John 17:20-26…
I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word…The disciples had been prayed for, and they would fulfill their mission, to spread the Word through their witness, and to write the Word in the New Testament.
Jesus also prayed for all of us down through the ages that would believe and be involved in spreading the Word to the glory of God. The unity, glory, witness and love that is in the Trinity, and had enveloped the disciples, is also part of our destiny (1 Corinthians 6:17). Our spiritual position is settled (Ephesians 2:4-7), even while our earthly condition may be unsettling.
The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one. Just like the first disciples, we have been given the glory of servanthood and of sacrificial service. It may not seem glorious at times, but one day we will know just how privileged we were. There is a glory, a deeper fellowship to be had through our suffering (1 Peter 1:3-9, 4:1-4, 12-19). One day we will see Jesus in all His glory.
So that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. This power is meant to be a powerful witness to unbelievers. This prayer has been answered, whether we realize it or not. Christians are one (Romans 12:4-5 / Ephesians 4:1-6).
I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them. There are three dynamics of God’s love we are brought into; the love of God toward us, the love for God from us (and to others), and the love of God within Himself (to each person of the Godhead). The depths of this can only be discovered in eternity.
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