Face to Face, Pt. 14: That We Would Be One
Victory Life Durant, Midweek — Wednesday, May 1, 2024
Readings:
John 17:1-26 (ESV)
Introduction
Exodus 25:20-22 (ESV) The cherubim shall spread out their wings above, overshadowing the mercy seat with their wings, their faces one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubim be. And you shall put the mercy seat on the top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the testimony that I shall give you. There I will meet with you, and from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim that are on the ark of the testimony, I will speak with you about all that I will give you in commandment for the people of Israel.
In relationships that remain face to face, a sacred space is created for God to reveal Himself to us, and through us, in unique ways.
God designed humans to require relationship in order for His image to be seen.
Humans as God’s Image: Representation and Rule in partnership
To treat another human as anything other than an image-bearing creature is a sin against them. To objectify a human (treat them as an object, an “it,” not a “thou”) is to pollute, corrupt the environment with a form of evil. In extreme forms, this looks like slavery, sex trafficking, governmental tyranny. Things like abuse, murder, black-mailing, slander are also pretty extreme ways we dehumanize people.
However, if you continue the line of thought, there are less extreme, and yet just as sinful, ways we dehumanize other people. All sexual immorality, all sexual activity outside of the covenantal relationship between a man and a woman, (including pornography, adultery, etc.) is to treat another person as an object, who’s value is based on them fulfilling your pleasures. It’s to make your identity based on your sexual desire and your relationship based on pleasure. It’s objectification in many forms, and it is sin and will pollute the environment.
Along those same lines, less extreme yet just as sinful ways we dehumanize each other is employers treating their employees as objects who’s sole purpose is to make the business money. It’s not that the business shouldn’t make money (it should), nor is it that employees shouldn’t do their job and get a paycheck for doing nothing (they should work). Work is an incredible way we image God and fulfill our vocation as image-bearing creatures. Therefore the relationship between employer and employee should be based on more than just making money for the owner. That would be to treat the employee as an object.
Another way we dehumanize others could be how we treat our friends. We can easily use our friends as objects. When we befriend someone simply because it makes us seem more important, that is sin. When we build friendships solely based on our own benefit, socially, financially, emotionally, we are objectifying them. We can do this with our friends or our spouses. We can use our spouses as objects who fulfill our desires.
You can even look at more subtle ways we dehumanize and objectify each other. In our social media world, our “friends” are only a number, fans, followers, and comments, not people. We project ourselves as important and we use the attention as fuel for our ego. We idolize (make idols of) the rich and famous and popular, and we crave their lives and status.
In our politics, people are just votes, and real issues and tragedies are simply mechanisms of power plays. People are no longer people, they are stats, they are surveys, they are likes and followers, they are consumers. It is corrupting the environment we live and work and raise our families in.
The whole biblical story is about God’s desire to take crooked people and the twisted world that we’ve created and to make everything right. Through Jesus, God invites us to become whole, new humans (2 Corinthians 5:16-17). Our new “in Christ” identity is the truth of who we are. Living in a “face to face” relationship with God means seeing ourselves as God sees us: loved equally as the Son is loved by the Father.
What’s true of Jesus becomes true of us.
There is a better way to be human. And Jesus said the way to become the image-bearing creatures God created us to be is love; loving God and loving people. But not the watered down, emotionally-whimsical way culture defines love. Under the false pretense of tolerance and acceptance, we have neutered what real love is. We defined good and bad, once again, on our own terms and called it “love.”
Matthew 22:36-40 (NLT) “Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?” Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”
2 commandments, 1 greatest commandment; which one is the greatest? Both. 2, but 1: love God and love people is 1 commandment. Fulfilling this one commandment, love God and people, is how we image God and how we go about fulfilling our vocation. It’s what the whole of scripture was all about.
We exercise face to face relationships by seeing the other person through the lens of Christ (“in Christ,” the new man) and not for their flawed human self (“in Adam,” the old man). You can deal with sin, not ignore it, if the environment is “in Christ.” We can deal with hard issues, challenge one another, work with one another, when we are both committed to the love of Christ.
Together In Christ
Matthew 18:19-20 (ESV) Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”
When two or more are in unity in Christ, face to face, something new is formed. There is a “oneness” that has not existed before. It is within that oneness that Christ’s presence is revealed in a unique way. And when there is that oneness with Christ presence, there is synergy and power in prayer.
This is what God desires in our relationships, a restored partnership with Him and one another in order to bless the world, for us to have dominion by releasing God’s power into His world.
Psalms 133:1-3 (ESV) Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity! It is like the precious oil on the head, running down on the beard, on the beard of Aaron, running down on the collar of his robes! It is like the dew of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion! For there the Lord has commanded the blessing, life forevermore.
One of the many reasons we do not remain face to face is that we do not value the other person as a human made in the image of God, worth the life of Jesus, OR we don’t value the sacred space between us.
Good and Evil
Romans 12:9-21 (NLT) Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other. Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically. Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying. When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality. Bless those who persecute you. Don’t curse them; pray that God will bless them. Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all! Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone. Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say, “I will take revenge; I will pay them back,” says the Lord. Instead, “If your enemies are hungry, feed them. If they are thirsty, give them something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals of shame on their heads.” Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good.
James 3:13-18 (NLT) If you are wise and understand God’s ways, prove it by living an honorable life, doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you are bitterly jealous and there is selfish ambition in your heart, don’t cover up the truth with boasting and lying. For jealousy and selfishness are not God’s kind of wisdom. Such things are earthly, unspiritual, and demonic. For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind. But the wisdom from above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and the fruit of good deeds. It shows no favoritism and is always sincere. And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness.
That We May Be One
Why is this so important? Why should we value face to face relationships? Why should we see loving people as worth the effort?
John 17:20-23 (ESV) “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just 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 have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.”
It is “in Christ” face to face relationships that we fulfill Jesus’ prayer to be “one.” It is this oneness that reveals to the world the unique revelation of the love of God in Christ. This is what we are called to. As a church, this is what we are committed to. We will be a people of love who serves one another and the world, conquering the evil by doing good.