The Joy and Power of Unity
"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
"At that time all mankind spoke a single language. As the population grew and spread eastward, a plain was discovered in the land of Babylon and was soon thickly populated. The people who lived there began to talk about building a great city, with a temple-tower reaching to the skies—a proud, eternal monument to themselves.
“This will weld us together,” they said, “and keep us from scattering all over the world.” So they made great piles of hard-burned brick, and collected bitumen to use as mortar.
"But when God came down to see the city and the tower mankind was making, he said, “Look! If they are able to accomplish all this when they have just begun to exploit their linguistic and political unity, just think of what they will do later! Nothing will be unattainable for them. Come, let us go down and give them different languages, so that they won’t understand each other’s words!”
"So, in that way, God scattered them all over the earth; and that ended the building of the city. That is why the city was called Babel (meaning “confusion”), because it was there that Jehovah confused them by giving them many languages, thus widely scattering them across the face of the earth."
"May your Kingdom come soon. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven" (Matthew 6:10).
God's Word speaks a great deal about unity and division.
We read in Mark 3:24-25, "A kingdom divided against itself will collapse. A home filled with strife and division destroys itself."
Yet when there is unity, a people becomes unstoppable. Consider the story of the tower of Babel in Genesis 11:1-9 which reads as follows in the TLB:
“This will weld us together,” they said, “and keep us from scattering all over the world.” So they made great piles of hard-burned brick, and collected bitumen to use as mortar.
"But when God came down to see the city and the tower mankind was making, he said, “Look! If they are able to accomplish all this when they have just begun to exploit their linguistic and political unity, just think of what they will do later! Nothing will be unattainable for them. Come, let us go down and give them different languages, so that they won’t understand each other’s words!”
"So, in that way, God scattered them all over the earth; and that ended the building of the city. That is why the city was called Babel (meaning “confusion”), because it was there that Jehovah confused them by giving them many languages, thus widely scattering them across the face of the earth."
Notice God's acknowledgement of the power of their unity. While the purpose was evil—building a proud, eternal monument to themselves—their unity was no less effective.
It is the same with us today. A family, a company, a country, a church truly united for the cause of Jesus Christ and His Kingdom becomes an unstoppable force. Those united for evil purposes—while powerful—are not unstoppable for one day every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord of all to the glory of God (Isaiah 45:23; Romans 14:11).
May God's people truly unite in righteousness and truth, demonstrating the peculiarity of the believer. May we come out from among the unrepentant ones who claim His name, that God's every good purpose might be accomplished in and through our brief lives on this earth.
Goodnight, Runners.
Comments
Post a Comment
Thank you for taking the time to comment on my blog. May God bless you as you seek to follow Him with all of your heart. And, may you have the best day you have ever had in your life.