All For One and One For All (Part 1)
Last week we started considering how we might resonate God's glory. Our mission as the church of Christ is to spread God's glory to all mankind. Although there are some things that we can do alone, this mission is not accomplished by each of us working independently of one another. God's glory is most clearly seen as his people work together. How could we ever work together when we are all so different? Jesus led the way by showing us tender compassion and gentleness with humility. He bears with us with love. The world must see this attitude in us. We have to work together to maintain unity with one another through the bond of peace Jesus has created in us. Our mission is to love one another and work hard to unite. Division is never the goal. It should hurt us deeply when people leave, even if they were the source of much pain. We should desire reconciliation and union with all of God's people.
This morning and evening, we will look at a common problem when we start working on this mission. What is the problem that stops us from being unified? The biggest problem is that our focus shifts from God's glory to our glory. This is a subtle change that goes unnoticed, and it can happen in many different ways. Today, we will focus on seven ways the focus shifts from God's glory to our glory. Let's read the text.
The Main Idea
Ephesians 4:4--7 (ESV) --- 4 There is one body and one Spirit---just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call--- 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. 7 But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift..
Do you see it? Paul says there is one body, spirit, hope, Lord, faith, baptism, and God. The central idea here is the key to unity. Paul says that there is ONE of each of these. **That means we must fit into the mold that God has created for us**. Unity is found in accepting and submitting to what God's word teaches on each of these topics. The principle Paul describes for us is that there is one way that God has set up. You might be thinking, "But there are a lot of different teachings on each of these areas." You are right. Those who call themselves Christians have several beliefs about each of these seven ideas. But Paul says there is only one that is true.
This is the point where many people roll their eyes and think, "So now you are going to tell me that you know the one that's true." I'm not trying to put my understanding out there as the final say on the matter, but I believe we can find the truth, and I want to be unified with that truth. I hope you do as well. We live in a culture that is hostile toward the truth. Somewhere along the way, we decided to be hostile toward one another instead of discussing our different understandings of these topics. We need to maintain humility, gentleness, patience, and love as we study these ideas together. We need to be open to different viewpoints and be willing to adjust if the truth is made clear.
What Does That One Truth Look Like?
Now, we will quickly go through all of these and discuss the importance of each one. You may disagree with me on some of this, but don't let that divide us. We can be unified if we discuss these things and develop a greater understanding of what is true. I could be wrong, but so could you. I hope you will have an open mind and heart as we discuss these things, and I hope our discussion will create greater unity. We will discuss the first four elements of unity this morning and the last three tonight.
One Body
First, he says that there is one body. How could there be one body if it is divided? The word denomination means division. In fractions, we have a numerator and a denominator. The body of Christ cannot be a bunch of fractions. We are all one in Christ. Doesn't this force us to change our perspective as we look at believers? From the least to the greatest, we are all children of God. It doesn't matter where you come from, what you look like, how much status you have with the world, or what name you put on your church building. Our whole system of labeling ourselves and our buildings is broken. I don't want to identify as part of a church of Christ denomination. I only want to be a member of Christ's singular body and join myself to other members. We do not want to ask Jesus to head up our church body that we create. The answer is an emphatic, "NO!" We want to be a part of his body.
The labeling process is a source of pride, harshness, self-righteousness, and abuse. It is not the source of unity. It does not result in the glorification of God. We could put on our sign "Christians meet here to glorify God." That would be the most appropriate label we could give ourselves. But it's not about the label. It's about being united with one another for God's glory. I understand that men make false teachings and errors, but we must not fight error with error. Labeling ourselves is not the answer.
When I think about the body being divided, I think about the time in judges when the people were so evil that a man's concubine was raped to death. That man cut the woman up and sent all of her parts to the eleven tribes to explain the evil that has taken place in the tribe of Benjamin. We don't want the body of Christ to be divided. We want the body of Christ to be united. A divided body is a dead body. Instead of seeking to join ourselves to one particular part, we should seek to join ourselves to the one true living body of Christ that has existed since the day of Pentecost. That is the body of Christ that still exists today and is alive for Christ. That is the body that is glorifying God. Are we loyal to that body? Are we reflecting the life of Christ on earth? No one person can do that alone. We need a huge body of people working together to accomplish this.
One Spirit
The second element he gives us is that there is one Spirit. The Spirit, in this case, is referring to the Holy Spirit. Jesus said in John 14-16 that he would send the Holy Spirit to help guide his twelve apostles into all truth. That is what the one Spirit does. He mentions this second because the revelation of the Holy Spirit is the unifying and life-giving force for the body of Christ. Without the revelation of the New Testament, there would be no life.
The word spirit means breath. That's why Jesus appears to his disciples after rising from the dead and breathes on them. He said, "Receive the Holy Spirit" (John 20:22). When we look at a body to determine if it is alive or dead, what is the first thing we look for or ask? Is he still breathing? Without breath, we die. Many people think that life is found in their feelings and the convictions of their hearts. But personal feelings cannot unify them with the body of Christ if their convictions and feelings are not based on the Holy Spirit's revealed truth. There is only one Spirit. He does not contradict himself. So if we think that the Spirit is leading us to do something that the word has not revealed to us, we could be straying from the one Spirit that gives us life.
We find unity in the revelation of the Spirit as he provided it in the word of God. If we base what we are going to do on feelings and personal convictions, we will not be united with Christ's body. The body of Christ is seeking to maintain unity for God's glory, and God has provided his word to create that. Too often, men have used their thoughts and intentions to drive a wedge between God's people. This is not from the Spirit of God. This is not what glorifies God. It glorifies man. Our attempts to improve upon the examples and command given to us are often rooted in pride and self-glorification. We must be careful and make sure we conform our lives to the one true word of God. The Bible is our authority, and our desire must be to agree upon the correct interpretation. I know that some things are more important than others. I know that some things are more complex than others. I'm not saying we have to have the same interpretation of every passage. But that should be our goal. In gentleness, we should be studying together to come to a common understanding of the truth. This glorifies God and creates unity.
One Hope That Belongs To Our Call
I love how Paul talks about our call in such a positive way. Many people asked me what it was like to be called to preach. I love the way Paul Earnhart put it in a recent bulletin article. He said God called him to preach when God called him to be a Christian. As the body of Christ, we are all called to be God's children and to do what we can "to the praise of his glory." That is our calling, and we have hope that God will make us into what he calls us to be. I love the way God puts this in Ezekiel.
Ezekiel 36:25--27 (ESV) --- 25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. 26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.
God promises that he will put a new heart and a new spirit in us so that we will be careful to do his commands. We have hope that God will sanctify us and make us into his holy priesthood. This should unify us. As I look at you and see how far away you are from holiness, I shouldn't look down on you. I should anticipate a remarkable transformation by the working of God. That's the hope I have for you. It doesn't matter how far off you are from the nature of God. God can work in your heart to transform who you are. So I don't lose hope in you. I pray for you and desire the best for you. Once you have submitted your life to following Christ and become a part of this body, you are a part of the family of rejects and failures, and we want you here. This is the hope of our calling, and it is singular. We don't have hope that God will remove all of those ungodly people who love him but can't get their act together. We don't have hope that God will make everyone look the same or have the same opinions. We have hope that God will work in the minds and hearts of all who bow their knee to Christ. That is the one unifying hope of our call.
One Lord
The last unifying element we will look at this morning is that God has given us one Lord. To say that we have one Lord is to put all other rulers out of our life. No one and nothing else should rule over our hearts and minds. No one and nothing else has precedent over Jesus to tell me where to go or what to do. Jesus has to be my Lord. Many times in our society, people will call Jesus Lord but refuse to do what he says. We are detached from the lordship culture of the first century. If you were a servant under a Lord, you do everything your Lord tells you without grumbling or complaining. You don't have the option of not doing it if you don't really feel like it. The Lord is your master. We are willingly submitting to Jesus as our Lord.
In Galatians, we see that Jesus has made us free, but if we want to enjoy all of the spiritual blessings found in Christ, we must use our freedom to serve Christ. What does Jesus want us to do? Christ's command is that we serve one another with humility. The problem of division comes when someone or something other than Christ is our Lord. If we make ourselves Lord over the flock, there is no unity. We will be discussing the role of spiritual leaders in the coming weeks, but in this, we see that no spiritual leader is the Lord. All spiritual leaders must bow and submit to the one Lord. This is something we must want to do. Our heart's desire must be to follow the will of our Lord. He must be Lord of our time, money, family, and hearts.
Back in Chapter 1, Paul said that Jesus is the head of the body. He has all authority and power. Our Lord says that we are to be the fullness of God, and we are to live to the praise of God's glory. The only way we can accomplish this, brethren, is by humbly striving to maintain unity. We have to work together for this goal.
What Can We Do?
I have only discussed the first four elements of unity. But in these first four elements, we see different aspects of the body of Christ. We see that we are supposed to be united with one another and with other members of Christ's body throughout the world. We don't want to be isolated, nor do we want to surround ourselves with people who do not fear God. If you have not committed your life to unite with the believers seeking to glorify God, we want you to submit to our Lord and be a part of the one body he is the head of. We are a group of people who are not committed to the traditions and opinions of men. We are simply committed to understanding and applying the doctrines of the New Testament. We may not be perfect in that, but we strive for it. You could play a valuable role in helping us become what God wants us to be. That all starts with an honest conversation about where you are in your spiritual walk and what you need.
If you haven't yet, will you join yourself to Christ's body? Will you submit to the one Spirit's message? Will you give yourself over to the hope of this calling? God is calling you to be to the praise of his glory. This is the unifying mission for every member. Will you truly let Jesus be the Lord of your life? If we don't do what Jesus commands and accept the truth that the Spirit reveals to us, we are living in rebellion and will be rejected by the body of Christ.
Remember, if you say Jesus is Lord, that means that you will do what he calls you to do and be what he calls you to be. That means you can look forward to a life of struggle and suffering to promote him. Life cannot be about comfort anymore. We must all set aside our distractions and work together to promote the glory of God in Christ. If we can help you in your spiritual journey, please let us, and please join us tonight to learn the rest of these unifying elements of God's people.