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THE LORD 'S PRAYER

c) for all believers

John chapter 17:20-26

The Lord then said He included in His prayer also those who would come to believe in Him through the word, or communication (which includes conversation, preaching and writing) of His disciples: in fact we have it in the New Testament, which is the Word of God as written by the Lord's disciples under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. They preached and taught it verbally during their lifetime, but Christ had us in mind to receive and believe their word as well: our great High Priest is praying for us, twenty centuries later!

The only possible way to have unity among believers is for each one to be first united with God in Christ (exclusively by being born again in Christ through the Holy Spirit). The branches of the vine are united because they are attached to the vine, not because they are attached to one another. In other words, believers are one in Christ, because each of them belongs to Christ's spiritual body, of which He is the Head. The minute any sinner trusts Christ, that sinner is sealed by the Holy Spirit into the body of Christ.

Each assembly (translated "church") of believers is a microcosm of the body of Christ. Their unity within their assembly and with Christ and God, shown by their love and obedience, is necessary so that the world may believe (or may keep on believing) that Jesus is, indeed, the Messiah sent by God (this does not mean that the world will be saved in consequence of this conviction - see chapter 16:8-11).

The Lord Jesus' character and ways of God - his glory - is given by Him to all those who believe in Him (2 Corinthians 4:6), so that they may be one, having all the same Godly character and behaviour. Again, this is accomplished by the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:9,14,18).

The unity that exists between the Father and the Son is the unity that exists between the believer and the Lord Jesus Christ! Only God by His Holy Spirit can, and does, accomplish that. This is how all believers are perfected (or completed, accomplished) into one, the body of Christ which is their goal and final state. Again, he repeated, this would make the world know that God the Father had sent Him, and had loved them as He loved the Son (chapter 3:16).

The Lord expressed his desire (and this is being and will continue to be accomplished - chapter 12:26; 13:36; 14:3; Romans 8:17; 2 Timothy 2:11) that all believers be wherever He might be, to continually behold His glory (honour, majesty, grace, everlasting power and authority, perfection, and other divine attributes).

This was God's purpose in creating man: a creature with whom He could have fellowship, who willingly loves God for what He is and for the love God has shown to him, and worships and obeys Him. To eternally behold the glory, the virtues, of the Lord Jesus, will be the satisfaction of every believer. Moses asked to see the glory of God, Philip asked to see the Father and sometimes we marvel at the fleeting visible beauty in a rainbow or a sunset and wonder what will it be like when we come into the Lord's presence and behold Him as He, the creator of all, is! That is the goal towards which we are moving (1 John 3:2,3).

Again the Lord Jesus expressed the same pre-incarnate consciousness as in verse 5: He was loved by the Father before the foundation of the world.

Whereas previously in this prayer (verse 11) He had addressed God as the Holy Father with reference to His purity, majesty and glory, He now addressed God as the Righteous Father, referring to His perfect justice, without prejudice or partiality. Being sent from the Father embraced His entire mission of redemption, whereby the justice of God was satisfied. The world ignored and continues to ignore Him, but Christ and anyone who is a believer knows that the Father had sent Him, and the purpose was for Him to die for our sins.

The last thing He mentioned was that He had made known and would continue to make known God's name to them, i.e. all believers, in order that God's love for Christ, together with Christ Himself, might be in our hearts and in our lives. God's name implies His authority, character, rank, majesty, power, excellence, etc.. We talk so much about grace and about faith, and rightly so; yet the great desire of His heart is that God's love should be manifest in the lives of those whom He has redeemed.

In review, this is what this prayer says about believers and the world:

1. Given to Christ out of the world (v. 6)

2. Left in the world (v. 11)

3. Not of the world (v. 14)

4. Hated by the world (v. 14)

5. Kept from the evil one (v. 15)

6. Sent into the world (v. 18)

7. Manifest in unity before the world (v. 23)

These are the requests of Christ for His own:

1. Preservation (v. 11)

2. Joy in the fullness of the Spirit (v. 13)

3. Deliverance from evil (v. 15)

4. To be set apart, sanctified (v. 17)

5. Unity, to be one: this is not union (v. 21)

6. Fellowship, "to be with Me" (v. 24)

7. Satisfaction, "behold my glory" (v. 24)

The great truth brought out in the Epistle to the Hebrews is that the Lord Jesus Christ is our great High Priest. In the Old Testament times the high priest, and only he, wore two items of vestment of particular significance, among others, when he appeared in the presence of God as an intermediary for the people of Israel:

• an ephod of beauty and glory, which was joined on each shoulder by two onyx stones with the names of the tribes of Israel engraved on them. Thus he carried the names of the children of Israel with him when he went into the presence of God. This speaks of the strength and power of the high priest. Jesus Christ, our High Priest is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them (Hebrews 7:25). He has all the strength and power to save us completely.

• on the breastplate of the high priest were twelve precious stones, arranged three in a row in four rows across his breast. On each was the name of a tribe of Israel. When the high priest went into God's presence wearing the breastplate, he pictured the Lord Jesus Christ who is at the right hand of God interceding for us.

The Lord not only carries us on His shoulders, the place of strength and power, but He also carries us on His breast, on His heart, which speaks of His love. He has all power, and He loves us!

 

R David Jones

 

 

 

 

 

 

20 "I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word;

21 "that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.

22 "And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one:

23 "I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.

24 "Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.

25 "O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me.

26 "And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them."