John Calvin wrote, "Christ . . . once for all offered a sacrifice of eternal expiation and reconciliation; now, having also entered the sanctuary of heaven, he intercedes for us. In him we are all priests (Rev. 1:6; cf. 1 Peter 2:9), but to offer praises and thanksgiving, in short, to offer ourselves and ours to God. It was his office alone to appease God and atone for sins by his offering."
Christ prayed for all Believers in John 17:20-26. There He offers us assurance that the glory God has given Jesus would be given to us as royal priests that has been made perfect in Him. "I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. and the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one. I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have love them as You have love Me" (verses 20-23).
Jesus not only prayed for those the Father had given Him, but for all future believers - for their unity and their future glory. If you are a believer, these words are Jesus' prayer for you. "All may be one" is a present tense of the verb "to be" indicating that Jesus was praying for the unity that takes place through the sanctification of believers. This mutual indwelling of the Father in the Son and the Son in the church is also the means to unity, the ultimate expression of God's love.
Now let's get down to the real root of Christ's prayer. The Christian life was certainly not meant to be lived alone. God intends for each of us to spend precious time together with others who have Jesus Christ in their hearts. Often, however, Christians have either a wrong impression of what fellowship is, or how it helps them in their walk with God. Churches that don't associated with other churches in the neighborhood just because they believe something a little different in a doctrinal statement. Christ prayed that future believers would show unity, to allow God's love to flow freely between all who love Him. Of course there are some religions out there that are not part of the Body of Christ and/or will never be part, but why do Baptists stay away from Catholics and Catholics stay away for Independents; I thought we are part of the same team, or at least that is the way it was planned originally. It is mankind that put up the boundaries, not Christ; and it will be Christ who will break them down and set the story straight when He comes again; but do we really need to wait that long?
In order to have fellowship together we must meet together. When the early Christians got together they did more than just talked about doctrine. When we get together we should do things that are beneficial for the Body of Christ. Our fellowship should consist of prayer, time in the Bible, singing, encouraging each other, and getting to know on another. The goal of fellowship is to build each other up to become more like Jesus. This is not a short-term project, but a long-term life experience. Through fellowship, let us seek to help each other along the way.
Christ's prayer was for unity; unity that can still cross man made boundaries. We need to stop thinking about how we sing a song or do worship and start thinking how we need to join together to combat tomorrow's tomorrow. If not, we will be the losers, and we will loose more then what we lost on 9/11 as a nation, because that will happen again and again if we don't band together. Remember...tomorrow is just around the corner...
Christ's prayer was for unity; unity that can still cross man made boundaries. We need to stop thinking about how we sing a song or do worship and start thinking how we need to join together to combat tomorrow's tomorrow. If not, we will be the losers, and we will loose more then what we lost on 9/11 as a nation, because that will happen again and again if we don't band together. Remember...tomorrow is just around the corner...
