(3/20) Welcome Church, it’s great to have all of you with us today. Jesus prayed that we may all be One, and so I want to explore what that means and what it looks like for us as believers. In other words, for us to live as one, not just as we see it from our limited perspective, but as God sees it from eternity.

Our understanding of this is important, because we are taught from an early age to fend for ourselves and be self-sufficient. And so, as Americans we value independence and individualism, but as followers of Jesus we were not created to live this way. You may remember in the book of Genesis when God created man he said,

"It is not good for the man to be alone" (Genesis 2:18).

And so, what does he do? He made him a helper, someone who would come alongside of him. Not because Adam needed a servant, but because God created us for relationship, he wired us to do life in community.

The problem is that some of us are far too focused on singular pursuits, on being individuals, and we don’t really want to do life in community. For others of us, fear and insecurity keep us from being willing to draw close to others and building deeper relationships. And for many of us, we simply don’t understand the benefits of Kingdom living; but the only way that we’re going to experience life as God created it is if we learn to live as one.

This is far more important than most of us realize because God created us to do good works within the context of community and through that community to transform our world. The Bible says it this way in Ephesians chapter 2, verse 10,

"We are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do" (Ephesians 2:10).

And so, in our quest to discover that which God prepared in advance for us to do, we must learn to do life together, learning to do life in relationship with others, because God has called us to be one. In fact, the word "church" is translated from the Greek word ekklesia which literally means "the called-out ones" and that’s what I want to explore with you today.

The goal of this message is to get you to recognize your calling to be one, because we are the church, we are the called-out ones. And so, this may be a small church, but we’re making a difference in this community because we are unified. We are making an impact, we’re influential, because we’re in this together and we treasure those relationships with other believers.

However, because we are one body focused on carrying out the mission of Jesus, we are attracting the attention of our spiritual enemy. The devil doesn’t want us to be one, he doesn’t want us to have one vision, and so he is going to make every effort to cause division in the body of Christ. He does this by bringing in distractions, causing people to criticize us, condemning us, and even inciting those we are reaching to reject our love and persecute us. The good news is that Jesus is praying for us, we’re not unaware of the enemy’s schemes, and so as we stand as one we are unstoppable.

In John chapter 17, Jesus was about to be arrested and this is his last evening together with his disciples before he is crucified. They are praying together in the upper room and in verse 20 as Jesus is praying for his disciples he says, "My prayer is not for them alone." In other words, "Father, my prayer is not just for these disciples," and he says,

"I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you" (John 17:20-21).

In other words, Jesus prayed that you and I would be one, that we would be in a relationship with each other just as he and the Father are. And so, just as they love each other, we would love each other. Just as they enjoy each other’s company, that we would enjoy each other’s company. Just as they honored each other, that we would honor each other. And so, Jesus prays that we would experience the same kind of unity so that the world would know that God the Father has loved them and sent a Savior.

Now, that’s the greatest news ever, that’s the gospel, that…

"God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16).

And so, this is the gospel that we preach, this is the gospel that we live, and this is the way that we’re to respond to others. In other words, we may look different, we may talk different, we may come from different socio-economic backgrounds, but we are one because that is what Jesus has done.

And so, what God birthed on the cross at Golgotha, raised in the garden, he also empowered on the day of Pentecost. This new thing was born nameless because sometimes God will do something that you’re just unable to articulate. In other words, this new thing that God created broke all of the rules, and it would take the Holy Spirit to define it, because nobody had ever seen anything like this before.

As we come to the Scripture in Ephesians chapter two, we find ourselves in the delivery room, we’re experiencing the miracle of a new birth, and the Holy Spirit makes this declaration through the apostle Paul in verse four.

"Because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions — it is by grace you have been saved" (Ephesians 2:4-5).

"God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 2:6-7).

He says that Jesus died to raise us up together, God raised us up with Christ, and I want you to notice how many times he says us. In other words, it’s us and not me, it’s us and not you, he raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms. And so, God who is rich in mercy has loved us and brought us together in Christ Jesus so that he could show off his grace.

This is important, because it’s fundamental to our faith and it’s necessary for us to understand the revelation of what God had in mind when he birthed the church. You see, he made us, this body of believers one, but what makes us one is not our history, it’s our destiny. In other words, we are one, not because of where we came from, but because he adopted us into his family. The apostle Paul says in verse 12,

"Remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world" (Ephesians 2:12).

"But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ" (Ephesians 2:13).

And so, all the privileges of Israel, the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the worship and the promises are now extended to us. In other words, we have been brought near, we are partakers of the promise, joint heirs, because God has raised us up together with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms. We’ve been brought near through the blood of Christ and so this is nothing but grace, it’s the gift of God.

The apostle continues telling us about what Jesus did in verse 14, saying,

"For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace" (Ephesians 2:14-15).

And so, we’ve been adopted into the family, he has made the two one, and we are now descendants of Abraham through faith. In fact, in Romans chapter 8 the apostle tells us,

"You received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father." The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children" (Romans 8:15-16).

And so, the Holy Spirit testifies through that inner witness that we have been adopted, that God has made us one. He took the two bodies, two different people, Jews and Gentiles, and joined them together, weaving them through the shed blood of his Son Jesus Christ on the cross. And if we’re his children, then we are heirs, heirs of God, and co-heirs with Christ, so that we may also share in his glory.

This is a creative miracle of God, this one new man being born, because God has taken two and made one, and it doesn’t even have a name, but only God could do something like that. Only God could take Jew and Gentile, two nations born in hostility and bring them together as one, and yet that’s exactly what is described here in Ephesians chapter two. God takes the many and makes them one, Gentile idolaters and Orthodox Jews can come together to the same throne, at the same time, and access the same fountain of grace.

As one we can come boldly to the throne of grace, because faith breaks all of the rules, faith breaks through barriers, faith has no boundaries, and therefore Paul says,

"Remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called "uncircumcised" by those who call themselves "the circumcision" (that done in the body by the hands of men)" (Ephesians 2:11).

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9).

In other words, we don’t deserve God’s favor, we couldn’t earn it, but we just receive it as a gift, we believe, we come in faith, and it is so.

This one body was born nameless, it broke all the rules, it was unexplainable, and the sheep had now become one, they were called the believers, then followers of the Way, even a Nazarene sect, but it’s not until Acts chapter 11 that the Bible says,

"The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch" (Acts 11:26).

And so, we need to understand what God can do when he takes two and makes one. We need to understand what God can do when we unite, because right now our culture is more divided than ever, but when we come together in the name of Jesus, in unity, in one place, the power of the Holy Spirit falls because,

"He himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace" (Ephesians 2:14-15).

And so, today, wherever we have allowed the values, attitudes, and corruption of the world to infiltrate the church, however division may have crept in, wherever we’ve become confused as to our identity, what brings us together, what unites us, and what makes us one is Jesus Christ, because he himself is our peace.

That’s why it’s so important that we recognize our common ground and take our stand. We need to expect the unexpected because there is a spirit trying to hinder what God is doing, trying to bring division, trying to keep us from being one, and so we need to be careful not to lose sight of Jesus. We’ve got to fix our focus on Jesus, because he is our peace, and our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

The Bible tells us in first Corinthians,

"We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us" (1 Corinthians 2:12).

And so, we need to remember that there is power in the name of Jesus, we sing it, but we need to remember there is something about the blood of the Lamb, something about the gospel that transcends all the confusion.

You see, Jesus died to tear down barriers, he died to bring peace, he died to bring order to the chaos of this world. And the Bible says,

"Now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ" (Ephesians 2:13).

And so, if you’re here or you’re listening and you’re not under the blood, if you haven’t been brought near through the blood, if you’re not trusting the blood of Jesus, then you’re under something that can’t save you. This is something new, one new man, and God says, I am doing a new thing, for the old order of things has passed away,

"The old has gone, the new has come" (2 Corinthians 5:17).

And that’s why Jesus was so controversial, that’s why they wanted him killed, because he was shaking up tradition, and so we’ve got to let go of the old things because Jesus is making a way for new things.

You see, Jesus was radical, he shook up the establishment, and the religious people said, we’ve got to get rid of him, we’ve got to stop him, and so they killed him. But they couldn’t stop him because he just shifted from his physical body into a spiritual body which is the church, and that was his intention all along. That’s why he said, "unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies it remains only a single seed, but if it dies it produces many seeds (John 12:24). That’s why he said, "you can destroy this temple, but I will raise it again in three days (John 2:19). And so, he was doing something new, he was creating something new, and that’s what the apostle tells us in verse 15,

"His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace" (Ephesians 2:15).

God’s purpose was to make us one because from the beginning of time he has always used one. When he got ready to create humanity, he did it through Adam. When God got ready to deliver the world from the clutches of sin, he started with the one man Abraham. When God prepared to deliver Israel from Egypt, he did it through one man Moses. When he got ready to save the world, he did it through the one man Jesus Christ. Over and over and over God demonstrates his purpose in one.

When that one man Jesus Christ died, the whole earth started shaking, the sky grew dark, and the veil in the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. No longer would there be any division, any separation between God and man, because Jesus canceled the law…

"That was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross" (Colossians 2:14-15).

And that’s why they were trying to stop him, that’s why they were trying to kill him, that’s why they hung him on the cross, because they were trying to get him out of the way, but all God needed was one, that one called the last Adam, because the Bible says,

"The first man Adam became a living being"; but the last Adam, a life-giving Spirit" (1 Corinthians 15:45).

In other words, everything Adam messed up, Jesus straightened out, because he is the one who is the way, the truth, and the life. He is the one who sets the captives free, who breaks yokes of bondage, and who makes the demons tremble. That’s why the Bible says,

"God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Philippians 2:9-11).

You see, there is something about that name, something that causes hell to get nervous, because everything in heaven, on earth, and under the earth is subject to the name of Jesus Christ. And so, it was by that one, by that one man Jesus Christ, that every curse that stood against us was nailed to his cross. And that’s why the Bible says,

"Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:1).

But the religious leaders didn’t understand, they couldn’t understand the mystery of Christ, and if they had they never would have crucified the Son of God. What they were trying to stop, they only started, because it was one new man, one spiritual body of Christ. If they had realized the power of that blood, they never would have pierced him in the side, but they did. And as they spilled the blood of the Lamb of God, they revealed the new covenant of God, hidden within the veins and the arteries of the body of Jesus. This new covenant, hidden down through the ages, the mystery of godliness in Christ Jesus, and now the Bible says,

"We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth" (John 1:14).

And so, it’s not about the church building, it’s not about a denomination, but it’s all about Jesus, for he himself is our peace, he has made the two one, and God has raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms.

Wherever we go we are one, because we are the body of Christ, we are the church, and it’s still all about Jesus, because wherever Jesus is, the church is right there. And that’s the gospel, that’s the good news, we’ve been born in him, and the Bible says,

"In him we live and move and have our being" (Acts 17:28).

And so, when Paul writes about it in Ephesians chapter 2, he says,

"His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two" (Ephesians 2:15).

And so, "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come" (2 Corinthians 5:17). And we are that one new man in Christ Jesus, no longer foreigners to the covenant of the promise, Abraham’s descendants, citizens of Israel, because Jesus has torn down the barrier, the dividing wall, and we can…

"Approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need" (Hebrews 4:16).

As I close, for some of you it’s time to approach the throne of grace, to come to the Lamb, to come near through the blood of Christ, it’s time for you to come home. Not because I’m saying so, but because Jesus is calling, he’s made a way for you to be one with him. And so, today is your opportunity, he’s calling you, the Holy Spirit has softened your heart, and there’s nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, nowhere to go but safely back to Jesus. I urge you, to give your life to him, he has need of you. I know that you’re only one, but you’ve been separate from him and he wants you to be one.

Read past sermons by Pastor John Talcott