John 17:8-9 For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.
9 I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.
15 I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.
19-20 And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.
20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;
25 O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me.
How precious Christ’s prayer was during this time of great tribulation for Him. He knew that He was about to be sacrificed for our sins, yet, His focus at this time was on His followers, on us as we receive the Word from them.
God’s Word revealed Christ before He came to earth. When Christ came to earth He served God by serving and teaching man. He showed us by His love and actions that He was God’s Son. He showed us through the scriptures written centuries before that He was God’s Son.
He preached, He taught, He healed, He performed miracle after miracle in demonstration of the truth of His message and who He is; He walked on this earth that we may know we have a Savior. He then gave of Himself as a sacrifice for our sins – NOT the world’s sins, ours.
There is a distinction here; first those that have accepted Christ and second the world. The world is a twofold noun here, it first means the earth itself, the physical feel, touch, smell and see world; the second is the deadness of the spiritual world where they deny the existence and being of Christ and even of God and walk in spiritual darkness.
When saved we are not removed from the physical world, we are removed from the deadness and darkness of the spiritual world into the light and His Grace. He wants us to walk the earth as He walked it; He wants us to proclaim who He is and what lies in store for those that accept Him as well as those that reject Him. He wants us in the physical world so others will learn of Him, as we learned of Him.
He knows that satan has taken charge of this dead spiritual world, it is a world of darkness where he blinds the eyes of man to the spiritual as well as physical wonders of God.
Mathew 13:38-39 The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one;
39 The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.
Ephesians 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
John 12:46 I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness.
How often I have wished that when I was saved, Christ just whisked me off to be in heaven with Him. It would have been so much easier. However, that was not His prayer for us, that is not His desire for us. He wants us to be His voice to the world that others will come to Him, even as we have come to Him. I know that the desire to be whisked off is a selfish one; it is a human reaction to the stresses and trials I go through; and it is a wrongful attitude.
God has chosen to use man to tell others about His Son. He has chosen to give us everything we need – His Word, His Love and Grace, His Time, His Holy Spirit, His Guidance, His Son, His protection; so we can tell the truth to those in the dark world that will listen. We can shine light in the darkness that will help others come and accept Christ.
Christ came as a man. He didn’t have to, he could have used a far more spiritual form. But we can relate to Him as a man, we can see in His walk with God that we can grow in grace and show others who Christ is – using many of the same methods He used. All too frequently we think we must use a soap box to proclaim God’s Word. We don’t. What we need is a heart that is full of Him; a true desire to follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit in our daily walk and a willingness to share God’s promises as the opportunities come to us; and He will make sure they come to us.
People were drawn to Christ because of His miracles, Love, compassion and truth in His teachings. But He also took the opportunity to talk with people, one on one, as the Spirit led Him. An excellent example of this is the Samarian woman at the well of Jacob. John 4:7 There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink.
Yes, I know He had divine insights into her life style and that helped convince her of who He is; however, it is not all that much different for us. When we talk to people with genuine interest, take the time to observe and listen, we will be shown what to say to them and people will open up – especially if the conversation has been ordained of God beforehand.
The people in the world, do not have to stay in that deadly darkness, they can be shown the light of God and join God’s family. But it is up to us to allow that light to shine in our life and the way we communicate with people is one of those opportunities to shine God’s light. Jesus specifically prayed that we stay in this physical world, so that we might be able to proclaim His Love and Salvation to the dead, dark spiritual world. That is mine and every Christian’s responsibility to Him.
From the ColumbiaRiverGorgeous
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