John 17:22-23
When one gets a gift often it comes wrapped and to be able
to see what you have been given it requires removing the covering. In verse 22-23, Jesus tells us about a gift
the Father gave Him and now He has given it to us. “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, so that the world
may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.” (John 17:22-23 ESV) What is the glory that Jesus gave us? Do you have any understanding of what has
been given to you? This writer enjoys
getting gifts, but must admit this is one that he needs to open.
The key to opening this gift may be in understanding or
defining the word glory: “the fame,
admiration, and honor that is given to somebody who does something important.” It may help to look at synonyms that confer
some of the message of glory; they are magnificence, splendor, beauty, wonder,
and grandeur. Have you ever pondered the
value of the gift of glory, being in oneness with the Father and the Son?
Could it be that we forget the glory Jesus had with the
Father before taking on flesh and becoming less than His creation, if so go
back and read John 17:5. A good reminder
of the preeminence of Christ is found in Colossians 1:15-20, “He is the image of
the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were
created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or
dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for
him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he
is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from
the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the
fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself
all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his
cross.” And in Colossians
1:27, “To them
God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the
glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”
When this gift of glory was given to you and I, was it
because we were worthy of such a gift? No
way, not even close, when the gift of Salvation was given and we entered into
Christ’s glory, this is where Christ found you.
“He has
delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of
his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” (Colossians
1:13-14 ESV) And on the day that you by
faith in Christ act on that truth, an amazing thing will happen, that will
change all of your tomorrows. “Therefore, if
anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the
new has come.” (2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV) On that day you received all the fullness of
God, and all of the glory of Christ, but it may be a gift you left unopened.
I do not know the fullness of this gift, but this I do know,
in it we find, grace, faith, peace, joy, rest, and the power to abide in
Christ.
From the Back Porch,
Bob Rice
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