John 17 - What Should We Do in the World?


Click Here to Read John 17

 13 “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. 14 I have given them your word and the world has hated them,for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. 15 My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. 17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. 19 For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.

 Chapter 17 showcases Jesus' last prayer before he went back to be with the Father.  Notice he says he is going back to the Father who he was with before the world began.  This is another way John is teaching about the divinity of Jesus.  This is consistent with John 1 where it says, "In the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God and was God."  We know that Jesus was the pre-existent Word. Later in John 1 it says, "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us full of grace and truth."

 Now as Jesus returns to the Father, he prays for the disciples and all believers. His prayer is that those He has given by the Father will be protected in the world. As the world hated Jesus, Jesus knows the world will hate his followers.  The world is everything that is set up against the knowledge of God, and ruled by Satan. The bible says in that the god of this world has blinded the minds of unbelivers. In 2 Corinthians 4, "The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.  But Jesus knows that being a believer will bring its challenges.  So Jesus prays that his word will strengthen them.  

 The "word" is the revelation Jesus gave the disciples about the nature of God.  Jesus did not make up the word, and it did not originate with him.  He passed on what the Father had given him, which was everything we needed to know about God.  The word is the truth about God and the truth about us and our need for a Savior.  The world is full of lies which are fomented by the "evil one", who hates the truth, especially the truth about his destiny and eventual defeat.  But until Jesus returns, the evil one will control the values and behaviors in the world.  We can see every night when we watch the news who is in charge of the world.  We shouldn't surprised when we see murder and immorality of every type.  This has been present since Jesus left the earth and will be here until he returns.

 But Jesus closes with a challenge.  Though the world will be run by and filled with evil, Christians are not to try and escape the world. We are not to hide out in the church, or in our holy huddles. While we are still in the world, God wants to use us to draw others to himself.  How? By being like those in the world?  No.  By being sanctified by the truth that sets us apart.  As someone has said, "Believers should be in the world but not of the world." 

 Where are you attempted to conform to the desires of this world? How might it prevent you from being set apart to draw others to Christ?  Remember Jesus called you and set you apart and has given you the Holy Spirit to help you live the life you have always wanted and the one He wants for you!    

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