Diversity
or unity?
Divers-nity?
Uni-sity?
By both
of these, we humans have been stressed!
But
which is God’s will? By which is He blessed?
From man
came woman; one became two.
Then
from them, races …of every hue.
From one
land mass, came seven continents,
Each
with diverse national components.
Within
nations, divisions thrive.
Real
divisions! Others contrived.
Families,
the building blocks of societies,
Have not
escaped these …divisive proclivities.
God is ONE,
the Head over all principalities,
Yet
expressing Himself in three personalities.
From one man, Abraham, so many nations have come,
Yet only
one chosen for blessings …under God’s thumb.
From
this nation, one Man sent into the world as Christ,
Appointed
to us as God’s only door for eternal life.
From
this one life, across the world His Church would spread,
‘From
every tongue, tribe and nation’,
that’s what John said. 1
Imagine
the divisiveness across such a crowd!
Doctrines,
styles, preferences, some by many disallowed! 2
Yet the heart
of Christ in His pre-death prayer,
Was for
His Church to be one, with no fissure. 3
Israel, one
nation, split into two,
Both
exiled when in their sins they did stew! 4
Now once
again, as one nation it’s re-established,
With
Jews from all over, by racism it’s tarnished.
The
Church and Israel, God’s people, beleaguered,
By all
sorts of divisiveness spirits, unfettered,
Appointed
by Him to be ‘ministers’:
Israel
to Him; the Church to sinners. 5
The
Church…
Called out
of the Gentile world in order to be saved,
Then
commissioned to return so others may be saved.
To
minister to sinners in a world so diverse,
The
Church of Jesus Christ must similarly be diverse!
Now called to produce much ‘spiritual
offspring’,
Then called to rule with Him when on Earth
Christ is King.
Diversity, qualification for the task now at
hand,
Unity, qualification for His
millennial span.
Israel…
A nation
born to give birth to a Savior Who would die.
A nation
that split, sinned, then to nationhood said, ‘Goodbye!’ 6
First appointed as Jesus’ family on
Earth,
To
be anointed His
priests, enhancing their worth. 7
As Jesus
Christ’s family, ordained, ‘Be ye holy!’, 8
And unified
in God’s purpose, spiritually.
But as future
priests, ordained to serve God …for-ever,
And serve
as hosts to diverse peoples world over. 9
Jesus more
than thrice prayed ‘…that they be one’, 10
The Church will, as The Father and The Son.
He said
Israel, in a coming era,
Will as one people know Him as Messiah. 11
In God’s
plans, from one comes diversities,
Evidence
that He loves pluralities.
In the
end it’s unity in spirit and purpose,
That in
His plans is so highly valued …and precious.
----------
1 See:
Revelation 7:9
2 See: Romans 16:17
3 See: John 17:11, 21, 22, 23
4 Split
into Israel (10 northern tribes) and Judah (2 southern tribes)
5 See: Exodus 19:6 for Israel, and Mark
17:15, The Great Commission for the Church
6 Israel
was exiled to Assyria, and then scattered. Judah was exiled to Babylon for 70
years, then a remnant was regathered to the promise land.
7 See: Exodus 19:6
8 Unique,
separate. See: Leviticus 11:44
9 As
Jesus’ priests in Jerusalem during His Millennial Reign, Jews may likely be
responsible for hosting a great diversity of worldwide visitors (both mortal
humans and immortal saints) who will attend The Lord's annual Feasts
of Tabernacles celebration. Notably, though The Lord 'will seek to destroy the nations who fought against Israel (presumably in the 1st War of Gog and Magog - Ezekiel 38), there will obviously be surviving remnants in these nations. Representatives of these remnant families will be commanded to attend The Lord's annual Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem. (Zechariah 12:9 and 14:16)
10 Five
times in John 17. God will answer this prayer!
The Church
will, as The Father and The Son.
11 See:
Zechariah 12:10-14
