Together in Christ: 'One Before Creation!' — John17:5

Thursday, February 1, 2024

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[Jesus prayed,] "Now, Father, bring me into the glory we shared before the world began."

— John17:5 NLT

Key Thought

Jesus emphasized that He and the Father are one. Jesus told people that those who saw Him were seeing God. [1] In Jesus' prayer shortly before His death, He wanted His closest followers to hear that this oneness and this identity He shared with God had always existed and always will. Jesus is the great "I AM" that came to us in human flesh to reveal God to us. [2]

Why is this important?

There are many reasons, practical and theological, for recognizing that Jesus on earth was Immanuel, God with us! [3] For this year-long focus on holy relationships, Jesus' oneness with the Father is essential for at least three reasons:

  1. Jesus showed us how much God loves us and all He will do to help us. [4]
  2. Jesus' oneness with God affirms again what Genesis chapters 1 and 2 emphasize to us: God always lives in the relationship of Father, Son, and Spirit, and God made us in His image for us to live in relationships. [5]
  3. Jesus wants us to share and experience God — Father, Son, and Spirit — in our lives with the same oneness that He shared with the Father when He was on the earth and has shared for all eternity. [6] The Lord wants us to know that once we are His true followers, we are never alone. God comes to live with us and in us and makes His home with us. [7]

Bottom line: We are not created to live life alone, so God chooses to be with us. We learn to build relationships with others from our relationship with God and based upon God's example and teaching. Because God has always existed in a relationship as Father, Son, and Spirit, He wants to fill our lives with relationships that are meaningful and eternal and are a blessing to us and others.

[1] John 1:18, 5:18, 10:30, 14:7, 9-11, 17:1.
[2] John 1:12-18, 6:35, 41, 48, 51, 8:12, 58, 10:7, 9, 11, 14, 11:25, 14:6, 15:1, 5. In these "I AM" statements, Jesus was identifying Himself with God's name in Exodus 3:14.
[3] Matthew 1:23.
[4] John 3:16; Romans 5:6-11; 1 John 3:16-18, 4:7-12.
[5] Genesis 1:26-27, 2:18.
[6] John 17:21-23.
[7] John 14:14-23.

Today's Prayer

Almighty God, we believe you have eternally existed as the great "I AM" as You proclaimed:

"I am the Alpha and the Omega — the beginning and the end ... the one who is, who always was, and who is still to come — the Almighty One." [A]

We believe that You have adopted us as Your children and You have "sent the Spirit of [Your] Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, 'Abba, Father.'" [B] Thank you for inviting us into this relationship with You and all You are. Bless me, please, as I seek to live out my identity as a person made for relationships created in Your image. Empower me, dear Father, to live with love toward others guided by Your Spirit to be like Jesus. [C] Amen.

[A] Revelation 1:8:
[B] Galatians 4:6.
[C] 2 Corinthians 3:18; Romans 5:5.

Related Scripture Readings

  • Genesis 1:1-2, 26-27, 2:18
  • John 1:1-18

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Illustration

Illustration of John17:5 NLT — [Jesus prayed,] "Now, Father, bring me into the glory we shared before the world began."

About This Devotional

Together in Christ is a daily devotional that focuses on what Scripture teaches about godly living in relationships.

'Together in Christ' is written by Phil Ware.

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2007, 2013, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

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