324. We Become One
Ezekiel 37:17 And join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand.
This is another promise that we cannot see, but we believe it to be true simply because the Lord said it. The two sticks symbolize Israel and Judah. The promise is that they will both be joined together as one stick. The extended NT promise is that the Church, all believers in Christ, will be one. Jesus prays (and His prayer is answered): “…that they may be one, even as we are one.” This is true, even if we don’t see it.
The visible church has undergone, and will continue to undergo, division after division until strife, separation, and infighting seem to be the only things the church knows how to do. But the invisible Church has a bond that we cannot see. The Spirit is able to do the impossible: He brings all the various and extremely different parts together and makes them one. This is the reality in the spiritual world. The Church is as much One as the Father and the Son is One. We cannot understand this until we get there and see it, and it will be a wonderful experience.
The man and the woman in a committed marriage union are also one, even though we only get dim glimpses of such unity very rarely. Unity is a mystery. It must be believed. The binding power of perfect love will truly be an awesome experience. Love is more powerful than glue. Two sticks joined together as one in the hands of God is multiplied millions of times over. There will be a “great multitude that no one can number” joined as one in praise of God’s Salvation.
Sin always separates; Christ perfectly unites. We live with both activities going on all the time. One is life, the other is death; one is sin, the other is grace. Focus on the one and forgive the other. Only God can do that; we can’t. Enjoy God.