Thursday, September 19, 2024
One in Christ – Ephesians 2:18-22 Submitted by Kay Crumley
We are one. That has meaning in several ways. We are one with groups of people in organizations. That type of oneness may give strength to the influence of a particular group who have a common interest or goal. Wedding vows often refer to the two becoming one in marriage. The couple is no longer two individuals, but their lives are joined in sharing the experience of life together. In the Bible we find references in some of Paul’s letters about being ‘one with Christ’ and ‘one in Christ’. Are those phrases different in meaning?
Romans 6:5 If we have become one with Christ in His death, we will be one with Him in being raised from the dead to new life. We have our new life with Christ when we become followers/believers in Him. The Holy Spirit then lives in us to guide us in our daily lives.
In the passage from Ephesians 2, Paul is talking to a group composed of believers, those who are one with Christ, but from different cultures, Jews and Gentiles. He taught that the barrier between the two groups of believers has been destroyed by Christ. All believers have the same Spirit living in them. Verse 18 draws the conclusion that as those who have new life in Christ, we are now one. As children of God, we have one Father.
18 For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.
Therefore, as members of the same family, we have one inheritance from one ancestor. We have a common source of our new life with Him.
The basis or foundation of the church is Jesus Christ. He is the stabilizing element of the structure of His church, the chief cornerstone. The rest of the building is held firmly in place and unified by Him and Him alone. This building is the church of believers in which God lives. The church, all the followers of Christ, is in Him.
19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.
How does that look in our daily lives. As believers are one with Christ. That makes me think of that marriage as described in scripture, we are no longer two but have become one flesh, Matthew 19:6. We are to act like and look like Christ in our words and actions. That applies to each believer. Each is adopted into the family of God by our faith in Jesus as God’s one and only Son. Since we share the same Father, we are siblings. We are one family, one church. Just as we join an organization for support and strength, we are members of the Church for the same reasons. So that, verse 21, in Him we are joined together. We may not look the same or speak the same language, but as believers we are one in Him. He is the head who, like tendons and ligaments, holds the whole body together, Colossians 2:19. Those who loss sight of that truth have put their attention on the wrong thing, following something other than the Word.
Believers are one with Christ, joined together with one mind, 1 Corinthians 2:16. Then we are to join with fellow believers in His Church to encourage, strength, and support one another. None of the earthly measures of worthiness should separate us such as nationality, culture, language, wealth, or status. We are united as one with and in Him.
