One

“There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope at your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.” (Ephesians 4:4-6 CSB)

One is about as basic as you can get. “One” is a statement and a description. It is an absolute, and, yet, it can also be infinite. It is a whole number, but within the number one there are an infinite number of decimals. For example, if you take the number one and divide it by half and continue dividing each result by half, you can never reach the end. And yet, the number one still stands there as a whole, as a unit, as totally complete within itself.

Paul points to the relevance of oneness for Christians. There is one body, the church, composed of numerous believers. There is one Spirit, and yet, there is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. There is one Lord, and yet there is trinity. There is one faith in Christ, but many expressions. There is one baptism or immersion in Christ, and yet, there are many fillings of the Spirit. There is one God and Father, and yet, there is also the Son and the Holy Spirit.

The power of one has nothing to do with sameness, but it has everything to do with unity. The more one we are as believers, the greater our impact on a lost world. Thus, we seek unity; not the kind that is man-made but the kind that results from the unity of God’s Spirit.

Lord, May we Your people be one as You are One. Amen.