This series of messages was given in the fall of 2002 by Titus Chu in Cleveland, Ohio. The first five were given during the Labor Day weekend of that year, while the others were given later that fall.
In the beginning oneness had everything to do with God and His economy. Oneness existed in the Triune God and now has been enlarged through Christ into His mystical Body. The Lord prayed for the organic oneness in John 17. We see the fulfillment of this prayer in the early church life, manifested in the saints living in one accord in their prayer, continuing in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, and breaking bread from house to house with exultation and simplicity of heart.
The practical oneness and one accord are addressed in the epistles of Paul. Romans shows that the living in one accord is an issue of organic salvation. First Corinthians reminds us of our need to honor the Lord’s servants who are exercising the one unique ministry. In Ephesians we are exhorted to endeavor to keep the oneness of the Spirit in the uniting bond of peace. Philippians gives us an illustration of a healthy church life that lives out the reality of oneness between the saints and the Lord’s servant by living in purity and joyfulness focused on the pursuing of Christ. Finally, in Colossians, we are charged to hold Christ as our Head, the One in whom is life and vitality and all that is necessary for us to live out the organic oneness of the Body.
