What do you think it meant when Jesus told the Father, “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.” I’ve heard a few attempts to preach this as a call to Christian unity: “Quit fighting with the brethren!” While that’s good advice, it seems plain to me that Jesus is talking about something much greater than just not arguing. He says that we are supposed to be united, or connected, just as He was to the Father. What does that mean?
The idea is that these two lives are one. That’s what Jesus prayed in John 17. He is in the Father, the Father is in Him, He is in us, we are one with them and with one another. We are connected so intimately we share identity, life, and nature. We are the Body of Christ. Jesus asked that we be made perfectly one just as He and the Father are one by the glory of God in and among us. That glory indwells us and binds us in nature and purpose, and it does so whether we know it or not. We are one, my friend.
Prayers that proceed from this supernatural glory-connection are powerful. We looked at Epaphras and his prayers for the church at Colossae. It was his home church, and Paul noted that he was “one of you.” He was identified with them. (Colossians 4:12) Praying for “one another” in our local faith community is now a responsibility. Our connected, covenant prayer has special impact.
We are not supposed to be in this alone, nor should we leave others to go it alone:
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