Christ prays, "That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me." There it is. As the Father lives in the Son and the Son in the Father in a perfect donation of self, in an act of love which is the Holy Spirit, so too may the followers of Christ live in God and He in them.
On the strength of this Our Savior continues, "Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am..." Where I am. We know where this is, in heaven, we celebrated the Feast of the Ascension on Thursday, and so in the strength of our union with Christ we pray:
O God, the King of glory, who hast exalted thine only Son Jesus Christ with great triumph unto thy kingdom in heaven: We beseech thee, leave us not comfortless, but send to us thine Holy Ghost to comfort us, and exalt us unto the same place whither our Savior Christ is gone before; who liveth and reigneth with thee and the same Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen.
Exalt us unto the same place whither our Savior Christ is gone before. Yes indeed and in the affirmation ask, was Christ's prayer answered? Yes, it was.
God bless you all,
LSP
This made me ponder the Holy Trinity for a while, and I think I'm starting to understand it more.
ReplyDeleteGod, Our Father, is in Heaven. Always has been, always will be.
He sent his only Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, to be in our Earthly presence to teach us and show us The Way.
The Holy Ghost stays here on Earth, among us, and hopefully within us, to serve as our "guide" in this realm.
Very simplistic and child-like, I know, but isn't there a quote about "You must be as children"?
Oh, well....it's a small personal beginning to understanding it all. I don't think I ever will understand it all, but it's a comfort to me to grasp small bits of it. Thanks for the sermon, Parson. Sometimes the short ones are more meaningful than the long ones.....
drjim, I was moved by that.
ReplyDeleteLet's clarify, as Christians we live, in the power of the Spirit and by grace in Christ. In the strength of that union we ascend with him to heaven.
Such glory!
Bless you.
I agree. Thank you for this, Parson. And thank you for your blessing.
ReplyDeleteGod bless you all, as well.
We need all of the blessings that we can get, LSP. In this life and in the life to come.
ReplyDeleteAin't that the truth, LL.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Linda, I appreciate that.
ReplyDelete