Unity and Peace

In His high priestly prayer, Jesus prayed that those who believe in Him through the disciples’ word may all be one, just as the Father and the Son are one. We also see that it is through the glory Jesus has given us that this unity is possible. The unity is with the Father and the Son and with those He has chosen: “. . . 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.” .

It is not difficult to believe that there is perfect unity between the Father and the Son. But do I really believe that it is possible for me to become one in Them, and do I live in such a way that this becomes a reality in my life? Jesus saw this as the very basis for the world to believe that He was sent from the Father.

Our starting point is very far from this, as it is written: “‘There is none righteous, no, not one; there is none who understands; there is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; they have together become unprofitable; there is none who does good, no, not one.’ ‘Their throat is an open tomb; with their tongues they have practiced deceit’; ‘the poison of asps is under their lips’; ‘whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.’ ‘Their feet are swift to shed blood; destruction and misery are in their ways; and the way of peace they have not known.’ ‘There is no fear of God before their eyes.’” .

We understand that it is not possible to create such unity by reaching compromises between people who fulfill the desires of the flesh and of the mind. My own will must go the way of death through the cross, so that God’s will is established as the highest authority in my life. His will is not in conflict with itself. It always works in the members in such a way that there is peace and harmony in one body. He reconciled them both to God in one body through the cross. In this body there is only one will that applies, this will is prompted by the head—Christ. My will is full of enmity against the will of God and does not know the way of peace. If God’s will is to be carried out, the cross must have an effect. Where the cross works, enmity is put to death, so there is peace, even where there are great differences and contradictions to begin with. Jesus prayed, “not My will, but Yours, be done” and “behold, I have come to do Your will, O God.” We have been sanctified by the power of this will. We are set apart and are placed into one body. It was no longer Paul who lived, but Christ lived in him. The condition for all unity is that I cease living according to my own will. Then Christ will live in me and I in Him.

Jesus prayed that those who “will believe in Me through their word” would all be one. John was one of those who conveyed such words to us, as he writes in : “The life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us—that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.” He writes further in : “But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.” He made it clear that the apostles’ fellowship was with the Father and the Son, and that if they wanted fellowship with them they had to walk in the light, just as He is in the light. It was no use keeping anything of one’s own or sinning a little in secret. Everything had to be in the light.

Neither was there any question of having a fellowship based on some doctrines. It was the life itself that he preached to them, and into which they themselves had to enter if they wanted fellowship. He continues by reminding us that if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves. To walk in the light means an ever greater acknowledgment and a deeper cleansing in the blood of Jesus. Then the same life will also become more and more active within us.

We can read in Isaiah 53 that when Jesus made His soul an offering for sin, the pleasure of the Lord would prosper. It pleased the Lord to bruise Him so that He might find the offering for sin. It is the same in our lives. We need the circumstances of life and God’s chastening over our lives to better understand His will and come to a deeper fellowship and greater unity. If there is unrest around me, I have not been in my rightful place in the situations of life. Then it is important to acknowledge, so that the pleasure of the Lord can continue to prosper.

Tore Aslaksen