By Gordon P. Robertson, CEO, The Christian Broadcasting Network
Just before Jesus went to the Garden of Gethsemane, He celebrated the Passover with His disciples. He ended the Last Supper with this wonderful prayer for them—and for us: “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me” (John 17:20-21).
Just as Jesus and the Father are one, He prayed that we would be one. The Shema—the main statement of the Jewish faith— begins in Deuteronomy 6:4, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one!”
Zechariah’s end-time prophecy describes how Jews and Gentiles will come to Zion together: And the Lord shall be King over all the earth. In that day it shall be—“The Lord is one,” and His name one (Zechariah 14:9).
In that day He will be Lord over all the earth. He will be King, and all people will declare the Shema: The Lord is one. That will be our declaration at the end of time.
And this is what Jesus is talking about in John 17. He is praying it as a present reality for His followers, and He is also declaring that it will happen at His Second Coming, when the people declare, “You are one.”
The Shema continues in Deuteronomy 6:5: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.”
We hear Jesus say this when answering a question about which commandment is the greatest: “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ Th is is the fi rst and great commandment” (Matthew 22:37-38). Th en He adds, “And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’” (v. 39).
The key to unity is the degree of our love—when we actually obey that commandment and truly love Him with all our heart, soul and strength. Our entire focus is on Him. We trust Him with our problems as we seek His kingdom and His dominion, and we submit entirely to Him.
That is when we achieve the unity that glorifies Him. God bless you.
Scripture is quoted from the NKJV. This teaching was given during a CBN staff chapel meeting.
