John 17: 24
As our High Priest, this chapter records Jesus' High Priestly prayer.
Father, I desire that they also, whom You have give Me, be with Me where I am ...
Jesus came to this Earth as a Man to with us where we are, here. Now He wants us to be with Him where He is. This is why He came.
Heaven where God lives is Perfect. If He could let anything live there that has the least shadow of a stain of sin, then eventually it would get as bad as it is here. That's why He sent His Son.
So we need to be perfect to live with God in Heaven. The only way we can be perfect is to let the Blood of Christ splashed on His altar, the Cross, to wash us clean, pristine, as though we'd never sinned. To do that, He must be our personal Sacrifice, individually; to let Him take our place in death. Then He will give us Life.
He will wash us clean, and place His own Holy Spirit in our spirit to make it alive, as the deposit on the eventual Redemption that is now paid for. That Redemption will change our corporeal bodies into spiritual bodies, and we will be perfect, inside and out. (See I Corinthians 15:35-58.)
Then we will be fit to live with Him everywhere He is; in Heaven, on this Earth while He reigns, and in the New Heaven and New Earth where we'll reign with Him forever. This is just incredible to me!
O my Father, Your Love for me and for all of Your Creation has had You send Your own Son to be our Savior and Redeemer. So that Your own Blood, the Blood of God, was shed to purchase us and all You have made, to make us new; the old is passed away and all things have become new!
You are God, and everything You do is with a purpose. Nothing You do is vanity, it is all good and is part of Your great Plan of the Ages, that You planned out before You even started to create. You had us all in mind from the beginning, and You are sovereign in Your authority over us all. There is nothing I can do to have You love me less, or more. You are Love, our standard for recognizing what is love. You are Beauty, and You have put Your beauty everywhere, in everything and in everyone You made.
Father, teach me to worship You every day with everything I do. I don't want to wait until I am in Your presence to continually worship; You are here with me all the time already. Keep me focused on Your goodness and beauty all around me, giving You all the credit and honor and glory for it all.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
