What Shall We Say?

And now, O our God, what shall we say after this? For we have forsaken your commandments, which you commanded by your servants the prophets, saying, “The land that you are entering, to take possession of it, is a land impure with the impurity of the peoples of the lands, with their abominations that have filled it from end to end with their uncleanness. Therefore do not give your daughters to their sons, neither take their daughters for your sons, and never seek their peace or prosperity, that you may be strong and eat the good of the land and leave it for an inheritance to your children forever.” – Ezra 9:10-12 ESV

Ezra 9:6-15

As far as Ezra was concerned, all the people could say was, “Guilty as charged.” They had clearly violated God's command. It was right there in black and white. God had told them when they first took possession of the land He had promised them that they were NOT to intermarry with the people living in the land. But hundreds of years later, even after having just spent 70 years in captivity for their many violations of God's laws, the people had broken this command once again. And there was nothing they could say. No amount of rationalizing or justifying could change the fact that they had disobeyed God. It was not just that they had intermarried with non-Jews, it was the dangerous spiritual outcome of their decision to do so. God had warned them, “You must not intermarry with them. Do not let your daughters and sons marry their sons and daughters, for they will lead your children away from me to worship other gods. Then the anger of the Lord will burn against you, and he will quickly destroy you” (Deuteronomy 7:3-4 NLT). Obviously, there was far more going on here than Jews and non-Jews being tied in wedlock. It was all about allegiance to God. The banned marriages had resulted in exactly what God had warned would happen: Forsaking of God and His ways.

There is no doubt that this was a different context than the one in which we live. But there are some fascinating parallels and some important lessons we can learn from this story. It was the apostle John who wrote, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life — is not from the Father but is from the world” (1 John 2:15-16 ESV). As believers, we live in a constant state of tension. We are to resist and reject the things of this world and yet we are called to live among and love those who make up this world. We are called to remain distinct and different, set apart from the influences of this fallen world; while at the same time sharing the good news of Jesus Christ with all those who live in the world. Jesus prayed for us, saying, “I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth” (John 17:15-17 ESV). We are not of this world. Yet we have been called to live in it and yet not become part of it. We must constantly walk the fine line between being those who influence and those who are being influenced. Our job is to be salt and light. Yet there are many believers today that seem to think that it is impossible to love while maintaining our saltiness and refraining from keeping our lights hidden. There is a growing sentiment that we must love others by loving what they love – regardless of whether those things are offensive to God or not. There is also a growing movement toward assimilation and acceptance of the culture. We are becoming increasingly “married” to the ways of this world – all in an attempt to love them. But Jesus, while loving the lost, never lowered His standards or compromised His convictions. He loved while demanding change. He would embrace and welcome sinners, all the while demanding, “Go and sin no more.” His mission was a transformation of the heart. He loved so that He could redeem and restore. At no point did He embrace the sins of those He came to save. As He did with the woman at the well, He exposed their sin. “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true” (John 4:17-18 ESV).

So what shall we say? Are we guilty of compromise? In our efforts to be relevant and relational, have we confused tolerance with love, diminishing the holiness of God? Have we lost our saltiness and hidden our lights under a basket, all in order to “love” the lost? For many of us, the acceptance of this world is far more important to us than the approval of God. We want to be thought of as tolerant, progressive, inclusive, and always in keeping with the times. But some things never change. We have been called to live lives that are set apart and distinct from the world. We are to live in the world while remaining apart from its influences. We are to love the lost while never accepting or approving of their sin. No one said that would be easy. No one said we would find a ready reception if we lived that way. In fact, we were told that the world would hate us. We would be called intolerant and inflexible. We would be accused of everything from radicalism to irrationalism. But the greatest expression of our love for the lost is our desire to tell them the truth – about God, their own sin, and the one and only source of salvation: Jesus Christ.

Live With the End In Mind.

Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. – John 17:24 ESV John 17:1-26

If taken out of context, this prayer would appear to have been prayed by Jesus from heaven, long after His death, resurrection and ascension. He makes mention of His desire that the disciples be able to join Him where He is. At the point Jesus prayed this prayer, the disciples were right there with Him. He was still earth-bound and facing His coming trials and crucifixion. But He prayed with a sense of accomplishment and finality, as if He was already back in heaven with His Father. He had full confidence that His death would result in His glorification. He would have to die, but He would also be raised back to life by the Father and restored to His original position of power and authority at His Father's side. He longed for His disciples to be able to see His coming glory. The three, Peter, James and John, had gotten a slight glimpse of what it might be like when they witnessed Jesus' transfiguration on the mountain. But Jesus was looking forward to the day when all His followers would see Him for who He truly is – the sovereign, all-powerful Son of God. On earth, while Jesus could perform incredible miracles, He had limitations. He suffered from hunger. He grew tired. He was susceptible to pain. He could calm the storm, walk on water, even raise the dead, but He would be brutally put to death at the hands of men. But there is a day coming when we will see Him like He really is. His appearance on earth as a man, His incarnation, was a necessary, but temporary condition. Paul reminds us, “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:5-8 ESV). Jesus willingly humbled Himself and took on human flesh. He became a servant to sinful men. He even submitted Himself to death at the hands of men in order to pay for their sins and make it possible for them to be restored to a right relationship with God the Father. But Paul goes on to say, “Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:9-11 ESV). This was what Jesus was praying about. He longed for the day when His followers would witness His true glory. The apostle John wrote about that very event. “Dear friends, we are already God's children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is” (1 John 3:2 NLT). There is a day coming, when we will see Jesus in all His glory, but we will also see ourselves in our glorified state as well. “And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory” (Colossians 3:4 NLT).

In essence, Jesus was praying for and longing for the culmination of all things. He knew that He was going to have to die. He also knew that His disciples were going to be left behind, which is why He promised them the coming of the Holy Spirit. He was also fully aware that no one, Himself included, knew the day of His own return. In the meantime, His followers would have to continue to live on this earth, facing the attacks of the enemy, enduring the hatred of the world, and wrestling with their own sin natures. So Jesus prayed for the day when all His followers would be with Him and able to see Him in His glorified state. That day would signify the completion of God's redemptive work on earth. Sin would be eradicated, death would be defeated, Satan would be destroyed, and God's Kingdom would be established over all the earth. God's Kingdom would have come and His will done on earth as it is in heaven. This prayer reminds us that God's plan is not yet complete and that Jesus' work is not yet done. So like Jesus, we should live with a sense of eager anticipation. We should long for our glorification so that we can enjoy the thrill of seeing Him as He truly is. This world is temporary. Our place here is not intended to be permanent. God has something far greater in store for all of us who have placed our faith in Jesus Christ. Paul reminds us, “For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies. Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die…” (1 Corinthians 15:53-54 NLT).

All of this will take place because God loves His Son and that love is timeless and limitless. He has loved Him from eternity past and the extend of His love for Him will be revealed to all of us when we see Jesus in all His glory. We will witness the culmination of God's great redemptive plan and be able to see with our own eyes, the incredible love that the Father has for His Son. Right now, we know in part, but the day is coming when we will have full knowledge and understanding of just how great God's love really is. “Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely. Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love” (1 Corinthians 13:12-13 NLT).

Set Apart.

They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth. – John 17:16-19 ESV John 17:1-26

As followers of Christ, we don’t belong here – on earth, that is. Yes, we have been required by God to remain here and He has assigned us a task to perform until He calls us home or His Son returns, whichever comes first. We have been given the ministry of reconciliation, telling others about the good news concerning Jesus Christ and His desire to restore men to a right relationship with God the Father. But our very presence and our God-given assignment do not sit well with the world in which we live. In fact, Jesus said the world hates us, just as it hated Him. They prefer darkness over the light. They are not particularly open to the message of the Gospel. And because the world is under the influence of Satan, the prince of this world, it is an atmosphere filled with lies, because Satan is the father of lies. Deception and deceit are common place. Falsehood masquerades as truth. And we are tasked with living within this less-than-friendly environment as salt and light, sharing the truth regarding Jesus Christ and salvation.

So Jesus, knowing that things would not be easy for us, asked His Father to set us apart in the truth, the truth as found in the Word of God. In the Scriptures, we have a big picture portrait of what is really going on in the world. We have a sin problem. It has been that way from the beginning. Well, almost from the beginning. Adam and Eve were created by God and placed in a perfect environment, free from sin, disease, and death. But because they had free will, they were capable of either loving God and serving Him faithfully or rejecting Him and deciding instead to serve themselves. They chose the latter. Rather than accept God’s authority and trust His will for them, they decided that they knew best. Rather than worship God, they listened to the lies of the enemy and decided to be like God. God had told them the truth regarding the one tree of the garden from which they could not eat. But Satan got them to doubt God’s word. He tempted them to question God’s authority. And they sinned. From that point forward, sin has had a dramatic impact on the lives of men. Sin separated man from God, creating an unsurpassable barrier through which man could not pass. Access to God was denied. Fellowship with God was broken. And the penalty for sin was death, both physical and spiritual, including eternal separation from God.

But God stepped in and provided a solution to man’s sin problem: His Son. Sin came with a price tag. The penalty for man’s rebellion against God was death. Either man must die or come up with a way to do the impossible and live a sinless life. Man couldn’t live up to God’s standard of perfection. Sin became unavoidable and, as a result, death was inevitable. But God sent His Son to pay the penalty for man’s sin. He became the means by which men might be restored to a right relationship with God. His death, because He was sinless, satisfied the righteous demands of a holy God. And all those who believe in Him as their Savior receive forgiveness of sin and freedom from condemnation – forever. But there’s still a sin problem. Because we have been left in this world, we find ourselves surrounded by sin, and we still find ourselves susceptible to our own sin natures. The lies of the enemy resound in our ears every day. He attacks us relentlessly. He seeks to destroy us. So Jesus prayed that we would be set apart in the truth. The truth of God’s love. The truth of our forgiveness. The truth of the reality of Christ’s death, burial and resurrection. The truth of our redemption. The truth of our new nature and our capacity to sin less. The truth of our future glorification. The truth is, we need to be set apart each and every day to the amazing truth of all that God has done for us in Christ Jesus. Jesus died so that we might live. He gave His life so that we might never fear death again. The world would have us doubt all of that. The enemy would have us question everything we have been promised by God. Which is why we need to be set apart in the truth. We must immerse ourselves in the confidence-building, strength-producing, soul-fortifying truth of God’s Word. It tells us of the reality of sin. It reminds us of the impossibility of ever living righteously on our own. It teaches us of the holiness of God and the rebellion of man. It graciously reveals to us the wonderful solution God provided in His Son. It encourages us to place our trust in Christ’s righteousness and not our own. It provides us with the exciting news that holiness is not only possible, but normal for all those who place their faith in Jesus as their Savior. It is the truth that sets us apart. It is the truth that sets us free. It is the truth as found in Jesus, the way, the truth and the life.

Left Behind, But Not Alone.

But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. – John 17:13-16 ESV John 17:1-26

As difficult as it was for the disciples to accept Jesus' admission that He was going to die, it had to be even more unsettling when, after His resurrection, He told them He was going away. They had just gotten Him back from the dead, a fact that had been hard for them to accept initially. But once they had come to grips with the amazing realization that He was alive, He told them that He was leaving. They would be on their own. Left behind to continue the work He had begun. It all had to be a bit overwhelming and confusing. Jesus had known it would be, which is why His prayer for them contained a request that His Father keep them from the evil one. He knew they were going to face all kinds of opposition for His name's sake. As His followers, they were no longer “of the world.” They had become citizens of another Kingdom. But for the foreseeable future they were going to be ambassadors for Christ in this world. Jesus was leaving them behind to continue spreading the news of salvation that His death was going to make possible. The apostle Paul understood that mission well. “So we are Christ's ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, ‘Come back to God!’” (2 Corinthians 5:20 NLT). The disciples and all those who would follow them, have been given the ministry of reconciliation. It is our job to tell the world about how to be made right with God. We have been left behind for a reason. “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 29:19 ESV).

So we have a job to do. But we have not been left alone or defenseless. Jesus prayed for us. Yes, we are hated by the world because we are not of this world anymore. We are foreigners and sojourners. We are like aliens living in a strange land. We don't really belong here anymore, but we have a mission to accomplish. And not only does the world hate us, the prince of this world, Satan, is out to destroy us. He despises and loathes us because we are children of God, which is why Jesus asked the Father to keep us from him. The two big threats we face as believers are complacency or compromise. If Satan can get us to lose the urgency of our God-given mission and make it a back-burner issue, he has won. If he can get our faith in Christ to become just another add-on to our already busy lives, he will have made us ineffective and essentially powerless. But another threat we face is compromise. If Satan can get us to fall in love with the world and seek our satisfaction and sufficiency from all that it offers, it will render us useless for the cause of Christ. The apostle John warned, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (1 John 2:15 ESV). It is virtually impossible to effectively serve God's Kingdom when we are in love with this one. Compromise and complacency are deadly temptations for each of us as believers. So Jesus prayed that God would keep us from the evil one. He wanted us to remain loyal to our God and faithful to our commission, right up until the end. We must constantly remind ourselves that we are not of this world. We are citizens of another Kingdom. We serve another King. We live according to a different set of standards or rules. But not only are we citizens of a different Kingdom, we are children of the King. In fact, Paul would have us remember, “And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God's glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering” (Romans 8:17 ESV).

Jesus knew that life on this earth for His followers would be difficult after His departure. That is why He gave us the Holy Spirit. He is to be our comforter, helper, guide, and source of spiritual strength. Jesus understood the dangers and difficulties His followers would face. But He also knew that His Father was fully capable of caring for them and keeping them safe. Our salvation was completely God's doing. Our sanctification or growth in Christ-likeness is His doing as well. Our safekeeping and security as His children is up to God as well. He has not and will not lose a single one He has redeemed. Our faith is secure, not because we live up to a certain standard or keep ourselves from committing certain sins, but because God holds us in His hands and will never let us go. While we live in this world, we must constantly remind ourselves that our real home is with Him. He has saved us so that we might be with Him. Jesus even told His disciples, “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am. And you know the way to where I am going” (John 14:1-4 ESV).

Divine Preservative.

And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. – John 17:11-12 ESV John 17:1-26

Jesus knew what was about to happen to Him. He also believed and trusted that God was going to glorify Him after His coming death by raising Him back to life and restoring Him to His rightful position as the Son of God. Jesus was so confident that He spoke as if it was a done deal: “I am no longer in the world.” He was confident in His belief that He would soon be back at the side of His Father. With that in mind, Jesus prayed for those He would be leaving behind. He asked His Father to keep them in His name. This could mean to keep them loyal by the power of His name or it could mean to keep them loyal to all that Jesus revealed concerning the character and nature of God. Jesus' request probably contains both meanings. After His departure, the disciples would be shepherdless and alone. They would be susceptible to attack and prone to wander, so Jesus asks the Father to keep them. The Greek word, tēreō means “to take care of or guard.” Jesus was asking the Father to preserve those whom He had given to His Son as His followers. With His coming departure from this world, Jesus was handing over the safe keeping of His disciples to His “Holy Father.” This is the only time in the New Testament that this particular form of address of God is used. “Holy” refers to God's purity and righteousness. “Father” portrays the intimate personal relationship that a holy God has chosen to have with sinful men. The title “Holy Father” reveals the incredible nature of the status we enjoy as believers. Jesus has made it possible for us to have an intimate, child-and-father relationship with the sinless, holy God of the universe.

And for Jesus, the byproduct of this relationship with God should be unity among those who find themselves members of the family of God. Jesus knew that disunity and dissension would be real temptations for the disciples once He was gone. Their own sin natures and the attacks of Satan himself would be constant threats to their unity. He knew that God would have to keep them, care for and protect them, if they were going to remain faithful to the cause of Christ and unified in their love for one another. Jesus had already warned His disciples, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles” (Matthew 10:16-18 ESV). Jesus knew that things were not going to be easy for His followers after His ascension. Yes, they would have the Holy Spirit to assist and empower them, but the threats would be real. The persecution would be intense. Jesus had told them, “you will be hated by all for my name’s sake” (Matthew 10:22 ESV). But Jesus was completely confident that His Holy Father would keep them and give them a supernatural measure of unity. During His earthly ministry, He had watched as His rag-tag band of disciples had remained with Him. He had not lost a single one of the men God had given to Him, except Judas, “the son of destruction.” But Jesus had not really “lost” Judas. His role had been predicted from long ago. The Old Testament had prophesied the betrayal of the Messiah by Judas hundreds of years before. “Even my close friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me” (Psalm 41:9 ESV). “Appoint a wicked man against him; let an accuser stand at his right hand. When he is tried, let him come forth guilty; let his prayer be counted as sin! May his days be few; may another take his office!” (Psalm 109:6-8 ESV). The betrayal of Jesus by Judas had been a part of God's divine plan from the very beginning. Jesus did not “lose” him. It was Judas who left Jesus, turning Him over to the authorities in order to make a profit off his former teacher and friend.

But for the rest, Jesus prayed for God's divine protection, asking His Father to preserve them, keep them, empower them and unify them. He would soon be leaving, but He was not going to leave them alone or defenseless. He would provide them with the Holy Spirit. He would leave them in the highly capable and powerful hands of God, their Holy Father. They would have divine power and protection. The eleven followers God had given Jesus would go on to radically change the world. They would be transformed from cowering, fearful and defeated men into powerful spokesmen for the cause of Christ, spreading the good news of salvation in Him alone all around the world. We too, as Christ's followers, enjoy this same divine protection and are constantly being preserved by our loving Holy Father. We have the indwelling Holy Spirit to guide, empower and comfort us. We have God Himself to go before us, fighting our battles and defending us against our own sin natures and the attacks of the enemy. And we can rest easy knowing the Jesus Himself sits at the right hand of the Father, interceding daily on our behalf.

Keeping God's Word.

I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. – John 17:6 ESV

John 17:1-26

At this point in His prayer, Jesus switched the emphasis from Himself to His disciples. In fact, this section is the longest of His entire prayer and focuses solely on the future well-being of His disciples. But before He lifts up the disciples, He acknowledges that He has manifested God's name to all those He had given Him out of the world. Jesus had lived His life in such a way that He revealed that nature and character of God. His very existence made the true nature of God recognizable and knowable to men. Paul described Jesus as “the image of God” (2 Corinthians 4:4 ESV). John wrote, “No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known” John 1:18 ESV). Again, Paul emphasized that Jesus was “the image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15 ESV). When Jesus stated that He had manifested the name of God, He was saying that He had made the very essence of God known to man. Through Jesus they had come to know who God really was. After His resurrection and just before His ascension back into heaven, Jesus told His disciples, ““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 have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him” (John 14:6-7 ESV). Jesus had made God known. But the exact nature of God is only knowable to those whom God has chosen to reveal Himself. Jesus believed that His Father had given Him all those who chose to believe in Him. Earlier in His ministry Jesus had said, “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out” (John 6:37 ESV). This is one of those tension-filled concepts in Scripture with which many wrestle and struggle. It involves God's sovereignty and man's free will. Did God choose us or did we choose God? Jesus clearly viewed those for whom He prayed as having been given to Him by God, not as those who had chosen to follow Him. At the end of the day, Jesus believed in and counted on the sovereign will of His Father. Yes, the disciples had each chosen to follow Jesus. They had left everything else behind and willingly walked after Jesus. But Jesus seemed to believe that even their decision to do so was the will of God. He had prayed throughout the night before He chose the twelve who would be His disciples. God had clearly directed His choice of the original twelve. Jesus saw everything as having been directed by and controlled by God. His sovereignty even extended to choice of all who would eventually believe in Jesus as their Savior. Later on in this same prayer, Jesus says, “I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours” (John 17:9 ESV). This belief is why Jesus could be so confident when He thought about the future of His followers. They were in the hands of God. They belonged to Him. Interestingly enough, Jesus said, “Yours they were, and you gave them to me” (John 17:6 ESV).

Then Jesus emphasized that those whom God had given Him had kept the word of God. They had believed on Jesus as the Son of God. At the baptism of Jesus by John, God had spoken these words: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased” (John 3:17 ESV). At the transfiguration of Jesus, three of the disciples had heard God say, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him” (John 17:5 ESV). God had made it clear that Jesus was His Son. He was the Messiah, the Savior of the world. He was not just another man, a prophet, rabbi, or miracle worker. He was the Son of God. And those who had accepted that fact, had “kept the word of God.” They had listened to Jesus. They had believed the words of Jesus. They had accepted the fact that Jesus was the way, the truth, and the life and the only way to the Father. When Jesus had asked the disciples who they believed Jesus to be, Peter had spoken up and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16 ESV). Then Jesus had responded, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 17:17 ESV). In other words, Peter did not come to his realization on His own. God had revealed it to him. God had made it possible for Peter to recognize and comprehend the divine nature of Jesus. And that same testimony – that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God – would be the basis for every other person to come to be reconciled or made right with God.

The disciples did not live completely obedient lives. Neither will we. But we can keep God's Word, that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, by continuing to rely on Him as our Savior and sin substitute. We can continually rest in Him as the way, the truth and the life. We can persistently believe that Jesus is the Son of god and the Savior of the world.

Mission Accomplished.

I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed. – John 17:4-5 ESV

John 17:1-26

Jesus had done what He had come to do. Interestingly enough, this prayer was prayed before His death, burial and resurrection, yet from Jesus' perspective, even that part of His mission was as good as done. He was committed to complete the full assignment given to Him by God the Father. Jesus had come to earth and taken on human flesh. He had lived a sinless life. He had spread the news of the coming Kingdom of God and preached a message of repentance, calling people to return to God. He had performed miracles, healed the sick, ministered to the poor and spiritually needy. He had exposed the hypocrisy of the religious elite and trained the men who would carry forward the message of the gospel when He was gone. And all that Jesus had done brought glory to His Father in heaven. Why? Because He had been obedient to all that He had been asked to do. The apostle Paul encourages us, “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:5-8 ESV). Jesus lived His entire life on earth in order to glorify God the Father. Jesus was humble and not in it for His own glory. He suffered rejection, ridicule, false accusations, betrayal, torture, and eventually death – all in order to glorify God. His miracles were meant to glorify God. His words, whether encouraging the downtrodden or admonishing the arrogant, were said in such a way that they always brought glory to God. Paul challenges us to live the same way: “…whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31 ESV). Peter echoes those same sentiments. “Do you have the gift of speaking? Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you. Do you have the gift of helping others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then everything you do will bring glory to God through Jesus Christ. All glory and power to him forever and ever! Amen” (1 Peter 4:11 NLT). Jesus lived fully obedient to and dependent upon His Father in heaven. He did nothing out of selfishness or with a hint of self-preservation. He knew His destiny included death, but was willing to go through with it because of His love for the Father. He trusted in His heavenly Father and was fully assured that His death would be acceptable to God as payment for the sins of mankind. He was also confident that God would glorify Him by raising Him back to life and returning Him to His rightful place. Paul tells us, “Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:9-11 ESV). Jesus' entire life brought God glory, from the moment of His miraculous conception by the Spirit of God in the womb of Mary to His death on the cross. He lived to bring glory to God. He died so that men might be restored to a right relationship with God. For Jesus, the glory of the Father was more important than anything else. It was His life's mission. When sinful men and women place their faith in Jesus as their sin substitute, it brings glory to God, because salvation was God's idea. He sent His Son to die for the sins of man. He provided a way in which men might be reconciled or made right by Him. And the only way it could be accomplished was through the incarnation and crucifixion of His own Son. “But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation” (Romans 5:8-9 NLT). Paul goes on to remind us, “So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God” (Romans 5:11 NLT). All to the glory of God. Jesus came, but God is the one who sent Him. Jesus obeyed, but God is the one whose plan He obeyed. Jesus died, but God is the one who raised Him back to life. So God gets the glory.

Do I live my life to the glory of God? Is my primary focus in life to bring Him glory through my willful obedience and humble submission to His will for my life? Like Jesus, my entire life should be lived to the glory of God. When I listen to His Spirit's prompting and obey, it brings Him glory. When I humbly submit to His will, even when I don't understand or like it, I bring Him glory. When I point people to Him and share His love with them, I bring Him glory. When I admit my weakness and allow Him to display His power through me, I bring Him glory. When I trust in the promise that He will some day glorify me and live with a sense of peace and joy, I bring Him glory. To God be the glory, great things He has done.

Knowing God.

And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. – John 17:3 ESV

In what has come to be known as His high priestly prayer, Jesus gives us a wonderful definition of what it means to have eternal life. For far too many, eternal life is little more than heavenly "fire insurance," a kind of get-out-of-jail-free card that will allow them to escape the penalty and pain of hell. Eternal life gets them a guaranteed place in heaven. In other words, it becomes all about a future destination. But Jesus emphasized that it is really all about a relationship that begins here on earth and culminates in heaven. The whole point of heaven is the unbroken relationship with God it will provide – free from the effects of sin. The whole point of hell is that it will be an eternal existence completely separated from any kind of access to or relationship with God. The point is far less about the physical pain and suffering of hell than it is about the emotional and spiritual suffering that will be the result of an eternal existence completely severed from any hope of a relationship with God. There will be no more common grace extended by God to any and all. No joy, no laughter, no gentle rains, calming breezes, no moments of rest or the simple pleasures of a good meal. In this life, it is God who graciously allows all to experience the joys of his creation. “For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike” (Matthew 5:45 NLT). In hell, wherever it will be, those things will no longer be available because God's presence will be inaccessible and unavailable.

But in His prayer, Jesus did not focus on heaven, even though He had already promised His disciples that He would return for them and take them to be with Him there. “In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also” (John 14:2-3 ESV). His prayer equates eternal life, not with heaven, but with a relationship with God the Father and with Himself as the Son of God. Eternal life is about a restored relationship with God. It begins at salvation and finds its full fruition at the point of our glorification when we see Jesus face to face. The moment anyone, by faith, acknowledges Jesus as their sin substitute and the sole source of their salvation, they are reconciled or made right with God. They go from being His enemies to His adopted child and heir. “You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions. Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault” (Colossians 1:21-22 NLT). “For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son” (Romans 5:10 NLT). The salvation provided by God through Jesus is not about a destination, but a relationship. It is about God reconciling lost and hopeless men and women to a right relationship with Himself. It is about God doing for us what we could never have done on our own. We could never have earned our way back into God's good graces. “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it” (Ephesians 2:8-9 NLT).

Eternal life is about knowing God. It is about having a right relationship with Him and Jesus is the one who makes it possible. But being made right with God, while wonderful, loses its significance if we do not find ourselves desiring to grow in our knowledge of the one who made our salvation possible. In Paul's prayer for the believers in Colossae, he asked “God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding. Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better” (Colossians 1:9-10 NLT). A growing knowledge of God – that is the essence of eternal life. Warren Wiersbe has described this growing intimacy and awareness of God in this way. “To know God personally is salvation. To know Him increasingly is sanctification. To know him perfectly is glorification.” We are to experience a growing and ever-expanding understanding of God as we live submitted to His Spirit, read about Him in His Word, and grow increasingly more committed to His will for our lives and this world. Coming to know Christ was intended to allow us to get to know God – intimately, personally and progressively more and more. That is the essence of what it means to have eternal life. It is less about knowing where you are going when you die than it is about knowing God – the one with whom you will spend eternity after you die.

The High Priestly Prayer.

When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him.” – John 17:1-2 ESV

John 17:1-26

Jesus had just told His disciples that He would be leaving. He had warned them that the hour was coming when they would desert him and scatter in fear. He was on the eve of his betrayal and arrest. Jesus knew that the fate for which He had come was near. And in spite of all this, Jesus was able to tell His disciples, “Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me. I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world” (John 16:32-33 ESV). And after He had spoken these words, He prayed. Jesus was not alone. Even though His most faithful followers would end up denying Him and running in fear at His arrest, His Father would be with Him. And it was to His Father that He turned. The prayer that He prayed is both amazing and inspiring at the same time. It provides us with a glimpse into Jesus' relationship with His Father and reveals the scope of the divine plan for man's redemption.

Jesus was well aware of His circumstances. He was not surprised or caught off guard. It was for this very moment that He had come to earth. His incarnation, God becoming man, was in order that He might live a sinless life and die a sinner's death on man's behalf. And that hour had come. But Jesus' response to His impending death was far from fatalistic. His was not a helpless resignation to an event over which He had no control. No, Jesus was facing His circumstances willingly and with a deep desire to see His Father glorified. He prayed, “glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you.” Jesus knew that God was going to glorify Him through His own death, burial, resurrection and ascension. Long after the events surrounding Jesus' death and ascension, Paul wrote, “Christ Jesus,  who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,  but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:5-11 ESV). Jesus knew He was going to die, but He also knew that His Father was going to bring Him back to life. Not only that, He knew that He would be restored to His rightful position at the right hand of God. He would be glorified and His Father would be glorified. But at the moment Jesus prayed this prayer, it was all a matter of trust on His part. He would still have to go through a humiliating arrest, a series of sham trials, all kinds of verbal and physical abuse, and the excruciating pain of a Roman crucifixion. But Jesus knew His Father well. He was intimately familiar with His Father's will and His own role in it. So He rested in the fact that His suffering was an essential part in the redemptive plan of God.

The purpose of Jesus' coming was to provide eternal life to man. God had given Him authority to do so. After His ascension, Jesus would tell His disciples, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Matthew 28:18 ESV). Then He would proceed to commission them to go and make disciples of all nations. Jesus had authority over all flesh. He had both the power to save and to judge, to forgive and condemn. His death, burial and resurrection would become the final determiner regarding the eternal fate of all mankind. “There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12 NLT).

Jesus faced His fate with faith, knowing full well that His Father loved Him and that His Father's will for Him was best. Even in His prayer in the garden, just moments before His betrayal and arrest, Jesus would pray, “not my will, but yours, be done” (Luke 22:42 ESV). His human nature did was what was normal and natural – it desired another way. It resisted the idea of the gruesome death ahead. Which is why Jesus prayed, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me” (Luke 22:42 ESV). In His humanity, He preferred a different solution. But in His deity, He knew that His Father's will was best – not only for Him, but for all mankind. What a sobering reminder of our need to trust our heavenly Father. So often, we find ourselves facing difficult circumstances and we pray that God would remove us from it, but we fail to trust His will and rest in the reality that He is ultimately in control and has our good and His glory in mind at all times. We can trust Him. Because Jesus trusted God, we now have a relationship with the Father and the promise of eternal life. So no matter what we might face in this life, we can know that our future glorification is assured, and rest in that unfailing promise from God.

Disunity and Division.

2 Samuel 17-18, 1 Corinthians 11

But in the following instructions, I cannot praise you. For it sounds as if more harm than good is done when you meet together. First, I hear that there are divisions among you when you meet as a church, and to some extent I believe it. – 1 Corinthians 11:17-18 NLT

The house of David was divided. His own son, Absalom, had turned against him, taking over his throne and occupying his royal city. Ever since Absalom had taken revenge against Amnon for raping his sister, Absalom and David had been in a less-than-ideal relationship. They had never fully healed the wounds between them. Absalom had developed a growing resentment for David and had lost respect for him as both a father and a king. So he plotted to take over his father's throne and was even determined to take his father's life in order to solidify his own kingship. The amazing thing to consider is that this is all taking place within the nation that had been hand-picked by God to be His chosen people. The Israelites were to be an example of what it was like for a people to live under the leadership of God Himself, experiencing His presence and power, and obeying His righteous commands. But ever since the days of Moses, they had struggled with the concept of unity, constantly finding themselves arguing and whining against one another. Division, disunity and in-fighting were a constant problem among God's people. We can only imagine how the Philistines and the other enemies of Israel must have loved watching Absalom destroy the nation of Israel from within. The enemy has always preferred watching the followers of God destroy themselves, which is why he has made division and disunity such a high priority in his war against the people of God. It is also why Jesus prayed for our unity in His high priestly prayer recorded in John 17. “ I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me” (John 17:21 ESV).

What does this passage reveal about God?

Unity is important to God. It was important to Jesus. The Father and the Son enjoyed perfect unity. There was no division between them. They were unified in their love for one another, their love for mankind and in their plan to provide a solution to man's sin problem. Jesus knew that our unity was just as important, even intimating that the unity of the people of God would be a testimony to the world of God's presence among us. Jesus went on to pray, “I have given them the glory you gave me, so they may be one as we are one. I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me” (John 17:22-23 ESV). Our unity is a work of the Spirit. It is not human or natural. It is made possible by the power and presence of God in our lives. And our ability to live in unity is a testimony to God's love, Christ's redeeming work and the Spirit's power. Without God's help, we are prone to selfishness and self-centeredness. Division and disagreement are a constant threat because they are manifestations of man's sin nature. But God's love has unified us. We share a common Savior and have been made part of the body of Christ. Paul writes, “The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ. Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles,some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit” (1Corinthians 12:12-13 ESV). Our common dependence upon Christ's saving work has unified us into one, unified body. We share all things in common. None of us are more deserving of God's love than anyone else. We have no more value in God's eyes than any of His other children.

What does this passage reveal about man?

But even among the people of God, disunity and discord can raise its ugly head. Just as Absalom was led to see himself as superior to David and worthy of taking his place as king, so too can one believer view himself as more important or worthy than another believer. Paul witnessed this very problem taking place among the believers in Corinth. He wrote, “when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you” (1 Corinthians 11:18 ESV). In other words, when they gathered together for their church services, they were doing so with divided hearts and a spirit of disunity. Their times of corporate worship were marked by selfishness, self-centeredness and an unhealthy spirit of arrogance. Even their marriages were being impacted by this disunity, as wives and husbands failed to properly maintain their god-given roles and responsibilities. Husbands were failing to lead spiritually and their wives were abusing their new-found liberties in Christ to the point that they were undermining God's order of authority and responsibility. The end result was disunity. There was a spirit of independence that had infected the church and was destroying not only their unity, but their witness in the community. Which is why Paul reminded them, “Nevertheless, in the Lord woman is not independent of man nor man of woman; for as woman was made from man, so man is now born of woman. And all things are from God” (1 Corinthians 11:11-12 ESV). Their self-centeredness had caused them to remember that it was God who was to be at the center of the homes, marriages, and worship services. He was to be the focus, not themselves.

How would I apply what I’ve read to my own life?

Absalom was driven by anger, resentment, pride, arrogance and a growing self-centeredness that eventually caused him to forget that God had chosen his father to be the king of Israel, not him. Absalom's will had taken precedence over God's will. He had no problem dividing the kingdom God had established in his efforts to create his own kingdom. And as a result, many would die needlessly, including himself. His actions would bring shame on the nation of Israel and joy to the hearts of the enemies of Israel. How much easier it is to sit back and watch us destroy ourselves from within. If Satan can get us to live together in DISunity, he has won a major battle. If he can divide us from within, he has won a major battle without having to lift a finger against us. This is why Jesus prayed so fervently on our behalf, “the world hates them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. I’m not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one. They do not belong to this world any more than I do. Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth” (John 17:14-17 ESV). Like the people of Israel, we are surrounded by a world that is hostile to our very existence. Which is why our unity is so important. We cannot afford to allow internal strife, division and disunity to weaken us. We cannot allow our pride and selfishness to get the best of us. We must remember that God has joined us together. He has placed us in His family. He has unified us through a common faith in His Son's death, burial and resurrection. Together, we make up the body of Christ. But it is our unity that makes us effective. It is our love for one another that proves we are His disciples. It is our supernatural harmony that witnesses to the world of God's presence and power among us.

Father, the world longs to see what true love, harmony and unity looks like. They are dying to see marriages that are marked by Your power and presence. They desperately need to see believers who have been transformed by Your Spirit loving one another regardless of color, class, nationality, income or social standing. May we truly be one as Your prayed that we would be. So that the world may believe in Your Son. Amen