3.2 In the Womb
3.2 In the Womb
They were Yours; You gave them to Me (verse 6). Father possesses us. Father gives us to Jesus. Here am I, I and the children whom You have given Me.
Think of that. You and I belonged to the Father BEFORE we belonged to Jesus. Think of the time before you were born again. You already were fully the possession of Father. Father could not have given you to Jesus except you first were, entirely, His. Pro-Knowing – the reality, the substance of all things inside the Heart of the Father, always all and everywhere. I exist inside God’s Heart before, always before, every moment I am in this world.
Called by Name. Yet before you and I came into the possession of Jesus, we were in the old creation, in the kingdom of darkness. Jesus received us from Father when He called us by name out of that old and into Himself, there, in Gethsemane. Yet we were not yet conceived in our mother’s womb. You and I were called by name out of the kingdom of darkness and into the kingdom of the Son of His love BEFORE we were in the kingdom of darkness. You and I were inside of Jesus before we were inside this world and in need of a Savior.
You see, time is no master; time is simply a servant, an outward expression of the eternal.
We Don’t Belong Here. But right now we are in the womb, in the womb of creation and in the womb of the church. The womb, the world hates us. You and I are misfits; we have not found any belonging anywhere we have tried, either in the world or in the church. We don’t belong here, and we know that. Yet we look out across the earth and we KNOW that it belongs to us, that those claiming possession over it are imposters. And we know that all the peoples of the earth also belong to us.
Ask of Me, and I will give You the nations for Your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for Your possession (Psalm 2:8).
For Her Sake. You see that last line? I had no idea it would be in this lesson until it forced its way onto the page. Why? Because this is not about us. We are in labor, in the travail of God, that the new creation might become the reality of everyone. We are for her, for all who belong to Jesus, and for all the creation of God.
And thus we turn to the labor, to the formation of Christ in which we are engaged, knowing that we are setting creation free. And we keep ever in mind this great contradiction, that the world that HATES us also eagerly waits for our coming forth.
I Pray. I pray for them. – Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given me, that they may be one as We are (verse 11). “One” will be in the next lesson; here we are concerned with KEEP and SANCTIFY. I pray (CAUSE) –> (EFFECT) that You should keep them from the evil one (verse 15).
In this prayer, Jesus commands obedience of the Father three times. Then, a few hours later, Jesus commanded obedience of the Father a fourth time. Glorify Me – Keep them – Sanctify them – Forgive them.
The Obedience of Father. Again, there is no past tense isolation in God; with Father and Son, all things are always now and everywhere. Jesus is always speaking, Glorify Me – Keep them – Sanctify them – Forgive them; the Father is always fulfilling Jesus’ words. The “glorify Me” is always fulfilled inside the “keep and sanctify them.” I am glorified in them (verse 10).
The speaking of Jesus is absolute; the obedience of Father in fulfilling Jesus’ words is constant, total, and ongoing. You and I are KEPT, and we are KEPT in two directions. We are KEPT in (Greek en) Father’s name and we are KEPT out of (Greek ek) the evil one.
To Keep
Téreó(to keep): to watch over, to guard; I keep, I guard, I watch over.
The English word, “keep,” is so much closer to the Father’s meaning, however.
“The keep was the inner citadel inside a castle, the place where all found safety when the outer walls of the castle were breached. The keep was the heart of the castle, the place where the Lord of the castle dwelt, where his treasure was kept” (from Symmorphy I: Purpose).
The keep is the heart where the treasure is watched over; the keep is the center of protection against all that opposes.
A Personal Decision. I pray for them – that You would keep them IN Your name.
We must make a decision, our own, personal decision, once and for all. When Jesus prays, does the Father – is the Father always answering His prayer? Is the prayer of Jesus effective? The truth is, most of our brethren believe that Jesus’ prayer is not effective, not for us in this world, that’s part of why they avoid this chapter.
We base our personal decision to count these words of Jesus, this prayer, as our only reality, entirely on the seventh most important verse in the Bible, CONFIDENCE, the source of our resurrection (coming up in Session 8).
Kept IN. I pray for them – that You would keep them IN Your name.
To be kept IN the Father’s name is to be kept IN the Father’s Heart, IN the center and core of His being, IN the entirety of His character and reputation. Pro-knowing, because it has been translated “foreknowledge” can impart a sense of “back then and not now.” But consider these words – these things I speak in the world (cause) that –>(effect) My joy might be fulfilled in them.
It is the picture of Jesus, of His words, as the alternating current, the frequency going back and forth between our hearts and Father’s Heart at the speed of light – that is our knowing, His JOY fulfilled in us.
Kept OUT OF. Keep them from (out of) the evil one. The entire context of this line is critical.
I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one (verses 14 & 15).
The world is our place of travail. We are not kept “away from” the evil one; we are KEPT as we walk in the midst of the evil one and all of his works and all of the hatred of this world against us. We walk, every moment, in the knowledge that we are KEPT!
Our Sense of Utter Kept-ness. This is why we speak Christ our only life against the face of all accusation. It is this sense of utter kept-ness that we walk in, according to our faith, our willing acceptance that Jesus speaks our ONLY reality – that is the place our resurrection is birthed.
And they led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city was built, that they might throw Him down over the cliff. Then passing through the midst of them, He went His way Luke 4:29-30).
Practice, practice, practice KNOWING that you are KEPT utterly inside the Heart of Father, KEPT every moment out of the evil one, that you might walk in CONFIDENCE.
For Their Sakes. Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. For their sakes I sanctify Myself (cause), à (effect)that they also may be sanctified by the truth (verses 16-18).
For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified (Hebrews 10:14).
For their sakes I sanctify Myself – For their sakes I sanctify Myself – For their sakes I sanctify Myself. Let these words go all through us, that they might be the rock of our lives, the foundation of every step we take and every breath we breathe.
To Sanctify
Hagiazó (to sanctify): to make holy, to consecrate, to sanctify; I make holy, I treat as holy, I set apart as holy, I sanctify, I hallow, I purify.
The Father KNOWS that we cannot sanctify ourselves. Jesus KNOWS that we cannot sanctify ourselves. It’s time that we, also, KNOW what They already know.
For their sakes, for their sakes, for their sakes, I sanctify Myself. Here is a good moment to pause and let the tears run down your face. That they also may be sanctified by the truth.
Truth. Your Word is Truth.
“Lord Jesus, let me never give to those who belong to You doctrinal facts over which to conjecture, but only YOU, the living Lord Jesus, filling their hearts with Your glory, that they might know You.”
This is the travail of God, that we would know Jesus Sent. This is the setting of creation free, that we are sent in the exact same way. As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.
Alétheia (truth): that which is real, the substance of all things. Sustaining all things by the Word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins (Hebrews 3:3).
My Heart. So we have this picture of ourselves. Here is my heart, the place that IS me. My mind is “out there,” my emotions are “out there,” my choosing is “out there,” but I am not “out there,” I am here, my very heart. And in this heart that IS me, IS the Lord Jesus Christ in all that He is, utterly with me. And inside this Lord Jesus utterly in here in me is the Father, is the Father’s heart.
And this Lord Jesus, as the alternating current, is traveling back and forth (in picture) at the speed of light, that is, continuously, utterly binding Father’s Heart together with my heart as the only TRUTH there is.
A Bubble of Kept-ness. Oh, how we walk every moment in a BUBBLE of kept-ness, utterly purified, utterly devoted to God. Yet we walk in this world that hates us. Yet we walk as the Sending of the Lord Jesus Christ.
We walk as One; we walk as Jesus Sent. We walk KEPT. And the fierce JOY of Jesus is fulfilled, made full and complete, inside of us. This is our travail; this is our birthing into the full light of day – for her sake. This is how we set creation free.