“I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.” Ephesians 4:1-6 NKJ
A very popular Christian song is “I Can Only Imagine”. It talks about what it will be like when we get to heaven and we find ourselves standing with Jesus. It paints a glorious picture of beauty almost too vast for the human mind to conceive. I love this song but every time I hear it I think about Scriptures like Ephesians 4:1-6. I begin to pray that the body of Christ will start to imagine the glory of God manifesting in our presence while we are still on earth.
Sometimes we forget that heaven is not just a place where we will one day reside. It is right here, right now! His kingdom come, His will be done, on earth as it is in heaven is how Jesus told us to pray. If it was impossible for us to be unified as one body with the bond of peace holding us together, Jesus would have never told us to pray what He did. But many people believe that it is impossible because there are too many differences of opinion in the body of Christ.
The key to success in this area comes in each individual making the decision to walk out what Paul said in the first part of this passage. It will come when we adopt a mindset of lowliness, gentleness, and long suffering. It will come when we decide to bear with one another in love and make a concentrated effort to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, which is Christ Jesus.
He is the glue that holds us together and only in Him can the will of God be manifested in the church. Without Him the body of Christ is fragmented and torn apart. This is exactly what we see happening today throughout the Christian faith. We all have to come together as one body and one Spirit if we
want to see Christ’s body operating at full capacity.
We have to set aside our theological differences through accepting the hope of our calling, which is Jesus Christ, glorified and manifested in our daily lives. He has called each of us according to His good purpose and to each of us He has given good gifts for the fulfilling of His ministry on earth; until the day of His return.
At this point most of us can only imagine what a truly unified body will look like, but if we continue steadfast in the faith, and pray for unity; we may see it manifest in our lifetime. But even if it doesn’t manifest while we are still here on earth, we have the hopeful assurance that our prayers will be answered. God promises to grant us the desire of our hearts, according to His will, and it is His will that His church becomes one in Him.
As the last days are fast approaching God is calling His church to put aside their differences and embrace one another in love. He knows what is to come and He knows that unless we are walking in the Spirit of love and peace, we will not be effective in the things we are called to do. A person with a broken limb has a very difficult time and cannot operate at full capacity. Scripture tells us that we are the body of Christ with Christ being the head and the same thing applies to us as His body. When one member of the human body or the spiritual body is broken, the rest of the members have to work together to compensate for the broken member until that member is healed. This is a depiction of the lowliness, gentleness, and longsuffering that Paul is describing in today’s passage.
We need to be praying for all Christians who cannot imagine a unified body that their eyes will be open to see what Christ saw when He told us to pray; His Kingdom come, His will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. We have to spend time praying for ourselves that we will endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit through our thoughts, words, and actions. We have to daily remind ourselves that Jesus Christ is the bond of peace that holds us together and that apart from Him, we can’t do anything! And finally we must look for our direction from Jesus so we do not trip and fall in the futility of our minds. A futile mind is given to doubting the possibility that an imagination can become a manifestation in our present time. But Jesus Christ turns an imagination into a manifestation to the mind that is fixed on Him!
Prayer: Oh Lord help me to fully understand that Your desire is to have Your manifest presence operating in Your body. Help me to embrace my part as a member of Your body and to endeavor to be unified through the bond of peace, Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior. Give me Your eyes so I can move from the place of imagination to manifestation on earth as it is in heaven. Amen
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