“Supernaturally Natural”
How do you get five different passions, five different points of view to focus in unity on one single purpose or goal or issue and be in agreement? It is nice to study each of the five fold singularly in how they operate and view the world and the Church, but their purpose is to make the Church and each believer more Christ-like, in the fullness of Christ, to bring unity to the body of Christ, not division (Eph.4). My first reaction is that it is impossible for the Church to do that, for history has proven that. Then again I know that “we can do all things in Christ Jesus who strengthens us,” so the question is “How can the five of them not only survive or tolerate each other, but augment and support each other in the effort of bringing unity in the Church?”
The questions and the solution seem complex, but the answer lies in the simplicity of “The Cross”.
Our natural life is built on relationships. Because of sin, most of our relationships lead to conflict, entanglement, separation, and even hurt. We face divorce, strained relationships in our family and with those we love, disenfranchised relationships at work, socially, and even in the Church. History, generally, is recorded as conflict after conflict, by wars and conquerors. Sin has become “natural”, conflict “natural”, until it is dissected by the “supernatural”; then all this changes. When Jesus invaded our “natural” world, He “supernaturally” made a way when there seemed to be no way. He gave his life on the Cross, the price paid for redemption for sin, and then rose from the dead to conquer sin and death.
The simplicity of the Cross is that the “supernatural” dissected the “natural”. Now we can live in the “supernaturally natural” through Jesus Christ who restored relationships through the Cross.
What we need to examine in future blogs is John 3:16, the vertical relationship between God and His people with I John 3:16, the horizontal relationship between God’s people. Only after examining those relationships can we begin to understand what it means to “lay down one’s life for one’s brethren”, the only way the differences of passion and view of the five fold can be focused in unity: on Jesus and on the Cross. “All things are possible in Christ Jesus”; especially the possibility of Unity in the Church, and the fullness of Christ for His believers thanks to “The Cross”