That we may be one

In the passage of John 17:11, 20-23, Jesus prays something four times. Whenever something is repeated, we should take notice! What Jesus prays four times is that those who are saved might be one. Jesus prays for the unity of those belonging to the Church.

Right off the bat, it’s important to understand that Jesus is praying for all those who are saved by God’s grace through faith in the crucified and resurrected Jesus and not just for all those who attend church, because there’s a difference between those who attend church and those who genuinely believe and have faith in Jesus. In verse 20, Jesus clarifies for us this fact by saying, “I do not ask for these also (His current disciple) but also for those who will believe in me through their word.” The unity prayed for by Jesus is for those whose names are written in the Book of Life.

Unity is so important to Jesus because His relationship with God the Father is a perfectly unified one and Jesus prays that the same will be true of all believers: “That they may be one even as we are one (John 17:22b).”

It’s clear then that a that a fourth reason why Jesus came to the earth was so that we might be one.

Understanding the Father/Son relationship

Three times in His prayer Jesus relates the unity of believers to the unity that Jesus shares with the Father. He connects the two. Because of this, we can’t know what Christian unity means and looks like unless we first know what unity between Jesus and God the Father looks like.

Jesus is the Son of God and is the second Person of the Trinity: God the Father, God the SON, and God the Holy Spirit. As the second Person of the Trinity, the Son existed eternally with the Father and Spirit. As Jesus said in Revelation 1:8, “’I am the Alpha and the Omega … who is, and who was, and who is to come.’”

However, even though He is God and has existed eternally with God, Jesus implied in John 17:22 that He was given a glory he had not yet possessed. What glory could the Son not have already possessed being God himself in the fullness of his own glory? I contend that it’s a glory that was intended for humans: being the living image of God.

Back in Genesis 1:26-27, we learn that God created mankind unique above all other creation: He created us in His image. This means we shared His perfect character. But because Adam and Eve sinned, that image of God was corrupted by sin.

When the Son of God took on human flesh and became the man Jesus, He became fully human yet without sin; He became the perfect image of God. Paul said in Colossians 1:15, “He (Jesus) is the image of the invisible God” and Jesus Himself said in John 14:9, “If you have seen me, you have seen the Father.”

This then is the glory Jesus was given that He previously did not have: the glory of being made the perfect human image of God the Father. Jesus as the Father are united in God the Father’s perfect character: they have the same perfect love, grace, mercy, justice, righteousness, holiness, etc. To see and know the person of Jesus is to see exactly what God the Father is like. Jesus is the perfect image of God. Jesus and the Father are one.

Unity of believers – John 17:20-23

If Jesus is one with the Father because they are perfectly united in character, then it follows that unity of believers looks the same: united in character. One faithful Christian should be a picture of all the rest.

But where do we get our definition of character? From Jesus! In John 17:22 Jesus tells His Father that the same glory He gave to Jesus, the glory of being the perfect image bearer of God the Father, Jesus has also given to the faithful who believe so that we might be one. What He’s saying is that as Jesus was made into the perfect image of God, so too does Jesus restore in believers that same image of God that has been broken by sin. This truth is repeated by Paul who in 2 Corinthians 3:18 said, “We all with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image (the image of Christ) …this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.”

If every Christian is being transformed into the same image, the image of Christ who is the image of God, then as we mature in our faith, we are together becoming like one person: Jesus. This is how Christians become united, by together becoming like Jesus.

Like Paul said in 2 Corinthians 3:18, this work is done by the Holy Spirit. Spiritual transformation comes by the work of God Himself who molds and shapes us to be like Jesus. He does so by convicting us of sin, moving us to repentance so that we reject and turn away from our sin, and revealing to us the awesome and transformation truths of God through Jesus. And this is not done only for Western Christians but for people all over the globe! No matter who you are or where you live, becoming like Jesus looks the same because, “4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” (Ephesians 4:4-6) The Christlike character of Christians in China is like that of Christians in America which is like that of Christians in Africa which is like that of Christians in South America and so on.

Christians become one as we together become restored image bearers of Jesus.

Purpose of Christian Unity

With so much emphasis on unity of believers, it’s natural for us to wonder why it’s so important. Well, Jesus prays for unity among believers so that the unbelievers in the world might know that out of love for the world, God sent Jesus into the world.

John 17:21b – so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

John 17:23b – so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.

Those words of Jesus about the world sound a lot like Jesus’ words in John 3:16 – “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

The purpose of Christian unity in the image of Jesus is to communicate the love of God to the world that more might be saved.

This places a unique perspective on the importance of our own spiritual transformation because our spiritual transformation plays an important role in the salvation of others. If Christians neglect the word of God and don’t desire and pursue spiritual growth and development, not only are we harming ourselves, but we are harming those around us who are still dead in their sins and condemned to eternal punishment in hell! Our Christian unity plays an important role in the salvation or damnation of the lost.

Conclusion

God is working to purify and refine the faith of His Church and to restore in us His image and by so doing, He is proclaiming His name to the world. It’s a process than began with Jesus on the earth and will end when Jesus comes again. And because Jesus prayed for us in John 17 to have unity and because He is at the right hand of God the Father interceding for us on our behalf (Hebrews 7:25), we may be certain, beyond a shadow of doubt, that Jesus will bring to completion this great transformation of His Church.

Jesus is doing all this work in us and God is faithful to bring about the completion of the good work started in us but we play a part too. The ball lies in your court: how will you work towards transformation in Christ and help bring about the unity of believers so that the world may know the love of God?

Jesus came so that we may be one.