U N I T Y
The word
“unity” means “being one” or the state of oneness. Unity also means something that is complete
or whole. To fully understand the
concept of unity from the Christian view point we can only learn from God’s
revelation in the Holy Bible.
One of the
scribes asked the Lord Jesus Christ this question, “Which is the first
commandment of all? Jesus answered him,
’The first of all the commandments is,
‘Hear, O
Shema Yisrael, Ado-nai Elo-heinu, Ado-nai Echad.
And you shall love the
LORD your God with all your heart,
with all your soul, with all
your mind, and with all your strength.’
Baruch sheim kavod mal-chuso li-olam va-ed
This is the first commandment.” (Mk.
12:28-29)
For
centuries Deuteronomy 6:4-5 that begin with these words have been known in
Jewish tradition as "The Shema" which contains the fundamental truth of
God revealed Himself as
the Creator
“In the beginning God
created the heavens and the earth. The
earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the
deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering
over the face of the waters. Then God
said, ‘Let there be light ‘, and there was light.” (Gen. 1:1-3)
“Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our
image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the
sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and
over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” (Gen. 1:26)
The personal pronouns “Us” and “Our” in the plural form does
not mean there are many creators for there is only one Creator who created man
in His own image, and not ‘in their images’.
“So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He
created him; male and female He created them.” (Gen. 1:27)
“Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, and He who formed you
from the womb: I am the LORD, who makes
all things, Who stretches out the heavens all alone, Who spreads abroad the earth by Myself.” (Isa. 44:24)
“Have we not all one Father?
Has not one God created us? . . .” (Mal.
2:10)
Throughout the ages the people of God called Him
as their heavenly Father who is the Creator of mankind.
God’s Revelation
of His Incarnation
This One True God has
revealed through the prophets in the Old Testament that He would come to this
earth in human form.
Isaiah 9:6 is one of the
most powerful prophecies that the One True God would manifest Himself in the
flesh:
"For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given:
and the government willl be upon His shoulder: And
His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince
of Peace."
The terms “Child” and “Son” refer to the Incarnation or manifestation of the “Mighty God" and the “Everlasting Father."
Isaiah also prophesied
that the Messiah would be called “Immanuel”, that is,
“God with
us” (Isa.
Micah 5:2 proves that
the Messiah is God. "But you, Bethlehem Ephratah .
. . yet out of you shall come forth to Me the One to be ruler in Israel, Whose
goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting."
Thus the Old Testament
clearly states that the Messiah and Savior who is to come would be the One True God Himself.
The Lord Jesus
Christ revealed the
Holy Spirit
The Lord Jesus Christ
declared: “I and My Father are
one.” (Jn.
10:30). The disciples already knew the
Father as their Creator (Mal.
Unity of the
Father, Son and
Holy Spirit
There is only One True
God; the Creator of the heavens and the earth and of all mankind (Mk
Unity of the Lord
Jesus Christ with
His Church
“For we are members of
His body, of His flesh and of His bones. ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father
and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ This is a great mystery, but I speak
concerning Christ and the Church.” (Eph. 5:30-32)
The relationship between the Lord Jesus
Christ and the Church is like that of a husband and his wife. In the natural marriage “a man shall leave his father and mother and
be joined to his wife.” In the
spiritual marriage the Lord Jesus Christ would leave His heavenly Father and
also His earthly mother and be joined to His wife which is the Church (Phil 2:5-8;
Jn.
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Lord Jesus Christ and His Church |
Relationship
between husband and wife |
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The Church is to be
conformed to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ (Rom. |
Man and woman are
created in the image of God (Gen. 1:27) |
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Jesus Christ came before
the Church (Col. 1:18) |
“Adam was formed first, then Eve.” (1 Tim. 2:13) |
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“. . . He said, ‘It is finished!’ And bowing His head, |
“And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam.” (Gen. 2:21) |
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“But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and
immediately blood and water came out.” (Jn. 19:34) |
“He took one of His ribs, and closed up the flesh in its
place.” (Gen. 2:21) Blood must have flowed out from the wound
of Adam’s rib area. |
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The |
“Then the rib which the LORD God had taken from man He made
into a woman,” (Gen. 2:22) |
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God brought the Church
to Christ (Col. 1:12-14) |
“and He brought her to the man.” (Gen. 2:22) |
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Jesus Christ “is head of the church;
and He is the Savior of the body.” (Eph. |
“the head of woman is man” (1 Cor. 11:3) “the husband is head of
the wife” (Eph. |
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The Church must be
submissive to the Lord Jesus Christ (Eph. |
Wives must be
submissive to their husbands (Eph. |
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The Lord Jesus Christ “loved the church and
gave Himself for it.” (Eph. 5:25) |
“So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own
bodies.” (Eph. 5:28, 33) |
The Lord Jesus Christ’s
Prayer for the
Unity of Christians
From the prayer of our Lord Jesus Christ we can find three basic
principles for Christian unity.
1. Unity in God’s
Name “Now I am no longer in the world, but these are
in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those
whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We
are. While I was with them in the world,
I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave
Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the
Scripture might be fulfilled.” (Jn. 17:11-12)
The Father’s
eternal name is “YAHWEH” – “I AM WHO I AM” (Ex.
2. Unity of all
Christians in One Spirit “I do not pray for these
alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; they all
may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one
in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.” (Jn. 17:20-21)
The Lord Jesus
Christ was praying not only for the Christians who had lived during His time on
the earth, but also for all Christians who believe in Him through their word,
which is for all ages including the present time and the future. The reason for Christian unity is to witness
to the world that Jesus Christ is sent by the Father.
The Lord’s
prayer for the unity of the Christians does not mean they only agree
amongst themselves, but more importantly they must be in complete agreement
with the will of the heavenly Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. This is divine unity.
3. Unity for the
glory and love of God “And the glory which You
gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made
perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have
loved them as You have loved Me.” (Jn. 17:22-23)
The Lord’s
prayer for the unity of His Disciples was fulfilled on the Day of
Pentecost when God poured out of His Spirit to establish the Church in
“So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and
breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and
simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those
who were being saved.” (Acts 2:46-47).
Unity may be achieved
amongst the Christians
On the Day of Pentecost
when the Spirit of God was poured out on the Disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ
there was only one church. According to the "World Christian
Encyclopedia: A comparative survey of churches and religions - AD 30 to 2002,"
there are 34,000 separate Christian groups in the world today. "Over half of them are independent churches that
are not interested in linking with the big denominations."
The "Encyclopedia of American Religions" lists 1,588 religious
denominations, sects, faith groups, organizations, etc. Some are currently
operating in
In His prayer for the
unity of His disciples our Lord also prayed to the heavenly Father: “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word
is truth. As You
sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth. (Jn. 17:16-19)
One thing is certain and
that is the Lord Jesus Christ is returning for His Church. He wants to “sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of
water by the word, that He might present it to Himself a glorious church, not
having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and
without blemish.” (Eph. 5:26-27)
The prayer of the Lord
Jesus Christ will certainly be fulfilled.
There will be a church that meets His requirements when He returns. The word of God gives us a very clear
direction as to how Christians can achieve unity, and that is to be sanctified
by the truth.
Unity of the Spirit
in the Bond
of Peace
There are seven essential
truths to be kept by all Christians in order to achieve unity (Eph. 4:3-6)
1. “There is one body” (v 4)
2. “and
one Spirit,” (v 4)
3. “just
as you were called in one hope of your calling; (v 4)
4. “one
Lord” (v 5)
5. “one
faith” (v 5)
6. “one
baptism” (v 5)
7. “one
God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.” (v 6)
Most Christian churches
believe and accept these seven essential truths, but they differ in their interpretation
of the “one faith”
and the “one baptism”.
“One faith” refers to
the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Apostles. “And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’
doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and in prayers.” (Acts
“One baptism” is briefly
described in Matthew 28:19, Acts
Throughout the centuries
several good Christian men have made attempts to unite the
In essential things have unity,
In doubtful things have liberty,
In all things have charity (love).
We can certainly use
this slogan in our efforts to have unity with all other Christians.
Unity of the
Referring to the workers
in the End Time the Lord Jesus Christ said: “So the last shall be first, and the first last,
for many are called, but few chosen.” (Mt.
20:16) Just like the Church in the First
Century the condition of the Church in the End Time is described as having equal opportunity of salvation and God's blessings
for all the people of the world (Gal.
26. For you are all sons of
God through faith in Christ Jesus.
27. For as many of you as
were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
28. There is neither Jew nor Greek,
there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female;
for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
29. And if you are Christ’s,
then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”
May God bless you
A sermon based on this article was preached by Paul Wong
to a
Congregation in
For comments please write first to: arkpw@sbcglobal.net
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Paul Wong is a Christian minister and the
President of ARK International. |
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