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
  • Seminary
    • Seminary Info
    • Fall 2023 Classes
    • GES Seminary Curriculum
    • GES Seminary Faculty
  • 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

November 29, 2023

Does Romans 5:9 Contradict Zane Hodges’ View of Salvation in Romans?

Welcome to Grace in Focus radio. Today, Bob Wilkin and Leon Adkins are looking at a question concerning Romans 5:9. Does this verse deal with...
November 29, 2023

Tell the Janitor to Come Up Here (Luke 14:7-11) 

When I was in college, I attended one of our nation’s military service academies. Naturally, we studied our nation’s heroes. All the buildings on campus...
November 28, 2023

If a Pastor Falls, Can He Be Restored to Ministry?

Welcome to Grace in Focus radio. Today, Bob Wilkin is answering a question about 1 Corinthians 9:27 and especially about the word translated “disqualified.” What...

Grace in Focus Radio

All Episodes

Listen on Google Podcasts

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

  • Faith in His Name: Listening to the Gospel of John $10.00 $6.00
  • Here Walks My Enemy: The Story of Luis (Paperback) $6.95 $3.00
  • What Is the Outer Darkness? $14.00 $10.00
  • The Ten Most Misunderstood Words in the Bible $15.00 $10.00
  • The Atonement and Other Writings $10.00 $6.00
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
  • Instagram