(tm) Day 9

I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine. (John 17:9)

Here again we behold the massive wall God has established between His elect and the peoples of the world. Christ is not praying for the world. One would think the plight of the masses would have been weighing on the heart of Christ—and no doubt it was.

But the solution to the problems of the world will be found only in the mature and unified Church. Therefore the emphasis of the past two thousand years should have been (and has been, from God’s point of view) on the building of the Body of Christ.

The churches are determined to save the world. God is determined to perfect the Church. The churches are putting the cart ahead of the horse.

Two thousand years ago Christ prayed for our perfection, and He still is making intercession for us in the Presence of God.

Christ is concerned about us because we are being made an integral part of Himself. As we are brought to maturity and unity it is He Himself who is being brought to maturity and unity, because we are the fullness of Him who is destined to fill the heavens and the earth.

As soon as the members of the Body of Christ have been brought to maturity and unity the world will believe Christ indeed has come from God. The elect already know Christ has come from God. The world will believe as soon as the Church has been perfected in Christ.

Today the peoples of the world are suffering injustice as those who rule over them rob them, cheat them, abuse them, murder them. When the Lord Jesus returns He will bring justice and righteousness to the nations, ruling over them in and with His saints.

Christ does not pray for the world but for those whom the Father has given to Him. Christ prays for the elect whether they are Jews or Gentiles by physical birth. The elect are called from among mankind to belong to God in a peculiar way. The elect are the light of the world, the salt of the earth.

It is not that Christ does not care for all the peoples of the earth. In fact it is the peoples of the earth, the nations, who are the inheritance of the Lord Jesus and also of the coheirs. But the nations cannot be reaped until the elect, who are the firstfruits to God from the earth, have been gathered into the barn.