Set Apart and Different

“Now I am coming to you. I told them many things while I was with them in this world so they would be filled with my joy.” John 17:13 (NLT)

by Alexandra Copeland

In John 14:12(NLT), Jesus Christ proclaimed, “Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father."  He spoke these as he ministered to the disciples after the last supper. He had given them news of the events that were about to take place, and of course it was upsetting to them. I am always struck by the way in which Jesus delivered the truth. He did it with such compassion, and yet was straightforward with razor sharp clarity. The disciples were no doubt grappling with the notion of what life would be without the Master, but Jesus did not sugarcoat the truth. He needed them to snap out of unbelief and worry, and he used the truth to help them focus and prepare for the road ahead. 

What a valuable lesson this is. With pinpoint specificity, Jesus stretched them wide; not to the point of breaking, but enough to make them pliable for the work they were called to do. He told them that they would do even greater works than he had done. This was possible because of the gift of Holy Spirit that would empower them from the inside out.   

John 14 records the final hours of the life of Christ. Again, a few things had transpired. In a demonstration of amazing humility, Jesus had washed the feet of the disciples; Judas was identified as the betrayer, and the disciples were hearing words that they never wanted to hear. We have to remember that they had left everything to be with Jesus—their families, livelihoods, and way of life. They had walked and been taught by him for three years, and followed him wherever he went. Imagine it, they were with God in the flesh. Their eyes had witnessed extraordinary miracles, signs, and wonders. Through the hand of God, they saw Jesus cast out demons, turn water into wine, heal the sick, restore sight to the blind, cause the deaf to hear, and fed the multitudes with two fish and five loaves of bread; and this was just a small fraction of what he did during his ministry on earth. These men, the disciples, were not unique in any other way than the fact that Jesus chose them, and like us, they fell completely in love with him.  

They were not perfect, but they were loved unconditionally by Jesus. They could count on every word he spoke, because he always spoke the truth. He always spoke God’s Word to them, and it is the truth of the Word of God that transformed their lives. In John 17:14 (NLT), Jesus said, “I have given them your word. And the world hates them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world.” The Word set the disciples apart, and just as people hated Jesus without a cause, they levied this same hate towards the disciples.  

In society today, everyone wants to be like everyone else. People run from the label of being different. Even Christians do this. They don’t want to be set apart for Jesus Christ and to stand for the truth of God’s Word. They are so willing to compromise and turn a deaf ear to it.  

Proverbs 25:26 (NLT) warns, “If the godly give in to the wicked, it’s like polluting a fountain or muddying a spring.” When a fountain or a spring is polluted, you can no longer drink from it. It has lost the ability to nourish and quench the thirst of those looking to drink. It is no longer useful for its purpose. We should never allow this to happen to us; it’s not who we are as God’s elect. He has called us with a holy calling, and set us apart from the world to be His very own. We recognized the light shone by our Lord and Savior, and wanted it. Others have refused it.  

Yes, like the disciples, we are called to be set apart and different. We see this in Ephesians 5:25-27 (NLT), where God is speaking to us through the Apostle Paul regarding the standard of a marital relationship. He said, “25 For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her 26 to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word. 27 He did this to present her to himself as a glorious church without a spot or wrinkle or any other blemish. Instead, she will be holy and without fault.” A wife should honor her husband, and Ephesians 5:25 tells us that a husband should honor and love his wife just as Christ loves the church. He gave his life so that we would be set apart from the world and sanctified by the truth of God’s Word.  

A woman is so cherished by a man that he singles her out to be his wife. He chooses her and should be willing to make sacrifices because of the pattern and example of love that Christ has etched in stone. Were it not for the example of Christ, we wouldn’t have this tremendous standard as a benchmark for marriage, but because of the love of God in Christ, we do. Jesus Christ dotted every ‘I’ and crossed every ‘T’. He left nothing undone so that our sins would be crucified with him on the cross. He finished everything that the law required as payment for sin, all for our sakes. And through the Holy Spirit that indwells us, Christ has prepared us fully to continue the ministry and work that he began in the earth.  

In John 17:13 (NLT), Jesus Christ prayed, “Now I am coming to you. I told them many things while I was with them in this world so they would be filled with my joy.” He knew what was coming. He knew that he would leave the disciples, and that they were going to miss him terribly. They had spent so much time with him, and their hearts would ache at the thought of what he would endure on the cross, but he had fulfilled the purpose of God. Of course his heart was sad to leave them, but in spite of the suffering they would endure, they would be filled with joy because Jesus had given them the Word. Because of this, he knew they would move forth in his authority and power. 

Heavenly Father tells us in 2 Corinthians 6:14-16 The Message (MSG), “Don’t become partners with those who reject God. How can you make a partnership out of right and wrong? That’s not partnership; that’s war. Is light best friends with dark? Does Christ go strolling with the Devil? Do trust and mistrust hold hands? Who would think of setting up pagan idols in God’s holy Temple? But that is exactly what we are, each of us a temple in whom God lives.” We must remember that it is a blessing to be set apart for our God. We may be tempted in our daily lives to be like the world, and to accept its standards, but we must resist. We are a holy people, and we are His temple. His truth has transformed our lives, and like the disciples, we are called to be set apart and different. ■

Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.