Hope & Unity

Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. – Revelation 21:3 –

The glorious outcome of the gospel of Jesus Christ is God dwelling with His people in perfect fellowship for the ages to come. This is a distinctively Christian hope. The sin of Adam destroyed our fellowship with God. Our sin separates us from God (Isaiah 59:2). Through Jesus Christ we are brought back.

God sent His Son in human flesh to dwell among us (John 1:14). His name, Immanuel, means “God with us” (Matthew 1: 23 NKJV). Jesus lived, died, and rose to pay the penalty of our sin and reconcile us to God. We turn from our sin and look to Jesus. Through faith in Christ we are united to Christ through the filling of His Spirit. Though Christ ascended to Heaven, we await the day when He returns for us to establish a new heavens and earth, to usher in a new age in which we dwell in perfect fellowship with God and one another forever.

This is not an empty wish but a solid hope in what God will certainly accomplish. Because of this hope, our efforts to preserve unity in the body of Christ are worthwhile. Our efforts to love one another have real meaning because our unity will last forever. We should strive to live at peace with one another because our peace is guaranteed for eternity. We should seek forgiveness from one another and extend forgiveness to one another because we will dwell together in Heaven.

In other words, Biblical hope can motivate our efforts to be united in Christ. Hope is a wonderful reason to pursue greater unity in the church. Hope can motivate our attempts to resolve conflict. The fact that we will all dwell forever in the presence of our redeeming God gives more than enough reason to put aside petty disagreements and love one another in the here-and-now. May the Lord strengthen our labors for Christian unity until the end!