‘That They May Be One’

‘That They May Be One’

And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee.  Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.

John 17:11

Christ is both a Unifier and a Divider.  On the one hand He said,  ‘Think not that I am come to send peace on earth:  I came not to send peace, but a sword.  For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.  And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household.’  On the other hand, this is not the effect which He has upon everyone.  For those who receive Him, there is a unity which transcends blood relation.  This is a spiritual unity which the members of the Body of Christ enjoy.  At the point at which Christ prayed His High Priestly Prayer, He was mindful of the importance of the intervention of God, His Father, in order that this unity might become a practical reality.  To that purpose, He prayed the words of our text for today, ‘That they may be one as We are.’  Because Christ is Our Head and we are His Body, this unity for which He prays will ultimately come to pass.  God the Father always answers the prayers of His Well-Beloved Son.  The realization of this unity of believers is something which only comes in time.  For the people of God to have this unity, the Holy Spirit must do His work to take the things of Christ and show them unto us.  He must consistently sanctify us through the truth of His Word.  As He draws us nearer to Christ by those invisible spiritual threads, He draws us closer to one another.  So we begin to approach that complete unity for which Christ prays; ‘that they may be one as we are.’

Our Great God and our Savior,
We rejoice at the grand unity which exists among You,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
We praise You that You will unite all Your people,
in time, that we may be One, as You are.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning