Unity: The Bond of Peace
By
Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe
The Apostle Paul wrote to the church
at Epheseus, “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the
bond of peace. There is one body and one
Spirit–just as you were called to one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of
all, who is over all and through all and in all.” (Ephesians 4:4-6) The desire
of God’s heart is that Christians come together in unity–harmony within the
church and harmony among the churches based on salvation through the blood of Jesus.
Later, in verses 11-13, Paul
declares that the purpose of the five-fold ministry is to bring the Body of
Christ into unity. “And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets,
some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the
saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, until
we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of
God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of
Christ.” We will never be “perfect”,
mature or complete, until we come into unity with God, unity with ourselves and
unity with one another. Then the corporate anointing will flow powerfully
through us and glorify God the Father.
Psalm 133:1-3 declares the
blessing in unity. “Behold, how good and
how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious oil upon the head, running
down on the beard, The beard of Aaron, running down on the edge of his
garments. It is like the dew of Hermon, descending upon the mountains of Zion;
For there the LORD commanded the blessing: Life forevermore.”
Oh, Lord God, may the world know
us by the love we have for one another, by our unity in the Spirit, by the
peace we have in our hearts and with one another. Amen.
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