One Hope

“There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.” Ephesians 4:4-6 (KJV)

Our scripture reference states: “There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.”

There is “One Body,” the Body of the Church of God. We are all one, each with our own special gifts and callings, fitting together with each other to complete the needs of that body. We are all important, critical, and melded together for the purpose of sharing the Gospel to the hopeless. When one person moves away from the body it creates an empty spot. The Body will compensate and fill gaps, but it will never be the perfectly planned Body God intended until every person stands faithfully in their spot.

There is One Spirit, the Holy Spirit that came after Jesus ascended to Heaven (Acts 1:9-12), after spending time with the Disciples to prepare them for the journey that they were about to take. In the Second Chapter of Acts (Acts 2:1-4) the story explains of the first time the Holy Spirit descended upon the disciples and filled them with spiritual fire and a language we call Tongues. This new language was what the Disciples used when they prayed, which we continue to use today, the Heavenly Language of Angels. It is difficult to explain the intellectual and emotional feeling a person has when praying in Tongues, but once you have received that gift, walking away from it is very difficult.

There is One Hope of your Calling. Scripture tells of the many callings (1 Corinthians 12:27), administrations, and gifts in the Body of Christ. Some are major callings to the faith (Ephesians 4:8-12), and some are not (Galatians 5:22-23, Romans 12:6-15), but all are critically important to the Body of Christ. No two people exhibit those gifts in the same way; each reaches another person in a different way based on the gift they are best at.

There is One Lord, One God and creator of the entire universe, which includes every person. Scripture says that God knew us before the world was created. He had a specific plan for each and every person born to this world (Ephesians 1:4). Scripture says that when we were yet in our Mother’s womb He knew us (Jeremiah 1:5). He had a plan for us to fulfill, each and every one. He chose our parents and the environment in which we would live and grow. He chose for some of us to have physical challenges, mental challenges, and emotional challenges that would mold and build us into an integral part of the Body of Christ. Some of us may have only been brought to earth to stay a short time, and during that time we are called to impact the lives of many, many others. There were no errors, there are no errors, we are what He called us to be. Yes, man’s permission of Free Will can change our direction, but our end result will be God’s expected end.

There is One Faith, the Gospel of Jesus Christ (Romans 1:17). The Gospel directs us to live a life of holiness, bound in love, caring for others with compassion and sacrifice (Romans 12:10, Ephesians 4:32, Ephesians 4:2). We are to live honestly, with humility, causing no harm to others, caring for the widows, orphans, and the poor. We are to be the hands and feet of Jesus on earth. Through that faith, we believe that Jesus died for our sins and by believing on Him and His Gospel we will live with Him in eternity (John 3:16-17). No other faith is based solely upon forsaking self and living for the betterment of others.

There is One Baptism, the immersion of the believer in water as they proclaim their faith in God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost; sealed in the Name of Jesus. Baptism represents the burying of the person’s sins with Jesus Christ, cleansing them from their past lives. They become spiritually clean, receiving salvation and becoming a new creation.

There is One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. It is God the Father who created all things and lives in Heavenly places. He resides in all things, including every human being, who is created in His image (Genesis 1:26-27), His image is the very compassion and spirit that brought the world into being. He is the essence of Love, Compassion, Reason, Anger, Fellowship, Relationship, and so much more. We are to worship Him and only Him (Exodus 20:3-5, Exodus 34:14, Isaiah 45:5). However, even though He has placed His image and attributes inside of each and every one of us, He has also given us the free will to follow Him or to completely reject Him – and choose to become a Pagan or any other religion that is against His teaching and will.

We choose, no one chooses for us. We decide whether we want to receive that precious gift of an amazing life, or the life of darkness and strife. We choose to remain in that darkness, or to walk away from it. The amazing thing is, if we choose the life of darkness, even after following the ways of truth, we only have to call out to God the Father in repentance, asking for forgiveness, and we are once again welcomed back into the life God designed for us at the beginning of the world. God the Father welcomes us back with open arms. What a remarkable gift. What an amazing God.

**A Journey Through Ephesians – Chapter 4, Part 2

Written by Linda J. Humes

4-24-2017