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John 17:23
“I in them, and thou in me that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me.” — All the fulness of God dwelling in Christ and heaped upon chosen, redeemed sinners in Christ is designed for three great purposes which he shall accomplish as our God-man Mediator.
Our Perfection Jehovah’s object is our perfection, our completion, our wholeness, our total salvation in Christ. Because God was in Christ, all his people were made perfect in justification when that man who is God died as our Substitute at Calvary. Because this Christ, in whom all the fulness of God dwells, dwells in us, we are made perfect in sanctification. He has made us holy and righteous, “meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light.” Because Christ is both in the Father and in us, because he is in glory, because he is within the veil, because his blood speaks there for us, we shall soon drop this robe of flesh and be made perfect in glory! Then we shall be perfect in knowledge, in holiness, in peace, joy, and love. Because this great, glorious, gracious, omnipotent Christ is in us, and all God’s elect are in him, the number of the saved in glory shall be perfect, complete. Not one shall be missing. And we shall be perfectly one. Still, there is more. — We are one as the Church of God, one Body, one Bride, one Family. Yet our perfection in one is much greater than any of those metaphors can represent. — We who are God’s are one with Christ himself. That is our perfection! That is our salvation!
That the World May Know “I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me.” — Our Savior here asks a second thing as our great High Priest. He asks not only that all his elect be made perfect in him, but also that the entire world may know, by our salvation, our perfect salvation in union with him, that he is the Sent One of God. We sometimes sing… “Everybody ought to know, Everybody ought to know, Everybody ought to know, who Jesus is!” When our God has finished all that he has purposed to do, everybody will know who the Lord Jesus Christ is!
“Hast Loved Them” “I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me.” And here is the third thing our Savior asks of God in John 17:23 — “And hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.” — Imagine that! What an astounding word this is from God and Savior! — “Thou hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.” And when God gets done, every creature in heaven, earth, and hell shall know that God loves us, even as he loves his darling Son, the Lord Jesus Christ!
Don Fortner
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