Ephesians 1, then it is possible that the word rendered `his' in 1:18 should be

rendered `its', referring to the Mystery:

`The eyes of your heart having been enlightened; that ye may know what is

the hope of its calling' (author's translation) i.e. the one hope of the

calling of the Mystery.

`That blessed hope' is the `appearing of the glory of our great God and

Saviour Jesus Christ', expressed in other words in Colossians 3:4:

`When Christ, Who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear

with Him in glory'.

The one hope of our calling is that we shall be manifested with Him in

glory.  The hope of the One Body antedates the Second Advent to the earth.  By

the time the Lord descends from heaven with a shout and the saints of the

Thessalonian company rise to meet Him in the air, the one hope of our calling

will have been realized.  We have a prior hope (Eph. 1:12).  The signs of the

times thicken around us.  The movements of the nations and of the nation of

Israel are trumpet-tongued.  The night is far spent, the day is at hand.  If the

hope of the parousia is near, so much nearer must be the one hope of our

There have been some who have foolishly asserted that we deny the coming

of the Lord.  We trust that no reader will give credence to such a statement.

What we believe is that the coming of the Lord to the air and to the Mount of

Olives is not the hope of the One Body, which is a very different matter.

One Lord.  As we have seen, the Person and Office of Christ as the one

Lord is vital to the unity of the Spirit.  The title Lord supposes resurrection:

`For to this end Christ both died, and lived again, that He might be the

Lord both of the dead and the living' (Rom. 14:9 author's translation).

The great confession of things in heaven, things on earth, and things

under the earth is that `Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father'.

Here again the dominion over both dead and living is manifest.

We do not embark upon the fact that whoever bears the title `Lord' is the

Jehovah of the Old Testament, as too many and weighty matters arise out of this

to be discussed here.  We must not, however, omit one passage, namely 1

Corinthians 8:5,6:

`For though there be that are called gods, either celestial or terrestrial

(as there be gods many, and lords many,) yet to us there is but one God, the

Father, of Whom are all things, and we for Him: and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by

Whom are all things, and we by Him' (Author's translation).

To understand this passage we must make a digression.

When Paul went to

Athens and preached the gospel, some said:

`He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods (Gk. foreign Demons)'

(Acts 17:18).

Now what was there in the gospel as preached by Paul that could have led

to such an idea?  The Scripture says that the Athenians thought this: