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| Jesus Christ prayed for us. |
Did you know that before he was led away to be crucified, Jesus prayed to his father for you and me? It was after he prayed for his disciples, who had the enormous and monumental task of remaining committed to their calling, that Jesus then prayed for us. His disciples were to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ on a speaking circuit that could have no other ending than that of a painful and humiliating death. Whom else did Jesus go on to think of as he finished his supplications for those who were fingered by God to wear the great mantle of propagating the Gospel? He thought of the ones who would take to heart the words that his disciples would speak.
He thought of you and I, knowing that the world would continue on for an undetermined length of time. He did not know when he would be returning to launch the reestablishment of the new heaven and the new earth. He had no idea of the appointed time to begin the abolishing of the regime of Satan and his army of fallen angels. Only his father knew the appointed day and time. He knew that we would need all of the grace and help from his father that we could receive. His compassion, foreknowledge and wisdom led him to stand in the gap for you and me, to serve as a proxy in prayer at the throne of God, to for a moment not think of what he was about to endure, but to pray for our strength in a corrupt and dying world.
These are the words, that John recorded, that Jesus spoke to God the Father on our behalf:
20 "I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word;
21 that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.
22 And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one:
23 I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.
24 Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.
25 O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me.
26 And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them."
(John 17:20-26 NKJV-New King James Version)
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| The Jesus Christ then is the same Christ that we honor today. |
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Scripture References: BibleStudyTools
Images:
- "Jesus Christ prayed for us," Pixabay Free Images
- "The Jesus Christ then is the same Christ that we honor today," ©SJHolland, acrylic and collage painting