Unity
Our diversity is how we build God's Kingdom and glorify the Lord, but we are called to unity in Christ.
We are a world of diverse people. Many have faith in Christian and non-Christian religions and some have no faith or reject faith. No matter who we are and where we come from, we are called to know God. We find him if we seek the Truth that stirs in our hearts. He is always calling us there and speaking to us through all things in our lives, calling us to know him and accept his love and mercy.
When God created the world, he called all of his creation “good” and it existed in perfect harmony. He gave humans stewardship over the earth, and invited them into an intimate relationship with himself. When the first people committed the first sin, which the Bible teaches with the story of Adam and Eve, it was a sin of disobedience; they chose their own will instead of God’s will. God gave his children everything and he instructed them to follow one rule, a rule that would help them be happy: do not eat of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Adam and Eve were tempted and tricked by the evil one, and they chose to eat the fruit of that tree. They sinned.
This sin caused a separation from God and human beings, the children he loved. Life would have to change as a consequence of that sin. Harmony was lost and life would have hardships. But God was not without a plan. From the beginning of time, The Blessed Trinity made a plan that would save God's people. God the Son would become man, come to earth, and live a perfectly obedient life, following the will of God the Father. Adam and Eve's sin of disobedience, as well as our sin, could be redeemed through Jesus' life of perfect obedience. Sin would be defeated and humanity restored to God.
“He saved us and called us to a holy life, not according to our works but according to his own design and the grace bestowed on us in Christ Jesus before time began, but now made manifest through the appearance of our savior Christ Jesus, who destroyed death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, for which I was appointed preacher and apostle and teacher.” 2 Timothy 1:9-11
God prepared people to recognize Jesus the Savior when Jesus came to earth. God's inspired Word spoke through the prophets, and through the prophets he instructed people in his holy ways and promised them that the Messiah would come.
At the appointed time, Jesus, both human and divine, came to earth as The Living Word and he taught people how to live a life that was pleasing to God. He had perfect obedience to the Father, and he trusted God the Father even to the point of death. Jesus was wrongly accused and convicted by powerful people who felt threatened by Jesus' message of radical compassion and inclusion. It challenged the status quo of his day. Facing death, he persevered in prayer. Jesus cried out to God asking him to spare his life and the suffering that was sure to come, if that was God’s will. God the Father did not intervene. Jesus submitted to the Father and followed God's will, the path that was laid out before him.
Imagine – It was the darkest of situations, seemingly the unjust end of Jesus’ life by those who
hated him, and yet he trusted in God's will. Jesus had said, “No one takes my life from me, but I lay it down on my own. I have power to lay it down, and power to take it up again” John 10:18. Jesus walked the hardest path and did not resist. He laid down his life for us. He had perfect obedience; he trusted in God’s will.
Three days later Jesus rose from the dead in fulfillment of the Scriptures. Jesus resurrected! From the darkest situation, when evil seemed to have won, God was triumphant! Jesus defeated death. Jesus conquered sin. Through Jesus’ life, death and resurrection, light has prevailed! God offers himself as salvation to all. He has set us free from sin and death and given us new life in him.
Sin and evil run rampant on this earth. We see evil in the world and our hearts break. But, we have great hope! We know the ending of this story: Good wins! Jesus already defeated sin, evil, and death. He is our Savior! Sin and death no longer have a hold on us because Jesus lived a perfectly obedient life, he took all the sin of the world upon himself, he defeated death by death, and Jesus conquered death for us. We do not have to be strong on our own. We have Jesus. Call on him in your life. Ask him to drive out the darkness, protect you, and guide you to God. Follow him.
Do you want to find Jesus? Get to know him by reading the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Read about his years of ministry and see what he says. What is he telling you in your life today? Pray. Listen to the call God places in your heart and begin responding. God is actively pursuing you. Say back to him, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening” 1 Samuel 3:10.
God knew you before all time began. He willed you into being for his joy and love. He called you to be his child. When he was on the cross, he endured it all so that you could be in heaven with him forever. He did it for you, for me, and for all people.
And so we are made by God, for God, in his image and likeness, called to be his children and live eternal life in his love. Our diversity is unique and special, and the gifts he gives to us are for his glory and our enjoyment, to have a glimpse of his love for us. And no matter who we are, where we come from, what our life stories are or how many times we have failed or succeeded in living on this earth, God calls us to unity through Christ. Let us be his children in one family with Jesus as the head.
"So then, remember that at one time you (people who never knew about God) were without Christ, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who were once far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made us both groups (people who never knew God but now believe and those who knew God because their family passed on the faith) into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us. ...That he might create in himself one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace, and might reconcile both groups to God in one body through the cross... So he came and proclaimed peace to you who were far off and those who were near; for through him both of us have access in one Spirit to the Father." Ephesians 2:11-18
We are one humanity, united in Christ who is all things. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever, Amen.
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