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Have you ever wondered why Jesus prayed in His High Priestly Prayer in John 17 for the unity of all true believers? Is it mainly for our own benefit, or does it somehow serve God?
While unity among Christians can be a great blessing for them and is surely pleasing to God, Jesus Himself makes clear that He desires this unity mainly for the benefit of the watching world. Twice Jesus asks the Father that all believers may be one, and in both cases, He clearly states the reason that He asks for this. We read this in John 17:21, where Jesus asks that all who will believe in Him may be one, “so that the world may believe that you have sent me.”
A community of people from all different walks of life bound together by a bond of love will cause this world to realize that something supernatural is going on. And if this group testifies that what brings them together is Jesus Christ, the Son of God, people will not be able to ignore that this Jesus must be more than a mere man. He must indeed be the One whom God the Father has sent.
In verse 23, the Lord Jesus says even more when He prays for all Christians “that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.”
God has poured out His love into our hearts through the Holy Spirit (Rom. 5:5), and this love from the Father should be evident in the lives of believers. It is the supernatural love that unites God the Father and the Son with all Christians throughout the world.
Just before Jesus prayed to the Father for true spiritual unity among all believers, He gave a new commandment to those who believe in Him:
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34–35)
Brothers and sisters in Christ, true Christian unity is not optional. It is a commandment, and it is something that can be lived out only in the power of the Holy Spirit. That being the case, this unity will not go unnoticed. When we as Christians are truly one, as God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ are one, the world will know that Jesus is truly the Savior of the world. The world will know that the Father has sent His Son and that His love is powerful.
So let us join our Lord in His prayer. Let us pray that our heavenly Father will enable us to be truly one in spirit with all those who are truly His children through faith. May this be our united testimony in a world that doesn’t know true love and unity and that so desperately needs Christ.