“And the glory which you have given me I have given them, that they may be one even as we are one. I in them, and you in me, that they may be perfected into one, that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.”
The glory of Jesus was ‘full of grace and truth' (John 1:14). It was a glory of compassion and mercifulness, and above all of truth concerning God. This He has sought to pass on to His own. As they are absorbed in the truth revealed in His word, concentrating on the central themes of God and redemption, and understanding and appreciating more of the character of God, and as they become more and more aware of God's free unmerited grace and love, and of their privilege to enjoy, and responsibility to manifest, that love, so they will be one in humility and awe. Having received grace (undeserved, unmerited favour) and truth they will be full of grace and truth. They will have received His glory. But let them depart from these and they will be divided.
But there is more than that to be included. Jesus spoke in John 17:5 of ‘the glory which I had with you before the world was'. It is true that this glory could never be fully communicated to His own, especially while they were on earth, but it is at least partly given to them for He is given to them, and they will be able to enjoy it to the full capacity of which they are able, while on earth, and to an even greater capacity in Heaven. They will be able to bask in the ethical and spiritual glory of Jesus both now and then as they are changed from glory into glory by the Spirit of the Lord (2 Corinthians 3:18) and behold and reflect that glory in their lives. And the glory in 2 Corinthians was referring to the full glory of God as seen by Moses on the Mount. Now we see it as though in a first century mirror, distorted but real. One day we will see it as it is. And then we will experience it to our fullest capacity, for He has given it to us in full measure. We ‘will be like Him, for we will see Him as He is' (1 John 2:2).
Jesus then goes on to make clear that Christians are introduced into a fellowship of love and truth that is almost beyond comprehension. It is a unity caused by His indwelling in them and the Father's indwelling in Him. They are made ‘partakers of the divine nature' (2 Peter 1:4). They are united with His own body (1 Corinthians 12:12 ff). But as He has made clear it is a unity based on truth (John 17:17-19). Once so-called Christians begin to diverge from the central truths in the word of God they no longer share in that unity but have become mere philosophers, borrowing Christian truth for their own purposes and destroying the central nature of truth. And the only test we have is the word of God.
But we must be careful to distinguish truth from our interpretations of truth. That the Holy Spirit was given and is experienced in the church is a central truth, how He particularly works in detail is an interpretation of truth. That Christ is coming in one way or another at the end of time is a central truth. The details of that coming are interpretations of truth. And so we could go on. Now we see in a distorted mirror (1 Corinthians 13:12). Let us therefore beware of dogmatic arguments about that of which we cannot be certain, while holding firmly to that of which we can be certain.
By uniting in truth we will be perfected into one, and nothing will disturb that oneness. Thus will the world know that Christ came from the Father and that the Father loves His people as He loved His Son, for they will be brothers in Christ.
‘I in them, and you in me.' This unity is grounded in a oneness with the indwelling Christ Who is Himself one with the Father.
‘That they may be perfected into one.' God's essential purpose is in the uniting and bringing together into harmony with Himself of all things (Colossians 1:20; Romans 8:18-23; Acts 3:21; Ephesians 1:10), the removal of all that causes dissension in creation, and His longing is that this be first accomplished in His people so that they will enjoy ‘the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace' (Ephesians 4:3). Then will the world know that Jesus was sent by God, and that the people of God are loved by God equally with His love for His Son.