3.3 Perfected in One
© 2016 Christ Revealed Bible Institute
The Kingdom of God is formed by Jesus’ words in and out from symmorphy. Let’s have the entire text in front of our eyes (John 17:20-23).
I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; 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.
And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: 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.
Two Sentences
Notice that these lines are just two sentences. Both sentences begin with an action of Jesus that causes specific conditions to happen; both sentences end with a specific effect on the world, first believing, then knowing – God.
I pray for them –>. Note that the line immediately following “I do not pray for these alone” ensures that we KNOW that everything Jesus says regarding His disciples applies fully to us – we belong! Yet we can remove the negative and state this as Jesus’ action – I pray.
I give My glory to them –>.
Jesus Is Speaking of Us
THAT –> they all may be one. THAT –> they may be one. The only difference is the first “all”; again that you and I might KNOW that Jesus is speaking of us.
What we are doing first is looking closely at what Jesus said and how He said it. We must know His words first in order for those words to become Life in us. In both instances, saying it only in a slightly different way, Jesus defines for us exactly what He means by “one.”
As –> You, Father, are in Me, and I in You. Just as –> We are one: I in them, and You in Me.
Cause and Effect
Then, having defined exactly what He means by “one,” Jesus repeats the effect produced by His cause. THAT –> they also may be one in Us. THAT –> they may be made perfect in one.
Finally, Jesus states the effect, the impact, the full and complete result that our being “one” has on the world. THAT –> the world may believe that You sent Me. THAT –> the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me. The first witness produces believing in the world; the second witness produces knowing in the world.
Two Witnesses Required
Why did Jesus repeat Himself, speaking essentially the same thing twice, going through a complete rendition of His words each time? It is through these words that the new creation, the Kingdom of God, comes into existence. God establishes everything out of the mouth of two or three witnesses – evidence – proof! By speaking twice, Jesus established the Kingdom entirely inside the full legal requirements of God. More than that, we will see that Jesus, being the first witness of Christ, was not sufficient for the Kingdom to appear outwardly; God requires a second witness of Christ – that’s us.
Minor Differences
I do not think that Jesus was establishing a “higher level” of reality for us in His second utterance of these words; I think that establishing a second witness was His primary purpose. For that reason, and in looking at the words, I do not see any purpose in attempting to discover some “mysterious difference” between these two utterances.
One difference is the two levels of effect on the world, from believing by the first witness to knowing by the second. We will look at the effect on the world in the first lesson of the next session, however; here we want to know symmorphy. Another difference is Jesus’ action, but we will combine these two lines as a side-by-side utterance, spoken twice into us.
The Cause of the Kingdom
Let’s return to the cause of the Kingdom. I pray for them. I give My glory (received from You, Father) to them.
Although “the big bang” is not supported by the theory of an electrical universe, it is still a useful picture for us. Think of the mighty explosion of the Word of His Power out from which the first creation came into appearance. We are looking at the same thing – only a billion, trillion, gazillion times bigger and more powerful.
We are simply and must be totally overwhelmed at the POWER found in these words: “I pray.” “I give.”
“I”
I pray for them. – I give My glory to them. We are free by the rules of grammar to order the English words in translation as I have them here, rather than as the New King James places them. I, the subject, act upon, the verb, them, the object.
Thus we see that the first part of the New Creation is “I,” the Lord Jesus Christ as every Word God speaks. We are created anew entirely inside of Jesus. In Session 5, Christ as Word, we will develop more specifically what this means out from the perspective of the Kingdom. Then we must look at “them” – that’s us, you and me. We must place ourselves inside this explosion.
“Them”
Picture ALL of the power generating the present creation, not just the physical, all the galaxies, but also the spiritual, all the realms of all the heavens. Now, multiply that power far beyond. That’s the explosion out of “the cannon’s mouth.” And there is you and me, immediately in front of all that explosion of power, face on.
Do you think the impact on us might be a bit definite? That you may KNOW. . . what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power . . . (Ephesians 1:18-19).
Covenant and Jeopardy
When I was “selecting” the “ten” most important verses in the Bible, I chose Hebrews 10:19-22 for two reasons. First, I have long known the critical place Hebrews 10 holds in the Covenant, with those four verses the core of that place, and second because that one sentence is the most significant line containing the Blood of Jesus and its effect on us.
At the same time, I selected Hebrews 3:6/14 because I had long known it to be the strongest statement of our jeopardy in the New Testament, AND because of how important to me, personally, my discovery of what keeps us in Christ following that gigantic IF – Confidence.
BUT – when I looked at the Greek words, I discovered that I had picked the same core word, found in both – parrhēsía.
Boldness and Confidence
Parrhēsía (boldness, confidence): the freedom to speak boldly, especially IN the day of judgment (1 John 4:17).
Although my brain asked, “Hey, did I pick a repetition of the same thing?” my heart did not agree. And thus I have been pondering this distinction ever since. Boldness is our entrance into all the Heart of God; Confidence is our going forth revealing that Heart to all. I plan to build Session 8, The Resurrection, on that word, confidence.
I KNOW the importance of these two words in the definition of our lives – how else could we dare to stand before such a mighty blast of POWER blowing over us?
Simple Words
I pray for them. – Mediator – Hebrews 10:19-22, our boldness, our connection to Father. I give My glory to them. – Love poured out – Hebrews 3:6/14, our confidence, our setting of creation free.
Erōtōperi (I pray for): eroto– I ask, I request, I pray (connoting a special relationship between the one asking and the one being asked); peri– about, concerning, all around, on every side (as in perimeter or periscope). Dedōka (didomi) (I give to): to give; I give, I place, I bestow.
Simple words – “pray for” and “give to” are the best choices for the Greek. These are absolutes. Nothing can exist for us outside of the absolute reality in these simple words.
Two Actions of Jesus
The first word, ask/pray, is directed to the Father for us. The second word, give, gives – the very glory of Jesus with the Father before the world was – entirely to us, as our very own possession. “Ask/pray” and “give” are simple words, yes, but in attempting to define the word “give,” Webster’s 1926 uses an entire large page of three-column fine print. And out from these two actions of Jesus proceeds all that is the Kingdom of God, and it proceeds THROUGH the recipients of Jesus’ words, you and me. Thus we will use these two action verbs and their definitions as the foundation of upcoming sessions on the Kingdom.
Absolute Effect
The direct, immediate, and absolute effect of Jesus’ action towards and upon us, however, is that we ARE one. We do not place this reality into any past or future tense; rather, our being one is continuous, all here now, proceeding always out of these all here now actions of Jesus and returning instantaneously to the Father in a constant cycle of life.
I read people talking about “oneness,” sort of like “Hey, bro, everything’s cool, everything’s one,” oneness this and oneness that. My apologies, but I do not connect. Mostly because the Persons of Father and Son are missing, which means, also, that you and I as persons are also missing. Such “oneness” is an impersonal collective blob. Not for me.
Blasphemy
Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is One! (Deuteronomy 6:4).
Jesus defines for us exactly what He means by “one,” and in doing so, Jesus is speaking the greatest blasphemy ever imagined by the mind of man. We must have our boldness and our confidence clear, because we will never stand with Jesus unless we are willing to stand entirely inside His blasphemy.
Of truth, these words of Jesus’ here are a greater blasphemy than the crime for which He was executed that same day. If the Sanhedrin at Jesus’ trial had known He had spoken these words, just six hours earlier, they would have ripped Him apart right then, in spite of the Romans or Moses’ law.
Symmorphy
One AS –> You, Father are in Me and I in You. One JUST AS –> We are one: I in them and You in Me. Father in Me and I in Father – I in them and Father in Me.
Paul invented a word specifically to describe this divine relationship, this relationship inside of God – symmorphy. I am writing this lesson, however, before I write the lessons defining Symmorphy in Symmorphy II: Essence because I know that I must know this prayer of Jesus first. Person inside of Person inside of persons. Two sharing the same form inside of many sharing the same form with them. “One” is Persons together in all ways as one.
Just As
These two sentences spoken by Jesus are in the list of the “just as” verses in the New Testament, the very frequent command of God to us – “Be just like God.”
Kathōs (as, just as): just as, as; according to the manner in which, in the degree that, just as, as. From kata, “according to, down to the finest exact details,” and hos, “as compared to, to the extent of”; corresponding to fully and exactly (Thayer).
Jesus is doing two very specific things in these utterances towards us. Of truth, I am beginning to see a slight difference of focus between these two sentences. The first is inward, Covenant; the second is outward, Kingdom.
Covenant and Kingdom
First, in asking the Father, Jesus places you and me entirely inside the relationship of Father and Son, inside of God, You in me and I in You. And second, in giving us His glory, Jesus is placing you and me into the same relationship together as one body, I in them and You in Me.
The first line is Covenant, our fellowship and place inside the Symmorphy of Father and Son, one IN Us. The second line is Kingdom, our fellowship together as the revelation of Father in Christ through symmorphy with us, made perfect, perfect IN one.
Since this course is Kingdom, let’s look more closely at perfect in one.
Perfect in One
Teteleiōmenoi - eis - hen (perfected in one): teleioó – to bring to an end, to complete, to perfect; I complete, I finish, I accomplish, I make perfect. Eis – penetration into and within for a purpose. Hen (heis) – one, the primary number.
I learned something as I created the topical index for Symmorphy I: Purpose. Four words were too frequent to place in the index: God, Jesus, Christ, and Spirit. But beyond those four, what do you think were the most frequent words in the entire course? Father – and – together.
Father Is Family
Father is family. Father is all about being together. Kingdom is family. Kingdom is all about being together. Church is family. Church is all about being together. Church by Father; Father being Himself – the Kingdom of God.
Many who teach union with Christ present it as a passive reality. We are one – so what, it just is, live your life as you wish, makes no difference. What is, is, and we are one. I see that union with Christ is, for some, just a door; once inside the door, then, too often, I hear them speak separation. God does what God does, others do what others do, everything is “one” in a passive and static way.
No Passivity
I don’t mean to be offensive to anyone, but union with God is no passivity to me. Whatever God is doing, I am doing. Whatever I am doing, God is doing. Union with God is riding together with Father on the cherubs of heaven with the winds of the universe blowing through our hair. Union with God is my active fellowship inside the very communion of the Godhead. Union with God is not God working all things together for good; union with God is Father and I together, made one person through the Lord Jesus Christ, making all things good.
Loving One Another
And union together as one Body of Christ, the revelation of Father, is, to me, brethren walking together in love, working together, fellowshipping together, loving one another with a pure heart fervently. Union together is you and me, being made perfect together as one, in all the realities of life on this planet, you and me, committed to one another by the very bond of Christ.
Made perfect in one is you and I together setting creation free. – That the world may believe – That the world may know – “My, how those Christians love one another.”