John 17:6.2 "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.”
The disciples belonged to God, and were given to Jesus, and so are all those who believe in Jesus and keep His word given to the disciples by Jesus.
Here’s how John understood Jesus. 1 John 4:6. “We are from God; he who knows God listens to us; he who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.”
Here’s how the apostle Paul was taught by Jesus. Ephesians 1:3-6. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.”
Before the world was, God the Father and the Son, chose a people out of the world to share their glory, for their glory. In His prayer to His Father, Jesus recalls to mind, the original plan, for Him to manifest His Father’s name to those who were given to the Him by the Father. And who are those who belonged to the Father and were given to Jesus? All those who keep Jesus’ word. Hear the word of the Lord. Believe in Jesus and love with Him in His name for His glory. Are you one of those chosen and beloved of God? I hope so.
Acknowledgment: Music from “Carried by the Father” by Eric Terlizzi. www.ericterlizzi.com
