+III. One God,+ the supreme and final unity, who is "the Father of all," who is above all, and through all, and in you all (ver. 6). _Above all_--He reigns supreme over all His people (Rom. ix. 5). _Through all_--informing, inspiring, stimulating, and using them as instruments to work out His purpose (Rom. xi. 36). _In all_--dwelling in and filling their hearts and the ever-widening circle of their experience. "The absolute sovereignty of the Divine Mind over the universe," said Channing, "is the only foundation of hope for the triumph of the human mind over matter, over physical influences, over imperfection and death." With what a grand simplicity the Christian conception of the one God and Father rose above the vulgar pantheon, the swarm of motley deities--some gay and wanton, some dark and cruel, some of supposed beneficence, all infected with human passion and baseness--which filled the imagination of the Græco-Asiatic pagans. What rest there was for the mind, what peace and freedom for the spirit, in turning from such deities to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! This was the very God whom the logic of Greek thought and the practical instincts of Roman law and empire blindly sought. Through ages He had revealed Himself to the people of Israel, who were now dispersed amongst the nations to bear His light. At last He declared His full name and purpose to the world through Jesus Christ. So the gods many and lords many have had their day. By His manifestation the idols are utterly abolished. The proclamation of one God and Father signifies the gathering of men into one family of God. The one religion supplies the basis for one life in all the world. God is _over all,_ gathering all worlds and beings under the shadow of His beneficent dominion. He is _through all_ and _in all_; an omnipresence of love, righteousness, and wisdom, actuating the powers of nature and of grace, inhabiting the Church and the heart of men (_Findlay_). +Lessons.+--1. _In the moral as in the material world there is diversity in unity and unity in diversity._ 2. _All phases of good find their consummation in an imperishable unity._ 3. _To disturb the balance of unity is a great evil._ _GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._ Vers. 4-6. _The Unity of the Church._ +I. There is one body.+--The Church is a body of which Christ is the Head, and believers are the members. Though Christians are formed into distinct societies, they constitute but one body. They are united to the Head by faith and to their fellow-members by love. +II. There is one Spirit.+--As all members of the natural body are animated by one soul, so all the members of Christ's body are sanctified, strengthened, and led by the same Spirit. Since there is one Spirit which dwells in all Christians, all contention, bitterness, and envy, all animosity, division, and separation in the Church are offences against the Holy Spirit.