One

God has an interesting thing He likes to do. From the beginning of time God has made a unity from a plurality. In the Garden of Eden He joined Adam and Eve together in holy matrimony, saying, “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined unto his wife, and they shall become one flesh (Genesis 2:24).” Through biblical marriage (“a man…his wife”) two individuals become. There was still Adam and there was still Eve, but they were one.

That isn’t possible. How can they be separate, yet still be one? This is something only God can do. In fact, He leads by example. Notice how the same word onecomes up as God describes Himself: “Hear O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one (Deuteronomy 6:4)!” The word one is the same Hebrew word in both passages. God or Elohim,is plural (literally “the Gods”). We know He is plural because He is Father, Son, and Spirit, and yet He is one God. This is another unity of plurality. He can be three distinct individuals, and yet be one God. It wasn’t the Holy Spirit who died on the cross, it was Jesus; it isn’t Jesus that seals the believer’s heart, it is the Holy Spirit—but both are a work of God. They are unique, and yet they are one. 

God leads by example in uniting that which is plural, and He does something similar when He unites us in marriage. There is still another way that He does this, and that is in bringing Christians all over the world into one body. In Ephesians 4 Paul uses that word one seven times in verses two through five, and he uses the word all three times in verse five. Speaking to “you all,” he says, “There is one body.” As part of the collective Bride of Christ, believers around the globe comprise one large body, and each local church is also composed of many members, and yet is one. This is what Paul is talking about when he said, “For as the [human] body is one and has many members…so also is Christ…For in fact the body (church) is not one member, but many (I Corinthians 12:12-14).”  

Part of the way we are created in the image of God is in the unity of plurality. If you are in a biblical marriage, God has turned two into one; and as part of the true church, God has made many into one. Your marriage can only work if you are willing to be part of something bigger than yourself, and the same is true of church. Your local church body is counting on you to be faithful and use your spiritual gifts, so don’t let them down. If you aren’t involved in a local body, you need to be. Until then, you are an individual, and God wants to unite you into His plural family. 

Just Talking to God

A brand new lawyer in his brand new office on his first day at his new practice saw a man walking towards his open office door. The young lawyer assumed this man must be a prospective client, so he decided he should look busy. Wanting to make this would-be client think was a hotshot lawyer, he picked up the phone and started talking: “Look, Harry, about that amalgamation deal. I think I better run down to the factory and handle it personally. Yes… No... I don’t think three million will swing it. We better have Rogers from Seattle meet us there. OK. Call you back later.” 

With that, he slammed the desk phone down on the receiver, and looked up at the visitor. “Good morning, how may I help you?” And the prospective client said, “You can’t help me at all. I’m from IT, and I’m just here to hook up your desk phone.”

That poor lawyer hopefully learned a lesson from his embarrassing mishap, but I’m afraid that many churchgoers put on a similar performance each Sunday. Instead of using their prayers as a chance to talk to God, they are more concerned with sounding a certain way in the ears of their fellow congregants. In order to come across as smarter, more spiritual, or perhaps closer to God, they turn their prayers into sermonettes, quoting Bible verses, and speaking King James English. Please note, there is nothing wrong with praying that way from a sincere heart, but if the goal is to impress others, then it is not a real prayer. 

Jesus warned about people who did this very thing. “And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men.” He continued: “And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathens do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words (Matthew 6:5,7).”

Hypocrite is a word that was used of actors who played a part on stage. In the previous verses Jesus had warned about those who practice their charitable deeds in public, and the word practice was used to describe a performance. Jesus is calling out those who stand on stage and play a role instead of sincerely trying to talk to God. The heathens (or unconverted Gentiles) were known for adding as many words as possible to their prayers, thinking their gods would be impressed if they talked longer. We do not have to do that when we pray. We simply talk to God, and He is glad we are spending time with Him. 

For those who want to impress others with their fancy prayers, “they have their [only] reward (v.5).” But for those who want their prayers to be heard by God, Jesus said, “Your Father who sees in secret will reward you (v.6).” When you pray, make sure you are talking to God, and performing like a hypocrite.  

God's Masterpiece

Sir Edwin Landseer was one of the most famous artists of the Victorian Era. He was commissioned to do several official portraits of the royal family, and he even gave private painting lessons to Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. One day he was visiting with a family at their mansion when someone spilled a pitcher of soda water, leaving a stain on the wall.

The family went out for the day, but Landseer stayed behind. He used charcoal and paint to incorporate the stain into a beautiful mural on the wall. What had once been an unsightly stain was turned into a waterfall surrounded by trees and animals. Landseer was able to turn a mess into a masterpiece. That is why Ephesians 2:10 is one of my favorite Bible verses. Paul said, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

The Greek word translated as workmanship is poima;it has been translated elsewhere as masterpiece, and it gives us the English word poem.In that same chapter Paul described what a mess life was before Christ—we were dead in our trespasses and sins, walking with the devil according to world’s schemes, and children of God’s wrath. But God, who is rich in mercy, turned us from a mess to a masterpiece. We were made aware of Jesus in verse four, made alive through Jesus in verse five, and ascended with Jesus in verse six. We are now God’s masterpiece. Like a Nobel laureate crafting a perfect lyric, Jesus has made us into something noteworthy. 

That is how God thinks of His children. If you have been saved, you are now Shakespeare’s 23^rdSonnet. You are Beethoven’s 5^thSymphony. You are Michelangelo’s David. You are Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa. Don’t let the devil tell you that you are nothing. When God looks at you He sees His masterpiece. If you have not been saved, you are still dead in your trespasses and sins. Let the Master work His magic, and see what masterpiece He can make out of you.     

Our Weakness, God's Power

On Easter Sunday in 1799, Napoleon Bonaparte’s army was camped on the hills above the border town of Feldkirch, Austria, poised to attack. The citizens knew they could not survive the attack, and could only hope that the Austrian army would come to their rescue in time. The town council held an emergency meeting to decide whether to try to defend themselves or surrender. Fighting looked like a suicide mission, but surrender is never a popular option.

The pastor of the town church stood up to address the frightened people. He is reported to have said, "Friends, we have been counting on our own strength, and apparently that has failed. Since this is the day of our Lord’s resurrection, let us just ring the bells, have our services, and leave the matter in His hands. We know only our weakness, and not the power of God to defend us." The people agreed with their pastor, and they began to ring the church bells in celebration of the resurrection, and to let people know the service was still on. 

When Napoleon’s army heard the sudden peal of the church bells, they assumed that the Austrian army had arrived and was ready to fight. Before the service ended, Napoleon was in full retreat, and there was not a Frenchman to be found.

I like the way that Feldkirch pastor thought. All we know naturally is our own weakness, not the power of God. As Christians we should learn to understand more of God’s power, especially the fact that He has given that power to us. In Acts 1:8 Jesus told the disciples they would receive power once the Holy Spirit came upon them (which we now have as soon as we are saved), and Paul alluded to that same Holy Ghost power in Ephesians 1:19-21. His prayer was that the church would come to know “what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.” 

That Greek word for power in both verses is dunamis, and it gives us our English word dynamite. No, Paul was not thinking of TNT when he wrote those words, because that did not exist. But when TNT was invented in 1867, the word dynamite was chosen because it accurately described the power that it held. That is the idea behind the power we have as believers. We have dynamite power to preach with boldness, pray, understand our Bibles, let our light so shine, and witness for Christ. We do not need to ask God for this power, because it is already within us as soon as we put our faith in Jesus. The question is not, “Do you have power,” but “Are you using your power?”