RESURRECTION!

R is for redemption.

E is for eternal life.

S is for the Spirit of God.

U is for unity.

One of the most amazing things about the Christian faith is the heart connection between believers, even if they have never met one another. When two people are indwelled by the same Holy Spirit, and are walking in obedience to the Spirit, there is a sweet recognition of a shared unity. This knitting together of hearts is only possible because we have a living Spirit of God – the Spirit of the resurrected Jesus. God is real, and God is alive. As we recognize His work and presence in a fellow human being, it affirms our faith and reminds us – Jesus is alive!

I’ve experienced this many times, even with people from a different culture, who speak a different language. We are unified in our faith – faith that proclaims a resurrected, living, victorious Jesus.

Paul reminded the believers at Ephesus of the power of the resurrection, emphasizing that it should lead to a unique unity among them, and change the way they lived and responded to one another.

Ephesians 4:1-10 – Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.

But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore it says,

“When He ascended on high, He led captive a host of captives, and He gave gifts to men.” (Now this expression, “He ascended,” what does it mean except that He also had descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is Himself also He who ascended far above all the heavens, so that He might fill all things.)

Paul quotes from Psalm 68, a prophetic psalm about the victorious Savior. He is exalted as the returning victor. It was the custom of kings to celebrate victory with a procession into the city, leading his captives, and bringing gifts from the bounty of the spoils for his people. This is the picture the psalmist presents, and Paul uses it to describe our Savior – the Risen Jesus ascending back into heaven after descending to earth to conquer death, hell, and the grave.

The gifts Jesus gave are spiritual gifts – the gifts of the Holy Spirit. These gifts are given for the purpose of uniting the body of Christ, His church, to serve, worship, and glorify the resurrected Jesus together.

Ephesians 4:12-16 – And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, or the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.

Think about this. Spiritual gifts are the “spoils” of the battle Jesus fought and won when He went to the cross. He took the keys of death and the grave away from the devil (Revelation 1:18; Hebrews 2:14-15) and gave back to us what sin and Satan had stolen.

Satan loves disunity, discord, enmity, hatred, division, and unforgiveness. He thrives on creating loneliness and separation. Thankfully, Jesus took all his power away. Those who are in Christ – who believe in and trust the resurrected Savior – are brought into the body, the family of God with a unified purpose and heart. Now, as we walk in Him, we can enjoy the unity He always intended, both with Him as our Savior, and with each other as we walk in His Spirit, in love and forgiveness, tenderhearted toward each other, bearing with one another, and concerned about each other. What a difference the resurrection makes in contrast to how the world lives!

I don’t believe Jesus ever intended the church to be split into factions, sects, and denominations. But, as Paul warned, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming. Instead of focusing on Jesus, believers become distracted, diluting the gospel with worldly culture and personal preferences. This causes splits and factions (rightfully so if the integrity of scriptural truth is at issue), but it is a terrible representation of the unity of the believers that Jesus intended the world to witness in His followers.

The resurrection of Jesus should bring unity, but that unity is built on one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father who is over all and through all and in all. As we surrender to the Lordship of Jesus and the authority of His Word, we will be united.

How’s your unity with other believers? Are you walking in fellowship with one another? Are you working together to encourage and build up the body? Are you exercising your spiritual gifts for the good of the body? Are you consistently worshipping with other believers?

May we celebrate our victorious Jesus, our conquering King, and allow the power of the resurrection to form in us a unity that testifies to the world, He is Risen, He is Risen indeed!

John 17:23 – I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me.