Bob Cassell, Messenger, RFTC
Christ’s prayer of intercession may be found in the seventeenth chapter of John and was for those whom the Father had given Him, but it applies to more than those Given Him by the Father. This powerful prayer may well be called Christ’s prayer for the consummation of the work of Grace. Every petition of this prayer is related directly to God’s work of grace and specifically to the consummation of that work.
The first petition is: “glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee” (John 17:1). Glory for the Son herein means glory which came to Him because of His finished cross work and His resurrection from the dead. This reference is clear from the statement that “the hour has come,” (John 12:23) and also from an earlier statement, “Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him” (John 13:31).
You may wonder what this petition has to do with the consummation of God’s grace. Consider this… His death accomplished redemption from the curse, or penalty, of the law and made possible the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of God’s grace. Redemption and forgiveness of sin is the first step in carrying out God’s purpose for those whom He has destined to be adopted sons. This gracious adoption is to the end that His grace may be manifested and glorified. “In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace” (Ephesians 1:7).
“Even when we were dead in sins, has he quickened us together with Christ, (by grace you are saved) and has raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:5-6).
The glorification of Jesus Christ on the cross made it possible for Him to give eternal life to as many as the Father had given Him. The giving of eternal life or being quickened (made alive) together with Christ is to the end… “That in the ages to come he (God) might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:7).
So, his first petition was to pray for what made it possible for the Father to act in grace toward humanity and to accomplish that which, throughout all eternity, shall bring glory to His holy name.
In the second petition Jesus declared, “I have glorified you on the earth: I have finished the work which you gave me to do” (John 17:4).
How had he glorified the Father on the earth? He had fully accomplished the works that the Father had given Him to finish.
“The works which the Father has given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me that the Father has sent me” (John 5:36).
He had not performed his own will but the will of Him Who sent Him “For I came down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of Him that sent me” (John 5:38).
Jesus had spoken the powerful and eternal words He had heard of the Father “I have many things to say and to judge of you; but He that sent me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I have heard of Him” (John 8:26).
Throughout the book of John, you will find repeated statements which demonstrate that He had lived His life on earth in complete dependence upon the Father. His was a true and faithful life under grace and as a result God was glorified by Him on earth. The statement of His faithfulness may also be realized in relation to His life under the law. He was made under the law,
“But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law to redeem them that were under the law that we might receive the adoption of sons” (Gal. 4:4-5). He
Jesus had come to fulfill the law and not one jot nor tittle had been omitted. “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill” (Matt. 5:17).
In His humanity he had established God’s holy law, and by doing so God had been glorified. The first Adam, through disobedience, had broken God’s laws, and as a result God was dishonored. Because Jesus had so perfectly fulfilled the law, there was no sin charged against Him which could prevent His return to the Father in glory. He is the only man in humanity that has ever had a right to do so on the grounds of His own works; therefore, He prayed, because of His own merit, that He might return to the glory which He had with the Father before the world began,
“And now, O Father, glorify me with your own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was” (John 17:5).
His return to glory was an essential condition for the fulfillment of the work of grace. While God acts in grace toward believers here on earth, the greatest manifestation of His grace will be seen as it relates to the Son of God in glory; therefore, His return to glory is imperative to the consummation of grace.
His third petition is for the safe keeping of the ones which the Father had given Him out of the world. The reason for this request was, “that they may be one, as we are” (John 17: 11b).
How very needful this is to the consummation of grace. Without it, Paul could not have written this statement to the Philippians:
“Being confident of this very thing, that he which has begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6).
This keeping provision of God’s love is essential as is His provision for salvation from the penalty of sin and the believer’s future glorification.
He had already declared the name of the Father in verse six and had given them the words which the Father had given to Him. They had received these words and knew surely that He came from the Father, and had believed that He had sent Him: “For I have given them the words which you gave me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from you, and they have believed that you did send me” (John 17:8).
While He was with them in the world, He kept them in the Fathers name, “While I was with them in the world, I kept them in your name; those that you gave me, I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition (Judas; that the scripture might be fulfilled” (John 17:12).
Thereafter, He would no longer be in the world. He would not remain, but they surely would; therefore, He prayed for their safekeeping. It is by no oversight that here in the gospel of grace may be found the only reference to the Holiness of God. It is in His name as the only HOLY FATHER that believers are to be kept.
Holiness is absolutely essential for the consummation of grace, but that Holiness is of the Father and not of man. Most certainly not of a mere man in Rome that is improperly called Holy Father. There is only one who is the Holy Father and only He may be properly called Holy. This is because only He is perfectly Holy and absolutely righteous.
Jesus did not pray that His disciples should be safeguarded by removing them from the world, but that they should be kept from evil. A greater degree of grace would be required if they were to remain in the world and kept from evil; than to be taken out of it.
If Jesus had doubted, in any way, that this greater grace would be granted He would have prayed for something greater. Surely there is nothing greater than God’s greater grace. His grace is as infinite as is God Himself; therefore, He prayed for their safe keeping in the world.
We happily sing the song “Grace greater than our sins” but these disciples actually received greater grace directly from Jesus Christ who is the God of all grace.
His fourth petition is: “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth” (John 17:17).
This mighty word of truth is essential for the consummation of grace.
Christ loved His Church and gave Himself for it:
“That He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the Word. That He might present it to Himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish” (Eph. 5: 26,27). It is the word that He has exalted above His name “For thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name” (Psalm 138:2).
It is His word that is truth…
“Sanctify them through thy truth; thy word is truth” (John 17:17).
This Holy word is from Him who is and always has been the God of all truth. It is the Word that is truth, and it is the word that came by Jesus Christ that is the magnificent sanctifying agent in the lives of those who are centered in Him as His children. This certainly does not occur by the law which was given through Moses.
By this sanctification through the Word of truth they are not only personally prepared to be presented to Christ in glory, but they are made fitting to be sent out into the world with the message of grace and truth even as the Father had sent Him into the world.
“For I have given them the words which you gave me: and they have received them and have known surely that I came out from you, and they have believed that you did send me” (John 17:8).
This understanding and belief would ensure that the work of grace would continue and be ultimately consummated.
This amazing prayer was not only for the eleven who heard His voice, “but for them also which shall believe on me through their word” (John 17:20). The gracious statement being for “them … which shall believe” is a specific prayer for you and me in this present age of grace. It is for all who have become the objects of his extensive and amazing grace.
For these He prayed; “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 have sent me” (John 17:21). Those who have “believed on Him,” have already become reconciled to God and have fellowship with Him, but this prayer is for something more than harmony. It is for unity.
He prayed that believers may be brought unto the kind of union that He perpetually enjoyed with the Father. He had said, “I and my Father are one” John 10: 30. When Philip asked of Him to show them the Father, He said: “he that has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14: 9) and “Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me” (John14:11). In this beautiful unity of the Father and the Son Jesus prays that this unity will be extended to include all who have believed on Him. This is an extension of the union of believers who are indwelt by Christ as he so clearly instructed in the gospel of John…
“I will not leave you comfortless; I will come to you, yet a little while, and the world sees me no more: but you see me; because I live, you shall live also. At that day you shall know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you” (John 14:17-20).
This is the amazing and powerful extension of His grace… to know in His absence He is present and indwells within the believer forever. This is one of the goals of grace and truth which came by Jesus Christ. This is the great objective toward which grace, in all its manifestations as recorded in John and in the Pauline epistles, is working.
This great demonstration of the grace of God was accomplished through God sending His Son into the world and is in order that “the world may believe that the Father had sent Him” (John 17:21). “He was in the world” but “the world knew him not” (John 1:10). The world has refused to receive Him as the one sent from God. It is by the manifestation of the riches of His grace upon those that do receive Him in this age that the world may believe that the Father sent Him.
In order for forward looking believers to be effective in serving Him He has given them the glory which the Father gave to Him (John 17:22). Please notice, it is an accomplished fact. He said, I have given them. It has already been given, but it has not yet been made manifest.
He who is the great I AM, the eternally existent God, has given this glory. But those to whom it has been given are still living within the limits of time and are looking forward to the realization of this powerful eternal blessing.
This gift of His own glory is not only that all believers may be perfect in one as He and the Father are one, but also that the world may know that the Father has sent Him and has loved them even as He has loved the Son. It clearly was the world that God so loved, so much that He gave His only begotten Son. Those in the world to whom this pertains will be given a demonstration of what God’s love for humankind does for those who accept Him Who was sent. There is no indication here as to what effect this demonstration of grace toward those who have believed will have upon the world. There is room left for consideration of those who have rejected the Son to know just who and what they have rejected. If this actually occurs, it will only intensify the awfulness of their separation from God.
The final words here declare His will: “that they also, whom you have given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which you have given me: for you loved me before the foundation of the world” (John 17:24).
Herein, is the beauty of the consummation of His amazing grace. Everyone in this age of grace who believe on the Son, will be one in the Father and in the Son as they are one in Each Other.
The Son of God has given them the glory which was given Him by the Father. They will be with Him where He is. How amazing and incomprehensible it is for the human mind to see a coming glory that will actually occur in an unknown future reality. Then too it is comforting to realize that every believer in Christ will be loved by the same love wherein the Father loved to Son before the foundation of the earth.
Herein, is just a glimpse of the depth and fullness of His amazing grace. This graciousness is something no human has ever seen; yet it will be our future reality. This is our present privilege of being able to see into eternity the astonishing heights our finite mind cannot reach. This coming event is a reality and will be one of many high points among all the wonders of his amazing grace. We will be privileged to see that nothing measures up to His word of grace in lifting underserving humans from their fallen and sinful state to the highest position in eternity future.
You can clearly see that this is only one of God’s masterpieces of GRACE. Thank God for HIS superabounding and AMAZING GRACE. There is no one that can surpass HIM, He is more gracious than any human can realize. I offer all of my praise in this moment of time and invite you to join me in blessing and praising His glorious and Holy name.
“Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His Holy name” (Psalm 103:1).
“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things that God has prepared for them that love Him” (1 Corinthians 2:9.
