4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. – Ephesians 4:4-6
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Last week marked the first anniversary of the Archbishops telling churches to close their buildings. This was hard for us as Christians. We love our church buildings, even more, we love meeting with our fellow Christians. We love meeting together to hear God’s word, to sing God’s praises, to chat with one another, to pray with another, to serve one another, to encourage one another, and to take bread and wine together. But now because of the virus we were not able to be physically together. However, despite being physically separated, we were not going to be spiritually separated; we haven’t been! Our verses from Ephesians remind us there is one body, the church and one Spirit, the Holy Spirit. This one Spirit lives inside all Christian believers and he unites us together as one body. This means we are spiritually together even though we are physically apart; how this works practically, I have no idea. There is much mystery here. However, this should not distract us from how amazing and how glorious this truth is. God the Holy Spirit lives inside of us. He is always with us. He never leaves us or forsakes us. This is true even on those days when he seems far away and we feel alone. Not only this but he spiritually unites us together as the one body of Christ. These profound truths should comfort us and encourage us. We may have felt alone and isolated over the last 12 months. We may well have missed the joys of physically being together as the church but spiritually we were never alone or isolated. God is with us always and his Spirit unites us together as the one body.
This one Spirit also give us the “one hope” that one day we will be reunited together; here on earth as we slowly start to regather in Camborne Road, but much better than this, in the new heaven and the new earth. When we arrive there we will no longer have to worry about ever being physically separated again. We will no longer have to worry about diseases and death. We will no longer have to worry about feeling alone or isolated. We will no longer have days when God seems far away. In the new heaven and the new earth, we will be fully and finally united together as the body of Christ. We will live in a world free from evil and suffering, and best of all we will see God face to face. This hope has been made possible because Jesus died and rose again for us on that first Easter. As we approach Easter let’s remember how his death enables our bodies to be places fit for the Spirit of God to live in. And let’s remember that this same Spirit unites us not only to the Father and the Son but to one another. As the great hymn puts it “Alleluia! What a Saviour!”
Yours in Christ
Mark