Fulfilling His Fellowship

Fulfilling His Fellowship

Read: John 17:6-12

“Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name—the name you gave me— so that they may be one as we are one.”

John 17:11

“The soul that is united with God is feared by the devil as though it were God Himself.”

—St. John of the Cross

IN WORD “The Name” of God is the holiest and most sacred of all words, especially in the Jewish context of Jesus’ ministry. There is an inexpressible reverence for His name that we often fail to appreciate in a culture that incorporates the Deity into common slang. This inherent reverence exists because of the awesome power of the Person it invokes. There is nothing more mysterious, more feared, more awe-inspiring than “The Name” of the living, eternal God.

Jesus’ request for the unity of His disciples is backed by the power of “The Name.” This is no casual request. Just as our prayers that end with “in Jesus’ name” carry a force we can scarcely comprehend, Jesus’ desire for our union with one another invokes a power that is unmatched. The name of God solemnly seals this unity. It is done.

This is no common unity, either. We are united as one just as the Father and Son are one! The level of our spiritual bond compares to that of the Trinity!

No wonder, then, that the enemy of God has spent centuries trying to spoil the unity of the church. He cannot succeed, of course. But he can create the illusion that there is no real fellowship in the body of Christ, and he can provoke arguments among the body’s members. That we allow him to do so indicates our lack of understanding of the Lord’s intercession in John 17. We permit the appearance of divisions where we cannot in fact be divided. The body of Christ is an organic whole. It cannot be truly separated.

IN DEED The unity of true believers has never really been at stake in all of church history. What has been at stake is whether we behave as if we are united. We are one in Christ—that is reality. Do we act as one in Christ? Pray that our churches would reflect the spiritual reality of the body of believers. And then live with that oneness in mind.