Thursday 12 February, 2015

20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— 23 I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. 24 “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. 25 “Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. 26 I have made you[a] known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”

Wow. That is a prayer from Christ for some serious unity right there- that the whole Church from the first hand witnesses through to us in modern times would be one in the same way that Christ is one with the Father…

I know that I definitely fall way short of this level of unity with other believers, but I really feel convicted by this passage that it is something that I should work on because the outcome in verse 23 is that this level of unity will mean that the world will know that Jesus was sent from God. The passage suggests that the keys to having this unity are being “in Christ” (v21) and “having God’s glory” (v22)

So how do I actually, and practically see this working?

Firstly, having God’s glory means having his “weight” and significance. For me, this is so much more than just an understanding of who he really is, but it is to have God’s power changing us from ordinary fallen humans to supernatural beings.

To be in Christ is a tricky thing to understand. Christ talks about abiding in him and being in him throughout the gospels.

I have been studying a series on my identity in Christ, so for me this is what it is all about- how I see myself. If I am in Christ, I will have all my understanding of who I am in Him. This has been something that I have been working on for some time!

Lord, help me to further understand how to fulfill my calling to see the unity of the Church come to pass and give me the power to make it happen too.

Written by Ps. Justin Ware