John 10:17 – The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life…[1]
The Lord began to speak to me from this Scripture a number of days ago revealing the personhood of God in it. As human beings reading this scripture, it is easy to see this as a functional statement. The older brother in the prodigal son’s story only saw function and not the personhood of his father or the fullness of the relationship between them. Jesus is not loved here simply because He is fulfilling a function. Instead, He is loved because He fulfills a function as a result of being alive to His Father.
When the word is made flesh, the Son’s appearing makes clear that God is Father. In sharing in our humanity, God is also confirmed as the Father to a human family. To add to this, in atoning for this family’s sin, we are, like Jesus, made alive to God (Father/Son/Spirit).
So the reason for the love of Father for Son is not in the function of laying down His life but in being alive to all that God is. He is in His Father and His Father in Him (Jn 17:21-23) and He is perfectly united in will and purpose. He is the fulfillment of sonship, the realization of a family called by the Father’s name and the full revelation of God to all creation.
Our life in Christ has made us alive to God and in the same way drawn us into this relationship that is far above function. Instead we are children of the living God in one body, under one Lord, of one spirit through whom the manifold wisdom of God is to be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realm according to God’s eternal purpose accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord (Eph 3:10,11; Eph 4:4)
The following prophetic revelation was given to me over two days with a part of it coming through a fellow pastor in Canning Vale, Nicholas Lockwood. It speaks of the life of Christ that we share and the revelation of the love of the Father for those who have life in Christ.
A vision
During a prayer meeting with the saints at Living Way where I pastor, I saw a land under some inches of water and the cross standing tall. As I looked the cross began to be laid down upon the land and left a deep imprint. This cross had many mirrors all over it, end to end covering its entirety. Then this part ended.
Following it was a picture of a small cross packaged in a type of cover – like a bible cover. The cross was very visible but there was a sense of it being ready to travel with.
The next morning, I was praying with Nicholas and this vision returned quite strongly but unlike the night before, I began to understand it and felt that I needed to share it. As I did Nicholas was very surprised and shared that he had just seen a mirror. He was standing in front of it and as he looked, he saw a dim, somewhat poor reflection of Jesus. He was then shown the back of the mirror where there was glory being poured in constantly. He was reminded to 2 Cor 3:18 – And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.[2]
Interpretation
Living Water – Is 35, Ps 84 and Joel 2 are all Old Testament (OT) scriptures speaking of the Holy Spirit coming to a people waiting with hope and desire. In the New Testament, Jesus speaks to his disciples and makes the statement that they who are evil give good gifts to their children so how much more will the Father in heaven give the Spirit to those who ask (Lk 11:13). Having walked with Jesus, he later told them to wait for the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:4). In Romans 8:32, having described life by the Spirit, Paul asks whether he who did not spare his own son, would somehow spare them anything.
These passages are in no way exhaustive on the topic but point to a number of issues which I think relevant to this day and age. First, the OT scriptures always speaks of a communal waiting which would lead to a transformation of the land. When Ezekiel has his vision of the valley of dry bones, the word comes to cause the bones to stand together and begin to have the tendons and sinews but it is the breath of the spirit which causes any kind of being one army, one body alive (Eze 37). Second, there is a doubt in man’s heart about God’s character in giving this good gift which the word given must cleanse men’s hearts from. Third, those who remained with and in Christ had their bodies cleansed by the word and finally their feet cleansed (prior to Christ sanctifying himself for their sake –Jn 17:19) before they were told to wait together. This didn’t apply to all (and in essence didn’t need to) but to those who heard. The book of Acts is the life of one body alive by the Spirit.
I believe that the vision alludes to a land where there is an overflow of the Spirit like that because of a cleansed, waiting people and an empowerment for the ministry and witness that will follow.
Mirrors end to end – It was when Nicholas shared what he saw that I understood these individual parts. Each mirror represents individual believers beholding the glory of God. As they behold His glory, they are changed from glory to glory. This of course does not leave us individuals (and this can be applied to individual churches too). Beholding the glory of God will always bring us face to face with the Trinitarian God in complete unity. The unity of Jn 17 is not natural or optional. Instead Christ has given us glory to be of one heart and one mind (Jn 17:22) whereas division speaks of our shame (Ichabod).
1 Peter 2:4-10 speaks of living stones being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. [3] It speaks of a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.[4] The mirrors do not remain apart but are fitly joined together in this way.
One of the sentences that I read on Tom White’s website which has remained with me is “think globally, act locally”. This picture of course is applied in the local church, however at another level, it seems hypocritical for me as a pastor to call my flock to seeing the body if I cannot recognize the greater body which forms part of the Kingdom of God. There is glory given to the children of God to forsake the suspicion with which we judge different expressions. A people acting out of this suspicion fail to behold the glory of God or to follow Him into this impossible walk of seeing walls of division pulled down whether it is locally or globally. Somehow according to His grace and for the sake of His glory, Jesus has given gifts to men in his ascension to represent and minister his Lordship, salvation and supremacy over all creation (Eph 4). There is a call for the parts to recognize the body and to see and prayerfully contribute what glory is upon them for the sake of the glory of the whole and of the Lord. This calls for reverent submission.
Shaped by the cross – In his book, the crucified God, Jurgen Moltmann speaks of the church shaped by the cross of Christ. In this vision, the mirrors are joined together but their fellowship is in the shape of the cross.
Heb 10:5 says, “Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said: “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me.” [5] In being alive to His Father as mentioned in the introduction, Jesus, in fearless love, hands his whole life over for the fulfillment of the Father’s purpose and for the sake of His self-revelation (Jn 14:30). It is this intimate relationship that the body of Christ now shares in being raised up with Jesus.
In chapter 4 of the first epistle of John, we are told to rely on God’s love, who without reciprocation sent His son as an atoning sacrifice for us (v10ff). The scripture continues from verse 17 saying “This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. [6]18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. 19 We love because he first loved us. [7]” This love of God which we rely on casts out fear and suspicion because it is neither self-serving nor self-preserving and is completely free of wrath/punishment. Instead it is freely given and produces in us the same grace-filled love, in utter reliance on God for the end. This is the shape of the cross.
There is much competition, insecurity, control and striving which plagues relationships among believers and ministers and can affect the practice of walking together. This points to reliance on the glory of men rather than a sight of Christ. The ascension gifts given by Christ have a particular glory to represent His Lordship. This was never given to build organizations with mere human goals that need preserving but it is a grace given for the sake of a living and loving body alone (Eph 4). The cross speaks always of the wisdom and power of God void of men’s ways (1 Cor 1:24).
Freedom comes in the form of seeing God’s glory and knowing the wisdom of the words of John the Baptist when he said in Jn 3:27 “A person can receive only what is given them from heaven.[8]”. If I cannot be more than I am, then I cannot be less. This is useful because it deals with needing to protect my turf or needing to be less for the sake of the insecure (I do not mean this arrogantly or to ignore that people have different levels of faith that must be approached and nurtured wisely). Both these situations would be dealt with if we would join Christ in his passion. We would simply be vessels instead of the main event aiming to make something happen. Then we would carry a treasure in jars of clay, at peace with the fact that this glory is from God and not at all from men (2 Cor 4:7).
An imprint in the land – I believe that this is speaking primarily about the impact that a people so shaped by the hand of God will have. There is much said and done for the sake of impacting the world around us. After all, Jesus did say that all authority had been given to him and that he was sending his apostles to make disciples of all nations (Matt 28:19). We are told that a city on a hill cannot be hidden. (Matt 5:14) Often what we cannot agree upon is the key ingredient for impact. What exactly makes the children of God salt that hasn’t lost their saltiness? (Lk 14:34) Jesus seems to focus on something that demands a fair bit of faith to believe for, pray into and surrender ourselves to.
Jn13:35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”[9]
Jn 17:20-26 … 20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—23 I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. 24 “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. 25 “Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. 26 I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”[10]
The impact on the world according to these scriptures is because of their love for one another. This love, however, is the very love of God that makes God one. Jesus here says that He has given his disciples (another qualifier worth thinking about) the glory for this oneness of God. The impact on the world is clear – they will believe that Jesus came from the Father and is not just another historically significant figure and they will believe that these united believers are loved by the Father.
I believe that these words of Jesus are greatly relevant to being disciples of Jesus in a world of human kingdoms where other goals govern life. This even challenges the goals of our believing and ministering. Ishmaels made in the image of men are constant sources of suffering for children of the promise and there are many Ishmaels. But for the children of the promise, is this promise something worth waiting on God for and surrendering ourselves to? Or are there other goals? Is this the way that we will see the hearts of the fathers turned to the children and the children to the fathers before the great and dreadful day of the Lord? (Mal 4:6)
Cross in a travel pack
The last part of the vision is about the cross in the travel pack. I believe this speaks of the message of the gospel being carried.
According to this vision, it is a united body whose fellowship is in the shape of the cross living by the Spirit who will leave an imprint in the land. This sounds very much like the early church. Not only were they of one heart and one mind and had all things in common (Acts 2:44,45; Acts 4:32) but God was in their midst adding to their number daily, they had no needy people among them, miraculous signs were among them and despite being highly regarded people did not dare join them. (Acts 2-5) That is a fair impact. However, the immediate result of the persecution of the church in Jerusalem in Acts 8ff is worth noting. The gospel was preached all over by a people who had experienced the glory of complete unity (Trinitarian community) and become willing proclaimers (Acts 11:19-21).
I believe that is the meaning of the cross in a travel pack. A people formed in this type of community of faith would live beyond function. They would have shared in the life of Jesus and in His image would forever lay down their lives to proclaim it.
Conclusion
The reason that the Father loves the son is that Jesus is living in complete unity with His Father while on earth and lays down his life as a result. For us who live in Christ and do not pursue a life separated from Him, a glory is given to come to complete unity because we share the complete unity of the Godhead in our life with Christ. This will look like a chosen people, a holy nation, a royal priesthood who with Jesus as the head will, as one man, reflect the Trinitarian God to a world in darkness. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Its light penetrates into darkness and this, purposefully.
My prayer is that we would dare to look beyond function and believe God for Jesus’ high priestly prayer for the body of Christ.
20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—23 I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”[11]