Dear Family,

From the very beginning of human activity on our planet, the solitary ploy of the enemy has been to disturb unity. It does not take much mental exercise to realize that if unity can be disrupted, then everything else simply falls apart at the seams. God’s plan: perfect unity in the Trinity in perfect unity with His creation, man being the crown of all creation.

Unfortunately we know the story:- the unity which Adam and Eve enjoyed with the Creator was disrupted. The unity in the first family was further damaged by the murder of a brother by a brother. Disunity then snowballed until God determined to start again with a righteous man and his family after the world wide flood. And even with a new start, it did not take long before that too produced what we have until today. Even unity in creation started unraveling after disunity took effect. We learned recently how some of the teeny tiny bacteria became rogue and continue to plaque man.

Jesus is all about unity. Jesus is all about reconciling man to God – back to unity. The Second Coming and the consummation of the ages is all about restoring unity by the destruction of the final enemy, death, which arrived through disunity! Think a bit in our terms. What happens when disunity enters a family, a marriage, a business, a church, a sport club, or anything else? Death and destruction which lasts for many generations! On the other hand, think about the pictures we have in the Bible where God emphasizes unity, for example, the Oneness of God; marriage; God and His bride, the church; the Scriptures of promised blessing upon unity.

The Apostle Paul writes in Ephesians 4:3-6: “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit— just as you were called to one hope when you were called— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”

“Every effort” implies that we must do whatever we can, whatever it takes, at whatever cost or personal expense, to ensure that division is not allowed to find a comforting corner in the halls of our humanity. You see, once the unity is breached, the walls always come tumbling down. So, will you commit to “every effort” to keep in line with the Father?

Paul