United As One

John‬ ‭17‬:‭20‬-‭23

“I’m praying not only for them But also for those who will believe in me Because of them and their witness about me. The goal is for all of them to become one heart and mind— Just as you, Father, are in me and I in you, So they might be one heart and mind with us. Then the world might believe that you, in fact, sent me. The same glory you gave me, I gave them, So they’ll be as unified and together as we are— I in them and you in me. Then they’ll be mature in this oneness, And give the godless world evidence That you’ve sent me and loved them In the same way you’ve loved me.”

‭‭John‬ ‭17‬:‭20‬-‭23‬ ‭MSG‬‬

The world is divided. Unity simply is not found on a grand scale in our fractured, divided, and segmented world. We divide based on race, politics, country, culture, social rank, opinions, religion, and other things. Only when people come together across the boundaries that normally divide them do others begin to take notice.

Our perfection, our unity, our becoming one, is found in Christ. Only in Him do we find the barriers brought down and all of us made into one family. Only in Him does overcoming the things that normally divide us become a witness to God's powerful love. Jesus came to reconcile and reunite. Live and love as one, one with Jesus and one others.

We live in such a divisive culture where we are so prone to accuse, and to disparage, and to cancel one another, to turn against one another instead of being for one another. God, help us we pray to experience what Jesus prayed for us 2,000 years ago, and how He intercedes for us even now.

Three times Jesus prays for the unity of the church. There is an effort that has been going on for some time to bring about a union of believers, to unite them in one great worldwide church or some organization. We are told that this will at last be the answer to this prayer of Jesus. But I find it impossible to accept that explanation.

I do not believe that the church has to wait twenty-one centuries before the prayer of Jesus is answered or that an organization will accomplish what the Holy Spirit seemingly has been unable to do. I believe that the Holy Spirit has been answering this prayer from the very beginning, and when we understand the nature of the unity for which Jesus prayed, we will see that the prayer is indeed being answered and has been all along.

Twice in these six verses, Jesus states precisely the great objective which was ever before Him as He lived his own life on earth, and now that He is leaving He is committing to the disciples. Twice He outlines specifically what God intends to accomplish. The latter part of Verse 21 "...so that the world may believe that thou hast sent me," and again in the latter part of Verse 23, "...so that the world may know that thou hast sent me." There is the great objective. God's whole redemptive plan is aimed at one target. The world.

"God so loved the world," we read in John 3:16, "that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life." The focus of it all is the world. "God loved the world." It is so easy for Christians to forget this. Forgetting that we were once part of this world, we become so taken up with what He is doing to us as believers that we sometimes forget that He is still aiming beyond us.

As Christians, we are God's ambassadors on earth who we have the privilege and responsibility to be His hands and His feet, His eyes and His ears, His heart and His voice, as we share His gospel of hope to those that are lost in trespasses and dead in their sins. And in His grace, Christ prayed that we would be united in spirit, in truth, with the same unselfish, Godly compassion and concern for others that He has for us.

He prayed that our lives would be so in tune with one another that we would reflect the Godly perfection and intimacy that exemplifies the relationship between the Father and the Son.

He has covered us with the robe of His righteousness and adopted us into His Holy and eternal family, and the glory of His supernatural life and His self-sacrificing love that is being formed in all those that are His, is the glory of the only begotten Son of God, full of grace and truth, shining through the lives of all His children, for we are one with Him.

Let us, who have been so richly blessed, step out into the world, confident of our position in Him. Let us be conduits for Him, reflecting His love, grace, and glory to those around.

Just as Christ's life witnessed of His oneness and unity with the Father, so His prayer for you and me is that our lives are to be one with Him and in unity with each other "so that the world may know that You sent Me and that You have loved them as you loved Me."

But not only does He desire a vertical oneness of each of His children with Himself, but He also yearns that we have a horizontal oneness with our brothers and sisters in the Body of Christ, that we become one in principle and purpose, one in thought and word and deed, one in faith and doctrine, one in love and hope.

Christ desires that individually and collectively the Church of God, which is His Body, demonstrates the glory of the indwelling Spirit of Christ by means of an outward demonstration of a holy character and a godly life, full of grace and truth!!!

Father thank You for this day and for sending Christ into the world to be the propitiation for our sins and for the sin of the whole world. Lord let Your abundant blessings be my friend and family’s portion today. Lord thank You for giving us the God-breathed Word of Truth through those men whom You sanctified. Lord help us to be united in the truth of Your Word, and eschew all that deviates from the foundational doctrine that was laid by Your holy apostles and prophets. Lord we pray that our lives would be, in a small part, an answer to that prayer so that others may see You. Lord may we be true witnesses to the world of Your so great salvation. Be a blessing.

Father, we love You. Amen !