The Plunder.

I don’t want anyone strolling off, down some path that goes nowhere. And mark that you do this with humility and discipline—not in fits and starts, but steadily, pouring yourselves out for each other in acts of love, alert at noticing differences and quick at mending fences.

You were all called to travel on the same road and in the same direction, so stay together, both outwardly and inwardly. You have one Master, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who rules over all, works through all, and is present in all. Everything you are and think and do is permeated with Oneness.

But that doesn’t mean you should all look and speak and act the same. Out of the generosity of Christ, each of us is given his own gift. The text for this is,

He climbed the high mountain,
He captured the enemy and seized the plunder,
He handed it all out in gifts to the people.

Is it not true that the One who climbed up also climbed down, down to the valley of earth? And the One who climbed down is the One who climbed back up, up to highest heaven. He handed out gifts above and below, filled heaven with his gifts, filled earth with his gifts. -Ephesians 4

God has given us gifts so that we might be united, not stand out from each other. This scripture is so revealing of satan’s schemes: he steals our gifts, the very essence the Creator put in us, God’s design for us. Then, satan divides. God’s design is that in being One with Him we are One with all. He loves all His children. He does not love some of us more than others. He is Love. Satan is the enemy, not each other; we can become vessels for the enemy, but this is what Jesus went to the high mountain to restore. “He looked death in the face and didn’t flinch.” -Isaiah 53 so that we could have His Spirit and be reunited with Oneness. Jesus took our gifts back from satan, in essence saying, “These gifts God gave are Good, no longer will they be used for evil. No longer will the enemy live in my children and wield their gifts against each other in anger and jealousy and fear and hatred and discontentment and comparison and greed. I am restoring the gifts, the plunder, back to my children so that they may be One. I will give them the Spirit they need to do this. They only need to trust me.”