Supernatural Unity

Supernatural Unity

Read: John 17:20-23

“I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”

John 17:23

“Unity in Christ is not something to be achieved; it is something to be recognized.”

—A. W. Tozer

IN WORD What does Jesus look for in His bride? A thorough reading of His priestly prayer in John 17 reveals His desire for believers’ protection, sanctity, and joy. But above all, the overriding theme of His prayer is their unity. Complete unity. The kind of unity that He has with His Father.

Isn’t He a little unrealistic here? A united front is attainable, perhaps, but the same kind of unity He has with His Father? Perfect oneness from within the Trinity? Look at our churches; there is division between them and within them. How could the Son of God, One with the Father, have such unanswered prayer?

Jesus is no fool. He knows well what He is doing when He lays before His Father and before us this humanly impossible ideal. The unity of sinful human beings is utterly unattainable but for one thing: His presence. His aim— aside from His Father’s supernatural intervention in our fellowship—is for believers to hear or read these words and know beyond any doubt that we must depend on Him. There is no other way.

IN DEED Examine the characteristics of the disciples: antagonistic political opinions, different levels of education, diverse professions, varying temperaments. They had plenty of reason to argue with one another, and sometimes did (Matthew 20:24; Mark 9:34). After three years with Jesus and an outpouring of His Spirit they were “one in heart and mind” (Acts 4:32). What pulled them together? A common background? Not even close. A common goal? Not entirely. Just Him. His very, very real presence. This impossible standard of unity has only one solution: absolute dependence on Him.