Unity
Notes
Transcript
If this would be the last time you saw your family and friends, what would you do?
Hug them.
Kiss them all over their faces.
Cry.
Have regrets!
Jesus prayed.
In the first part of John 17, Jesus prayed for himself and the Glory he wants to give to to His Father
Jesus prays to his Father, asking to be glorified so that He can glorify the Father, reflecting on His completed work on earth and requesting to return to the divine glory they shared before creation. This initial part of His Prayer is a request for the Father to grant Him the power and wisdom for His upcoming suffering and death, thereby revealing the Father's glory to the world and providing eternal life to those who believe in Him.
Jesus lifts His eyes to heaven (Which is the posture that they took back then for prayer, opposite of what we do today) and asks the Father to "glorify Your Son" because "the hour has come". He does this not for personal gain, but so that He can then glorify the Father. He also glorifies the Father stating He has been given authority over everyone and that He will give eternal life to those given to Him.
The second part of John 17, Jesus also prayed for strength in His Disciples.
Jesus prays to the Father, asking Him to protect His disciples, who have been given to Him from the world. He requests that they be kept united in spirit, protected from evil, and sanctified in the truth, which is God's word. Jesus is sending them into the world to do God's work, and he asks that they remain set apart and dedicated to God's service, just as He was.
Jesus asks the Father to keep His disciples in His name, meaning they are secure and preserved by God's power.
He prays for their unity, so that they may be one, just as God and Jesus are one, demonstrating the Father's love for them.
Jesus prays that His followers would be "sanctified in truth".
This means they are set apart, made holy, and dedicated to God's service, equipping them for the mission He has given them, similar to how Jesus Himself was consecrated for His mission.
He asks for their sanctification in God's word, which is described as truth, to prepare them for their divine purpose.
Now we get to the third part of John 17, and Jesus prayed for the future believers and the those that would live in the church age.
Now I really want to pay attention to this prayer to the believers.
“I pray not only for these, but also for those who believe in me through their word. May they all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us, so that the world may believe you sent me. I have given them the glory you have given me, so that they may be one as we are one. I am in them and you are in me, so that they may be made completely one, that the world may know you have sent me and have loved them as you have loved me.
“Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, so that they will see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the world’s foundation. Righteous Father, the world has not known you. However, I have known you, and they have known that you sent me. I made your name known to them and will continue to make it known, so that the love you have loved me with may be in them and I may be in them.”
Let’s Pray!
Today, we will be looking at this prayer as it should be, a guide for the modern church.
We know that Jesus is talking about the church because of the first line in this part of the prayer.
It is Christ saying not these sitting here, but all those around world that will hear the words the disciples were going to spread.
He talks about unity. And as you read the rest of the New Testament, the apostles fight disunity on a consistent basis.
Let’s first look at what unity means, then we will look at what it isn’t.
Biblical unity is a state of oneness, harmony, and shared purpose among believers, grounded in their union with Christ, the love of God, and the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Notice nothing in this definition states anything about tolerance. We mistake unity as tolerance. Oh, you don’t like chocolate ice cream, you ice cream bigot, now we must fight.
Unity is not about uniformity or the absence of differences but rather a profound spiritual bond that unites people from diverse backgrounds around core biblical truths and a common mission to glorify God.
This unity is an objective fact for all believers and a subjective experience that requires humility, love, and active pursuit through forgiveness and mutual care.
This is what Christ prayed for for us. So we would be unity in the common cause of growing the kingdom of God.
Union in Christ: Believers are united with Christ, becoming part of His spiritual body, which forms the foundation for their unity with each other.
Divine Source: This unity originates from the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit and is a reflection of their relationship.
Love as the Bond: Love is the essential "bond of perfect unity" that allows believers to put on virtues like patience, kindness, and forgiveness, which maintain harmony.
Shared Truth and Purpose: Unity involves aligning hearts and minds around God's revealed truths and a shared purpose to accomplish God's will.
Beyond Uniformity: Biblical unity is not about people being identical or conforming to each other; rather, it is about embracing and bridging differences through humility and care.
The Role of the Holy Spirit: The Holy Spirit empowers and guides believers in their pursuit of unity and spiritual growth.
How Unity is Pursued
Humility: Recognizing God's grace leads to humility, shifting focus from selfishness to selflessness, which is essential for unity.
Love and Forgiveness: Actively practicing love, patience, kindness, and receiving forgiveness are crucial for maintaining unity.
Spiritual Maturity: Believers are encouraged to grow into a mature body where each part functions correctly in love, as described in Ephesians 4:15–16
But speaking the truth in love, let us grow in every way into him who is the head—Christ. From him the whole body, fitted and knit together by every supporting ligament, promotes the growth of the body for building itself up in love by the proper working of each individual part.
Care and Support: Unity includes supporting one another through prayer, caring for needs, and laboring together to uplift Christ's name.
Focus on Core Doctrines: Christians are encouraged to hold tightly to primary biblical doctrines while being less rigid about personal preferences.
