“He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.”
Jesus gave us a strategy to cause the world to believe. This strategy is revealed in his commands and his prayers.
Here’s how the first part works:
God loved us so he gave his only son to save us from sin and death
God commands us to love him, but he loved us first so he’s basically commanding us, to allow him to love us.
Because he loves us and we love him, we should love our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ in such a way that it’s a sign to the world that we’re Jesus’ followers.
John 13:34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
Then Jesus prays several things that reflect this process. In this prayer, he adds to the strategy and reveals the ultimate outcome of his command to love.
John 17:20 “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who [j]will believe in Me through their word; 21 that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. 22 And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: 23 I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.
Here’s what Jesus prays:
Jesus tells God he’s ready to take back the glory he laid down before he became human
He declares that he’s giving his believers that same glory
He declares that we are one with God as he is with God
He prays that we would be as one with each other as he is with each of us and as he is with the Father
He repeated himself by rephrasing his prayer a bit, declaring that he is in God, God is in him, he is in us, God is in us, and we are all one.
Finally, Jesus declares a fascinating fruit of this dynamic unity, he declares that the world will know and believe that God sent Jesus for them.
He concludes his prayer by revealing that this is all because God loves the world as much as he loves Jesus and as much as he loves us
It’s a big circle that brings us back to God’s first action, to love us and send Jesus for us. It’s amazing that our love for one another and our unity in Christ is a call to the world to believe that God loves them and sent Jesus for them too.
Ministry is a multi-faceted creative expression to reveal the love of God to people by loving one another and uniting for the purpose of showing the world that God loves them too. This is our strategy. This is our calling. To participate in the plan of God to love people into his family through Christ.
It’s not a big mystery. We don’t have to be super-spiritual to understand the will of God. God is love, and he wants everyone to know and be made whole in this love. And apparently, our love for one another is a key part of that plan.
I say we get busy loving. 1 Corinthians 13 is a good place to start. Allow God to reveal to you ways that living out these principles can be signs to the unbelieving world that God loves them to the point they believe. Dream with God a bit about what that looks like in your life. Give him the opportunity to live out his strategy through you.
I am patient
I am kind
I am not envious
I do not boast
I am not proud
I do not dishonor others
I am not self-seeking
I am not easily angered
I keep no record of wrongs
I do not delight in evil but rejoice with the truth
I always protect
I always trust
I always hope
I always persevere
I never fail in God
Where you go from here is between you and the Holy Spirit, enjoy the journey!
Clint and Sara Byars
Forward Ministries
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