UNITED KINGDOM
“Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.” (Ephesians 2:19)
If you are a believer in Jesus Christ and believe in your heart that He is Lord, you are a member of God’s family! What a beautiful thing that we have a place where we belong, we are in the same household of Christ Himself.
Today, it is sad to see the body of Christ has been divided by doctrines, denominations as well as other issues. In all fairness we often think we have all the answers and end up disagreeing with one another. What do I mean? Well, they don’t worship the way I do, or they sing different songs or pray differently. It’s easy for us to give an opinion but we need to remember that the Church represents the body of Christ. There are different functions of the body and every part is unique which in all essence brings together a fuller expression of Jesus to this world.
Now, I don’t want you to think that I have anything against the Church. I absolutely LOVE God’s people. I have seen the beauty of believers coming together and loving Jesus but I wouldn’t have known how beautiful it is without experiencing the effects of disunity within the Church first hand. Having previously been in the midst of a Church divide, it is heart breaking to see communities, relationships and families torn apart. However division is not a new thing, in fact, the Apostle Paul was dealing with division with the Church in Corinth (Corinthians 1 & 3). Paul affirms the issues which had aroused and the different sects that have been formed. In 1 Corinthians 1:13 Paul addresses this by saying “Is Christ divided?” The same issues we see back then are the same we see today, individuals who identify with men rather than Christ. I love that Paul’s ultimate response was to point everything back to the head of His Church, Jesus Christ Himself.
“I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one – as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me.” (John 17:21)
What a beautiful prayer by our Saviour, He gives us the complete picture of what unity is meant to look like. This is mind blowing! To be one with each other we must be one with Him, we will never know what unity is if we are not one with the one who holds all things together, Jesus is unity personified. When we grasp the beauty that the same union which exists between the Father and the Son, is the same union every follower of Christ is called into.
I want to explain something very briefly in scientific terms in relation to the body, the head sends signals to the rest of the body and then movement is produced, all this is communicated through electrical signals which travel through nerves in our body and then an action is produced. In a similar way as we pursue the head who is Jesus, He will convey the words in His heart to us His body and we will move in accordance to His will!
God’s heart is family. He wants us to know Him intimately and to love the ones that he died for and that includes every person on this earth. We need the love of Jesus in our lives to love others perfectly because He is perfect love. Jesus Himself says that “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:35)
“Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace.” (Ephesians 4:2-3)
If we all come together regardless of denomination, whether you’re Baptist, Pentecostal or Anglican, whatever it is, I believe we will see the greatest move of God the world has ever seen. This is my hearts cry for our generation to come together in one accord, this is God’s intention. Unity must look like something and we see this when the early Church came together in one accord, God moved powerfully and regions were shaken. Today as we come united under the banner of Jesus Christ we will see the same.
To conclude, I want to leave you with what I do with my own family, taking communion together. For some of you it may not be with your own family but it may be with your friends. For some, communion is only taken on the first Sunday of each month but I want to assure you it’s not just for Sunday’s, it’s meant for every day of our lives. We see this in the book of Acts when the early Church would break bread daily. In my household, we try to take communion every night as a family. It’s a powerful thing breaking bread together and partaking of the body and blood of Jesus Christ symbolising union with Him as we remember His death! As we partake of Christ we can recognise that we each are a part of His body and the reason He gave His life for us, so that we could be one in Him.
I pray each one of you has been blessed and challenged in your hearts to pursue Jesus deeper.
Love one another as Christ loved you.
Asher Gill | Kingdom Encounter