Day 10

“I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one – as you are in me, Father, and I am in you.”  —John 17:21 NLT

Oneness is a marvellous ideal, but seems far from reality! John Lennon’s song, “Imagine”, boldly envisions a world where everyone lives as one. It is a world without countries, religions, possessions, or causes to kill and die for. The chorus goes like this:

You may say that I’m a dreamer,    

But I am not the only one.

I hope someday you will join us    

And the world will live as one.

The desire to see the world as one is a God-given dream and was God’s intention when He first created humanity. When God created Adam, He created an individual. So far so good! However, when He created Eve, He created something quite different – He created community! This is a whole lot different to an individual. Now there are two opinions, not one; two agendas and two personalities, not one. When the fall took place, not only did two individuals fall, but the embryonic society itself fell, and became fragmented and divided. This division continues through the early parts of Genesis until, at the Tower of Babel, the divisions were so acute that God gave the gift of tongues as a judgment to utterly confuse and divide the human race, and humanity was scattered across the earth (Genesis 11).

In the New Testament, the answer to the fallen individual is Christ, but the answer to fallen society is the Church. Paul’s letter to the Romans is about reconciling the alienated individual to God, through the work of Christ. Paul’s letter to the Ephesians is about reconciling fallen society to each other, also through the work of Christ. God makes “one new man” of the divided Jew from Gentile, and new possibilities for the oneness of humanity is made possible in ‘the church’. In fact, that is the nature of the church! It is alienated humanity reconciled to God, and consequently reconciled to each other.

Now there is some fragility to this unity of community, so Paul instructs the Ephesians to, “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace” (Ephesians 3:4). Some disciplined effort is required, not to create unity, but to keep the unity already created in the Holy Spirit. This is why our relationships must be kept alive and strong, for to let them fragment is to deny the work of the Lord Jesus Christ in redeeming us.

PRAYER: Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for the work of our Lord Jesus Christ in making us one with You. As your church, may we always keep strong the spiritual unity with one another that you intended for us. Thank You, Lord.

TO REFLECT UPON: How would I best go about keeping a spirit of oneness in Christ with my fellow Christians?