“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. 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.” John 17:3-6
Devotional Thought For The Day
These are some of the first words of Jesus’ great prayer to the Heavenly Father, in which He prays for the blessedness and safety of His disciples and all who will come to believe in Him through their words [v.20]. It is a prayer for our blessedness, that we be strengthened in true faith, in peace, joy, faithfulness, and unity. These words, these assertions of fact and truth, form the basis for our blessedness in life, and also our true unity as Christians, members of the body of Christ. Those who take His words seriously, and adhere to them, have the blessings that He wills and prays for us to have. We know the only true God, and Jesus Christ Whom He sent to be our Savior, to take away all our sin and guilt. We have eternal life in this knowledge and faith in God’s gracious, redeeming love. We marvel at being the gift of the Father to His beloved, only-begotten Son, and part of the very glory of God. It is Jesus Who manifests the Father’s Name to us, through His Word and through the “work” He has accomplished for us, our redemption in His suffering and death on the cross, and His glorious resurrection. So we keep His Word, which is in fact the Father’s Word.
Obviously Jesus knew what the history of the church was going to be, all of the larger realities of the fracturing of the visible institutions of Christianity, and all of the smallest perversions that would occur within groups bearing His Name. He is the source of the Revelation to St. John, and as the Divine Son of God, He knows everything. Still He prays in this way for our blessedness, and asserts the ideal and perfect will of the Father to reconcile us to Himself, and His will that in this greatest reconciliation He would also reconcile and unify all Christians to one another. He is God, and His will and desire is no “pipe dream.” What He wills He accomplishes, but He does so as He wills and in accordance with the dynamics He sets in place – for His own perfect and blessed purposes. This means that the blessedness He wills for us – that we have eternal life and be strengthened in true faith, peace, joy, faithfulness, and unity – will be accomplished through His Word, by which we come to truly know the Father and Jesus Christ. And this unity and blessedness is experienced and maintained by those who keep God’s Word, the Word provided to us through His disciples, Holy Scripture, the Bible.
It is a marvelous blessing of God, truly supernatural and His gracious blessing and work, that we should experience any of this goodness. We tend to approach our life of faith and discipleship as “our” learning, our growth and apprehension of His Word and His love – as if it were mere human endeavor. The prayer of Christ shows us that it is not our work, but rather what the Father graciously grants in accordance with the prayer of His beloved Son. We strive, as well we should, but God is accomplishing – and all glory and honor belongs to Him. The direction and goal of our striving should be but one thing – that we keep His Word. This is also the essential diagnostic for recognizing the true unity of Christ’s dear people – they are keeping God’s Word. For those who keep His Word know the Father and His Son, and have eternal life, and the joy of God’s gracious salvation, and all other spiritual blessings. While we look at the outer “disunity,” God is looking at and rejoicing in what He is accomplishing through His Word, bringing many to faith and new life, and into His own blessed love and unity. This is His will and His work – thanks and praise be to God!
Prayer For The Day
Dear Lord Jesus Christ, continue to make Your glorious will and work known to us through the Word You have given to us through Your prophets and apostles. Continue to accomplish Your great, glorious, and gracious work of redemption in us and in all the world, and grant us the full blessedness of Your salvation. Eternal thanks and praise be to You for Your wondrous love, and Your faithfulness to Your Word. Amen.