John 17:18 says, “As You sent Me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.” God sent Jesus into the world to put the heart and character of the Father on display; to seek and save the lost; to work towards the ultimate restoring of all things; to do great works testifying to the coming hope of salvation in Him; to prophesy; to seek out the cross; to suffer and give of Himself, so that through His suffering many would be made whole, and through His poverty many would be made rich. As the Father sent Jesus, so Jesus has sent us.
The next verse says, “And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.” Literally, “And for their sake I set myself apart, that they also may be set apart in truth.” (John 17:19) It was never in us to consecrate ourselves or set ourselves apart to God. The life that Jesus lived in the flesh He lived to make us holy, to consecrate us, to set us apart by His perfect obedience. It was all for us that He lived a holy life, so that we could be called holy, not by works that we have done, but by works that He has done, which He willed to us when He gave His life as an offering for sin on the cross. We are God’s holy people, and through the acceptance provided by the finished work of Jesus, we are transformed so that our character aligns with our identity.
Andrew Micah 