It feels really good to write again. I know I don't write very well, but I enjoy it so much. It's even more enjoyable when I'm actually writing and not typing. Lol Well lets get into this verse(s) from John 17:22. Jesus says, "
John 17:20-24 (ESV)
20 “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, 23 I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. 24 Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.
Yes.. this is the famous high priestly prayer and as I'm reading John 17 I run into verse 22: It says "
The glory that you have given me
I have given to them,
that they may be one even as we are one..." I'm thinking what? Hold up! Jesus just said he gave us glory. What glory? hahaha so I decided to look up some commentary. And I unashamedly looked up John Calvin's commentary about this verse to gain some more insight. (By the way he is not infallible, but he's a great teacher of the word of God).
John Calvin writes:
And I have given to them the glory which thou gavest to me. Let it be observed here, that, while a pattern of perfect happiness was exhibited in Christ, he had nothing that belonged peculiarly to himself, but rather was rich, in order to enrich those who believed in him. Our happiness lies in having the image of God restored and formed anew in us, which was defaced by sin. Christ is not only the lively image of God, in so far as he is the eternal Word of God. but even on his human nature, which he has in common with us, the likeness of the glory of the Father has been engraved, so as to form his members to the resemblance of it.
Paul also teaches us this, that
we all, with unveiled face, by beholding THE GLORY OF GOD, are changed into the same image,(2 Corinthians 3:18.) Hence it follows, that no one ought to be reckoned among the disciples of Christ, unless we perceive the glory of God impressed on him, as with a seal, by the likeness of Christ.
Did you get that? I didn't the first time I read it, but what intrigued me the most was 2 Corinthians 3:18, so I looked up the verse. "And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit." What? This is amazing. Did you miss it? Let me add some verses:
2 Corinthians 3: 12-18: 12 Since we have such a hope, we are very bold,
13not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end.
14But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away.
15Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts.
16But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed.
17Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
18And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
I thought this to be so amazing. I don't fully understand it, but it seems that because of Christ I am now being exposed to this glory that is revealed through the word by the Holy Spirit so that I may reflect Christ's glory.
But I'm not done yet if you keep reading John Calvin's commentary on John 17:23 you will see something even more amazing:
23. I
in them, and thou in me; for he intends to teach that in him dwells all fullness of blessings, and that what was concealed in God is now manifested in him, that he may impart it to his people, as the water, flowing from the fountain by various channels, waters the fields on all sides. And hast loved them, [126] He means that it is a very striking exhibition, and a very excellent pledge, of the love of God towards believers, which the world is compelled to feel, whether it will or not, when the Holy Spirit dwelling in them sends forth the rays of righteousness and holiness.
There are innumerable other ways, indeed, in which God daily testifies his fatherly love towards us, but the mark of adoption is justly preferred to them all. He likewise adds, and hast loved them, As Thou Hast Loved Me. By these words he intended to point out the cause and origin of the love; for the particle as, means because, and the words, As thou hast loved me, mean, Because thou hast loved me; for to Christ alone belongs the title of Well-beloved, (
Matthew 3:17;
Matthew 17:5.)
Besides, that love which the heavenly Father bears towards the Head is extended to all the members, so that he loves none but in Christ.
Yet this gives rise to some appearance of contradiction; for Christ, as we have seen elsewhere [127] declares that the unspeakable love of God towards the world was the reason why he gave his only-begotten Son, (
John 3:16.)
If the cause must go before the effect, we infer that God the Father loved men apart from Christ; that is, before he was appointed to be the Redeemer. I reply, in that, and similar passages, love denotes the mercy with which God was moved towards unworthy persons, and even towards his enemies, before he reconciled them to himself. It is, indeed, a wonderful goodness of God, and inconceivable by the human mind, that, exercising benevolence towards men whom he could not but hate, he removed the cause of the hatred, that there might be no obstruction to his love. And, indeed, Paul informs us that there are two ways in which we are loved in Christ;
first, because the Father chose us in him before the creation of the world,
(
Ephesians 1:4;)
and, secondly, because in Christ God hath reconciled us to himself, and hath showed that he is gracious to us, (
Romans 5:10.) Thus we are at the same time the enemies and the friends of God, until, atonement having been made for our sins, we are restored to favor with God. But when we are justified by faith, it is then, properly, that we begin to be loved by God, as children by a father. That love by which Christ was appointed to be the person, in whom we should be fiercly chosen before we were born, and while we were still ruined in Adam, is hidden in the breast of God, and far exceeds the capacity of the human mind.
True, no man will ever feel that God is gracious to him, unless he perceives that God is pacified in Christ. But as all relish for the love of God vanishes when Christ is taken away, so we may safely conclude that, since by faith we are ingrafted into his body, there is no danger of our falling from the love of God; for this foundation cannot be overturned, that we are loved, because the Father hath loved his Son. [128]
Beautiful right?
Well, as closing, God has given us glory in the sense of He is changing us into the image of Christ/ changing us from glory to glory. Here is it again:
20 “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, 23 I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. 24 Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.
Grace and Peace
