Jesus' prayer about us

I've always loved reading the prayer of Jesus to our Father before he was crucified. To read that is to know His heart and to know that He really was thinking about us, people who wouldn't even be born for thousands of years from that time! In that prayer Jesus asked the Father to sanctify us. That's a word that often confused me so let's look at what Jesus says (in context) and then let's look up what sanctify means:

John 17:15-19 My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.

Sanctify:
the process by which an entity is brought into relationship with or attains the likeness of the holy.

New Bible Dictionary

sanctification, ‘making holy’ or ‘consecrating’ a place, thing, or person to God. Harper's Bible dictionary.

Sanctify:

-fied; -fy•ing

1 : to set apart to a sacred purpose or to religious use : consecrate

2 : to free from sin : purify

3 a : to impart or impute sacredness, inviolability, or respect to

b : to give moral or social sanction to

4 : to make productive of holiness or piety

sanctify verb
synonyms bless 1, consecrate, hallow
Merriam-Webster's collegiate dictionary.

So now we now that when Jesus asks the Father to sanctify us, He was asking that we be made holy, purified and set apart. I'd really like to concentrate on verse 17 in that prayer:

John 17:17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.

Does that just grab you the way it does me??? Let's break this down. How are we sanctified? We are sanctified, made holy, purified, by God's Truth which is His Word, the Bible!!!

As we listen to, read, study, and/or reflect on God's Word, God sanctifies us--He purifies us and makes us holy like He is. If we don't hear, read or study God's Word, we won't grow in sanctification (holiness). I think it would also be fair to say that the more we grow in sanctification the more mature we are in Christ. It all fits together seamlessly.

I've known for quite a while that we can't become mature in Christ without studying God's Word, but it just never clicked in my head till now that we are sanctified by His Word so that's why we can't grow without it. Here is some more confirmation for us:

1 Thessalonians 2:13 And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is at work in you who believe.

1 Peter 1:23 For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.

It is the Word of God as we read it and study it, that works in us with divine power to change us and sanctify us, making us holy just as He is holy. It is through God's Word at work in us in this way that we are changed daily to be more and more like Him.

2 Corinthians 3:18 And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

Even these scriptures which I'm sure we're all very familiar with, refer to this. Look at how they progress:

John 14:26 But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.

John 15:26 “When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me.

John 16:13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.

So here we see that the Holy Spirit is sent to us by the Father, after Jesus died and was resurrected. His job is to teach us and guide us into "all truth". Further more, He is called, "the Spirit of Truth"! Now go back and remember what Jesus said the Truth is:

John 17:17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.

Ok, there's one more piece to this that I've found. Maybe you've already thought of it:

John 1:1-2 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.

John 14:6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Revelation 19:13 He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God.

This is how we are sanctified, how we grow to maturity in Christ! Jesus is the living Word, and He sends us the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit indwells us and He is the one that teaches us and guides us as we read and study (or listen and study) God's Word! Isn't that awesome!!! So here we can see yet again just how important it is to be in God's Word daily. That's the only way we can grow and mature.

If you're interested in this and would like to, why not look through your bible and see what else you can find out about "The Word of God", Jesus being the Word and the Truth, and about the Holy Spirit? Here, I'll give you a few verses to start you off, but there are LOTS more!

Hebrews 4:12-13
Jeremiah 23:29
Ephesians 6:17
2 Timothy 3:15-17
Isaiah 55:11
Luke 8:11-15

Have fun!

 

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