Younity - The Priority Of Unity (Part 3) - 01/23/2022

January 23, 2022 The Priority of Unity 2 Corinthians 5: 17-21 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 18 Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, 19 that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. 20 Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. 21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. Good morning GP! Since the New Year is a time people often consider making Resolutions, I want to weigh in and say that this year ought to be more about ordering priorities than making resolutions. Our priority at GP now is UNITY. Unity is the focus of our 2022 Year, and I’m excited about all that I anticipate God will impart to us on it through a wide variety of subjects closely related to Biblical UNITY. [This morning, I want to talk about one of the most important priority people of all religions face when it comes to Unity and God.] 1 Of all that can be said of UNITY, nothing about it matters unless and until the priority of what God says about it is met. So, to address that I’ve entitled today’s message: The Priority of Unity. What is The Priority of Unity? What does it mean? The Priority of Unity communicates to both Believers and non-believers God’s pre-requisite for experiencing true spiritual UNITY. Everything about unity and humanity begins with first being reunited to God. Unless that becomes one’s chief priority nothing else in the form or unity matters. If the unity you and I boast isn’t found in God first, then we’re disconnected from all other variations of unity including Unity of the Spirit, Unity of the Faith, Unity of Brethren, Unity of Purpose, Unity of Family, Love and Unity, and so on. Unless a person is FIRST united with God in unity, then no other condition of UNITY matters. In fact, all other types of unity lack power and virtue because their significance isn’t found in God alone. In facing the virtue of UNITY, we are required by God through Scripture to make “Unity With God” our first and ultimate priority. In fact, before we do anything else in our quest to experience unity, we are admonished in Scripture to settle our quest for unity in God first. I Corinthians 6:17 says . . . But he who is joined [united]to the Lord is one spirit with Him. More strongly, Hebrews 4:7b says, 7b “Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.” That is to say, don’t delay. Make God’s call to unity with Him a priority. Give it precedence; make it urgent and intentional. So, what if you claimed to have unity in other areas of your life, but never came to experience unity with God – that is, you never came to answer God’s requirement of first being unified with Him? It would look a lot like Jesus’s discourse in Matthew 7:22 & 23 where He said: 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ 2 The people in this passage are an example of ignoring priorities. The result: a devastating and tragic loss of life everlasting. Neglecting The Priority of Unity with God is equally as destructive. Here’s why! First and foremost, man is no longer in automatic unity with God. Humanity lost that blessing in the Garden of Eden with the fall of Adam and Eve. The Fall plunged us into to sin and separation from God. We all know that Man was originally created by God in His image and likeness. He was created free of sin with a rational nature, intelligence, freewill, self-determination, and moral responsibility by God. Man was created to bring honor and glory to God, to glorify Him and enjoy doing it; to live life in harmonious fellowship in the will of God, and by this – accomplish God’s purpose for man in the world. But man lost that blessing of unity and became disconnected and separated spiritually from the Creator. Now, to get our 2022 UNITY studies off on the right foot, we must first satisfy the priority of getting united with God, or at least gain an understanding of what it means and what is required. A major concern I carry as pastor of GP is: Is everyone who is a member of GP SAVED? Being a member of a church is not salvation. Being united with a church is not at all the equivalent of being united with God. So, I ask everyone who is hearing this message: Are you saved? Are you born again? NOT have you been baptized – but have you surrendered your life to Jesus Christ? Have you repented of your sins and asked Jesus Christ to come into your life and save you? Romans 10: 9 & 10 NLT says: 9 If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved. Obeying the Scripture is the first step in Uniting with God. Now, let’s answer four critical questions about the Priority of Unity. First, What does it mean to be in unity with God? Colossians 1: 19-22 NLT explains this: Listen to what it says: 3 19 For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, 20 and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross. 21 This includes you who were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions. 22 Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault. The key word in this passage is RECONCILED which also means “Reunited.” Because of our separation, God reunited those who would believe in Jesus Christ as their Savior. Verse 22 says: 22 Yet now GOD has reconciled [or reunited] me and you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence [granted us unity with Himself] , and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault. Without God extending this transaction of unity, which we must make a priority in securing for our lives, we would have no hope in the world. Question 2: What does it mean to be outside of the unity of God? It means to not belong to God. It means God has no obligation to respond to you or protect you. [Before being brought back into unity with God, all of us] according to Ephesians 2: 1-3, . . . 1. … were dead in trespasses and sins, 2 in which we once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, 3 among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. We were hopeless and helpless without Christ. As sons and daughters of Adam, we were spiritually dead -- dead and in trespasses and sins, that is, we were in violation of God’s divine commandments. The Message Bible explains best “What it means to be outside of the unity of God?” Listen to Ephesians 2: 1-3 [Message Bible] 4 2 1-6 It wasn’t so long ago that you were mired in that old stagnant life of sin. You let the world, which doesn’t know the first thing about living, tell you how to live. You filled your lungs with polluted unbelief, and then exhaled disobedience. We all did it, all of us doing what we felt like doing, when we felt like doing it, all of us in the same boat. It’s a wonder God didn’t lose his temper and do away with the whole lot of us. Instead, immense in mercy and with an incredible love, he embraced us. He took our sin-dead lives and made us alive in Christ. He did all this on his own, with no help from us! Then he picked us up and set us down in highest heaven in company with Jesus, our Messiah. We were under the spell of the prince of the power of the air, Satan! Here’s hope: Eph. 2:4 4 But God, . . . Questions 3: What are the consequences of not being in unity with God? There are many ways the Bible expresses consequences, but collectively, they all culminate into one final verdict – that verdict is LOSS! Here are two passages that express the consequences of what ultimately results for not being in unity with God. Luke 6:46 - 49 46 “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say? 47 Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like: 48 He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock. 49 But he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built a house on the earth without a foundation, against which the stream beat vehemently; and immediately it fell. And the ruin of that house was great.” Mark 8: 34-38 34 When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. 35 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. 36 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? 37 Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? 38 For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.” Question 4: What are the BENEFITS of making unity with God the ultimate priority of experiencing unity in its fulness? 5 Romans 5: 8-10 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. 10 For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. 11 And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation. 2 Corinthians 5:12 14 For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; 15 and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again. [Prioritizing Unity in God as Non-negotiable; it is the preeminent choice] 16 Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 18 Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, 19 that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. 20 Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. 21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. Make your first priority that of “uniting with God through salvation today.” The Priority of Unity with God 6