Michele: 0:00

Hey friends, it's Michele. Welcome back to New Creation Meditations. Today I want to give a quick shout out to my friend Melissa. Melissa and I met in grad school in 1999, 25 years ago now and we met on the first day of orientation in the rotunda of witnesses in the Billy Graham Center of Wheaton College, and she was freezing cold and she's probably still cold as she's listening to this. Now, I don't know how many of you listening to this have had the privilege of having a 25-year friendship, but let me tell you we have been there for each other through thick and thin, through the great times, the hard times, all the times, and there's just nothing else like a long friendship. So shout out to you, Melissa. I know you're listening to this and I love you.

Michele: 0:55

So the verse that I want us to talk about today is John 14, verse 20, which says this: "in that day, you will know that I am in my Father and you are in me and I am in you. Now. This is Jesus speaking to his disciples and if you read the whole context, the whole chapter, he's talking about the day when he has defeated death, resurrected from the dead, and the Holy Spirit has come upon the church. So the day that he's speaking of was in their future, but it's in our past. This means that everything Jesus is talking about right here in this verse is available to you and to me right now. So when Jesus is saying in that day, you can hear that as him saying in this day, in here in now, right now, where you are living. He says, "you will know. So there's a knowledge, there's an understanding that he wants you to get here. So in this day, he wants us to know that he is united with his Father. He says, "I am in my Father, so they are united, they are one. One of the most important and foundational things that we need to know in our life in Christ is that Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are continually and always united. They are three distinct personalities with three distinct functions, but they are always and continually united. They have never been separated.

Michele: 2:36

There is a common teaching that the Father turned his back on Jesus on the cross because Jesus cried out "my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? But the Father had not separated himself or turned his back or forsaken Jesus on the cross. In that moment, Jesus was quoting Psalm 22. And if you look at Psalm 22, the first line says "my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

Michele: 3:08

In those days, people would have had the Psalms memorized, and so if you spoke out the first line of a Psalm, it would trigger their memory to remember the entire Psalm. It's as if I were to say "here she comes just a- walking down the street singing." You know exactly what's coming next. So by quoting that first line, Jesus is triggering the memories of everyone standing there. And now they have Psalm 22 running through their minds. And what is Psalm 22 about? It's about the crucifixion of this coming King. And now they're realizing, 'Whoa. This is happening before our very eyes. Right now!'

Michele: 3:50

Jesus wanted everyone there to catch the significance of this moment in time. And, by the way, I know that this might challenge some of y'all's thinking. I know it challenged my thinking and my theology when I first learned it. It was definitely a was head-exploding moment. But sometimes it's good to have our thinking challenged and have our theology challenged a little bit, because sometimes what we were taught in church might not be right, and you're powerful to disagree, and guess what. We can stay friends!

Michele: 4:24

So back to our verse. "In that day you will know that I am in my Father. So Jesus is in the Father, the Father is in Jesus. They are united. And then he says the most mind blowing part of the verse. He says "and you are in me and I am in you. So this part, "you are in me.

Michele: 4:51

It's easy for us to picture ourselves kind of like a drop in the ocean of God, where we kind of get lost and enfolded into him and almost lose ourselves. But the very next part of the verse says "and I am in you, so you do not disappear in this equation. The uniqueness of who you are is preserved. So, even though we are all made in the image and likeness of God, we all bring something unique to the table. We all have our own distinction and Jesus is honoring that in this verse. So you carry a unique aspect of God's character that can only be put on display by you. So you are in him and he is in you and you are in union with him forever, and that is good news.

Michele: 5:54

So let's meditate on the beauty of this truth. Go ahead and close your eyes, if you can, and take a deep breath in and let it out. And take another deep breath in and let it out. In that day, you will know that I am in my Father and you are in me and I am in you. Place your hand on your heart and say to Jesus, "I am in you and you are in me. We are one. And one more time Jesus, I am in you and you are in me. We are one."

Michele: 7:18

The God of the universe has chosen and has delighted in uniting himself with you. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are in union with each other forever and it was their great delight to enfold you into that union. The Father is in you and you are in the Father. The Son is in you and you are in the Son. The Holy Spirit is in you and you are in the Holy Spirit. And if you ever start to feel distance or separation or like God isn't there, I want you to come back to this meditation and remind yourself that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, who are all in union in a beautiful community, have made it their great delight to be in union with you. Thanks for joining me today and I'll see you next time.