In the beginning, God placed Adam and Eve in a beautiful garden where everything was good — except for one thing. It wasn’t good for Adam to be alone.
So God created Eve, and community was born.
But they chose to reject God’s way of life and ended up estranged not only from their Creator but from one another, as well. Adam blamed Eve for the whole mess, and suddenly there was shame and fear in their relationship. From then until now, human relationships have been fraught with anxiety and suspicion, defensiveness and division.
Sin separates us from God and alienates us from one another. Conflict and hostility threaten to permeate every level of society, from marriages to nations. History can be read as a testament to sin’s ability to tear asunder what God intended to join together.
But sin will never be allowed to have the last word. God has a plan that has been unfolding since Genesis 3 to reconcile us back to Himself and to one another. He made a promise to Abraham, and we’ve seen how all of Abraham’s descendants were brought together in great unity. Granted, they kept tearing at the fabric, trying to unravel what God was sewing. But God was more stubborn than they were.
Still, it wasn’t clear to them that His intention was for more than just Abraham’s children to be blessed with the chance to enjoy healthy relationships. There was a “mystery” about this, and it would only be made clear through God’s Son, Jesus (Eph 3.4-6).
Jesus came from the lineage of Abraham. He went to the Jewish people first, but He also brought Good News to the Gentiles — Good News of great joy for all people! That’s what the angels announced at His birth.
After Jesus returned to His Father in heaven, the Holy Spirit was poured out on those first followers on the Day of Pentecost, and the Church was established. That day, there were people gathered from all over the world. God began His new community by drawing people from many nations to faith in Jesus. That new community was the Church, it is the Church, and it has always, from Day One, transcended barriers of race, language and culture.
Those who wanted the Gentiles to adhere to their customs in order to be unified were grieving the heart of God, who wants nothing more than for His children to enjoy His presence and live at peace with one another. They were denigrating the completed work of Jesus on the cross by suggesting that unity would only be gained through human activity.
Throughout human history, people have tried to accomplish unity. But they’ve never been successful. It’s far too costly. It cost Jesus His life. He paid a high price to purchase not just our personal redemption, but the ability now for us to know, accept, serve and celebrate one another.
We cannot initiate such unity through our efforts. Our best attempts always fall short. Only the Spirit of God can create unity. Our job, then, becomes to maintain it (Eph 4.1-6).
We could start by making unity a core value.
Prayer
Lord, I pray for a spirit of humility and gentleness and of patience and tolerance in my own faith community, so that Your love will prevail as we seek to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. It is only as we walk by the Spirit that we can attain this quality of unity that cannot be achieved by human efforts. May we put away selfishness and empty conceit and seek to be united in love and in spirit. Give us such an affection and compassion in Christ that we are intent on one purpose, which is Your honour and pleasure. May we walk by the Spirit and bear the fruit of peace, patience, kindness and goodness. For it is only by Your Spirit that we can overcome the estrangement that is caused by the selfishness and wilfulness of sin. May we be perfected in unity so that the world may know that Christ is in our midst.
In Jesus’s name, Amen
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