Man is a spirit, and no spirit walks in isolation. Once we enter into a covenant with Christ, by design we enter into a covenant with each other. We become one body of Christ and (if we’re doing it right), a people with common goals, including: to remain in Him, to increase in Him and to mature in Him.
Jesus understood this at the last supper when he said, “This is My blood of the covenant . . . drink from it, all of you” (Matthew 26:27) [Emphasis added.]
His disciples entered into a covenant with Him and at the same time, they entered into a covenant with each other. Paul illustrated this idea very well when he said,
“Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread which we break a sharing in the body of Christ? Since there is one bread, we who are many are one body; for we all partake of the one bread.” 1 Corinthians 10:16-17
Paul is correct: we each embody the same Spirit; we each drink from the same Living Waters. We are one body made up of separate hearts and minds; each engraved with a common code. “…I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.” (Hebrews 10:16.)
I can’t help but think of a big flock of starlings who fly in synchronized movements (known as a “murmuration”). The birds, although individual, fly as a singular being, making waves in the sky as if they are anticipating each other’s movements. It’s like a beautiful, moving, living piece of art; which is what we are in Christ (“under his wings,” so to speak). “In Him, we live and move, and have our being…” (Acts 17:28). Of course, we “anticipate each other’s movements” because they aren’t really our movements, they are Christ’s. If we remain in Him and He in us; we travel together by, in and through the grace of the Spirit.
Experts hypothesize that one purpose of the starlings’ murmuration is to attract more birds and build the flock. This metaphor is not lost here. As we continue to operate in Christ our cornerstone, our numbers increase as well. Christ is building us up together “until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” (Ephesians 4:13).
In other words, (as I see it), we move as one body, with the purpose of growing, not only in size, but in depth; not only in form, but in content, i.e. (again, Paul, for the win): ,,,“being rooted and established in love” we ever-increasingly “grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ” and grow in assurance of “ this love that surpasses knowledge”,,,. (Ephesians 3:17-19). [Paraphrased.] The immense weight of Christ’s content is indeed unimaginable. I would like to think that together, in communion and conversation, we might assist each other towards an ever-deeper understanding of Christ.
Therefore, as Christ’s murmuration, may we (being one in Spirit and purpose) sharpen one another, as iron sharpens iron, (Proverbs 27:17). And while the “unsearchable riches” of Christ find their way into our hearts, “let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds” (Hebrews 10:23-24).
by Jeanne Melberg
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