Christ Sanctified Himself for Me

[Thompson, Darryl]

Christ Sanctified Himself for Me

     As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them
into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also
might be sanctified through the truth. John 17:18, 19  

     Christ declared He sanctified Himself, that we also might be
sanctified. He took upon Himself our nature, and became a faultless
pattern for men. He made no mistake, that we also might become victors,
and enter into His kingdom as overcomers. He prayed that we might be
sanctified through the truth. What is truth? He declared, "Thy word is
truth." His disciples were to be sanctified through obedience to the
truth. He says, "Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which
shall believe on Me through their word." That prayer was for us; we have
believed in the testimony of the disciples of Christ. He prays that His
disciples may be one, even as He and the Father are one; and this unity
of believers is to be as testimony to the world that He has sent us, and
that we bear the evidence of His grace.  

     We are to be brought into a sacred nearness with the world's
Redeemer. We are to be one with Christ as He is one with the Father.
What a wonderful change the people of God experience in coming into
unity with the Son of God! We are to have our tastes, inclinations,
ambitions, and passions all subdued, and brought into harmony with the
mind and spirit of Christ. This is the very work that the Lord is
willing to do for those who believe in Him. Our life and deportment are
to have a molding power in the world. The spirit of Christ is to have a
controlling influence over the life of His followers, so that they will
speak and act like Jesus. Christ says, "The glory which thou gavest Me I
have given them." ...  

     The grace of Christ is to work a wonderful transformation in the
life and character of its receiver; and if we are truly the disciples of
Christ, the world will see that divine power has done something for us;
for while we are in the world, we shall not be of it. 

>From My Life Today - Page 252