United!

How the believer is United to One Another in Christ.

PART 1 - United…United…United!

As you can see Andy S has a Leeds scarf on and I have a Newcastle scarf on so we support different clubs but we have something in common, both teams are UNITED! Not City or Hotspur or Rangers or Albion or Midloathian or Academicals, (or even Sunderland who can’t afford a second name!!!) but UNITED!

Now let me show you my temple! Its made of a kind of DUPLO brick - MEGABRICKS!(Lisa made it!)

It’s impressive BUT is it as good as my single YELLOW MEGABRICK is best! - Isn’t that single brick impressive? Doesn’t it stand out?

Sometimes we Christians act like this yellow brick - we want to stand out and be impressive and have people look at us and admire us but what is the point of one single brick?

No child in the world would respond happily if you said, hey I was gong to buy you a whole bag of MEGABRICK bricks but I decides only to buy you this single yellow brick because it kind of reminded me of you! What can you do with a single piece of MEGABRICK you can’t make it into a wall or a car, not a house and now ever a temple!

But as part of a whole bag of MEGABRICK bricks you can build a temple!

1 Peter 2:4-5 says that Christ is “the living stone-rejected by men but chosen by God and precious” and we believers are “also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”

Note the word “LIVING stone” - Think dry stone walling where a STONE IS CAREFULLY CHOSEN AND VITAL TO THE STABILITY OF THE WHOLE WALL!

Jesus is the “chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.”(Eph 1:20-22) - “A “cornerstone” is not only the stone set at the corner of two intersecting walls (as the name implies), but is one prepared and chosen for its exact 90° angle, and so the basis for the construction of the whole building. Choosing the right corner is basic not only to the aesthetics of the building but also to its stability and longevity.” (Joel Green: 1 Peter)

Note the irony that “Those who “come to him,” “a living stone,” themselves become “living stones” who share in his fate, both among humans and before God” (Joel Green) but like Him we are precious to God even though we may like Him be rejected by the world!

Perhaps we would like to stand out as part of the temple; perhaps we would like to have a place of prominence and be the big cheese BUT listen - your great privilege is not to stand our but to be a part of “a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”

Peter uses the vocabulary of the biblical texts such as Isa 28:16; Ps 118:22; Isa 8:14 where the language of contrast is used - honour—shame, choose—reject, belief—disbelief to show how people react to Christ and by referring to us as “living stones” he reminds us that we to will experience both rejection and reception; both shame and reflected glory as “a Kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (see 1 Peter 2:9–10, cf Isa 43:20–21; Exod 19:5–6; Hos 2:23)

Jesus and His followers are humiliated, rejected, ostracized from the world but in the sight of God they are chosen and precious and called to a great purpose of transforming the world for the glory of God!

BUT FOR US IT IS REFLECTIVE GLORY!

Everything depends on how we respond to Jesus as the PRECIOUS STONE - DO I want to STAND OUT on my own or be a part of what He is building in this world? Am I trying to build my Kingdom which will last only for a time or am I willing to be part of His Kingdom which will last for all eternity?

God will get glory in His temple. Jesus is “precious to God” and to us. He is “the Living stone” and we are also, UNITED together are “living stones…being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”

PART 2 - UNITED…UNITED…UNITED!

We are united to one another because of our unity in Christ. And this happens not because of Jesus in us. Let me illustrate with my RIGGER GLOVE!

If we are going to be united to one another we must first be united to Jesus and as He lives His life in and through us we get built together “into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”

Now my glove is well made; it is stitched together of good quality material and fir for the purpose of some tough manual work. It was made for a purpose; made to work hard!

Ok her we go - Glove pick up that Bible! Come on glove you were made to hold hammers; come on, pick it up! Nothing….

Well, perhaps there is something wrong with the glove - perhaps it needs some training; some discipling; some theological training to understand for example the Greek word “ergon” which means work! Some reminder that according to Paul in Ephesians 2:10, “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Come on glove, fulfil your calling; enter into God’s purpose for your life! Still no response from the glove!

Alright then, perhaps the glove need some encouragement - come on glove you can do it; we’re with you! Look we are in FELLOWSHIP with you (introduce other gloves!!!!) BUT still nothing.

Maybe this glove needs to be more committed! Maybe it needs to come to the front for prayer and rededicate itself to God! Come on glove you ought to be working; you were made to work why arnt you doing it?

AH, I’ve got it - Inspiration!!

Even though this glove was made to do work and has the capacity to do work it can’t do work until I do this!

I needed to PUT MY HAND IN IT!

When a LIVING HAND fills every part of the glove; the glove can do its work!

And this is an important lesson as to how the Christian life works!

Jesus said, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing”(John 15:5).

Paul says, “he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”(Phil 1:6)

And again in Philippians 4:13, “I can do everything through him who gives me strength.”

We are made to work for God; we have the capacity to work for God but we cannot do it without the life of God in us and the power of the Holy Spirit working is us!

Now let me connect the two illustrations:

When we are united to Christ by faith, we are also united to one another in the Church because we become part of the body of Christ is the foundation for genuine unity among believers. 

The Apostle Paul says in 1 1 Corinthians 13:12-13, “The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.”

The Holy Spirit unites believers to Christ by working faith in them. This union with Christ is the source of a believer's communion with God and with other believers. 

So when we are united to Christ through faith, we are also united to each other through the Holy Spirit, sharing in a common life and purpose to bring glory to God in the Church and in the world as we manifest the life of God and exercise the gifts of the Holy Spirit. 

This unity is a gift from Christ, but it also requires active participation in loving, forgiving, and serving one another. 

In John 17, Jesus prayed that all believers would be one, just as he and the Father are one, “so that the world may believe that you have sent me”(John 17:21).

In 1 Corinthians 12, the Apostle Paul uses the analogy of the human body to illustrate our unity. Just as a body is made up of many parts that work together, so individual believers are united in Christ's body, the Church, with each one doing its part to build it up!  “Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it”(1 Corinthians 12:27).

We as followers of Jesus, share a common identity in Christ!

We are redeemed by the same blood and destined for the same eternal life. This shared identity transcends racial, cultural, social, and denominational differences. 

But while unity is a gift, it also requires effort. Paul says in Ephesians 4:1-4 “As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 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 hope when you were called— one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”

We are called to live together as one - called to love, to forgive, and serve one another, actively choosing unity in our relationships as a visible sign of Christ's presence and power. 

UNITED!

When we live in unity, we demonstrates the transformative power of the gospel and others see it; they se the love and they want to be part of it -

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”(John 13:34-35).

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John E. Love Extended (13:31–38)

In the 1960s when Christian folk music was becoming popular, we often sang a song that repeated the phrase, “and they’ll know we are Christians by our love.” Not by the size of our buildings. Not by the frequency of our attendance. Not by the multiplicity of religious duties we observe. Not by the ostentation of our public worship. As Morgan puts it, “The measure in which Christian people fail in love to each other is the measure in which the world does not believe in them, or their Christianity. It is the final test of discipleship, according to Jesus”