Unity
is our single and settled devotion to following Christ, the evidence to the
world that our faith is real.
III.
Experience the Same Glory (22)
Just
as children look like their parents, so Christians reflect the glory of God
through their unity.
When
Christians major on the externals and insignificant matters, they fail to experience
the unity for which Jesus prayed. So long as we build on accidentals rather
than essentials, pursue some persuasive personality or some innovative doctrine,
or seek to build our kingdom rather than His, we will never really know the
glory of God for which Jesus prayed. As long as Christians split hairs, they
will split churches.
The
prayer of Jesus reminds us that we do not have to manufacture unity; it is already
here. Our job is to “keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace!”
We cannot produce unity; we can only preserve it. Our unity emanates from the
glory of God.
IV.
Enjoy the Same Love (23-26)
At
the core of God’s glory and at the center of Christian unity lies the love
of the Father for the Son.
Christianity
cannot be explained by program, personality, propaganda, or persuasion. The
only satisfactory justification for such a change in direction, devotion, and
desire is the overwhelming love of God. In these verses Jesus lets us in on
the love that God had for the Son before the world was ever created. We actually
become partakers of the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4) and of the intimate communion
of the Godhead.
Just
as Jesus declared God’s name to a world that hated Him, so we must enjoy
that overwhelming love so fervently that we cannot help but share it with others.
_______________________
Sermon
brief provided by: Hershael York, Lester Associate Professor
of Christian Preaching, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, KY