How is that we have the smile of God?
“Father, Glorify Your Son…” Part 4
(John 17:4, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, February 28, 2010)
John 17:1-4 … "Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, 2 since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. 3 And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. 4 I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do.
Q: What is the first petition in Jesus’ prayer to the Father?
A: "Glorify your Son." (John 17:1)
Q: Father, what have you given Your Son concerning humanity?
A: "You have given Him authority over all flesh." (John 17:2)
Q: Heavenly Father, what is eternal life?
A: "That they know you.” (John 17:3)
Q: How did Jesus speak of His glorifying the Father on earth?
A: “I accomplished the work that you gave me to do.” (John 17:4)
How did Jesus know God?
You and I were created to know God. This is so much the case, that we are moving toward the absolute best experience that we could every enjoy, which is all about knowing the Father and the Son. That is why Jesus prays in the hearing of His disciples the words of John 17:3 that celebrate what heaven and eternal life are all about: “This is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” If you want to know what your destiny is as a person who believes in Jesus Christ, this is it: that you will know God forever, apparently in a very fulfilling and wonderful way.
Jesus led the way for us in this destiny by becoming man, and knowing the Father, both in the fullness of His divine nature and in His life as a true man. Jesus is both God and man. In His human nature, Jesus of Nazareth grew in His knowledge of God. At the end of Luke 2 we read about this. Luke says, “Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature, and in favor with God and man.” Hebrews 2:10 connects this way of spiritual growth for Jesus with our own growth. The author writes, “For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering.” Jesus the man grew through suffering. That was very fitting. Why? Because we also can grow through suffering. Growing through suffering... learning to love God and others in a world of suffering, this is one of thinking about your life. In your suffering, you can glorify God. (Consider various illustrations of care during the recent storm, and more ongoing acts of maintaining relationships with people you love.) In your suffering, you can glorify God. Jesus lead the way in this.
How did Jesus glorify God on earth?
At what is almost our Lord's final step on His way to the cross, He says in this prayer that He glorified the Father on earth. How did Jesus do that? The church has confessed certain things about the suffering of Jesus for centuries; that He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Piate, was crucified, died, and buried. When Jesus prayed this prayer recorded for us in John 17, He had not completed all these great things that we confess about His life and death on earth. He had not yet appeared before Pilate, been crucified, died, or been placed in a tomb. Yet He says, “I glorified you on earth.” What does this mean?
Jesus obeyed the Father. Jesus suffered. Jesus glorified God on earth. These things go together. Suffering is a test of our intention to do what is right at a cost. The fullness of obedience is necessary in order for God to be perfectly glorified through the life of any of His servants. Every other servant of the Lord prior to Jesus, had fallen short of the goal of perfect obedience, perfect suffering, perfectly glorifying God on earth, perfect humility, perfect gentleness, perfect love.
Moses was a great man. The Bible says this about him (Numbers 12:3): “Now the man Moses was very meek, more than all people who were on the face of the earth.” When he died, the people of Israel wept for thirty days. But this great man was not allowed to lead Israel into the Promised Land. In his frustration with the sinfulness of Israel in the wilderness, he rebelled against the Lord's instruction. He lashed out against them in a moment of anger, and did not honor God as holy in that one instant of trial. Moses did not fully glorify the Lord on earth.
That's part of the story of Moses. What about other great people. Job was the greatest of all the men in his time and place. God says that he was blameless and upright. But when God visits him in his suffering at the end of the book of Job, He asks Job question after question that no man could answer, firmly putting Job in His place. Job did not perfectly glorify the Lord on earth.
Moses, Job, all of us, cannot say this simple sweeping statement that Jesus says here. “I glorified you on earth,” without some very significant qualification. But Jesus did what Moses and Job could not do. He leads us into the real Promised Land above, and when the Father talks to Jesus, He does not ever have to put Him in His place. He never says to Him, “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?” He says these words instead: “This is My beloved Son in who I am well-pleased. Listen to Him.” Through the obedience of Jesus, His willingness to suffer, and His perfect life of glorifying God on earth, Moses, Job, you, and I were saved.
The art and discipline of accomplishing work on earth
Jesus glorified God on earth by accomplishing the work that the Father gave Him to do. It is not easy to accomplish anything on earth. I am amazed at and applaud almost any kind of achievement. It takes art and discipline to do something of beauty, and yet, in this world, beauty fades. (Story of our windshield repair, yet the whole car will one day be reduced to rubble.)
Jesus' God-given work on earth
There are many great plans that are never achieved. Where they are achieved, they are subject to seemingly unending delays and disappointments. Even the greatest success story that we can bring about is a part of a larger environment of decay, and ends up in the pile of what people may have accomplished but which their descendants have forgotten. But Jesus... He accomplished the work that the Father gave Him to do, and that will be remembered forever.
It was a very difficult work, and it had to be done perfectly. There could be no tolerance for error. For the cross of Christ to work for our salvation, the man on the cross had to be sinless. Even the slightest hint of real sin against the Law of God, and the cross would have just been the sad death of another man, a man with great intentions who could not accomplish the work that he set out to do. (See Luke 14:28-30) Consider the enormity of the fact that one man has actually accomplished something so great. He taught, healed, loved, and obeyed, and all without sin. As He prays this prayer, He is just about to do His greatest deed by far, His most excellent act of obedience. He will die for your life. And that is why we will know the Father and the Son.
The glory of an accomplished redemption – Consider the smile of God upon you, for Jesus' sake, and smile back at the God who loves you, and who calls you to know and love Him.
1. What does it mean for a person to glorify God on earth?
2. Is it a very difficult task to accomplish something of lasting significance?
3. What is the whole scope of the work of the Son of God?
4. What work did Jesus accomplish on earth and what is its lasting significance?
(John 17:4, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, February 28, 2010)
John 17:1-4 … "Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, 2 since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. 3 And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. 4 I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do.
Q: What is the first petition in Jesus’ prayer to the Father?
A: "Glorify your Son." (John 17:1)
Q: Father, what have you given Your Son concerning humanity?
A: "You have given Him authority over all flesh." (John 17:2)
Q: Heavenly Father, what is eternal life?
A: "That they know you.” (John 17:3)
Q: How did Jesus speak of His glorifying the Father on earth?
A: “I accomplished the work that you gave me to do.” (John 17:4)
How did Jesus know God?
You and I were created to know God. This is so much the case, that we are moving toward the absolute best experience that we could every enjoy, which is all about knowing the Father and the Son. That is why Jesus prays in the hearing of His disciples the words of John 17:3 that celebrate what heaven and eternal life are all about: “This is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” If you want to know what your destiny is as a person who believes in Jesus Christ, this is it: that you will know God forever, apparently in a very fulfilling and wonderful way.
Jesus led the way for us in this destiny by becoming man, and knowing the Father, both in the fullness of His divine nature and in His life as a true man. Jesus is both God and man. In His human nature, Jesus of Nazareth grew in His knowledge of God. At the end of Luke 2 we read about this. Luke says, “Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature, and in favor with God and man.” Hebrews 2:10 connects this way of spiritual growth for Jesus with our own growth. The author writes, “For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering.” Jesus the man grew through suffering. That was very fitting. Why? Because we also can grow through suffering. Growing through suffering... learning to love God and others in a world of suffering, this is one of thinking about your life. In your suffering, you can glorify God. (Consider various illustrations of care during the recent storm, and more ongoing acts of maintaining relationships with people you love.) In your suffering, you can glorify God. Jesus lead the way in this.
How did Jesus glorify God on earth?
At what is almost our Lord's final step on His way to the cross, He says in this prayer that He glorified the Father on earth. How did Jesus do that? The church has confessed certain things about the suffering of Jesus for centuries; that He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Piate, was crucified, died, and buried. When Jesus prayed this prayer recorded for us in John 17, He had not completed all these great things that we confess about His life and death on earth. He had not yet appeared before Pilate, been crucified, died, or been placed in a tomb. Yet He says, “I glorified you on earth.” What does this mean?
Jesus obeyed the Father. Jesus suffered. Jesus glorified God on earth. These things go together. Suffering is a test of our intention to do what is right at a cost. The fullness of obedience is necessary in order for God to be perfectly glorified through the life of any of His servants. Every other servant of the Lord prior to Jesus, had fallen short of the goal of perfect obedience, perfect suffering, perfectly glorifying God on earth, perfect humility, perfect gentleness, perfect love.
Moses was a great man. The Bible says this about him (Numbers 12:3): “Now the man Moses was very meek, more than all people who were on the face of the earth.” When he died, the people of Israel wept for thirty days. But this great man was not allowed to lead Israel into the Promised Land. In his frustration with the sinfulness of Israel in the wilderness, he rebelled against the Lord's instruction. He lashed out against them in a moment of anger, and did not honor God as holy in that one instant of trial. Moses did not fully glorify the Lord on earth.
That's part of the story of Moses. What about other great people. Job was the greatest of all the men in his time and place. God says that he was blameless and upright. But when God visits him in his suffering at the end of the book of Job, He asks Job question after question that no man could answer, firmly putting Job in His place. Job did not perfectly glorify the Lord on earth.
Moses, Job, all of us, cannot say this simple sweeping statement that Jesus says here. “I glorified you on earth,” without some very significant qualification. But Jesus did what Moses and Job could not do. He leads us into the real Promised Land above, and when the Father talks to Jesus, He does not ever have to put Him in His place. He never says to Him, “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?” He says these words instead: “This is My beloved Son in who I am well-pleased. Listen to Him.” Through the obedience of Jesus, His willingness to suffer, and His perfect life of glorifying God on earth, Moses, Job, you, and I were saved.
The art and discipline of accomplishing work on earth
Jesus glorified God on earth by accomplishing the work that the Father gave Him to do. It is not easy to accomplish anything on earth. I am amazed at and applaud almost any kind of achievement. It takes art and discipline to do something of beauty, and yet, in this world, beauty fades. (Story of our windshield repair, yet the whole car will one day be reduced to rubble.)
Jesus' God-given work on earth
There are many great plans that are never achieved. Where they are achieved, they are subject to seemingly unending delays and disappointments. Even the greatest success story that we can bring about is a part of a larger environment of decay, and ends up in the pile of what people may have accomplished but which their descendants have forgotten. But Jesus... He accomplished the work that the Father gave Him to do, and that will be remembered forever.
It was a very difficult work, and it had to be done perfectly. There could be no tolerance for error. For the cross of Christ to work for our salvation, the man on the cross had to be sinless. Even the slightest hint of real sin against the Law of God, and the cross would have just been the sad death of another man, a man with great intentions who could not accomplish the work that he set out to do. (See Luke 14:28-30) Consider the enormity of the fact that one man has actually accomplished something so great. He taught, healed, loved, and obeyed, and all without sin. As He prays this prayer, He is just about to do His greatest deed by far, His most excellent act of obedience. He will die for your life. And that is why we will know the Father and the Son.
The glory of an accomplished redemption – Consider the smile of God upon you, for Jesus' sake, and smile back at the God who loves you, and who calls you to know and love Him.
1. What does it mean for a person to glorify God on earth?
2. Is it a very difficult task to accomplish something of lasting significance?
3. What is the whole scope of the work of the Son of God?
4. What work did Jesus accomplish on earth and what is its lasting significance?
posted by Pastor Magee at 5:42 PM
<< Home