DId God Really Say…

January 17, 2024

Read Genesis 17, Psalm 17, John 17

One thing our culture loves to do right now is divide us. We are constantly bombarded with polls telling us how most people feel who identify with a particular identity group. In election years we are over-saturated with political ads attacking the other side. We are conditioned to think more about how a person differs from us that we are alike. In Christianity we even squabble and fight over our differences. You may have seen the meme that says why are there 45,000 different denominations and suggests that the differences should lead them to not being trusted. This is a gross overestimation of the numbers.  There is actually just a couple dozen different denominations. The numbers get inflated when they count churches from different counties of the same denomination. Pastor Mike Winger of the YouTube channel “Bible Thinker” does a great job explaining this in detail. Even still, we have our differences.

In John 17 we find the prayer that Jesus prayed after He had observed the Passover Meal with his disciples, and He teaches them about what it means to serve one another. Jesus prays for three different people in this prayer. First, He prays for himself. Knowing what He will soon face Jesus prays that He will glorify and thanks God for giving him everything.

The next subject of Jesus’ prayer was His disciples. Jesus spent the most time praying for those who He had walked and talked with over the years. Jesus prays “protect them from the evil one” v. 15 and He also prays “that they too may be truly sanctified” v. 19. Sanctification is the process of becoming more Christlike. More inline with the God of the Bible and His teachings. It is something that does not come all at once, it is a process over our lifetime. The longer we walk with the Lord the more we reflect Christ.

Third, Jesus prayed for “for those who will believe in me through their message” v. 20.  Jesus prayed “that they may be one as we are one” v. 22.  One of the areas we can strive to grow in sanctification is our unity. We learn to deal with each other’s warts and personal imperfections and strive in unity as Christ would want us to be. Why is unity so important? Jesus gives the reason, “to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me” v. 23. Our unity brings a powerful evangelistic pull to the gospel message. What can you and I do to bring the body of Christ into unity?

What else do you see in these three chapters? What words, phrases, or themes stick out to you?
Write your thoughts below.