The Lord Jesus led me to read
John 17 (vv. 1-19 ESV).
Jesus Christ, the Son of God,
when he walked this earth, was fully God yet fully man. He suffered just like
we suffer, and he was tempted in like manner as we are also tempted, yet
without sin. Although, when on the earth, he healed the sick and afflicted,
raised the dead, cast out demons, fed the hungry, comforted the sorrowful, and
performed all sorts of miracles, still many hated him and rejected him. They
hated him because he told them the truth about their sins. He told them that
they must come to him in faith, and that they must leave their lives of sin
behind them. And, they didn’t like that. So, they plotted his death, which they
then carried out.
Yet, before his death on the
cross, Jesus spent some time with his disciples, talking with them about what
was coming, and preparing them for his departure. He comforted them with the
knowledge that, after he left the earth, he would send the Holy Spirit to live
within them. He told them that they must remain in him and that his words must
remain in them. He predicted Peter’s denial and Judas’ betrayal, and that all
of them would desert him. And, he told them that, if they loved him, they would
obey him. But, he also told them that they would be hated just like he was
hated. And, when he had finished talking with them, then he prayed to the
Father in heaven.
When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his
eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the
Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give
eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they
know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified
you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. And now,
Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you
before the world existed.
The hour had now come for
Jesus Christ to be crucified on a cross for our sins, and then to be
resurrected from the dead in order to give us new life in him. So, he prayed
that God the Father would honor him, that he would exalt him, and that he would
show the world who he truly was, revealing his divine character, as Jesus also
did and would do for the Father. And, Jesus did this, i.e. he gave glory to the
Father through the ministry he had while he was on this earth. He, at one time,
said, “If you have seen me, you have seen the Father.” For, Jesus was the exact
representation of his being.
The whole purpose for Jesus
leaving his throne in heaven, humbling himself, coming to earth, and taking on
human flesh, was that he might die for us and be resurrected back to life, that
we might die with him to sin and be given new lives in him to be lived to his
righteousness. Our eternal life in him is not just about us escaping hell and
going to heaven when we die. The life he gives us, he gives us now, to be lived
for him. This eternal life which he gives us, too, is Christ Jesus living in
us, and living his life out through us. It is us getting to know God
intimately, so that we can walk in his ways and in his truth, and so that we
can know his power in our lives, too.
“I have manifested your name to the people whom you
gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they
have kept your word. Now they know that everything that you have given me is
from you. For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have
received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they
have believed that you sent me.
Jesus was describing his
followers, those whom the Father had given him out of the world. Those of us
who are his followers, he has called to come out of the world and to be
separate (unlike, different), because we are being made into his likeness. This
does not mean we don’t associate with the people of the world, for God has sent
us into the world, to love the people of this world, and to be a light to them,
showing them the way to Christ and to his salvation from sin. But, we aren’t
supposed to be like the world in thought, behavior, attitudes, values or
speech. We are not supposed to join in with the world in their sinful
addictions nor adopt their morals and values.
He also described his
followers as those who keep (obey) his word. They were not perfect people,
though, so it isn’t as though they always obeyed. If we could keep the whole
law perfectly, Jesus would not have had to die for our sins, but we couldn’t,
because we still live in these flesh bodies. This, nonetheless, is never to be
used as an excuse for continued willful sin. For, Jesus died that we might die
to sin and live to righteousness. The righteous requirement of the law is
fulfilled in us who walk (in lifestyle) no longer according to the flesh, but
according to the Spirit. For, if we walk according to the flesh, we will die in
our sins, but if by the Spirit we are putting to death the deeds of the flesh,
we will live with Christ for eternity.
And, he described his
followers as those who have received (accepted) his words, which the Father had
given him, and that they had come to know, in truth, that Jesus Christ did,
indeed, come from the Father. Yet, this was not mere intellectual assent to who
Jesus was, nor is it now, nor is it mere belief that he died on a cross to save
us from our sins. To receive Jesus Christ, and to receive his words, is to
apply what he did on that cross to our lives by dying with him to sin, and by
living with him to righteousness. And, it is to apply his teachings to our
daily lives, to do what they say, and to put them into our daily practice, and
it is not to ignore the ones we don’t like, either.
“I am praying for them… (not quoting vv. 9b-13)
“I have given them your word, and the world has hated
them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not
ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil
one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in
the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent
them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may
be sanctified in truth.”
When we follow Jesus Christ
with our lives, in truth and not in name only, and we walk in obedience to his
Word, and we are not of this world, in the sense in which we don’t participate
with the world in its sinful practices, the world will hate us, and they will
not love us as its own. But, the sad reality of this is all is that the worldly
church will also hate us. The more that we are not of this sinful world in
thought, values, behaviors and speech, and the closer we get to Christ and to
following in his ways and in his truth, the more we will be hated and rejected,
even by the worldly church, which has adopted many of the ways, values, morals
and philosophies of this world.
If the world hates and
rejects us, though, I think it is a whole lot easier to accept. But, when those
who claim to be our brothers and sisters in Christ hate and reject us, because
we are following Jesus Christ in obedience, and because we are standing on the
Word of truth, and we don’t compromise with the world, then that is a whole lot
harder to take. Then, it cuts to the heart. It wounds our spirits, for they,
the family of God, are supposed to love, support, protect, build up, encourage
and strengthen us in our faith, not shoot us down and kick us to the curb
because we dare to stand on God’s Word and to walk in the ways of our Savior
and Lord Jesus Christ.
So, we need our Lord God to
protect us from the evil one, not that we will never be tempted by evil nor
attacked by Satan and his hordes, but we need him to carry us through it all,
and we need to know his love and grace to help us in our time of need. We also
need for him to continue to sanctify (purify, make us holy) in truth (in his
Word, his righteousness). What this means is that we continue to grow in him,
in his salvation, and in holiness, despite being hated, attacked, and
persecuted even by those who are supposed to love and encourage us in our walks
of faith. Our trust has to be solely in God, and not in man, for humans will
fail us, but God is ever faithful to do all that he has said he would do. So, we
can trust in his goodness to us, that he has our best interest at heart, and
his purposes will be fulfilled.
Have Thine Own Way, Lord
Adelaide A. Pollard / George C.
Stebbins
Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine
own way!
Thou art the potter, I am the clay.
Mold me and make me after Thy will,
While I am waiting, yielded and still.
Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine
own way!
Search me and try me, Master, today!
Whiter than snow, Lord, wash me just
now,
As in Thy presence humbly I bow.
Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine
own way!
Wounded and weary, help me I pray!
Power, all power, surely is Thine!
Touch me and heal me, Savior divine!
Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine
own way!
Hold o'er my being absolute sway.
Fill with Thy Spirit till all shall see
Christ only, always, living in me!
Saturday, November 18, 2017,
12:45 a.m. – Thank you, Jesus, for putting this song in my mind this morning as
I awoke, and thank you, too, for speaking your words to my heart. I praise you,
and I thank you.
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