day 1043-145

“For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many,

are one body, so also is Christ.” (1 Cor. 12:12, NKJV)

In the previous teaching we had an extensive look at a range of arguments on the topic of unity. It showed that all of them were defective in some way, and could never lead to unity amongst believers.

Yet Scripture consistently speaks of the fact that believers should function as one! What exactly is meant by this, and how can it become a reality? Caiaphas, the high priest during Jesus’ lifetime, came to the deep insight, not borne from his own wisdom (“he did not say on his own authority”), that the reason Jesus came to earth was so that “He would gather together in one the children of God who were scattered abroad” (John 11:52).

That this is of the utmost importance, is absolutely clear form God’s complete blue print of everything that needs to happen on earth, as it is spelled out in Eph. 1:10: “that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him”. Here God’s blue print is linked to the entire creation:

• “all things” will be gathered together
• “in Him”: Jesus
• “in Christ”.

 

By now we understand from previous teachings that an “increase of His government and peace” has started unfolding from the “one God, the Father, of whom are all things” (1 Cor. 8:6). From God the Father the Son is increased (Ps. 2:7); from the Son Christ increases: “For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren …” (Heb. 2:11). But despite that “he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him” (1 Cor. 6:17), there is an explicit condition for unity: “till 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” (Eph. 4:13). When this happens, all things IN Christ are again reconciled with God – Acts 3:21 calls this “the times of restoration of all things”. Then, 1 Cor. 15:28 makes clear, “when all things are made subject to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subject to Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all”.

If we then read in Rev. 17:14 of everyone who “will make war with the Lamb”, John spells out: “the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and those who are with Him are called, chosen, and faithful”. The Bride is first and foremost called, then chosen, then found faithful, in reconciling all things to God as “the Lamb’s wife” (Rev. 21:9). Whatever the rest of the world is concerned with, all the “peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues” sitting on “the waters” (Rev. 17:15), are used by God to position his Bride AND TO ALLOW THEIR GODLY IDENTITY IN CHRIST TO UNFOLD. Therefore Rev. 17:17 declares: “For God has put it into their hearts to fulfill His purpose, to be of one mind, and to give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled.” Until these words of God have been fulfilled? Yes – these words that need to be fulfilled, are the rhema words, the Bride words from the womb mouth of God! The Complete WordStudy Dictionary defines the word fulfil as follows: “teléō; contracted telṓ, fut. telésō, from télos (G5056), end, goal. To make an end or to accomplish, to complete something, not merely to end it, but to bring it to perfection or its destined goal, to carry it through.”

Now we have a better understanding of the context in which the central passage concerning unity in the Scripture is situated, here where Jesus prays his first prayer as high priest: “Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled … that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.” (John 17:11-12 & 21-23).

One tends to skim over the conditions of unity that are made very clear in this section. Let’s have a closer look at these, paraphrased and in point form:

 

1. That which must be protected, which needs to be one just as Jesus and God are One, has been given to Jesus, and has in other words been chosen. [Remember, this passage concerns the disciples: John 15:16 – “You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain …”] The disciples (excluding Judas) had to become the prototypical “one”.
2. Those who came to the faith throughout the ages, based on the gospel that was firstly entrusted to the disciples (and later the apostles) [“commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also” – 2 Tim. 2:20], also needs to be preserved and become one in the Unity in which Father and Son are One.
3. The only way in which this can happen, is “that they may be one just as We are one”.
4. But remember – God unfolded Himself within Jesus, and Jesus unfolded Himself in Christ; thus the expression “as We are one” means nothing other than “IN CHRIST”! Gal. 3:28 spells it out in exactly that manner: “for ye are all one in Christ Jesus”. [Do take note of the distinction between “Christ Jesus” and “Jesus Christ [extensively explained in the teachings of Day 848-850 and Day 935.]. The Body of Christ is the fullness of Christ in God (Luke 9:20). Two thousand years ago the revelation of the Head was there (1 Cor. 11:3; Eph. 1:10 & 22; 4:15; 5:23; Col. 1:18; 2:20 & 19), but the Body of that Head developed throughout centuries until it reaches a point where “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” (Eph. 4:13). The Weymouth-translation of Eph. 1:22-23 aptly states, “God has put all things under His feet, and has appointed Him universal and supreme Head of the Church, which is His Body, the completeness of Him who everywhere fills the universe with Himself (through the Christ – my addition).”
5. Unity is thus only possible in Christ.
6. Of extreme importance: the marker of this unity is glory: “And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one.” (John 17:22). By now we know that glory is not spiritual goosebumps or mystical trances. Glory is first and foremost a characteristic of Yahweh – He alone is “the God of glory” (Acts 7:2); thus: “For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever” (Matt. 6:13). The “God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory” (Eph. 1:17), unfolds his characteristic nature through his Son – Jesus reflects God’s glory, Heb. 3:1 makes clear. This glory of the Son is the most prominent element that Jesus then also wants to unfold through his disciples, and through everyone who believes in him: “Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.” (John 17:24). If in Rom. 5:2 Paul then speaks of “rejoic[ing] in hope of the glory of God” he later makes very clear what this hope consists of: “Christ in you, the hope of the glory” (Col. 1:7, ABP)!
7. In Isa. 4:5 it is prophetically promised: “then the Lord will create above every dwelling place of Mount Zion, and above her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day and the shining of a flaming fire by night. For over all the glory there will be a covering.” The transposing of God’s glory to his Son, and then the transposing of it to Christ (typologically referring to Zion), becomes “the glory of His power, when He comes, in that Day, to be glorified in His saints and to be admired among all those who believe, because our testimony among you was believed.” (2 Thess. 1:9-10). The mystery of the glory of Christ which “has been revealed to His saints”, according to Col. 1:26, not to all believers (various Scriptures make this link, for instance Eph. 4:12), and thus the glory is only available to the Bride. It is thus only the Bride that can display unity.
8. The Bride as Body becomes a Body of glory, in other words – the Bride has a glorified Body! This happens when Jesus is glorified in Christ (as 2 Thess. 1:9-10 we’ve just looked at beautifully encapsulates it). Therefore this gospel is called “the gospel of the glory” (1 Tim. 1:11). Through this gospel He calls the Bride to “obtain …the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Thess. 2:14). Already at this point the Bride is called to be “conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself” (Phil. 3:21). We clearly need to completely reconsider our idea of what a glorified body looks like, as realise that it starts with a corporate Body filled with glory.
9. From the Bride the gospel of glory is brought over the earth: “For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” (Hab. 2:14). This will bring about that “the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ …” (Rev. 11:15). Then Zech. 14:8-9 will finally be manifested: “And in that day it shall be that living waters shall flow from Jerusalem, half of them toward the eastern sea and half of them toward the western sea; in both summer and winter it shall occur. And the Lord shall be King over all the earth. In that day it shall be— “The Lord is one,” and His name one.” Hallelujah! We can follow David, on whose throne the Bride currently sits (Jer. 33:17), in his last psalm of praise just before he died, and shout: “Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, who only does wondrous things! And blessed be His glorious name forever! And let the whole earth be filled with His glory. Amen and Amen.” (Ps. 72:18-19).

 

Yes, John 1:4 is true: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” Unity is only nestled in the Bride of Christ. In the following teaching we look at the practical implications of this.

 

• Selah: Explain the transposition of glory to someone.
• Read: 40-45.
• Memorise: 43:2 (what glorious synchronicity!).