ONE
“…and they shall become one flesh.” Genesis 2:24
The Lord is one (Deuteronomy 6:4), and that unity within the Godhead is the source of all harmony and peace in the physical universe and beyond. The amazing thing about God’s love is that He desires to welcome us into that harmonious unity, so beautifully expressed in Jesus’ prayer before His death:
“The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me” (John 17:22-23). Wow.
Another “wow” moment occurs when we recognize that in the beginning God established a physical representation of this unity: the sexual union. God created us male and female in His image (Genesis 1:27), and ordained that a husband shall be joined to his wife and become one flesh (Genesis 2:24)–with the same Hebrew word employed to describe the oneness of marriage and the oneness of God (Deuteronomy 6:4). It is no wonder, then, that our adversary attacks marriage and sexual wholeness; if unity proclaims to the world that God sent His Son (John 17: 23), then marital breakdown and promiscuity might just proclaim the opposite to that world.
What proclamations are we making through our sexual lives? If we are married, we are called to proclaim the truth of Jesus’ words in John 17 by loving our spouses, becoming evermore “one flesh,” and reflecting the fidelity of the Bridegroom Who is “Faithful and True” to His bride (Revelation 19:11). If we are single, we are called to guard and even develop now the fidelity and other character traits of a life modeled upon Him Who is saving Himself in faithfulness and truth for the ultimate union soon to come (Revelation 19:9).
High callings, but achievable through the power of the Holy Spirit. Unity that is based in truth and faithful commitment remains a heroic and compelling upward call to the church. Moreover, it honors our Lord, from Whom we long to one day hear those blessed words–“well done.”