John 17:6-8

John 17:6-8 (NLT) 6 “I have revealed you to the ones you gave me from this world. They were always yours. You gave them to me, and they have kept your word. 7 Now they know that everything I have is a gift from you, 8 for I have passed on to them the message you gave me. They accepted it and know that I came from you, and they believe you sent me. The same Scripture from the NASB. 6"I have manifested Your name to the men whom You gave Me out of the world; they were Yours and You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. 7"Now they have come to know that everything You have given Me is from You; 8for the words which You gave Me I have given to them; and they received them and truly understood that I came forth from You, and they believed that You sent Me.

Last time we saw that we have two viewpoints available to us--our human viewpoint and that of the spirit. As you read this seventeenth chapter of John, you become aware of God's viewpoint. I started reading the New Testament every six weeks when I was a young girl in high school, so I was reading this chapter every six weeks. This chapter shaped my relationship to God. I marveled at the faith Jesus had in these men. I must confess I have slipped now and then, but I have tried to look at people as Jesus looked at His disciples, with God's faith. God looks on us with faith in His purpose for us and knowing the power of the grace aimed at us. Jesus expressed this faith in His prayer that includes each one of us. The disciples listening to this prayer must have wondered if He meant them. The reason for this is simple. Jesus knew how to refuse to listen to Satan and tune in to the Father and hear Him for Jesus knew the Father. We, like the disciples, do not seem to know the voices that speak through us. Satan can plant thoughts in our mind and we think it is our own thinking. Our own nature can control our desires and motives so that we drown out the "still, small voice" of the Spirit of God. Condemnation resulting from the accusing voice of the enemy rules our attitude toward our selves and others. I often wondered how Jesus, after living with these disciples and knowing them, could leave them in charge of the church for which He had paid such a horrendous price. But I saw the answer in this chapter. Jesus moved in the faith of God and He intercedes for us with this faith.

One thing that stands out to me in this chapter is the reliance Jesus had on the Father. He lived in this realm taking our place. He prayed long hours knowing this was the contact He had with the Father. By the Holy Spirit dwelling in Him, He kept Himself in constant reliance for every word and action so He could be that expression of the Father. He only took His cues from the Father, and by the Holy Spirit, He could hear and see the Father. This same Spirit has come to indwell us. If we reacted to the Holy Spirit as Jesus did, we, too, could walk in that close union with Jesus, our Lord, directing us. In this prayer, Jesus is asking the Father for us to have this relationship with them.

In these three verses is the key to this relationship. Jesus did not establish any doctrine for His church. He gave us the Way. He did not give explicit teaching so we could mentally learn to "know" God. We can only know God by the Spirit revealing to us. Jesus manifested the Father's Name to them. How? By walking out, living in, the relationship of a man in relationship to God as God wanted to be to man. Is that sentence confusing to you? God's purpose for man is directly connected to Him. He is creating us in His image. The threefold ministry of God is concentrated on this purpose. Jesus came as the prototype of God's purpose, the exact representation or image of God. He could say to Philip, have I been so long with you and you have not seen the Father? If we would allow the Holy Spirit to teach us, to guide us and direct us as Jesus allowed Him to do, we would have the same power working through us and a very wonderful relationship to our Lord and the Father.

How did Jesus see the disciples and say "they have kept Your word"? Our "keeping" God's Word is not always expressed by our actions or momentary doubt and discouragement. It is a condition of heart. Deep in our spirit is a rooting of God's Word. Our soul does not always express this rooting. Our minds and emotions do not always keep in step with our spirit. When we believe in our heart, the result is righteousness. It is when our mouth agrees with our heart that the result is salvation. Religious people know how to "speak" and "act", but their heart remains rooted in this realm under their own control. Jesus looked into the heart of man and He knew what was planted in them. In Colossians 3:16, Paul counsels us to "let the Word of Christ richly dwell in you". God has provided us so richly what we need to become, but it is up to us to appropriate and walk in that provision. Just remember, God has faith in you and He knows what He can produce in you.