We’ve been looking at the promise that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, indwells every believer. If you haven’t read the previous two days, you might want to read it before you read this one. Check the archives if you didn’t receive them.
In what I call the true Lord’s Prayer, Jesus is praying to
God the Father in the
John 17:22-26
22 "The glory
which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We
are one;
23 I in them and You
in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, …
As believers now with Christ living inside of us, we are one with Him. With that guarantee from God, we can now be perfected (or matured) in unity; with singleness of purpose. We all have the same purpose in our Christian lives – to glorify God. With Christ living inside us, we have that glory that God gave Him available to show to the world. God has now made it easy for us to glorify Him – He’s given us the same glory that Jesus had because He lives inside of us! We can accomplish God’s purpose (glorifying Him) with HIS glory!
23 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.
One of the reasons for the indwelling of Christ Jesus in us is to be a sign for us of just how much God loves us. Even your mother can’t love you as much as God loves Jesus Christ, and therefore as much as God loves you!
24 "Father, I
desire that they also, whom You have given Me, (That’s
YOU, {{name}}, given to Christ!) 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.
25 "O righteous
Father, although the world has not known You, yet I
have known You; and these have known that You sent Me;
26 and I have made
Your name known to them, and will make it known, …
Jesus made the name of His Father known to the disciples and everyone who believed in Him. Now that He resides in each one of us, we have the ability to use His residence in us to make Our Father known to others.
26 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."
God’s love in us is the great problem solver in life. The indwelling of Jesus Christ in every believer is the guarantee of God’s love for us. It is the means of glorifying God as a Christian, using the glory of Jesus Christ that God has put inside of each of us.
We tend to think of accomplishing God’s will for our life as a struggle, but the residence of Christ in us is the proof that God has given us His power to accomplish what He wants us to accomplish.