Unity and Resurrection Hope in Christ
Are you dealing with a dispute, conflict, or falling-out? Learn how Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection can help you have unity and love with others. Jesus loves all people and this love unites us.
The final prayer that Jesus prays is not just for the disciples, it is for anyone who would believe in him one day. His prayer is for people like you and me. The essence of Jesus’ request is that his followers would be one, like he and the Father are one. The heartbeat of Jesus’ prayer reveals that he came to rescue the world. Resurrection hope comes from knowing that in the midst of a divided world, we can trust that the love of Jesus knows no bounds.
Easter is the reminder that because Jesus is alive, we have hope. The resurrection of Jesus Christ instills hope in the face of life’s trials. Easter is a reminder that you live day in and day out with power that can overcome any challenge. In our darkest days, it gives us light. In overwhelming discouragement, it gives us faith. In the midst of devastating loss, it gives us joy. In times of divisiveness, it gives us something that unifies us. The tomb is empty. Jesus is alive, and that gives us hope!
We should be united in love through Jesus.
Where do we find love and unity?
The world today is not short on division of any kind. It can be found everywhere you look: political, relational, racial, religious, spiritual. You name it. It can be found in families and between friends. Some division is due to a big problem and sometimes it stems from a petty difference of opinion. We need to focus on the major, not the minor, issues.
We need to focus on Christ and Resurrection Hope; Jesus having risen from the dead. Resurrection Hope is found in the empty tomb and in the love and unity of Jesus and the heavenly Father. We need to focus on loving Christ and the unity we have in him, Christ the Lord, and our heavenly father.
In John 17 we find Jesus’ final prayer for his disciples, before he is arrested and taken away. It is Jesus’ final teaching and words of instruction that the disciples would have with Jesus before the cross and Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. This word is not for the disciples alone, but for all who will believe and place their faith in Christ the Lord, the son of God.
Jesus’ love for you mirrors that of his love and unity with God the Father, and the love and unity of the heavenly Father with his son, Jesus. Jesus and his heavenly father are one in love and unity. This is the type of love and unity that Jesus prays for his disciples to know, experience and display to all the world. It is also the same love and unity that Jesus prays to be displayed and received by all believers, both young and old; no matter the persons past sins, their birthplace, language spoken, political preference, ethnic background or religious affiliation.
As followers of Christ, we are called to demonstrate a love and unity that the world cannot deny. A love and unity that the church and believers everywhere are to share together and enjoy with God and one another. A love and unity that will deepen and sustain us in times of testing and trials, and for all the world to see. A love and unity that is found in the heart of God for Jesus and for every believer. This love and unity come from the heart of God and from the truth of God’s word as displayed in Jesus’ love and unity with God Almighty.
Jesus’ love for you is witnessed in his agape (selfless, sacrificial) love for you, and in his obedience to suffer and die on the cross to pay the debt of sin we each owe but could never pay ourselves. Jesus’ love and unity is also witnessed by his prayer in the garden and his obedience to do the will of the father (see Luke 22:42).
In John 17, Jesus is praying for his disciples and all who will believe. Yes, even those who are yet to believe, until he returns. Jesus died not just for your sins but the sins of the whole world, whoever will believe.
It is while we were still sinners, while you were still living in sin and rebellion, while those who are yet to know or understand the love and unity of God in Christ that Jesus loved us and prayed that we might know the love and unity with the father that he knew. Why? Because, God so loved the world that he sent his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16).
We are called to love one another in unity and to display that love and unity to the world. Let the love and unity we have in Christ and towards one another be the conduit to introduce the lost to the saving knowledge of Christ. A love and unity that is available to them by faith, in Christ the Lord.
We are each called to display the love and unity we have in Christ the Lord to all the world. Even those who stand opposed to us. We live in a hostile world that is searching for true love and acceptance but so often society and the world divides us by our differences. As believers, we are to mirror the love and unity we have in Christ, with each other and the world. So that all the world might believe in Jesus, the son of God, and that he is risen from the dead.
It is the Resurrection Hope we have in Christ the Lord, where we find true love and unity. Let’s pray and invite people everywhere to know the love and unity of Christ the Lord. Allow Jesus to use you to display the love and unity that you know in your heart with others. Let the love and unity of God to always be displayed in you. A Love and unity in Christ that mirrors the love and unity of Christ and God the Father, no matter the situation. Allow the love and unity of Christ in you to overcome any division, pain, hurt or offence others may have displayed towards you. Do not receive or take offence from anyone. Choose instead to show forth the love and unity of Christ towards them. Yes, even those who oppose you.
Remember what Jesus said as he hung on the cross? “Father forgive them, they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34).
Start today. Do not wait for the other person to change. Take the initiative and share the love and unity of God with others, even if they are unwilling to love you. This is the type of love and unity that Jesus displayed on the cross. This is the type of love and unity Jesus displayed when he prayed, “not my will but your will be done” in Luke 22:42. This is the love and unity that Jesus and his heavenly father have and that Jesus desired for his disciples and in us today.
Over the past three weeks we have seen how:
Mary experienced Resurrection Hope when she recognized Jesus to be risen and alive.
Peter experienced Resurrection Hope as Jesus asked him, do you love me?
Martha and Mary experienced Resurrection Hope when their brother Lazarus was raised back to life from the dead.
Today we recognize Resurrection Hope as we embrace the love and unity of Christ in us and as we love one another in unity. The love and unity that you have with Christ and others is only possible because of the resurrection and the faith you have in Christ the Lord. People everywhere need to see the love and unity of Christ in you, in the church, and in everything we do.
With that introduction let’s read John 17. Remember, it is close to the time Jesus is arrested in the garden and Jesus prays a powerful prayer for his disciples and for us today.
“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— 23 I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
24 Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.
25 Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. 26 I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them” (John 17:20-26, NIV).
Jesus is praying for the love and unity that he has with his heavenly father. Jesus is praying for that love and unity to be received and established in his disciples and in all who will believe.
The love and unity of God unites every believer.
The world, as I have said, is divided. Divided politically and spiritually and every way between. It seems differences, even minor differences, can result in great divide and can lead to a breakdown of understanding and communication with one another in a civil or loving manner. Barriers and walls go up. Such division will remain until one side takes the first step to bring down the walls that divide. For healing of division to take place, someone must take the first step.
It is God who took the first step back in the garden with the promise of a savior. God also fulfills his promise by sending his own son.
The Old Testament animal sacrifices looked forward to the cross and Jesus’ sacrifice and shed blood that paid the debt of sin that could only be covered by the blood of animals. Jesus’ shed blood and death paid the price of my sin and yours. It is God’s great love for the world that he sent his one and only son to be born of a virgin and die for the sins of the world. In love and unity Jesus said yes to the cross. Jesus gave himself for us to redeem us from wickedness because he calls us his own (Titus 2:14).
Jesus came to redeem us and unite us in love and unity with God and one another. So all the world will know that Jesus is the son of God and Resurrection Hope is possible, as revealed in Jesus’ resurrection from the dead and the empty tomb. Because of Jesus’ death and resurrection, whoever believes is united with Christ and God the Father in love and unity.
A.W. Tozer explains how 100 pianos all tuned to one tuning fork are untied and are all in tune together. The key being, all 100 pianos are tuned to the one tuning fork. If pianos were tuned according to each other, the last piano would not be in tune and united with the first. The same is true with worshiping Jesus.
We are all to live in unity with Christ. All who look to Christ, worship Christ in unity. But if people turn and look to one another, then we are not in unity with Christ.
Being in love and unity in Christ does not mean we are spiritual clones. God has given each different abilities, talents, and gifting’s. Each person has a part to fill in the church, and in the body of Christ. No part or person is more important than the other and each part works in love, unity and harmony with one another. We are to work in unity, in concert, with one another and for the glory of God.
A lover and worshiper of Christ should ring clear and true, much like a clear crisp sound of a well-tuned piano. The lover and worshiper of God worships in unity with other believers, in spirit and in truth for all the world to see. This kind of love and unity will draw people to Jesus. It will melt the heart of even the most hard-hearted person.
Jesus prayed for believers everywhere, through all time, that their hearts would submit to God Almighty the same way Jesus submitted to the father, when he prayed, “not my will but your will be done”. May we, in love and unity like Jesus, pray and live in the manner of “not my will but your will be done” (Luke 22:42).
We need to endeavor to live in unity.
What I mean by this is that we need to be sure to make a special effort to live in love, unity, and the grace of God. We need to lay aside our differences and focus on the things we have in common.
We are called to live a life of faith, love and unity in Christ; however, that is not always easy. At times you will get hurt. People will have a difference of opinions and we need to not take offence or get angry with one another. As Christians, we need to strive to live in unity with one another.
The apostle Paul wrote:
“As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all” (Ephesians 4:1-6).
The reason why we are to make every effort to keep the unity in the Spirit through the bond of peace is because we are to live as one in body and spirit, one in hope, one in the Lord, one in faith, one in baptism, one in God the Father.
The fact that we call ourselves Christians means we represent Christ to the world. We are to display the love of God to the world. If we are living in disunity, we are not showing forth the love and unity of God. When we fail to live in love and unity in the church, we will certainly fail to live a life of love and unity before the world outside the church. When pastors preach that Christians are to love one another and yet Christians act unloving to each other, is it no wonder the world claims that churches are full of hypocrites. As believers we should never hold a “us versus them” attitude. Instead, we are to pray for one another. We are to love one another, help those in need no matter who they are.
In Luke 10 you will find the story of the good Samaritan. A man was beaten and robbed, left for dead. The priest walked by and did nothing. A Levite walked by and did nothing. It is the outcast Samaritan who stopped and helped the man. The two others who should have helped the man did not give the man a second look. Instead, the Samaritan—who was looked down upon by all Jews—is the one who helped the man who had been attacked and who was most likely a Jew.
The Samaritan could have walked by the man and no one would have blamed him because the Samaritans were treated badly by the Jews, but he didn’t walk by the man. Instead, the Samaritan stopped and cared for the man.
Jesus tells this story and is saying to us today, “go and do likewise.” We are to care for the one who may even despise us. You see, we were once that person. The Samaritan displayed the love of God when the priest and Levite did nothing.
Understand, as you love others you are displaying the love and unity of God and God is glorified. We are to love those who are unfamiliar to us (Deuteronomy 10:19); we are to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us (Matthew 5:43-48); we are to be compassionate, kind, humble, gentle, patient, and forgiving (Colossians 3:12-14).
“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
13 This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world” (1 John 4:7-14).
We are to live in love and unity. When we forget to love one another, we forget the other person is also loved by God. Jesus died for that person just like he died for you. That person is just as important to Jesus as you are. When we love and live in unity with one another in the church, that love is witnessed by the world.
As we love one another in unity we can also love others in Christ, because we were once that person. God used someone to speak the love of God into your life. Let us speak the love of God into one another.
We can accomplish more for the kingdom of God when we live in love and unity together than we can apart.
The body of Christ is like a physical body having many parts. The body is joined together and builds itself up as each part works for the whole (Ephesians 4:16). We are to live connected to one another, supporting and loving each other. Much like how a hand cannot accomplish as much alone as with another hand, neither can we; but together in love and unity in Christ, we can do much.
Let us be one in Christ, just as Jesus and his heavenly Father are one. Resurrection Hope in Christ is all about living in the love and unity of Christ for all the world to see. To the Glory of God.
Suggested Praise and Worship
