Wednesday, 8 May 2013

John 17 (Ten) Get Into One Another

Good day

For as long as it takes we are going to study the gospel of John chapters fourteen to seventeen.

To pick up the topic, you may need to read the one or two postings preceding this one.

You will have noticed that these messages do not come as regularly as usual. The Lord is busy with a move into a new dimension and as soon as we are finished with John 14-17 we will change direction. The blog will then become more interactive.

In Jesus’ prayer so far He has prayed for His disciples and in our messages we have made it applicable to us. Some may have wondered whether it actually were applicable to us, since He was talking about the twelve that was with Him. We read in John 17:20-23 that apart from the fact that we are also disciples, Jesus actually repeated His prayer on behalf of any disciples that would follow Him due to the twelve disciples’ faith and work: “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.”

Since this is a repetition we have already discussed it. There are, however, a couple of significant statements in these words of Jesus. He mentioned that if the world would see the unity within the body of Christ, they will believe that Father God loves us and that He sent Jesus, in other words that Jesus is God and therefore more than just another prophet. He put it so beautifully: ‘that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us’. Jesus and the Father is one because they are in one another, meaning that they think alike, love alike, trust one another, support one another, sacrifice for the sake of each other, live for the other one, and so on. When we read this passage it is quite obvious that we must be in God as well and they in us, just like they are in one another. This is exciting, but challenging at the same time since we can challenge ourselves by asking whether we think like them, love like them, trust them and one another like they do us, support them, sacrifice on their behalf and live for them. Or is it a one sided giving – God gives and we receive?

But there is another side to it as well. Jesus said: ‘that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you’, indicating that we need to be in one another as well. That is why the first converts got rid of all that represented their own identity and shared everything they had. In this modern materialistic world governed by money (Mammon) it is difficult to grasp that principle. Do we not often just look after our own and only give a little to the needs of others? Would we give money to the poor rather than getting involved with them, building them up by becoming one with their lives? Do we not have our private programs, which are usually so full that our family in Christ are lucky if they are allowed one hour a week of our time?

For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect,” (Matthew 5:46-48). Do you get the idea? Only if we forget about ourselves in serving one another, like Father God forgot Himself in sacrificing His son and Jesus forgot Himself in serving mankind and then giving His life for us, and like every single apostle forgot themselves in serving those around them. Being perfect is to be inside the perfect One and Him in us. The word perfect means mature, and if we are therefore mature enough not to think constantly of ourselves like children do, we will be able to allow others to get into us and share what we have to give, and we will be able to get into their lives which are not always as comfortable as we would have liked life to be, giving of ourselves. The end result would be that the world will be so stunned by this amazing lifestyle of unselfish giving that they would want it as well, just as it was in the original church.

Do you think that this is where the church is at the moment? Does every member of the body allow others into their lives to receive from them? Do we purposely get into the lives of others to serve them to the end of our resources and to the point of suffering like Jesus and the apostles did? What can we do to change it?

Lord, please show us how we can get into one another to become one.

Thank you Lord that your Word went out from your mouth, via your servant’s pen, and it will not return to you empty, but will accomplish what you desire and achieve the purpose for which you sent it.

Please pass this on if you think others may benefit by it.

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