Human beings are disunited because they lack love for one another. If we neglect or hate others we do more harm to ourselves than to them because we lose our humanity and our capacity for love. We become incapable of co-existing with others. Jesus told us that what we do to others we do to Him. He is the victim of all the unnecessary misery and suffering we cause, both deliberately and unwittingly. He identified Himself totally with us to the extent of suffering and dying for us on the Cross. He took on the burden of sinners but He also shared the suffering of the victims.
God’s infinite love is expressed in a way that no human being could have invented. He became a man so that men can become gods. He gave His life on earth so that we can share His life in heaven. He refused to lower Himself to the level of His enemies by retaliating and using His power to defend Himself. By being lifted up on the Cross He raises us up when we die. He chose to suffer a terrible death because love is more important than life itself. Like Him we have love others in order to be truly alive.
Jesus prayed to the Father that “they may be one as we are one”. Atonement is “at-one-ment”. It is the creation of unity from disunity. Jesus said “If you love me keep my commandments” because love is the only lasting source of unity. When we follow Him faithfully we are liberated from ourselves and from evil because then nothing, “neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, either height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” We shall be at one with Him and with one another in peace and harmony forever. Amen.
