Live to Love Scripture Encouragement

John 17:25 "O righteous Father, although the world has not known You, yet I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me;”
In Hebrews 1:8-9 we read, “But of the Son, He (God) says, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, and the righteous scepter is the scepter of His kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness, therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness above your companions.” Why does the Son love righteousness? Because He knows the Father and knows that He loves righteousness. How did the disciples know God sent Jesus? Because He was anointed by God with the Holy Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit is love, which is what righteousness looks like in relationships.
Let’s tie this verse to the previous verses so we can get the line of reason in Jesus’ mind. He has prayed that the world would know that God sent Him by the unifying power of the love of God dwelling in them as Jesus abides in them. In this verse, He again brings the unknowing, the ignorant world into the Father’s view. In Jesus’ mind is the heart of the Father to display to the world they have created His great love and glory. It all hinges on this small group of men and women whom the Father gave to Him. They know that God sent Jesus into the world. How did they know this? And more personally, do you know that God sent Jesus into the world? Tomorrow, in the last verse of John 17 we will see how they knew and believed in Jesus. If you can’t wait, go on and look at John 17:26. However, if you like suspense. Wait for it! We will rejoice tomorrow in the amazing words of Jesus as He closes His prayer with His Father.

Acknowledgment: Music from “Carried by the Father” by Eric Terlizzi. www.ericterlizzi.com

John 17:24 “Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.”
Can you imagine the Father, God, not giving His Son what He asks for? If an earthly evil father would give his son what he asks for, how much more would the heavenly Father give Jesus what He asks for. Jesus asks the Father for what would be our highest good which would also be the Son’s highest good, which would also be the Father’s highest good. He asks with confidence for the Father’s will to be done because Jesus always asks according to God’s will. Jesus desires for us, who have been given to Him, who believe and receive Jesus’ words as from God, to be with Him in heaven forever. That’s wonderful in and of itself. What a privilege! What an adventure! What a hope we have in Jesus!
There’s more! He desires us to be with Him with the Father, so we can see His glory given to Him by the Father. His glory is revealed in the love that existed between them before the world was created. Get ready for it! We are going to see this glory, the love of God, with our own eyes! We will feel it to the depths of our being. It will transform us, fill us, and explode among us.
The apostle Paul knew this to be true. He wrote to the Colossians. “Christ in you, the hope of glory!” (Col. 1:27) and “For in Him all the fullness of deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete” (2:9-10). All of the history of the world is moving to this one great finale. “For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it” (Rom. 8:24-25). So what are we waiting for? We are eagerly waiting for the Father to give Jesus what He desires. His bride with Him before the Father in heaven enjoying the glory of God.

Acknowledgment: Music from “Carried by the Father” by Eric Terlizzi. www.ericterlizzi.com

John 17:23.2 “I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me.”
Okay, can it get any more incredible and wonderful that this: That I am loved with the same love with which the Father loves His Son, Jesus? Let’s not miss this great truth. He doesn’t love us based on how we make Him feel. His love isn’t a responsive or reactionary love. God chooses to love. His love is the sustained direction of His will toward the highest good of another no matter what the cost. His is a steadfast love. Unwavering. Unending. Unlimited. Undefiled. He always acted in His Son’s best interest and highest good for His glory. That is the love that the world needs to see expressed in the church—Jesus’ body. The world needs to see that the Father was abiding in the Son and the Son was abiding in the Father. How will they see that unity? They will see it as believers abide in Jesus and He abides in them and His love. That love is the love of the Father for Him and them. It will be seen as that love overcomes every possible threat that living in this world throws at them or between them. Our testimony in this dark world is this: Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus, therefore, nothing can separate us from each other. We are living to love with Jesus. He lives! We love!

Acknowledgment: Music from “Carried by the Father” by Eric Terlizzi. www.ericterlizzi.com

John 17:23 “I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me.”
The world needs to see that God loves us with the same love that He has for His Son. How is that love known? It is known by the life of Jesus dwelling in us and loving through us in the same way that the life of the Father dwelt in and loved through Jesus. Do you realize how glorious this is?! The indwelling life of Jesus, who is the revelation of the love of God, has united all believers perfectly. It’s another way of saying that the love of Jesus is enough to satisfy our souls. Nothing can be added to make us more unified. Our love for each other is our glory. It is the glory of God for the glory of God.
This is precisely why we must not allow anything to divide us. If we allow anything to divide us, we take God’s name in vain. We bring shame upon His name. We provide a stumbling block to the world. For whatever that thing is—an opinion, a perspective, a value, a belief, a preference—whatever it is, it makes a mockery of the love of God revealed in Jesus and screams that the love of Jesus is a sham. A professing believer in Jesus Christ, cancelling, rejecting, and refusing to love another professing believer declares to the world that the idea that God sent His Son, who is love, to live in the hearts of men so they can reveal His love is not only a lie, but a gross, malicious deception. It preaches that Jesus was a liar and an imposter.
Have you allowed anything to separate you from another believer in Jesus Christ? Have you rejected the perfect bond of unity—the love of God for us all in and through His Son? Have you forgiven others like you have been forgiven by God on the basis of Jesus’ death for you? For God’s glory and Jesus’ name sake, drop whatever it is that you are holding on to, other than Jesus’ name and glory, and give the world a taste and testimony of the love and glory of God. Forgive and love your brother! Open wide your heart to him. Give him a place in your heart like Jesus gives you a place in His heart—a place of peace provided by His love. God wants them to know that He sent Jesus into the world and that He lives.

Acknowledgment: Music from “Carried by the Father” by Eric Terlizzi. www.ericterlizzi.com

John 17:22 “The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one;”
What is the glory that the Father gave the Son that He gave to us so we can be one as they are one? We find the answer two verses later when Jesus said, “so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. The love the Father gave to His Son is the love that the Son gave to us so that we may be one as they are one. In John 15:9 Jesus blessed His disciples saying, “Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you, abide in my love.” Since we know that Jesus didn’t do anything apart from His Father, we know that it was the Father’s plan and command for Jesus to love us as He is loved by His Father.
Living to love with Jesus flows out of the love Jesus has for us, and that love flows out of the Father’s love for His Son and us. This love is the light in a world that has no enduring bond of unity. You can tell those who are His because they love the brethren, wrote John in his first letter in 3:14, “We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death.” And in 2:9-10. “The one who says he is in the Light and yet hates his brother is in the darkness until now. The one who loves his brother abides in the Light and there is no cause for stumbling in him.”
As Jesus loves us and we love others, the glory of God rests upon us. So when we love in Jesus’ name, we are manifesting the glory of God to the world. That is our chief end. To glorify God and enjoy Him forever.

Acknowledgment: Music from “Carried by the Father” by Eric Terlizzi. www.ericterlizzi.com