Where Unity Leads
When we first embarked with this series of blog posts we saw that the real problem was less so division and more so sin. We saw that in our sin we are united together around the wrong things. Sin causes us to come together for various causes, opinions, ideologies, and more that pit us against one another and divide us. Instead of being divided as a species we are actually united in sin which causes us to divide over a variety of things. Politics, religion, ideas, ethnicities, all of these become things that can divide us in our sin.
We also saw that the example of humanity uniting together in their sin around something evil took place in the story of the tower of Babel. There humanity came together to accomplish something in their sin. They desired to be like God and to make themselves God in sin. Furthermore, at the tower of Babel we do not see a diverse group of people united together, but a homogenous whole all set on an evil end. This can be clearly seen when we read, “Now the whole earth had one language and the same words” (Gen 11:1). The people who united together in their sin here have no diversity but were completely alike. The picture that is painted for us is a picture of sinfulness, a lack of diversity, and a unity around the wrong thing.
As we have seen over the past few weeks the solution to this problem is unity in Christ. We need to be united in the right thing. We saw that Christian unity begins as we are all united in Christ. We saw that we are all members of one body when we are in Christ, organically connected together each having a unique role and function within the body of Christ. And finally, we saw that when we are united in Christ the things that used to divide us—the things that we are so commonly united together against one another in—are destroyed through the power of the gospel. The dividing wall of hostility that existed between us in race, class, and gender is done away with. This is not a removal of all distinctions, that would bring us back to homogeneity, but it is a re-ordering of priorities where identity in Christ makes us all equally worthy of dignity, honor, and respect before God.
The question now is, what is the end of all this? Where does this Christian unity lead us? On earth, this unity will always only be partial. After all, we are still sinful creatures who will fail to perfectly live the lives we are called to live in Christ. This is not an excuse to put up with disunity, but a recognition of a reality. We will be divided at times on this side of eternity. When this happens, we repent, seek forgiveness, and seek to forgive so that we can be united in Christ remaining obedient to him. Yet, what will this Christian unity look like in the new heavens and the new earth? We find an answer in Revelation 7:9–12:
9 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” 11 And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”
From this passage we learn a few things about what the Christian community will look like at the final consummation of all things.
1: It is Diverse
At the end of all things, when Christ’s kingdom is finally consummated, it will be a diverse community beautifully exemplifying the diversity of God’s creation. In verse 9 we read that there will be a “great multitude” who will consist of people from every “tribe,” “peoples,” and “languages”. Again, we do not see here a removal of distinctions. This is a mosaic of people not a melting pot. The things that make them, them, remain. On the new earth there will still be a plurality of ethnicities and races. There will still be a plurality of nationalities. There will still be a plurality of languages. We could even extend this thought to say that there will still be men and women, young and old, blondes and brunettes, and more. Our diversity will remain with us in the new heavens and the new earth.
All of this teaches us something very important about the God we worship. He loves diversity, but not like our culture loves diversity. God does not fill heaven with a plurality of people simply for “diversities” sake. Heaven is not a twenty-first century Coca-Cola commercial. The reason God loves diversity is because God loves people. In his infinite wisdom and grace God chose to save people from every, tribe, tongue, and nation because he loves people from every tribe, tongue, and nation. It is not that God does not see our differences. He does seem them. He created them because it’s in our differences that humanity better reflects God’s image and God loves this.
The obvious implication of this is that we should love diversity too. If the church in the new heavens is going to look like a diverse body of all sorts of people, then our church should too. This is not a call to try and force diversity just for diversities sake. It is a call to recognize the diversity that already exists in our church and celebrate that fact. We should celebrate the fact that our church is diverse in how we look, how we talk, the kind of jobs we have, the places we grew up, and even in our opinions on non-gospel related issues. This is so important for us to remember. Any community where everyone thinks, talks, and looks the exact same is a cult. A church is diverse by its very nature. When my brother or sister disagrees with me on who to vote for that is not reason to break fellowship, but it is a beautiful picture of what true fellowship looks like. The church is supposed to be a hodge-podge—a motley crew—of sinful people doing life together in love.
2: It is United
We are not just told that the church is diverse, but it will also be united. In Revelation 7:10 we read that this diverse body of people—from different ethnic backgrounds, social backgrounds, and even intellectual backgrounds—worship the one true God together. Our text says they cry out together, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” In being united to Christ, this radically diverse group, worships the one true God together. In the new heavens and new earth, we will all worship God together as one community.
This also teaches us something important about God. He loves unity. Not the fake unity that our culture pretends to exhibit. The unity of the world is justified by words like “tolerance” and “relativism”. This fake unity is a turning a blind eye to sin and agreeing to not cast judgement upon anyone for their beliefs and actions. It is unity for unity’s sake. But this has no foundation. Why should we desire this type of unity? Because it is “nice”? Who says? The unity God desires, however, has him as the foundation. It is as people rest in God through the salvation, they have in Jesus Christ that they can be truly united even in their immense diversity. God is not tolerant, he is merciful. The unity God loves is a unity in him. God loves it when a diverse group of people are united together in Jesus Christ.
This has some implications for us as a church. We are a diverse body of believers, but we are all united together worshipping the one true God thanks to the work of Jesus. Therefore, we should constantly seek to remain united in this truth. We should not let anything that is not a gospel issue divide us. The church is diverse, but united. The church looks like a republican farmer hanging out with a democrat lawyer having a good time because they are brothers and sisters in Christ. The church looks like a police officer and a former gang member taking communion together because of their shared salvation in Jesus. The church is radically diverse, and radically united.
Conclusion
One of the reasons we chose to do this series of blog posts on Christian unity is because we know that 2024 has the potential to be a divisive year. With an election looming and people having extremely strong opinions on who is the American “antichrist” and who is America’s “savior” this year has the potential to be explosive. But we need to recognize that America is not lost or won through an election. The fate of America lies in the sovereign providence of God alone. It is out of our hands. This is not a call to abstain from political engagement. It is a call to view it through a realistic lens. Our votes should not be motivated by a desire to “make America great again” or to “finish the job”. Our votes should be motivated by a desire to glorify God and honor him. How we come to the conclusions we do is a matter of serious scriptural engagement and a matter of Christian conscience. Having a realistic view of what will be accomplished in 2024 will allow us to maintain our unity and focus on the true mission of God, the salvation of sinful people. Let us, therefore, be a church that mirrors the diversity of Revelation 7 and the unity of Revelation 7 by choosing not to divide, but to remain united in Christ for the sake of the gospel.