~ Five Word Pictures of One Reality ~
Children In One Family (one
Father) ~ “Jesus said to her, ‘Do not cling to Me, for
I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, “I
am ascending to My Father and your Father,
and to My God and your God”’” (John 20:17).
Disciples In One School (one
Teacher) ~ “So when Jesus had washed their feet, taken
His garments, and sat down again, He said to them, ‘Do you know what I have
done to you? You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to
wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you should
do as I have done to you. Most
assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he
who is sent greater than he who sent him.
If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them” (John 13:12-17).
Sheep In One Flock (one
Shepherd) ~ Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd. The
good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.
But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the
sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf
catches the sheep and scatters them. The
hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep. I am
the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. As the Father knows Me, even so I know the
Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.
And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must
bring, and they will hear My voice; and there
will be one flock and one shepherd” (John 10:11-16).
Members Of One Body (one
Head) ~ “And Jesus Himself gave some to be apostles,
some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the
equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to
the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect
man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no
longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of
doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful
plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—from whom the
whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to
the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the
body for the edifying of itself in love” (Ephesians 4:11-16).
“For as the body is one and has many members,
but all the members of that one body,
being many, are one body, so also is
Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether
Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one
Spirit. For in fact the body is not one
member but many” (1 Corinthians 12:12-14).
… “But now indeed there are many members, yet one body. And the eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I have
no need of you’; nor again the head to the feet, ‘I have no need of you.’ No, much rather, those members of the body
which seem to be weaker are necessary. And
those members of the body which we think to be less honorable, on these we
bestow greater honor; and our unpresentable parts have greater modesty, but our
presentable parts have no need. But God
composed the body, having given greater honor to that part which lacks it, that
there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the
same care for one another. And if one
member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all
the members rejoice with it” (1 Corinthians 12:20-26).
Stones In One Building (one
Foundation) ~ “Coming
to Jesus as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God
and precious, you also, as living stones,
are being built up a spiritual house,
a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through
Jesus Christ. Therefore it is also
contained in the Scripture, ‘Behold, I
lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious, and he who believes on
Him will by no means be put to shame.’ Therefore,
to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient, ‘The
stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone,’ and ‘A
stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.’
They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were
appointed” (1 Peter 2:4-8).
“For we are
God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building. According to the grace of God which was given
to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds
on it. But let each one take heed how he
builds on it. For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus
Christ” (1 Corinthians 3:9-11).
Closing Passage
~ “I [Paul], therefore, the
prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk
worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and
gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the
Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one
Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all,
and through all, and in you all” (Ephesians 4:1-6).
~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW
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