Gospel of John - Glorify Your Name

       

Glorify Your Name

John 17:1-5

There is no prayer more awe-inspiring than when the parents are praying over their family, a pastor is praying over the flock that God has given him, or a missionary over the people he has been sent to with the gospel of Jesus. The intimacy of these prayers are beyond the needs of the body, but of the intimacy of the heart, soul, and eternity. 

They have been given great duty and authority from God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit, for all those whom they love, and have given them responsibility for.

In the next three lessons, we will be looking at Jesus’ prayer as he is praying over all that the Father had given him. Let’s look at the first portion of the text, “After saying all these things, Jesus looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son so he can give glory back to you. For you have given him authority over everyone. He gives eternal life to each one you have given him. 

Jesus has finished his discourse: the reassuring words of love, comfort, and encouragement, the promise of the coming of the Holy Spirit, and the exhortation to the disciples who finally believe who the Father and the Son are, to stay faithful and abide in his words through the approaching days. 

Now Jesus begins his prayer by asking the Father to glorify his Son in his last hours in the world. Jesus’ focus was on his Father, for he knew his time was nearing for him to finish the work that God the Father had given him to do. Jesus asked for the Father’s glory to continue to rest on the Son. He wanted to finish the task of bringing salvation to the lost world, restoring the lost intimate communion of God with his creation by defeating the devil, hell, and death. Jesus always cherished that intimate relationship with the Father. Jesus’ prayer was “a confession of Jesus’ love for God, Jesus’ trust in God, and Jesus’ respect for God. Jesus’ love relationship with God was absolute, undiminished by any shred of doubt. Jesus believed his Father loved him and was with him and would be with him to the end.” Ron Ward, “GLORIFY YOUR SON, THAT YOUR SON MAY GLORIFY YOU.”

 So Jesus lifts up and glorifies the Father so that the Father will again glorify the Son whose greatest desire was to bring back honor and restore the glory of God's name and his love for His creation. Jesus needed God’s glory, strength, and wisdom in this sacrificial act of God’s love for mankind, and he knew that God would give whatever Jesus needed and asked.

Application - I don't know how many of you feel inadequate when you are praying over those you have been given charge from God. We have the Holy Spirit who powerfully dwells within each believer. He prays for our needs according to the will of God because he knows the mind of God (Rom. 8:26-27). Through the Holy Spirit, he gives us the boldness to enter into the holiest place with confidence, and with the grace of God through the Son, we can pray with conviction, trust and assurity that when we are asking God to glorify himself over us and our families, friends, fellow believers, and all those who believe in the Father and the Son in the world for salvation, provision, and protection, he hears us. Even Jesus knew the need of the Father’s glory, power, and strength in fulfilling God’s will, purpose, and plan, and he knew what he asked for, he received.

Jesus knew that at the heart of God’s will, God the Father desired intimate communion with his creation, and it came through his Son.

Next, Jesus plainly states the way to eternal life again to his disciples. Let’s look at the next portion of the text, “And this is the way to have eternal life—to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth.”

Jesus again exhorts his disciples on eternal life. Jesus had told them through parables: the net of fish (Matt.13:47-52), analogies: the rich young man (Mk. 10:17-21), and even through miracles; the feeding of the five thousand (Jn.6:1-14,25-59) the reality of eternal life.

Earlier, Jesus had told them “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known Me, you would know My Father as well. From now on you do know Him and have seen Him.” (Jn.14:6-7) He told them plainly that to receive eternal life, you can only know God the Father through the Son, and this came by (believe, trust, and having complete faith) in the Son whom the Father sent to redeem mankind by sacrificial obedience and love for all. Jesus knew that they now believed in God the Father because they believed in and knew the One he had sent.

Application - Many have been told in the world that they must do good works in order to enter into God’s kingdom. Bruce Wilkerson taught me a great object lesson for those who believe in good works. Imagine a line marked from 0 to 100. Ask the person how good they believe they have to be in order for God to let them enter the kingdom of Heaven. Inevitably, they will say a number above 50. Here is the bad news and the good news. God’s word says that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23). So any number under a 100 would be considered short of entering into the kingdom of God. The good news, there is only one man who was good enough, he is God the Son, Jesus Christ. He was the only perfect person, and in order to enter into God’s kingdom, you can only have eternal life through him. For he was the only sacrifice that was acceptable to God for the sins of all mankind. (Jn. 14:6) 

By faith in Jesus, we may know God the Father, and our faith gives us the intimate communion that the Father and Jesus have. With confidence, we can enter into the holiest place by the blood of Christ, and worship and adore the One who created us for fellowship with him. 

Last, Jesus’ prayer was for glorifying the completion of the work that the Father had sent him to do. Let’s read the final portion of the text, “I brought glory to you here on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. Now, Father, bring me into the glory we shared before the world began.”

Jesus in praying to the Father for himself, he ends with the completion of this stage of God’s plan, purpose, and will for the Son. He expresses this prayer openly and orally so that the disciples who were listening would understand he was coming to the end of his time with them in this world. Jesus brought the Father glory from his inception and birth and childhood: Mary gave glory and praise to the Father (Lk.1:46-55), Elizabeth gave glory and praise to the Father (Lk.5:25,42-45), and the angels, wise men and shepherds gave glory and praise to the Father (Matt. 2:2-11, Lk. 2:2-20). Jesus brought glory to the Father through his childhood (Lk.2:25-52).

The disciples must have had a sense of awe as they listened to the prayer of their Master and Lord. Peter, James, and John must have had a deja vu moment when Jesus mentioned the glorifying of Jesus as he had been before the world began, “There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus. Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” While he was still speaking, a bright cloud covered them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” (Matt.17:2-5) 

Jesus was asking the Father to bring him back into the kingdom of heaven, glorified and glorifying the Father.

Application - Have ever tried to bring honor and glory to your parents, family, or friends through some sort of good works? We as a fallen creation desire to do good but fall short in our glory. Like the apostle Paul in Rom. 7:21-25, “So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!” We try to do good which was defined by the laws from God, but because of the sin in our lives we always fall short, and the war with sin rages on. There is only one way to defeat sin and delight and glory in the Lord. That is through the blood of Christ, the sacrifice for all our sins. He is the victory over sin, death, and Hell. We should give all glory to the One who opened the way to eternal life. All Glory and Praise to God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

We should put to memory the doxology of the scripture and the jubilant song of praise.

"Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. 1 Chronicles 29:11 – 

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow; Praise him, all creatures here below; Praise him above, ye heavenly host; Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

 I’m again including the ABC’s of salvation (JD Farag). Please, Jesus, God the Son, came to this world to save all who would believe and trust in him. He desires to reveal himself to you, He is the Light that overcomes the darkness of this lawless world. He hears your prayers, and all authority in heaven and earth have been given to him. He will answer you if you will truly believe. And he wants to empower you with the Holy Spirit. If you haven’t asked him to be your Lord and Savior, today could be that day.

 First, A - Admit that you are a sinner. This is where that godly sorrow leads to genuine repentance for sinning against a righteous God and there is a change of heart, we change our mind and God changes our hearts and regenerates us from the inside out. Romans 3:10 - As it is written: "There is none righteous, no, not one." Romans 3:23 - For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (We are all born sinners which is why we must be born spiritually in order to enter the Kingdom of Heaven). Romans 6:23 - For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. The bad news is that the wages of sin is death, in other words our sin means that we have been given a death sentence, we have the death penalty hanging over our heads, that's the bad news. But here's the good news: The good news is that the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Ephesians 2:8-9 - For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith —and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. Second,

 B - Believe in your heart that Jesus Christ died for your sins, was buried, and that God raised Jesus from the dead. This is trusting with all of your heart that Jesus Christ is who he said he was. Romans 10:9-10 - That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. Third, 

C - Call upon the name of the Lord. Every single person who ever lived since Adam will bend their knee and confess with their mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord, the Lord of lords and the King of kings. Romans 14:11 - For it is written: "As I live, says the Lord, Every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall confess to God." Don't wait until later — do this now. Romans 10:13 - For "whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved." "O God, I am a sinner. I'm sorry for my sin. I want to turn from my sin. I believe Jesus Christ is Your Son; I believe that He died on the cross for my sin and that He was buried and You raised Him to life. I have decided to place my faith in Jesus Christ as my Savior, trusting only in His shed blood as sufficient to save my soul and to take me to heaven. Thank You, Lord Jesus, for saving me. Amen."

Please share this with someone this week, the Lord knows that we and they need it.

If you would like other lessons, please go to http://pmdinhisservice.blogspot.com 

Until next week, In His Service Mike Davis

I am developing a new webpage on Spiritual warfare. Please give it a look. I’m adding answers each week to questions that pertain to our time today.  Thank you

http://uss-warfare3.webnode.com