God is sovereign. Some believers throw this fact
around as if to club someone to death. In the Old Testament days God would open
the earth and swallow a group of disobedient people. This seems to be what some righteous people would like. Of course,
they don’t want to die when they are disobedient. We are living in the New
Testament days and God has decided to deal with us through His love. The fact
that God is primarily using love as his motivation today does not imply that He
is not sovereign. If possible, it makes Him more sovereign. Remember, our new
relationship with God is very different from the world. The Almighty offers
humans the opportunity to live as a holy person. Wow!
One beautiful difference today is that God actually responds
in love to the yielded heart of a Christian. We will never guess the number of
things that God has done on earth because of our requests. He loves our yielded
heart even though He does not satisfy our selfish desires. The love of God is
the biggest reason that Christians have unity in the church. God has ordained the
church to be the town center for His unity
of love. The Bible says: No one has ever seen God. But if we
love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us. (1 John 4:12 NLT). This passage explains that God can
be seen through the love we express to others. Maybe we could say that we are
the lighthouse of love.
We are
required to walk this earth without the physical person of Jesus Christ. There
is a special blessing for us who have never seen Him. When Jesus was about to
physically leave the earth He talked about this to the Father. He said: Now I am departing from the world; they are
staying in this world, but I am coming to you. Holy Father, you have given me
your name; now protect them by the power
of your name so that they will be united just as we are. (John 17:11-12 NLT).
The power in God’s names is because of His sovereignty. This means that the unity
of love in a Church is encouraged and protected under the sovereign name of
God. Christians today have a very special faith because of God’s love. Every
Christian must join a local church in order to be united in the way Jesus
taught.
Experts want
to know what can be done to refresh the stale attitude of a congregation.
Becoming personally involved with others will always make things interesting.
This is the unity of love that is
available in Jesus. Here is part of the last message that the Lord preached to
His followers: I have given them the
glory you gave me, so they may be one as we are one. I am in them and you
are in me. May they experience such
perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me … (John 17:22-23 NLT).
Some people have said; I wish I knew how to show the world what the Lord means
to me. Jesus made it clear that our unity in the local church does show the
world that Jesus is our Savior. People must learn that attending church is not
enough. It is necessary to actively show other believers that we do love them.
The center
of the Church is Jesus and He is all about our experience, not our knowledge.
Jesus prayed that we would experience love and unity. But today people are
collectors of information because they desire power. We have learned that to
own the most information is a sure way to make a lot of money and to come out
ahead of others. This is not the way to win with God. In order for us to
experience a righteous life of unity we will be required to give-up many of our
personal goals. Jesus is saying to us: Those who love their life in this world will lose it. Those who care nothing for
their life in this world will keep it for eternity. (John 12:25 NLT). In
other words, a good servant adopts the goals of the Master.
The unity
of love that we need can be blocked. It happens when we don’t fully experience
Jesus because we still love our old life. Our selfish nature must die before
the ways of Jesus will shine forth from our lives. God has created each of us
and He certainly knows that we need to learn how to love others. We do have a
reason: We love each other because he loved us first. (1 John 4:19 NLT).
It takes great dedication to enjoy the unity of love that the Lord wants for
us. This includes putting other’s welfare ahead of our own. This is what the
Lord is asking for and His Spirit will gladly help us. When we actually become
more intimate with Jesus, His love will cause us to seek unity with others.
Every
local church is made up of different kinds of people, which means that the
unity will feel differently to each of us. However, it is the unity of love
that is created by the Spirit of God where we find peace. We can even feel this
supernatural unity when we meet a born-again believer from some other place in the
world. There are many different kinds of people in the world but having Jesus
in our life is the common thread we seek. Christians are special: You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s
very own possession. As a result, you
can show others the goodness of God… (1 Peter 2:9 NLT). Sometimes
unusual people who don’t even speak the same language will feel a strong
Christian love for each other. This is the kind of thing that can puzzle
worldly people.
The local
church should have a priority of encouraging the unity of love. We need to be
lenient when it is possible. This includes an attitude of willingness to excuse
people at times who have made a mistake. Paul said: if
another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and
humbly help that person back onto the right path. (Gal 6:1 NLT). Yes, there will be some mistakes as
we try to live as part of a family. However, when people advance in their spiritual
maturity it will always be for the good of the group. Our behavior should never
be determined by the worst member of the church. We are supposed to help
everyone who will let us. Each of us should support the spiritual growth of our
Church in the unity of love. Let the full expression of God’s love unite our
church.
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