John 17:20-21
20 “I do not pray for these alone [it is not for their sake only that I make this request], but also for [all] those who [will ever] believe and trust in Me through their message, 21 that they all may be one; just as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be one in Us, so that the world may believe [without any doubt] that You sent Me.
Jesus made a prayer not just for the 12 disciples but for all those who would ever believe. His prayer was that we would be united just as he and the father are one. The bible says that where there is unity God himself commands a blessing. It also says that a kingdom divided cannot stand.
The sad thing is this, because of the doctrines of men, we have divided ourselves into sects and denominations and we focus on the things that divide us instead of Christ who unites us. We have set up our own little clubs and kingdoms.
Our unity demonstrates and proves to the world that God sent Christ and that also that God has loved the world. Our unity is a demonstration of His love.
This one thought amazes me, Christ had an opportunity to pray for all believers and the thing he chose to pray for is that we would be united. He understood the importance of unity and my prayer is that we the church would get the same revelation.
This unity not just with those who go to the church you go to (that is also hard for some of us) but unity among all those who confess Christ. For we are one body with Christ as the head. If we all then are truly getting instructions from the same head, then we will be united for a kingdom divided against itself cannot stand.
This is the kind of unity that was seen in the book of Acts.
Acts 4:32 (AMP)
32 Now the company of believers was of one heart and soul, and not one [of them] claimed that anything belonging to him was [exclusively] his own, but everything was common property and for the use of all.
Unity of purpose, one heart and soul, seeing the same thing and proclaiming the same message and submitting to the same Lord. The kind of unity that makes the body operate as one though it’s made up of different parts. Each part serving a different function but all pursuing the same purpose. Each part having the understanding that it is not competing against another and neither is one part more important than the other but that all in unity and after the same purpose.
May you and I be members of the body that forge ahead in unity and not those who sow discord strife and division within the body.
Reflections.
Of all the groups or teams you have been a part of, which one has experienced the most unity, why?
Does unity mean uniformity? Explain…
What must you do to be among those who bring about unity within the body of Christ?
