Who You Are
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Today I want to talk about one of your favorite subjects, today I want to talk about you. At the same time I want to talk about someone else. That may seem strange but we know the concept very well. If I talk about someone who shares your life, someone who is you then I also talk about you don’t I? The scripture says about marriage that the two become one flesh, we know in practice that married couples who are together a long time share the same memories and start to talk and act more like one another. Today I want to talk about you and someone that promises to be with you so often that you start to be more like each other, of course that person does not change, so guess who does the changing.
Jesus spoke these things; and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You,
even as You gave Him authority over all flesh, that to all whom You have given Him, He may give eternal life.
“This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.
“I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do.
“Now, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.
“I have manifested Your name to the men whom You gave Me out of the world; they were Yours and You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word.
“Now they have come to know that everything You have given Me is from You;
for the words which You gave Me I have given to them; and they received them and truly understood that I came forth from You, and they believed that You sent Me.
“I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom You have given Me; for they are Yours;
and all things that are Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine; and I have been glorified in them.
“I am no longer in the world; and yet they themselves are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me, that they may be one even as We are.
“While I was with them, I was keeping them in Your name which You have given Me; and I guarded them and not one of them perished but the son of perdition, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled.
“But now I come to You; and these things I speak in the world so that they may have My joy made full in themselves.
“I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
“I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one.
“They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
“Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.
“As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.
“For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.
“I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word;
that they may all be one; even 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 sent Me.
“The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one;
I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me.
“Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.
“O righteous Father, although the world has not known You, yet I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me;
and I have made Your name known to them, and will make it known, so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.”
This is a prayer made by Jesus about himself and about you. Did you ever think that you would be mentioned in the same breath as Jesus Christ, by Jesus Christ? The first thing I want you to notice is that this is not a prayer for everyone or a generic prayer for the world in general it is prayed for a specific group of people, and you are one of them.
“I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom You have given Me; for they are Yours;
It is a prayer of protection and of blessing Jesus says that he protected the disciples when he was with them but now he asks God to protect them and that the joy of Christ may be made full in them. Now that is very good you might say..........for them, but what about me?
“I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word;
That’s you by the way.
“The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one;
I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me.
“Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.
“O righteous Father, although the world has not known You, yet I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me;
and I have made Your name known to them, and will make it known, so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.”
The glory of Jesus Christ, the worth, the value the honor that belongs to Jesus Christ the most glorious being in the universe has been passed on to someone else. Jesus says the glory that God has given to him he in turn has given to us. Did you know that you are as glorious as Jesus Christ. According to the word of God, the prayer of Jesus, the glory that God gave to Jesus he gave to you, the same glory, the same honor, the same majesty that was his is yours. You have the glory of Jesus Christ inside of yourself.
Jesus inside you and God inside Jesus with the goal that we could all be in perfect unity. God, Jesus, and us all together as one, one thought, one plan, one glory. For all of eternity there has been a holy family, the godhead. God, Jesus, and the holy spirit all existing together in perfect harmony and perfect unity as far back as eternity past and to continue to exist into eternity future. Forever and ever and ever. But now there is something new, something has been added to that fellowship and to that family. That something is you. You have been adopted into the family of God, grafted in like a vine that becomes part of another plant, permanently, eternally. forever. You have been made part of the family of God and you have received the glory and honor of God into yourself. You are amazing.
When I was born I was born to Ralph and Judy Stallings. My last name was Stallings and my children would have been Stallings. People who talked about the Stallings family would be talking about me. Whatever was said about the Stallings name was said about my name. People would associate my father and my grandfather’s actions and words with me because we were part of the same family. The things I did and said would reflect on my father and grandfather too because we were part of the same family. Years later, after I had another name my grandfather told me that I was still a Stallings and we don’t act like that. I never forgot it.
My parents Got divorces and my mother remarried, later on the man she remarried adopted me. He became my legal father. Even my birth certificate changed. If you look it up today it does not say Stallings, it says Walston. When I got married my wife’s last name became Walston not Stallings. When my children were born their name was Walston not Stallings. When I was growing up people referred to me as Bill Walston’s boy and the things I did and said reflected on him and on his children, my new brothers and sister. I was still the same person in some ways. I didn’t immediately change to have his DNA, I don’t look like him, he is short and dark headed and darker skinned. I am tall and light headed and light skinned. People who know tell me I look just like Ralph did. But I am Bill’s son. He took on the responsibility of raising me and caring for me and he was there. I began to take on some of his habits and mannerisms. I became his son.
You were once the son or daughter of the world, you had worldly parents, you thought like the world and you acted like the world because you were of the world. In a way your last name was world. When people talked about the world they were talking about you, the world did things it reflected on you because you were part of it, when you did and said things it reflected on the world because that was your family, that was who you were, but something changed. When you became a Christian your last name changed, your family changed. Now when people talk about the world they are not talking about you, now when the world acts a certain way and has a certain reputation it has nothing to do with you, you are in the world but not of the world.
Would you like to know who you are of.. now, you are of Jesus. In effect your last name is Christ. Jesus said that the glory that he recieved from his father he passed on to you and me. The things that are said about the family of God apply to us. The reputation of the family of God reflects on us. Of course it works in reverse as well. We all know people who act a certain way and everyone says well look who their father is or who their mother is. We also know people who act good or bad and their parents are either blamed or given credit for how they are raised. Guess what, it works the same way in the family of God.
Jesus has given you the glory that he himself has, he has adopted you into his family. What you do or say reflects on that family the same way that what you do or say reflects on the family name that you carry. You can either be a credit to your family name or you can destroy your family name. You can add to the good reputation of your family or you can add to the bad reputation of your family.
You didn’t ask to be born into the family you were born into, you didn’t choose it and you didn’t make the family name what it was when you got it, but it is yours. You did nothing to earn it either good or bad, you just inherited it. By the way your parents didn’t get to choose from a list of potential babies to add to their family either, they may chosen to have a child but they did not pick you out of a lineup, they got what they got and you got what you got. You became part of a family.
When you entered the family of God it was different. God did choose you, He knew everything about you and every act, every word, every thought and he chose you. You also chose him, he offered and you responded. You became his adopted son or daughter because you chose each other. You couldn’t hide anything from him and he revealed everything you needed to know about him, you both walked into that relationship with eyes wide open. Now you are part of the family of God, with all the benefits and all the responsibilities of that family. Jesus came to doe for our sins and so that the world might believe in God and follow God and you have the same family responsibility.
that they may all be one; even 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 sent Me.
You are a child of God, with the glory of Jesus Christ given to you and the responsibility of living like a child of God so that the world might believe that Jesus was sent by God, so that the family name would be upheld and the families goals accomplished. You are a child of God, given the glory of Jesus Christ, you have a lot to live up to.