Simply put, you and your brother are the same. If you realize that you are in the Father, and Christ is in you, and in the Father, then you also realize that this means that we are all One in Christ.
There is no separation between you and the Father, or between you and Christ, or between you and anyone else.
This is why Jesus can say, “Whatever you’ve done to the least of these you have done it unto me,” because there is no difference between Christ and you, or any other person on earth; past, present or future.
When Jesus expressed his deepest desire that we would all be One even as he and the Father are One, he was speaking of our realization of this timeless truth of connection and Oneness between humanity and the Divine.
What is true of Christ is true of all of us: Christ was crucified and we were crucified with Christ. Christ was raised and we were raised with Christ. Christ has ascended to the Father’s right hand, and we are seated with Christ in the heavenly places now. All of these things are true of Christ, and all of these things are true of us.
God’s fullness dwells in Christ. [Col. 1:19]
Christ fills everything in every way. [Eph. 1:23]
If we abide in Christ then Christ abides in us. [John 15:7]
Christ is all and is in all. [Col. 3:11]
We are filled with the fullness of Christ. [Eph. 1:23]
This means, as the Apostle Paul declares, “there is now neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for we are all one in Christ Jesus.” [Galatians 3:28]
So, in a very real way, whatever we do to one another, we do to Christ, and we do it to ourselves. If we harm one another, we are harming ourselves, and Christ. As Jesus said to Paul on the road to Damascus as he was travelling to persecute the followers of Jesus, “Why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.” In other words, Saul/Paul was abusing Christians, and Jesus was feeling the pain, because our connection with Christ, and one another, is inseparable.
This is the beauty of our saying here. Our love for one another not only declares that we are the disciples of Jesus, it proves that we truly abide in Christ because we actually understand the reality of our Oneness with Christ, and with one another.
Therefore, let us love one another as we love our own souls. Let us protect one another as we protect our own eyes.
Because if we fail to see ourselves in our brothers and sisters, then we are truly blind and our eyes are useless.
**
Keith Giles is the author of the hot new bestseller, SOLA MYSTERIUM: Celebrating the Beautiful Uncertainty of Everything, available now on Amazon. Keith is also the host of Second Cup with Keith, a new solo podcast available now on the Ethos Radio App, for Apple and Android and on Spotify.
Keith is also co-host of the long-running HERETIC HAPPY HOUR PODCAST.
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