Paul's encouragement to the Ephesians draws our attention to the importance of unity in the body of Christ. To be united means to move with one accord, despite the fact that the body is made up of many parts. Ultimately, just as our physical body could not exist without the head, so the head of the body of Christ is Christ himself. Take Christ away and the body becomes just any random group of people who meet together. And just as the body cannot operate without the heart, so the body of Christ cannot function unless it is moving and operating in love. If God is love, then his love should be at the center of the body of Christ. Unfortunately, we humans can sometimes replace love in the center with other things.
It is incredible to think that God's mind and purposes for the body of Christ exist far beyond our own locality. There is one body that is made up of parts from all over the world. This unity is so universal that even the passage of time does not affect it. Someone has said that the church is the only organization in history that does not lose members when they die. We are united even with those who have gone before us.
It is God who supernaturally through the Holy Spirit binds us all together, to overcome cultural, racial, linguistic, and all other differences. We are all uniquely and wonderfully made by God, with different characteristics, and yet we were all called to the same hope in Jesus Christ. And, of course, it is God who is over all, through all, and in all.
Only by putting off our old selves and clothing ourselves in the new, God- given attributes that come from the Holy Spirit – as Paul tells the Corinthians (2 Corinthians 5:17) – will there be sustained and growing unity in the body. The humility, gentleness, patience, and love that come from the Holy Spirit should be increasing daily in our lives, if we will only open our hearts to receive them.
There are still many divisions in the body, but God wants these to be set aside and overcome, as Christ will one day come for his bride, who will be without blemish.