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April
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Father, thank you for them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus,
the now glorified one who was once humbled. Father, thank you for
another opportunity to hold forth the greatness of your Word. Thank
you for loving us and giving us a chance to love you and your son
by keeping your Word. Thank you for what you have already done for
us in Christ. I thank you for each born again believer in the body
of Christ. Amen
In the March article, we learned that
God loved us before the foundation of world. We reviewed the record
where Christ is the seed of woman prophesized in Genesis 3:15. The
Word of God challenges us to demonstrate this power of God by imitating
God and doing the works that Jesus Christ did. We are to walk in
the love of God in the renewed mind in manifestation.
In this month's teaching, we will read in John 17 Jesus Christ's
prayer of love to his Father for his disciples and those that should
believe.
In John 17, Jesus Christ prayed after he and his disciples left
the last supper. The courage and love of Jesus Christ for his disciples
and his heavenly Father is clearly indicated throughout this prayer.
This prayer emphasizes the fact that Jesus Christ had given his
disciples God's Word, which empowered them to walk with God as he
did. John 17:1-3:
These
words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said,
Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may
glorify thee:
As
thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give
eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.
And
this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true
God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
The
word "glorify" is the Greek word "doxazo."
When this word appears in the Bible and is associated with Christ,
"glorify (doxazo)" means that Christ's innate glory
is made manifest and brought to light.
Life eternal is to know the only true God and His son Jesus Christ,
whom God had sent. The true God wants us to know He has sent His
only begotten son Jesus Christ and that we have eternal life through
him! 1 John 5:13:
These
things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the
Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that
ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.
Those
of us who believed "on the name of the Son of God"
know, without any doubt, we have eternal life! How tremendous it
is to live life knowing that you have eternal life! God cannot lie;
He promised us eternal life and He has done it! Titus 1:2 tells
us:
In
hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before
the world began.
Let's
turn back to John 17:4:
I
have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which
thou gavest me to do.
Who
did Jesus Christ glorify on the earth? God, his Father. Whose work
did Jesus Christ finish? His Father's work. Jesus did not say, "I
glorified me on earth." Jesus did not say, "I have finish
my own work." Jesus Christ manifested God's name to his disciples
by teaching them the Word of God. Look at John 17:5-8:
And
now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory
which I had with thee before the world was.
I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out
of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they
have kept thy word [logos].
Now
they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me
are of thee.
For I have given unto them the words [Greek
word rhema]
which thou gavest me; and they have received them and have known
surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that
thou didst send me.
Jesus
Christ gave his disciples the detailed accuracy of the Word that
God gave him. The disciples received God's Word and knew surely
that Jesus Christ came out from God! Jesus Christ prayed for his
disciples in John 17: 9-11:
I
pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou
hast given me; for they are thine.
And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified
in them.
And
now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and
I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those
whom thou hast given me, that they may be one [in
purpose],
as we are.
The
word "one" does not mean "equal to," but rather
signifies "unity of purpose." Jesus prayed that those
believers God had given him would be one in unity of purpose with
him and his heavenly Father. Jesus kept his disciples that God gave
him. Continue with John 17:12:
While
I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that
thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the
son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.
God,
by His foreknowledge, knows a head of time what will happen. God
sees all events as one. Therefore, by God's foreknowledge, He knew
that Judas would betray Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ gave his disciples
God's Word and fulfilled God's Word!
Let's
look at John 17:13-14:
And
now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that
they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.
I have given them thy word [logos]; and the world hath hated them,
because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
The
"world" refers to the world since the fall of Adam and
Eve, which is separated from God as demonstrated in and through
humanity. Satan is the God of this world.
2 Corinthians
4:4:
In
whom the god [Satan] of this world hath blinded the minds
of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel
of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
The
world is not going to love you because you speak God's Word. You
are not "of the world, even as Jesus Christ "Who gave
himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present
evil world, according to the will of God and our Father (Galatians
1:4).
It
was the will of God for Jesus Christ to "deliver us from this
present evil world!"
Jesus
Christ gave his disciples God's Word, which made known God's heart
to His people. God's Word makes known His desire to provide abundantly
for His people. Jesus Christ prayed that God would keep His people
from the evil one, which is the adversary.
John
17:15-16:
I
pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that
thou shouldest keep them from the evil [one-the adversary].
They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
This
is second time Jesus says to the Father "They are not of
the world, even as I am not of the world." When the Word
of God states something twice, God establishes it. Look at Genesis
41:32:
And
for that the dream was doubled unto Pharaoh twice; it is because
the thing is established by God.
Back
John 17:17:
Sanctify
[set apart] them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
What
is truth? God's Word rightly divided is truth! The truth of God's
Word delivers confident boundaries of thought and behaviors for
God's people. The truth of God's Word is the data center, the source,
the lexicon, or encyclopedia on life that we utilize to get answers
to questions. God's Word gives vision for our life and direction
on any subject in life. God is the author of life, and He loved
us enough to give us a written manual on how to live life! We are
set apart by the truth, and we must speak it to others in this world.
John
17:18-19:
As
thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them
into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify [set apart]
myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.
Jesus
Christ sanctified himself to the ultimate degree. He was obedient
to death on the cross. God's only begotten son shed his blood, and
even died physically, to set us apart. We are set apart by the truth
of God's Word. Believing and acting on God's Word sets us apart
in this world. Jesus's prayer for his disciples is really a prayer
for all of us who should believe on him.
John
17:20:
Neither
pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall [should]
believe on me through their word.
In
verse 20, Jesus Christ prayed for those "which shall believe
on me." This includes all born again believers today. It's
great to understand that we can be one in purpose with God and His
wonderful son. What is our unified purpose? To have the same purpose
as God and His son Jesus Christ, "who wants all people to
be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth" (1Timothy
2:4).
John 17:21:
That
they all may be one [in purpose]; as thou, Father, art
in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the
world may believe that thou hast sent me.
As
we hold forth God's Word and do the works that Jesus Christ did,
the world believes that God sent His Son, Jesus Christ. We know
God loves us as He loves Jesus Christ, and that we are one in purpose
with God and His son!
John 17:22-24:
And
the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may
be one [in purpose], even as we are one [in purpose]:
I
in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one;
and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved
[agapao]
them, as thou hast loved [agapao]
me.
Father,
I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where
I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me:
for thou lovedst [agapao]
me before the foundation of the world.
Jesus
again says the world has not known God our heavenly Father. And
the scripture tells us that Jesus Christ has known his heavenly
Father. The Word tells us that Jesus' disciples knew that his heavenly
Father sent him by his teachings and his works.
John
17:25-26:
O
righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known
thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me.
And
I have declared unto them thy name and will declare it: that the
love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.
We
know our heavenly Father because Jesus Christ declared Him to us.
We know when Christ returns to gather the believers,' dead and alive,
we shall ever be with the Lord (1 Thessalonian 4:17).
Jesus
Christ made known the name of his Father to his disciples. He made
known to them the love of God in the renewed mind in manifestation.
Jesus taught them that God loved His Son, and so He would love them.
Wow! What a prayer!
In
summary, we read John 17:1-24, and we learned Life eternal is to
know the only true God and His son Jesus Christ whom God had sent.
Those of us who believed "on the name of the Son of God"
know, without any doubt, we have eternal life! Jesus Christ glorified
God his Father on the earth and finished his Father's work on earth.
Jesus Christ taught his disciples the detailed accuracy of the Word
that God gave him. Jesus Christ prayed that those believers God
had given him would be one in unity of purpose with him and his
heavenly Father. The world is not going to love you because you
speak God's Word because you are not "of the world," even
as Jesus Christ was not of the world. God's only begotten son shed
his blood, and even died physically to set us apart. We are to be
set apart by God's Spirit and the truth of God's Word. We are to
be one in purpose with God our Father and His Son the Lord Jesus
Christ "who wants all people to be saved and to come to
a knowledge of the truth" (1Timothy 2:4).
Father, I thank you for loving us and calling us to your household.
I thank you for loving us enough to give us a written manual on
how to live life more than abundantly. I thank you that we can know
you, the only true God, and your son the Lord Jesus Christ. Thank
you for your son whom you sent into this world to make known Your
name, that through him, we have eternal life. O righteousness Father,
I thank you that we can be one in purpose with you and your son.
Amen
Next month's teaching subject will focus on 1 John 4 - God's Agape
Love.
In
the Lord,
Ministry
of Reconciliation
Son of God through Jesus Christ
Ambassador for Christ
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