Lesson #288
We didn’t finish what we started in the last lesson, so we
must finish up work on those verses: “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” (John 17:20 – 21 ESV). We still
need to look at “that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe
that you have sent me.”
The context of these two verses is being an effective
witness from a unified body. Those who come to salvation through that witness become
part of the body that is in Christ and in the Father and they in us by the Holy
Spirit. This beautiful unity of Father, Son and Spirit, with Jesus being the
Son in flesh and we the body included into the trinity by the Spirit being in
us. The Son of God is seen in Jesus and the Holy Spirit is seen in us as a body
of believers. This is a picture that has taken me years to understand and only
now am I gradually coming to see my place in this unity along with other
believers. Writing these Bible studies and praying for my readers has helped me
understand how Jesus, the Spirit and I work together to prepare these lessons,
draw readers to them, and work in the lives of those who read to the glory of
our Father. The body of believers left in the world is the visible part of the
entity of God and represents God to the world. The more we reflect the nature
of God, the greater is the likelihood that those in the world will believe that
Jesus was sent by his Father and find salvation.
Working on this lesson has resulted in the formation a diagram
in my mind that relates to this unity. I tried to develop that diagram and
describe it on a separate page. Here is a link to the diagram
and its description.
Prayer
Father, the concept of the trinity is difficult to
comprehend and now Jesus complicates it by speaking of a further oneness. What
does it truly mean that we as a body of born again are in Jesus and you? Jesus
as a person is in the Father and now he prays for us to be in Jesus and in you
in the same way. If we could truly comprehend this oneness that we are part of
even today, it would radically change how we live our lives. As I have grown to
comprehend this some, I find the world losing its grip on me as my desire to
know more about living with and working with God increases.
No comments:
Post a Comment