That They May Be One- What Is True Unity?
In what many call Jesus's
high priestly prayer, Jesus asks the Father to make us "one". I am not sure what others think about this prayer, but I had the impression that he was praying that we might be one with each other. As I read it again the other day, I saw it in a new light, one that thrilled my heart and elucidated the road to unity within the body of Christ on earth.
John 17:10
Jesus said, “…and all mine are thine, and thine are mine;
and I am glorified in them. And now I am no more in the world, but these
are in the world, and I come to thee, Holy Father, keep through thine own name
those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.”
I once saw Jesus in a man, and it broke the chains of my
addiction and raised my dead spirit back to life. Jesus lived in this person so
fully, that when I looked into his eyes, I saw God’s love. When we are one with
the Father, we reveal Jesus to a lost and dying world. We make the Father known. The Lord showed me that this is exactly how He is saving the world, by inhabiting and loving through his children so completely that people fall in love with Him, and that is how we are healed and set free.
Jesus wasn’t praying that we would be one with each other, but that we each would be one with God, even as He is. Unity with one another is the natural by-product of our unity with God. How thrilling is it to be one with God, for God is the most enticing, most wonderful, most glorious, and most satisfying One we could ever know. Jesus was praying us into the middle of divine union, the same one that he enjoyed with the Father. Selah.
“That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also
may be one in us; that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.” V:21
Does this just not thrill you to bits!? It is the best news
we could ever hear! And to think that Jesus suffering made it all possible.
Glory to God! Truly, glory, glory, glory! It makes me want to sing the
doxology!
Jesus makes it clear that he is not asking God to take us
out of the earth, rather, he is asking that through this one-ness with God, that we too might glorify God.
But later in the very same prayer, Jesus seems to pivot and
totally contradicts himself:
John 17:21
“Father, I will that
they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am: that they may behold my glory, which thou
hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.”
Jesus had just prayed that God would not take us from the
world, and then he prays that we all would be with him where he is! Which is
it? Keep us here, or take us with him? Yes! He wants us to be here on earth, and while here on earth we will live with him in heavenly places. Here and now we may behold His glory more and more and increase in more faith that brings us into more glory, that imparts more faith, and more glory, unto more faith until we are looking just like Him! (2 Cor 3:17-18)
Heavenly "places" is a spiritual condition, a state in which we are one with God.
Verse 22
“And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that
they may be one, even as we are one: I
in them, and thou in me
that they maybe be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou
hast sent me, and hast love them, as thou has loved me.”
What glory is Jesus giving us? We can be one with God! Then the world will see the Father. Alleluia!
I’m sorry but I had a glorious time at church this morning,
and my cup is overflowing. Nothing can compare to the power of God to bring us into this divine
union. The word literally gushes forth with great and precious promises to
usher us into this glory.
So what is disunity? I want to propose that true disunity is when believers slander, gossip, and fight because of jealousy, competition, personal ambition, and envy etc. etc. It is carnal Christianity born of the love of the world, and void of the love of God.
Disunity happens when we angrily fight and debate over silly rules and religious procedures (religious holidays, abstaining from foods etc.) that have nothing to do with true righteousness, and have no power to save us. Scripture is clear that we are to refrain from all of the above, because it is not the wisdom that comes from above.
When we walk contrary to love, we break the unity of the Spirit who is exquisitely sensitive to unkindness. I will never, ever forget when I was going through grief, and God's presence was so strong upon me to comfort me. I had people staying with me, and I casually remarked that my roommate was a little fastidious about her things, but I used a slang term popular back then. Right after I said it, I felt the Holy Spirit's grief like a stabbing pain in heart. Immediately I apologized and repented because God does not talk like that. He is never rude, crude, harsh, or unkind. Jesus is described as being "harmless", and he is deeply pained by unkindness in the body of Christ. This is the acid test of truly knowing Christ; how do we treat one another? How do we talk about each other?
I am proposing that this kind of anger, debate, and unkindness is the thing that truly breaks unity, and that unity is NOT conformity of thought, or mindlessly (and prayerless-ly) accepting every teaching, doctrine, and practice that blows through the body of Christ. Calls for unity are growing louder and louder, both inside and outside of the body of Christ. We are now witnessing the call for global religious pluralism such that we must embrace all paths to God. (If you are not aware of what is going on, search “UAE deal, Abrahamic House”, “Chrislam and the Pope” and you will get up to speed with what is coming down the global pike.)
This is the end-time
deception that confronts us right now, and it will only increase. Now, more
than ever, the body of Christ is going to have to contend for the faith and truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Satan is coming against it because it will truly save people!
Scripture tells us to test prophetic words, and to search the scriptures to determine if the word being spoken is of God. I don’t know about you, but when was the last time that you heard anyone talk about testing the prophetic word, teachings, or those who claim the office of prophet or apostle? I have never heard anyone talk about it, but on the contrary, I have only witnessed a blank check that the church is expected to sign for anyone who claims to have spoken to an angel or has a word from God.
This should not be, and it is not
unity. It is a pathway to deception that is right in line with what we are warned about concerning the end-times.
There is a difference between slandering a brother, and
questioning a teaching, movement, or sermon.
We are to abstain from all slander and attacks, but we are to diligently search the word and inquire of the Lord to test all that we are hearing. If we don't, who will?
Deception is running rampant in the church right now. We are
living in the time of the great falling away. Truth matters, because without
the truth, we cannot be truly saved from the bondage of sin. God has redeemed
us with His one and only Son. It is a perfect sacrifice, and a perfect
salvation. May the Lord put a fire in our hearts to protect the preaching of
the word, and the sanctity of the gospel of salvation.
2 Timothy 4:2-4
“Preach the word, be instant in season, and out of season;
reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure
sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves
teachers, having itching ears, and they shall turn away their ears from the
truth, and shall be turned unto fables.”
That time is now.
Unity, or oneness with God, is only
through faith in Jesus Christ unto His glory so that this world can be saved. No other teaching, philosophy, practice, or
politics can unite the body of Christ.
I would love to know your thoughts, and what the Lord is saying to you about this.
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