Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Ephesians 4:3
A visitor to our house was impressed with a Lego figure of a vehicle hauling a boat trailer, complete with boat, that graced the top of the wall surrounding the staircase, behind the piano. After admiring the figure, the visitor wondered aloud why it occupied its position on that wall. We explained that the figure belonged to our grandson, and that he placed it there to keep it out of the hands of his younger siblings. If it fell into the hands of his younger brother, for example, the figure would soon be reduced to a pile of Lego blocks and other small pieces. Because his brother had no particular regard for the assembled figure. The unity of the Spirit among Christians is like that, too, with some people devoted to preserving it, and some with no regard for its beauty.
Of course, I am not talking about the so-called unity that is pursued among religious circles today, the effort to unite and combine all of the denominations into one. That is not a unity of the Spirit, it’s a unity of compromise and rejection of truth that takes its adherents further away from God. No, I am referring to the unity that exists among those who seek to bring the Lord’s people closer to the Lord. Because the closer we are to Him, the closer we will be to each other. Just as a Lego figure is made of many small pieces that are brought together into one, God has in fact saved us to give us unity with other Christians, a unity that results from the things we share in Him. These are identified in the next two verses that follow our text. Verse 4 speaks of us being part of one body. Verse 5 speaks of one Lord, one faith, and one baptism. God is not telling us to create unity among His people, because He has already created it. He is telling us to keep – or maintain- the unity that He has given to us. God has, if you will, assembled the Lego figure of which we are a part; and He doesn’t want us tearing it apart.
Just as younger siblings will destroy the beauty of a Lego figure, so people who don’t appreciate the beauty of God’s unity will destroy it. These people disrespect the Word of God and the unity that obedience to its truth will produce. These people don’t care about the pattern that God has given to us of the manner in which God assembles those who appreciate the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ. These people have no interest in peace. And that is critical, because peace is the bond, or glue, that creates unity among God’s people. Our text says so.
If you appreciate the beauty of the unity God has created, and the peace that holds God’s people together, you will endeavour to preserve it. -Jim MacIntosh