“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.”
Ephesians 1:7-10 ESV

Unity is something we conceptually understand but have a difficult time experiencing. For the Christian. We struggle daily between the call of God on our life and the sin that acts and moves within us. Our hearts and minds are rarely unified. We know what we ought to seek, we know what we ought to do, but as Paul says, the thing we know we ought to do isn’t what we do, and the thing we ought not do, that we keep on doing. He even says, “What a wretched man I am! Who will save me from this body of death?” And the answer, of course, is Jesus.

Again, from above, everything finds it’s unity in Christ. God’s Master plan, brings everything together in Him. He is the unifier. He is the central point, the hub, of the redemption of Creation. And in the fullness of time,a god will see that work completed. Each of us must decide to seek unity with God through Him. There is no other way.

Also, as Christians, we should be unified together under His banner. Singular in purpose, discipling the world in His Name, we are called to ‘go.’ Not trying to conform to the world, but standing in stark contrast to it. Not trying to meld the two into one, but to bring the world to Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit at work in us. There are far too many divisions, too many schisms within the bride of Christ. The Church is not schizophrenic, she is to be of one mind, one heart with Christ as her head. But too many people try to sculpt her into their own likeness, rather than after the model of Christ.

Unity does not stem from selfishness or personal agendas. Unity does not come from vitriol or pointed fingers. Rather than seeking our own way. We should all humbly submit to the Word, and the wisdom that. God affords us there. He is mystery, but He has not left His will as something mysterious that is hard to discern. Solomon said it in Ecclesiastes, after trying everything there was to experience in this life, he determined that the purpose of life was to fear God and obey His commands. And God has said that our command is to love Him with all our heart, mind and soul, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. And the way this love is accomplished is through the spiritual sacrifice of self for Him, and the sacrifice of self in the pursuit of others in Jesus’ Name. We ‘go’ out daily as the living stones that make up the church. We live and move and share are serve and teach and equip and love others in everything we do. Unified under the banner of the cross, we seek to honor our Redeemer and live lives of thanksgiving.

We have been forgiven, loved, shown wisdom and had knowledge shared with us. God has revealed the mystery of His will to us which is His plan to do this work of unification in Christ. God will be glorified, and He is glorified. He will complete His plan and there is no question of ‘if’ but ‘when.’

The question we must ask ourselves is if we have been unified with Christ, if we are walking as Jesus walked, according to His Spirit and purpose. Are we spending our lives in an effort to GoLove others on His behalf, seeking unity in our heart, mind and soul through Him and for them? Is our life a sacrifice for Him or a seeking after self? Unity must come from a singular purpose. You cannot have a divided unity, it just doesn’t make sense. Either we walk with Christ, on His terms and according to His example or we are doing something different of our own design.

This is not about earning our salvation or saying that our works save us. This is the evidence, the fruit, of God at work in us. Our faith is proven by the life we live each day.