse 20: We are one household built on Christ, the cornerstone
Verse 21: In Him, we continue to be built together (Already, vs 20, not yet, vs 21!)
Notice in these verses all of the “In Christ’s” that you see; this is the theme and message of Ephesians.
I think we can often tell when people are loving us so that they can receive something in return. Let’s be honest, all of us at some point are motivated to love so that we can be loved or served. Love has an end in itself, and when it is unfulfilled, it can cause us to feel hatred or contempt…hostile. This is human love. Human love cannot attain true unity with others as the way is blocked by our own pride and flesh.
For the believer, we are to love with spiritual love, that is love that desires to serve and not be served. To remain in unity with our brothers and sisters (with Christ as our peace). How do we do this? Ha! We don’t. Christ already did it, he “abolished all hostility!” All we have to do, is again, walk in the reality of what Jesus accomplished for us.
So, when I am, for example, in the middle of a conflict with my husband, and my reaction is to build a wall of protection for myself and refuse to come to peace, I need to remember James 4:
“What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel.”
I haven’t quite gotten to the entire practical working out of “abiding in Christ” (for this is how we walk in unity with our brothers and sisters). I do know that James 4 following the explanation for quarrels and fights lays out how to not love in the “worldly” way:
-ask God for things with the right desire, that is, not on your own worldly passions (vs 3).
-Be about the things of God, not the world (vs 4).
-Humble yourself before God (vs 6).
-Submit yourself to God and resist the devil (vs 7).
-Draw near to God, and let him work on you (vs 8).
-Repent (vs 9).
-Don’t speak evil against one another (vs 11).
-Don’t judge your neighbor (vs 12).
Other commands regarding unity:
-Bear with each other with love and humility (Eph 4:2).
-Have one mind (1 Pet 3:8)
-Be tender and compassionate with each other (phil. 2:1)
-Be humble (Rom 12:16)
-Keep the unity by the bond of peace (Ephesians 4:3)
-Love one another (1 John 4:12, John 13:35)
-Strive for restoration, one mind, and peace (2 Col 13:11)
So. Whatever wall we come up against, however mountainous of a feat unity seems to be, in whatever area we are fighting for it, we must remember: Christ abolished all hostility. It is finished. It is done. It is being done.
One day, when Christ returns, the plan for the fullness of time, which is to unite all things in him, things both in heaven and on earth, will be finished (Ephesians 1:10).
In the meantime, we walk in the promise and blessedness of being one in Christ (Gal 3:28).
Believer, Abide in Christ, and therefore love as Christ. As you love in Christ, you walk in oneness with Him and your brothers.
Until we understand this, unity will be a disappointing illusion. A sick joke. A source of hostility when it isn’t attained. A sense of deep loneliness.
Praise God for HIS work, His Word, His power, His promises!
I am thankful that unity is not on me to muster up a “feeling” before I can jump on it’s train. I don’t have to work to accomplish unity. I just,
Live.
In Him.
“Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.” (John 15:4)
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