What We Have in Christ
John 17:6-17,
This whole chapter is recorded for us by John as Christ's prayer after He was done speaking to the disciples, and before they go to Gethsemane. The prayer is full of rich blessing for us, and especially when you consider the context of the prayer in the moment of time.
Last time, we looked at a couple of themes here of how the Lord Jesus prayed that we would be kept in God's name, that we would be kept from the evil one, and that we would be sanctified by the truth, or made holy by the truth. And I'd like to look at three other items that we have in Christ; three items here in Christ's prayer that we have in Christ. That phrase, ‘in Christ,’ you see it almost 100 times throughout the New Testament that, “If we are in Christ,” and then a truth; what we have, or what we are, or what we can look forward to, or what has already been done for us in Christ. And here, there are three things in the prayer that came out to me.
“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. I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. 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.”
This whole chapter is recorded for us by John as Christ's prayer after He was done speaking to the disciples, and before they go to Gethsemane. The prayer is full of rich blessing for us, and especially when you consider the context of the prayer in the moment of time.
Last time, we looked at a couple of themes here of how the Lord Jesus prayed that we would be kept in God's name, that we would be kept from the evil one, and that we would be sanctified by the truth, or made holy by the truth. And I'd like to look at three other items that we have in Christ; three items here in Christ's prayer that we have in Christ. That phrase, ‘in Christ,’ you see it almost 100 times throughout the New Testament that, “If we are in Christ,” and then a truth; what we have, or what we are, or what we can look forward to, or what has already been done for us in Christ. And here, there are three things in the prayer that came out to me.
God's Word
The first one is, in Christ we have God's Word from Christ Himself. You see it there in verses 6, 7, and 8, “They have kept Your word. They know that everything that you have given Me, (Christ's power and Christ's words) is from You, is from God. I've given them the words that You gave Me.” And you see it there in verse 14, “I have given them Your word.” Or, in verse 17, “Sanctify them in the truth, Your word is truth.” We have been given truth. In Christ, we've been given God's Word, which is the truth. This is a great encouragement to us. It should be and we shouldn't get to take it as common or begin to despise this reality that we have the privilege in Christ of having God's Word, which is absolute truth. When you consider how confused we all were before we were saved, or how confused any natural man is about common things, eternal things, eternal realities, moral realities without the truth, being revealed, being given to us. That is the first blessing that I see here that we have in Christ, is God's Word, the truth.
Christ's Joy
The second one almost seems like it's out of context for the occasion; but in Christ's prayer, we have, in Christ, Christ's joy, and that's in verse 17. The first item that we have in Christ that He’s praying about is God's Word, the truth, and the second one is Christ's joy that we would have in Christ, His joy. John 17:13, “But now I'm coming to you,” Christ speaking to the Father, he’s going, “And these things I speak in the world.” He is saying, “(I'm speaking to them while I'm here), that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves.” Christ's desire is that if we are in Christ, that we would have His joy. You can turn back to John 15:11. He said it again in the middle of describing all that they're going to have including what they will have in Christ, what we will have, the Holy Spirit. He talks about, “These things I've spoken to you, that My joy may be in you and that My joy may be full." In Christ, Christ praying to the Father, He desires, if we're in Christ, desires that we have His joy, and it may be fulfilled and full in us. That's Christ's prayer to the Father for us.
The World's Hate
So the first item is we have God's truth, or God's Word in Christ; we have Christ's joy being in Christ, and third, we have the world's hate. This is a reality. This is not something that we would choose, but this is something that we have because we are in Christ. And you can see it there in John 17:14, “I've 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.” And this is the mirror, the opposite of being in Christ. If we are in Christ, we're not of the world. We're not in the world, or we're not of the world. Even though we may live here, we are still, once you are saved and you are in Christ, you have the world’s hate.
You see, the Lord is praying for his disciples, and is praying out loud, so that we would not be shocked. It is great joy that we have in Christ. It is His Word and His truth that is our foundation for all realities in this life, and the fact that we have the world's hate. When we experience this, when we are outcasts, when we feel that we are despised by the world and not accepted, whether it's colleagues or family members, especially for positions we take with respect to Christ in our lives, we should take this as an encouragement, an encouragement that they see that we are not of the world. We're not like them. They might not realize that we are in Christ, but this is a reality that every believer has.
If we're in Christ we have God's Word, the Father's Word and truth. We have Christ's joy, and he prays that it may be full in us. And we have the world's hate, because we're not of the world, we're in Christ. And I found this, re-reading and reading and meditating on it, it's full of rich encouragements for us as believers in Christ to read Christ's prayer, meditate on it, and be encouraged to see how Christ prayed for us. These realities and truths, and desires for us. And so, my hope is that this would be an encouragement to your soul, as it was to mine. Whenever I get discouraged and think that Christ is far off, or God is not aware of what we're going through, you will see that He is completely and perfectly aware of who we are in Christ, and what we need and what we're experiencing.
You see, the Lord is praying for his disciples, and is praying out loud, so that we would not be shocked. It is great joy that we have in Christ. It is His Word and His truth that is our foundation for all realities in this life, and the fact that we have the world's hate. When we experience this, when we are outcasts, when we feel that we are despised by the world and not accepted, whether it's colleagues or family members, especially for positions we take with respect to Christ in our lives, we should take this as an encouragement, an encouragement that they see that we are not of the world. We're not like them. They might not realize that we are in Christ, but this is a reality that every believer has.
If we're in Christ we have God's Word, the Father's Word and truth. We have Christ's joy, and he prays that it may be full in us. And we have the world's hate, because we're not of the world, we're in Christ. And I found this, re-reading and reading and meditating on it, it's full of rich encouragements for us as believers in Christ to read Christ's prayer, meditate on it, and be encouraged to see how Christ prayed for us. These realities and truths, and desires for us. And so, my hope is that this would be an encouragement to your soul, as it was to mine. Whenever I get discouraged and think that Christ is far off, or God is not aware of what we're going through, you will see that He is completely and perfectly aware of who we are in Christ, and what we need and what we're experiencing.
Posted in Pastor Devotional