Grace Evangelical Society

P.O. Box 1308, Denton, TX 76202
  • About
    • Home
    • Beliefs
    • Staff
    • Board of Directors
  • Resources
    • Grace in Focus Blog
    • Grace in Focus International Blogs
    • Grace in Focus Radio
    • Grace in Focus Magazine
    • Free eBooks
    • Journal of the GES
    • Book Reviews
    • Partners in Grace Newsletter
    • Audio Messages
    • Videos
    • Email Subscription
    • Bookstore
    • Online Tracts
  • Store
    • Main Page
    • On Sale
    • Return Policy
    • Your Cart
    • Your Account
  • Events
  • Connect
    • Contact Us
    • Free Grace Church and Bible Study Tracker
    • Free Grace Jobs
    • Ministry Links
  • Donate
    • One Time Donation
    • Monthly Donation
    • Your Account
  • Search
Home
→
Blog
→
Unity in Community — Gen 2:18; John 17:11, 21, 23

Unity in Community — Gen 2:18; John 17:11, 21, 23

March 5, 2018 by Shawn Lazar in Blog

Have you heard the expression, “A God-shaped hole”? The idea is that you cannot be a complete human being without God. If God is not in your life, you’ll have a vacuum you cannot fill.

But the God-shaped hole isn’t the only one that people have.

Genesis 2:18 hints at another:

Then the LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him” (Gen 2:18).

When God created Adam and placed him in the Garden of Eden you would think he had everything he could ever need. But according to this text, God recognized there was a hole in Adam’s life that even being with the Lord in Paradise could not fill.

Frankly, I find that shocking. He had God! What more could Adam possibly need?

He needed Eve!

That is, he needed human community.

God said it was not good for Adam to be alone. Human community was an essential part of the “goodness” of God’s creation and His purpose for man.

I thought of that while recently teaching through John 17.

In His prayer to the Father, Jesus put a high value on unity among the apostles (and all believers):

“Holy Father, keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me, that they may be one even as We are” (John 17:11b).

The interesting thing to me is that Jesus said this unity in community would have an evangelistic purpose. Jesus said the world could come to faith in Him by seeing it:

“That they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me…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 17:21, 23).

“So that the world may believe…So that the world may know…”

All people have a deep-seated desire for community. That’s how God created us. And that’s what God redeems us to be—a Church, a Body, a community.

When unbelievers see Christians loving each other in community, it reinforces the truth of the saving message.

We tell the world that God loves them, wants to give them eternal life, and to adopt them as His children (e.g., John 1:12). And when the world sees the love we have (or ought to have) for one another—when they see the kind of unity in community they’ve always longed for in their life—that message becomes more real to them (cf. John 13:35).

But that community does not come easy or automatically. That’s why Jesus prayed for it to exist. So should we.

 

Subscribe by Email

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
Shawn_L

by Shawn Lazar

Shawn Lazar (BTh, McGill; MA, VU Amsterdam) was the Editor of Grace in Focus magazine and Director of Publications for Grace Evangelical Society from May 2012 through June 2022. He and his wife Abby have three children. He has written several books including: Beyond Doubt: How to Be Sure of Your Salvation and Chosen to Serve: Why Divine Election Is to Service, Not to Eternal Life.

If you wish to ask a question about a given blog, email us your question at ges@faithalone.org.

Cart

Recently Added

January 26, 2023

Will There Be Poor People in Heaven?

Welcome to Grace in Focus radio. Today, Ken Yates and Bob Wilkin answer an interesting question about our status in Heaven or the quality of...
January 26, 2023

Is Mental Assent Adequate to Save? 

I recently read a few statements by Samuel Harris, one of the leaders of what is called New Atheism. As the label indicates, he is...
January 25, 2023

If a Man is Saved by Faith Alone, What is Happening in Matthew 25 With the Sheep and the Goats?

Welcome to Grace in Focus radio. Today, Bob Wilkin and Ken Yates are answering a question about the judgment of the sheep and the goats...

Grace in Focus Radio

All Episodes

Listen to Stitcher

Listen on Spotify

Grace In Focus Magazine

Grace In Focus is sent to subscribers in the United States free of charge.

Subscribe for Free

The primary source of Grace Evangelical Society's funding is through charitable contributions. GES uses all contributions and proceeds from the sales of our resources to further the gospel of grace in the United States and abroad.

Donate

Bookstore Specials

  • Here Walks My Enemy: The Story of Luis (Hardcover) $13.95 $5.00
  • Here Walks My Enemy: The Story of Luis (Paperback) $6.95 $3.00
  • Grudem Against Grace: A Defense of Free Grace Theology $15.00 $10.00
  • Confident in Christ, 2nd Edition $22.00 $5.00
  • The Journey of Faith $15.00 $9.00
Grace Evangelical Society

(940) 270-8827 / ges@faithalone.org

4851 S I-35E Suite 203, Corinth, TX 76210
P.O. Box 1308, Denton, TX 76202

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube