Although many people have done great things throughout history and aspire to do even more, we cannot solve our fundamental problems of pride, greed, hatred, stubbornness, and immorality. With advancements in travel, technology, communication, and information our world has become better associated. Yet many people are still segregated, divided, marginalized, censored, deceived, and alone. With a rise in globally-focused organizations, centralized power, regulations, international business deals, political alliances, and overlapping economies our world has become more connected. Yet many people aren’t stronger and better for it; they are more dependent, restricted, or oppressed. People long to live, laugh, love, and learn peacefully and freely. Yet because we are broken by self-centeredness, we tend to impair that pursuit for ourselves, our families, our communities, and our world. Only by looking beyond ourselves through focusing on and uniting with God, can we experience and enjoy all that we were designed to be.
Unite with God
God created you and loves you. He breathed his life into you and gave you the passion to live it to the fullest with him. Apart from him you will always fall short of this glory; you will never be satisfied. Due to the sin of the first man and woman, Adam and Eve, every person is prone to reject God in favor of living life on their own (Genesis 3). Like sheep we have all foolishly strayed from the nurture and protection of God, our shepherd (Isaiah 53:6; Romans 3:23). Fortunately, Jesus, God the Son, became a man and lived among us to change that. Jesus is your good shepherd. He taught, “The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice…I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full…I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me—just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep.” (John 10:2-4, 9-10, 14-15)
Can you hear Jesus calling you? Will you listen to his voice and respond? As your good shepherd Jesus laid down his life to save you. His innocent crucifixion paid the death penalty for your rebellion against God. By trusting Jesus as your savior, you can be graciously forgiven of all wrongdoing. His resurrection from the dead makes it possible for you to be reconciled with God, become a part of his wonderful family, and live rightly with him in joy now and forever (Colossians 1:9-23; 1 John 1:9).
Each time I consider all Jesus has done for me and you I am utterly humbled and ever grateful. When faced with the choice to step down from heaven in order to save me and you, he readily accepted. While on earth he never served himself, only God the Father and other people. Jesus told his disciples, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work” (John 4:34). Jesus didn’t even speak on his own. “My teaching is not my own. It comes from the one who sent me. Anyone who chooses to do the will of God will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own. Whoever speaks on their own does so to gain personal glory, but he who seeks the glory of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him” (John 7:16-18). As a loving, obedient son Jesus’ desire was to glorify and please God the Father even to the point of death on a cross. “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he [the Savior] and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me. The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him” (John 8:28-29). Even in the garden before he was betrayed, rejected, abandoned, mocked, falsely accused, beaten, and crucified Jesus’ thoughts were about me and you. When he sweat blood as he faced the excruciating burden of taking on the unbridled wrath of God for our sin and the sin of the whole world, he prayed for us. “I have given them [believers] the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them” (John 17:22-26). Doesn’t this make your heart sing and your soul soar. Jesus came, lived, died, and rose again to unite you and me with God. Wow!
Given this incredible truth, how then should you live? Like Jesus modelled, humbly trust and obey God. Jesus even told his disciples before he ascended back to heaven, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you” (John 20:21). To those who trust and obey, God gives his Spirit to live in them and strengthen their unity with him. The Spirit, comforts, counsels, corrects, trains, and empowers believers to live with God, like God, for God, and as God in this world. Like a branch abiding in the vine, as you yield to God’s Spirit, God develops his qualities in you like love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. He also works through you to bear fruit in saving others (John 15:1-17; Galatians 5:22-23). Find your greatest pleasure in pleasing God. Keep fixing your eyes on Jesus today. Self-centeredness separates, but love unites. Don’t let shackles of sin from the past keep you from walking freely with God. You have been forgiven. Don’t measure yourself by the world’s standards. You are now a child of God. Your identity and worth are found in Jesus. Don’t let worry or anxiety about the future rob you of present peace and joy with Jesus. Rest in the warm embrace of God. Let the fire his fatherly love consume every fear. He knows you and is working everything together for good for those that love him and are called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28). Grow in blessed oneness with him by prayerfully singing his praises, studying his word, sharing his truth, serving all people, standing in the gap to intervene, and staying dependent on him.
Unite with Others to Glorify God
God is always at work saving as he unites everything under the headship of Jesus, the Savior. Created in God’s image, people play a sacred role in this mission. All who place their faith—hope, loyalty, trust, and obedience in Jesus are set apart from this world as his people (Ephesians 1:3-10; 1 Peter 2:9-10). They are called the church which means an assembly of called out ones. The church is also called the bride of Jesus, who God is training and preparing to reign with him for eternity. Believers are so united with God in character and mission that Jesus considers them his body. He works through them as his voice, his heart, his hands, and his feet to love the unloved, to embrace the outcast, to heal the sick, to bind the broken, to free the captive, to provide light for those stumbling in darkness, and to seek and save the lost. (Ephesians 5:21-33; 1 Corinthians 12:12-13:13). So as a believer you should unite with other believers to boldly go in Jesus’ name and power to baptize, teach, equip, encourage, serve, and disciple. Like individual believers, the church should also develop corporate rhythms of bible study, prayer, fasting, praise, gratitude, generosity, rest, fellowship, and gospel engagement. Graciously overlook differences, promote peace, address shortcomings, celebrate victories, and focus on your mission of reconciliation for the glory of God and the benefit of others inside and outside of the church. As you do Jesus promises to be with you (Matthew 28:18-20). When Jesus returns to earth to consummate his kingdom and set everything right, he will gather believers to reign with him in the new heaven and earth. He will put an end to death, evil, and sorrow. Believers will revel in perfect fellowship with God joyfully serving him and his family forever (Revelation 19:11-21:8).
Conclusion
In your pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness don’t disregard God. For only with him will you be fulfilled. You cannot fix what is broken in you and around you. Let Jesus restore beauty from brokenness as only he can. Become one with God through faith in Jesus. Completely yield to his will. Align with his character and mission. Join with his other believers. Speak with his voice of truth. Be absorbed in his love. Let your blessed unity with him and fellow believers overflow to others so they also can become one with God.