There is an intriguing connection between the first and last verses of John 17. In the opening of His High Priestly prayer, our glorious God come in the flesh, the Beloved Only Begotten pf the Father, prays that the Father may glorify Him in order that He may glorify the Father.
In verse 4, Jesus says that He has glorified the Father on the Earth, and that surely is referring to His constant message that He came out from the Father and the Father sent Him and the words and works which He did were of the Father and not of Himself.(Vs 8) I believe this glorification of which He now requests of the Father, exceeds all the glory that has surrounded Him upon the Earth by His ministry and perfection. This glory is that which inseparably connects His glory manifested on the Earth with His glory He Eternally receives at the Father's Right Hand. This Glory verifies that He indeed has done all the will and work of the Father in bringing His children, His household (using the words of Hebrews 2:13, 3:6) into the presence of the Father.(Jn:14:6-7; Heb.10) This Glory that he requests from the Father is the vindication, the justification of which 1 Timothy 3:16 speaks.
Paul gives us the definitive answer as to how such Glory was accomplished in Romans 6:4, "Christ was raised up from the dead by the Glory of the Father". And this Glory of the Father is the Father's Glorious Spirit as is implied in Romans 8:11. It is the verification that our Lord Jesus is that Righteous man that couldn’t be found in the Old Covenant! But HE is now the Righteous Man by whom God will judge the world.
And it is this same Spirit of Glory that shall quicken our mortal bodies as it did the Glorious body of Christ. This same Spirit is sent from the Father at the request of the Son(John 14:16-18, 26, 15:26) to give us that glorious Eternal life that is the Bosom Relationship that is God(1 John 5:20).
This prayerful desire of the Beloved Son of God who is the Son of man, is the subject of the rest of the text of John 17. This description of oneness & unity is truly out of this world, for this world lies in wickedness and division and strife. But this description is that of the oneness of the Beloved God. And so our Jesus ends his prayer in verse 26, implying that he will continually proclaim the Father's Name to all His children. And why will He do this? In order that the Eternal Love that He has had with the Father may now be in His children and He adds, "I in them". And how is this accomplished?
That same Glorious Spirit that raised our Jesus bodily from the dead, that Glory of the Father in resurrection power, is placed in our hearts as His Spirit of Adoption, His Spirit of Family Love. It is the Spirit's continual cry of Abba Father in our hearts that is the continual testimony that we are loved with the same Love that has been the union of Father and Son for all eternity. (Rom. 8:14-17; Gal. 4:4-7)
Our Father of Glory(Eph.1:17) has done everything Eternally necessary to bring us into that inseparable Union of the Father and Son by his Spirit of Love for all Eternity. All that He commands us to do is to believe in Him whom He has sent(John 6:29), His Beloved Son Who took upon Himself our flesh that He might be the Son of Man, that Righteous Man whom God requires that we might lose our sins in His all sufficient atoning work of grace and be found in Him clothed in His Perfect Righteousness before the Father.(Phil. 3:9)
Consider carefully & prayerfully Ephesians 1:14-21. Are we comprehending with all the saints this Love of Christ that flows from the Bosom of the Father and that is shed abroad in our hearts by His Spirit. This comprehension is of necessity if we are to be filled with all the fullness of God.
1 Corinthians 8:6 "But to us there is but one God, the Father, of Whom are all things, and we in Him: and there is but one Lord Jesus Christ by whom are all things and we by Him."
In verse 4, Jesus says that He has glorified the Father on the Earth, and that surely is referring to His constant message that He came out from the Father and the Father sent Him and the words and works which He did were of the Father and not of Himself.(Vs 8) I believe this glorification of which He now requests of the Father, exceeds all the glory that has surrounded Him upon the Earth by His ministry and perfection. This glory is that which inseparably connects His glory manifested on the Earth with His glory He Eternally receives at the Father's Right Hand. This Glory verifies that He indeed has done all the will and work of the Father in bringing His children, His household (using the words of Hebrews 2:13, 3:6) into the presence of the Father.(Jn:14:6-7; Heb.10) This Glory that he requests from the Father is the vindication, the justification of which 1 Timothy 3:16 speaks.
Paul gives us the definitive answer as to how such Glory was accomplished in Romans 6:4, "Christ was raised up from the dead by the Glory of the Father". And this Glory of the Father is the Father's Glorious Spirit as is implied in Romans 8:11. It is the verification that our Lord Jesus is that Righteous man that couldn’t be found in the Old Covenant! But HE is now the Righteous Man by whom God will judge the world.
And it is this same Spirit of Glory that shall quicken our mortal bodies as it did the Glorious body of Christ. This same Spirit is sent from the Father at the request of the Son(John 14:16-18, 26, 15:26) to give us that glorious Eternal life that is the Bosom Relationship that is God(1 John 5:20).
This prayerful desire of the Beloved Son of God who is the Son of man, is the subject of the rest of the text of John 17. This description of oneness & unity is truly out of this world, for this world lies in wickedness and division and strife. But this description is that of the oneness of the Beloved God. And so our Jesus ends his prayer in verse 26, implying that he will continually proclaim the Father's Name to all His children. And why will He do this? In order that the Eternal Love that He has had with the Father may now be in His children and He adds, "I in them". And how is this accomplished?
That same Glorious Spirit that raised our Jesus bodily from the dead, that Glory of the Father in resurrection power, is placed in our hearts as His Spirit of Adoption, His Spirit of Family Love. It is the Spirit's continual cry of Abba Father in our hearts that is the continual testimony that we are loved with the same Love that has been the union of Father and Son for all eternity. (Rom. 8:14-17; Gal. 4:4-7)
Our Father of Glory(Eph.1:17) has done everything Eternally necessary to bring us into that inseparable Union of the Father and Son by his Spirit of Love for all Eternity. All that He commands us to do is to believe in Him whom He has sent(John 6:29), His Beloved Son Who took upon Himself our flesh that He might be the Son of Man, that Righteous Man whom God requires that we might lose our sins in His all sufficient atoning work of grace and be found in Him clothed in His Perfect Righteousness before the Father.(Phil. 3:9)
Consider carefully & prayerfully Ephesians 1:14-21. Are we comprehending with all the saints this Love of Christ that flows from the Bosom of the Father and that is shed abroad in our hearts by His Spirit. This comprehension is of necessity if we are to be filled with all the fullness of God.
1 Corinthians 8:6 "But to us there is but one God, the Father, of Whom are all things, and we in Him: and there is but one Lord Jesus Christ by whom are all things and we by Him."
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