We all stand out in our own unique ways. We have different personalities, different preferences, different ideas, and different ways of thinking. Our hearts are attached to different things. We are so diverse, but it is is it humanly possible for a diverse group of people to be in unity together? Is it humanly possible for people who’ve got such different ideas to be one in heart and mind?
In his message, Unity in The Spirit, Pastor Jason Elsmore says we only have to look around our world right now to see that we are becoming more and more polarised as a community. Our differences are pulling us apart. We can see that it’s humanly impossible to live together in unity.
‘Yet the Holy Spirit is at work in us as a community,’ says Jason. ‘Because where it’s humanly impossible to be one in heart and mind when there’s so much diversity, that’s exactly what the Holy Spirit does. When the Spirit is poured out on a diverse community of people, the result is unity.’
Faith in Christ
In Ephesians 4:3, Paul tells us to make every effort to keep the unity of the spirit through the bonds of peace. But for us to make every effort to keep something, it means that we must have already attained it. We’ve been given it. When we put our faith in Christ, the Holy Spirit comes and lives within us.
‘When the Gospel of Jesus Christ is preached for the first time,’ says Jason, ‘the Spirit is poured out. We see a community come together in one heart and one mind. They shared everything that they had. They met together. They had everything in common. Yet they were different people from different backgrounds, who spoke different languages.’
The unity we have been given is indestructible. There’s a bond of peace that we have in Christ. The Bible tells us that in Jesus that bond cannot be broken. Nothing can separate us from the love of God, and we have been reconciled to the Holy Spirit.
The Heart of God
‘What we’re encouraged to do here,’ says Jason, ‘is to maintain on Earth what we’ve already attained in heaven. Keep the unity of the spirit. That is the heart of our God. He’s given us His spirit to bring us together as brothers and sisters in Christ, as sons and daughters of the King.’
‘Our unity is actually indestructible. When we practice on Earth what is true in heaven, God’s spirit is poured out in power and we are a witness to our community.’
Watch Jason’s full message from Gateway Baptist Church below:
