Dear brothers and sisters

Dear brothers and sisters,

Greetings in the Name of Our risen Savior!

The message that the Lord has put in my heart is the following:

Let’s make people of love and unity!

God wants that we are all people of love and unity. Why? Let’s go over the Great Commission of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, this commission which He gave His disciples prior to His ascension after His resurrection:

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matt 28:18-20)

Christ wants that we make disciples.

Who is a disciple of Jesus Christ?

1. It is the one who obeys the commandments of Christ

1 John 2:3-6

And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. 4 Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, 5 but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: 6 whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.

2. It is someone who loves their neighbor even sacrificially, even unto death, if necessary.

Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. John 15:13 

Let’s look at John 13:34-35,

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. ³⁵ By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

How will others know that we are Christ’s disciples? By our love (agape in original Greek) for one another.

Thus, Christ’s disciples must be people of agape love.

Loving one another is equivalent to practicing the golden rule. Let’s compare Matthew 7:12 with Matthew 22:36-40.

Matthew 7:12 (The Golden Rule)	Matthew 22:36-40
So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.	“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” 37 Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

In both passages Jesus Christ who is THE WORD declares that loving God and one another is the summing up of the Word of God, the Bible!

The Word of God says in Romans 13:8-10,

Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law. ⁹ The commandments, “Do not commit adultery,” “Do not murder,” “Do not steal,” “Do not covet,” and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” ¹⁰ Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. 

1 John 3:14 says,

We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death.

1 John 3:23 says,

And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. 

Please note that the word command is in the singular, not plural. It is the same one command, not two separately! To believe in Christ goes together with loving one’s neighbor. A believer who does not love others is an absolute contradiction!

How to make people of love?

By loving them with the love of Christ (agape) that we received freely ourselves.

What is agape love more precisely?

In 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a, we read,

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. ⁸ Love never fails.

Thus, in obedience to Christ’s command, and with the love of God in us, let us go and make people of agape love, baptizing them in the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything that Christ has commanded.

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

As we execute His Great Commission, Christ will accompany us everywhere we go to protect us, support us, encourage us, provide for us, heal us, and bless us…

Let us go and make agape people!

Secondly, the disciples of Christ must be people who are one in Him.

Why must we as disciples of Christ, people of love, be united in Him?

Look at John 17.

Please note that the Lord had commanded His disciples to love one another in chapter 13. Further down, during this same discourse, in chapter 17, Jesus Christ would pray for His disciples gathered around Him, and even for us, today, that we would be united and one in the Holy Trinity, in the Holy Triune God.

 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, ²¹ that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. (John 17:20-21)

Why is it so important to be united, to be one in Him?

To win the world for Christ, for a successful evangelization! (so that the world may believe that you have sent me). There is a lot of talk about techniques and strategies for evangelism all the times… But, the Scriptures show us that the best technique and strategy is what God Himself has prescribed while He was walking upon this earth. It is simply to be united, to be one in Him! The world cannot and will not believe that Jesus was sent by the Father, which is what we proclaim, if we are divided.

What risk God has taken to count upon us, His disciples, to be always united and to manifest that unity and oneness without fail! It is the precondition for a successful execution of Christ’s Great Commission-so that the world may believe that you have sent me. How much faith and trust did God place upon us to maintain our Christian unity! Let us not disappoint Him, brothers and sisters. Let us be people of unity. Let us be one in Him!

How to be one?

Again, the answer is through agape love! It is through constant and consistent daily loving of one another as Christ has loved us.

Hence, brothers and sisters, let us be people of unity and of love! Let us be ONE in agape! When we are ONE in agape, we are ONE in God because God is agape. God is Love! (1 John 4:16)

If we are people of love, we will be known as disciples of Christ (John 13:34-35); if we are united and one in God, the world shall believe that God the Father has indeed sent Jesus Christ as the Savior of the world! (John 17:21).

Dear brothers and sisters, Let us be one in agape love.

And let us go and make agape love people!

Disciple = Person of Love and Unity