“Even as We are one”
By Tony Campbell
Sssshhh!! We are stepping into one of the holiest moments imaginable. God the Son is speaking to God the Father! Deepest honour and reverence is needed here. This is the very holy of holies on earth as the Son prepares to offer Himself on the altar. In His final hours on the planet the God-Man is taking His place of intercession between God and Man. Whatever is included in this prayer must be of the highest importance to His mission and of the closest proximity to His heart.
“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. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.”
The these He is talking about are the eleven faithful disciples who have walked with Him for three and a half years. They have seen His miracles, they have heard all of His teaching, they have known the truth of His character and felt His love. He has prayed for their protection, that they would be kept safe. He has prayed for their sanctification, that they would be made holy. He has prayed for their unity, that they would be one. But He extends these prayers beyond them to those. Now, who are those?
Jesus reveals the burden of the heart of God in this moment as He prays for those who will believe the gospel. Those from every nation, tribe and tongue, from every corner of the earth. He is prophesying that the gospel of the kingdom, this message of salvation through the shed blood of the Lamb will go forth through these eleven and it WILL bear fruit among the nations to which He will send them and beyond.
This new people that will be brought together as they respond to the invitation of the grace of God in Christ is going to be such an eclectic group of people. Jews and Gentiles, Greeks and Barbarians, Blacks and Whites, Russians and Ukrainians, Northerners and Southerners, even Mancs and Scousers! Jesus knows that these humans are not great at integration and so He prays for a supernatural unity that will bypass their differences. A unity that is rooted in the same unity of the Father and the Son. What is that unity? Or rather Who is that unity? Jesus prays that they would be joined together by the very Spirit of God.
According to Paul, the unity of the Spirit is not something we create, it is something we maintain (Ephesians 4:3). The unity of the Church is established from the birth of every new believer and they are immediately added to the same Body of Christ and filled with the same Holy Spirit (1Corinthians 12:13). Even as the Father and the Son are one. Even as THE FATHER and THE SON are ONE!! Let that sink in… That the joining power between believers be as inseparable as God Himself! That is the prayer of Jesus for His people.
As we enter this month, let’s pray for the manifestation of this unity that already exists. It doesn’t become more real because churches link their programmes together. It doesn’t become more real because church members spend more time together. It is already established in the Spirit. However, it can become more visible. The unifying power of the gospel through the Spirit is a missional power tool! Jesus said in John 13:35: “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” We see believers being added to the early church daily in the Book of Acts in the midst of sharing all their possessions to care for one another’s needs.
Reflection:
Let’s pray that across the earth, the glory of Christ would shine in the face of His Bride. That she would be a city set on a hill, drawing all the nations to Him by her light. Let’s pray that the truth of the gospel would soften the hearts of brothers and sisters to love one another as He has loved us. That the world would know that the Father truly sent the Son and that He loves them.