The Mind of Christ

Introduction

I wrestled a great deal with how to properly deal with this passage. It is not just the word of God but the words of Christ Jesus to the Father. It’s a very high-level thing I feel very unworthy to be preaching on this morning so understand I come at this with a great deal of humility.

Even now, I’m aware of how many sermons could be written out of each verse alone. This chapter covers so many truths about God, salvation, sanctification, and man that it could take months to unpack if not more. But we don’t have months, we have 30 minutes so no pressure.

This chapter is unlike any other in Scripture as it is a full prayer from Jesus to the Father. Many might point to what is called the Lord’s prayer in Luke but that’s better labeled the Disciples’ Prayer since it was not one which Jesus prayed for himself. He was giving them an example and in part we know this because of the words, “Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.”

This, is a sacred moment in the life of our Lord. His ministry has come to a close. He has delivered his final words to the disciples beginning in the upper room and ending as they began walking toward the Brook Kidron. The disciples are still a little confused about what he’s talking about but they certainly sense a seriousness in his tone and body language. And as they reach the brook he gives them his final words in John 16:33 “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.”

And after this, he lifts his eyes to heaven and begins praying. JC Ryle says of this passage, “We have here the prayer of one who spoke as never a man has spoken, and prayed as never a man has prayed,—the prayer of the second Person in the Trinity to the Father: the prayer of one whose office it is, as our High Priest, to make intercession for His people.”

In this prayer his final words to the Father he prays for himself, his disciples, and the rest of the saints to come. What is contained in this prayer is therefore something we ought to stop, have reverence for, and truly consider deeply.

STAND for God’s unfailing life-giving word

John 17:1-5 “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. And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. 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.”

The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.

PRAY

As I studied this passage this week I was moved by considering the mind of Christ in the prayer. When someone prays, you learn something about them. One of those things is what is important to them. There are several of these things that we can see here but I want to draw attention to three this morning.

The mind of Christ glorifies God through waiting, obedience, and delighting in His doctrines.

The Mind of Christ Glorifies God Through Waiting

We begin with verse one “When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come...”

The Scriptures have demonstrated that God has given mankind every chance to repent and obey and at every step, they have rejected him by and large. He gave them judges, priests, kings, and prophets. None of them could save and despite their messages, all were rejected by mankind and they themselves even became corrupt.

Finally, God sent the Messiah, who was the better prophet, priest, and King. The very Son of God would be the answer to the question lingering for thousands of years before, “Who can save us?” Throughout the ministry of Christ as recorded in John we have seen that he is constantly aware that God brings about His perfect will according to His perfect time. Every step of the way Jesus was concerned with the timing of God’s plan and was patient for it to come. He was in perfect harmony with God’s will and timing. We know this because of his repeated statements in John that His hour has not yet come. That is because The Mind of Christ glorifies God in waiting. Specifically waiting on God’s perfect plan that had been unfolding for thousands of years.

At the beginning in John 2 there is a wedding in Cana which has run out of wine. Jesus’ mother tells him about the fiasco and he replies, “...what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” In John 7:6 his brothers did not believe him and try to shoo him away telling him to do his works in more public places. He replies, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always here.”

Or John 7:30, “So they were seeking to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come.” John 8:20, says he’s teaching in the temple “but no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come.”

God’s timing is perfect throughout all ages. And here we see that finally, finally, Jesus speaks to His Father proclaiming, “The hour has come.” What hour is that? It is the time for Jesus to complete the work he came here to do: namely his death, burial, and resurrection. This timing was established in the beginning according to the eternal decree of God.

Gal 4:4-5 “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son..to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.”

Rom 5:6 “For while we were still weak, at just the right time Christ died for the ungodly.”

This hour is what his entire ministry has been working toward. It is not late or short-sighted. It is exactly as He has planned from the beginning.

Jesus is all too aware of this reality that he will be the recipient of the pain and suffering of the cross but even more, taking on the sins of the sheep who were given to Him by the Father that He should save them, as we will read. Every sin you could imagine. Every secret sin, every sin out in the open, and in between are about to be born by the holy and righteous Son of God so that He can pay the price for them and buy our redemption from judgement with His blood.

His hour has finally come. And Jesus has waited patiently for this hour because he glorifies God in waiting. He did not seek to speed it up and get it over with like I would. He didn’t go beyond his instructions from the Father but waited, taking one step at a time no matter how arduous it was. I’m sure being all-powerful has it’s temptations when being insulted by self-righteous pharisees. Or when he was literally starving in the wilderness. Might come in handy.

But instead the Mind of Christ glorifies God in waiting. He lived a perfect life, fulfilling all of the law which we could not do, faithfully proclaimed the gospel to the lost, demonstrated his divinity with miracles and signs, served his disciples faithfully, and now the hour has come he has waited so patiently for.

Application:

Have this mind of Christ to patiently wait on God’s perfect plan.

Often when we have a calling in our heart, it is tempting to drop everything and move in that direction. I have felt the calling toward pastoral ministry for over two decades and have been tempted at times to quit my job and just go. But God’s timing is perfect and his plan progresses exactly as it must for our good and His glory.

Jesus had a far greater purpose than I do, and he was patient to wait on the Father’s plan through repeated rejections, dull disciples, exhaustion with people following him everywhere demanding signs, and living amongst the sin he possessed none of.

2 Pet 3:9 “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you...”

God’s plan is perfect, and because we are not privy to the particulars of it we can begin to doubt. But trust in the perfect plan of God and understand that in the waiting He is continuing to do a work in you so that at just the right time He will bring it all to pass.

The Mind of Christ Glorifies God Through Obedience

On this same train of thought, next we see that the Mind of Christ glorifies God through obedience. John 17:1 “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you,” and then in verses 4 and 5, “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.”

I have described it as obedience because the glory Christ is seeking is inextricably linked to the cross. Obedience and glory are almost one and the same. It’s ironic because His glory is also the very thing which was so humiliating.

This kind of glory is not the kind of glory we see athletes or politicians pursue because it is not self-serving but humble; it is not narcissistic but holy; not unloving but guided by perfect love. JC Ryle says, “This kind of glory is a specific kind of glory, namely, that divine glory that shines in humble, sacrificial obedience.”

It is for this purpose that Christ came. We can see in His prayers in the garden of Gethsemane that what He was about to face was difficult and troubling. He sweat drops of blood as the Father’s plan was unfolding and His unwavering character causes him to obey the Father at all costs. Literally at ALL costs.

The prophet Isaiah prophesied of the Messiah’s unwavering commitment saying “...the Lord God helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced; therefore I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame.” (Is 50:7) The mind of Christ glorifies God through obedience.

By Jesus seeking glory, he achieves our good and our joy. It puts the Father’s miraculous plan on display to redeem people from death to life to the praise of His glory.

His hour has finally come and it will culminate in people from every tribe, tongue, and ethnicity rejoicing to see what the Father had in store for them all these many years. That God would become a man, live a perfect life for us, die on a cross taking on all of the sins of his people, and rise again victorious over sin and death. This external shame Jesus is about to endure, will result in the praise of his wonderful name for all eternity to come.

This work is complete as well. Jesus says, “I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work you gave me to do.” He speaks in an already completed sense because of his confidence in the plan of God. It is certain and he has not left one single thing undone that He was given to him to do - he has accomplished it all on your behalf.

And finally in verse 5 he seeks to return to His heavenly glory He had with the Father whichAwould occur at His ascension and coronation in Heaven.

The disciples couldn’t see it at this stage. When Jesus died, they became dejected and fell into despair not realizing that the Messiah had to suffer. But when He rose again their joy was inexpressible. I am grateful that Jesus cried out to be glorified with the Father. It resulted in my salvation from all of my sins. God’s glory was for my good because I am one of His people. God’s glory is our chief and ultimate end in this life.

God’s glory?

Some might read that God seeks His own glory and wonder why that is okay. Why is it okay for God to seek His own glory when it’s wrong for us to do the same.

We might chuckle because the simple response is, “Well you’re not God, so…” But I think it’s helpful for us to wrestle with the subject. What is the glory of God? It is the internal reality and external display of the greatness of God. So the question has to do with God’s nature.

When God is seeking His own glory, He is not desiring to become more glorious, He is simply revealing what is already true. He IS glorious. God is never made more or less glorious than He already is because He cannot change. So when we talk about giving God glory, what we’re saying is that we are displaying more and more, in an outward sense, of who God actually is. We’re displaying reality to a lost world.

If we confuse human glory for the kind of glory God has, then we’ve totally misunderstood. Human’s seek their own glory because they lack it and they can’t keep it for long. God already has it to perfection and it never goes away.

Alan Carr has a quote that goes, “You should never meet your heroes. Paul Newman... I was so excited about meeting him, but he showed up in track suit bottoms, slippers, and a sweater. He was just so worn out and old and he wanted to go home.” We may glorify people in our minds but the reality is never as glorious as we envisioned.

Men desire glory because they do not have it and cannot keep it. When was the last time 1997 NBA championship were on front page news? Probably 1997. Who was the most valuable player? I don’t know either. It doesn’t matter. But God’s glory does matter. God desires glory because he possesses all of it and is desiring to reveal in us for our joy. We were made for that purpose.

And Jesus here is praying for His own glory to the Father’s glory. Up to now His disciples have been slow to hear and understand. They still don’t realize what the plan of God is. In their eyes glory is an earthly kingdom with an earthly king that they’re hoping is Jesus. But something greater is about to be revealed to them. Jesus is the better prophet, priest, and king. He’s the King of kings with authority over all of the earth.

The internal reality of God’s glory is about to be externally displayed in the cross and resurrection that nobody was prepared for. The sun would go dark, the earth would quake, the nations would mourn, but then Jesus would rise again and reveal the glory of God that has been waiting in mystery all these years.

Jesus is humbly praying for glory so through His obedience, God will be magnified for eternity.

Application:

We were made to be vessels that reveal God’s already existent glory. Our obedience to what God has called us to do directly results in a display of His glory. Before we could not obey, as Jesus taught in John 15. We were dead branches disconnected from the vine. But the Father has grafted us into the vine, and we are being nourished and brought to life so that we can bear much fruit. That fruit glorifies God. It reveals a glorious God who redeems a people back from their sins.

The world cannot bear fruit through obedience. Jesus said, “Apart from me you can do no good thing.” So although we do not need to obey in order to earn our salvation, we are saved so that we can obey to the glory of His great name.

This brings me to our final point for this morning:

The Mind of Christ Glorifies God by Delighting in His Plan.

John 17:2-3 Jesus says to the Father, “...you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.”

This is what we call an intra-trinitarian revelation, conversation within the Trinity. It reveals the internal plan of God for salvation from eternity past and it is one that Jesus loves because he’s taught it throughout the book of John.

The plan of God in this passage is related to our salvation. We sometimes call it the doctrine of Election or predestination. And once those words fall the room becomes stony silent and people look around for the uncomfortable argument about to ensue. But this is a truth that the Apostle John records many times as Jesus speaks to his disciples and the Jews alike.

Now it culminates in his high priestly prayer to the Father just before the cross. We have to stop and think. He’s moments away from his arrest, execution, and burial. And this plan of salvation is one of the first things he mentions in his final prayer to the Father. So this is very important and we would do injustice to His word to pass it by out of convenience.

This says that Jesus has been given authority over all… Not some, not most, ALL. And that authority is over all people and has to do with giving eternal life to certain people. This giving of eternal life is not indiscriminate. It’s not given to everyone but to those people, whomever they are, that the Father has given to the Son.

Let’s look at the order here: The Father gives Jesus authority over all of humanity. He gives a particular people to the Son. Then Jesus gives eternal life to those he has received from the Father. Think of it as a love gift from Father to Son. When Jesus saves these people, they now glorify God as vessels of His grace and mercy bringing it full circle.

This doctrine has been reiterated several times by Jesus in the book of John. We’ll look at a few so you know this is not an isolated text.

In chapter 6 beginning in verse 29. The crowd asks Jesus how they can do the works of God. Jesus says, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him who He has sent.” Verse 37, “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.” Verse 44, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.”

So God acts first changing the heart of a certain people, He draws them to the Son, then they ALL respond exercising their new gift of faith to the Son, who gives them eternal life. It’s a process the Reformers called the Ordo Salutis, or order of salvation.

Let’s turn to John 10:25-29 “Jesus answered the Jews, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name bear witness about me, but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep.”

That’s because no one can come to Jesus unless the Father draws them first.

“27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.”

Here we see Jesus confirming this order that the Father chooses people, gives them to the Son, the Son gives them eternal life, and they are preserved against any and all enemies who would take them back.

This is a difficult word to hear for some and I can understand that But it is God’s word.

But I hope you will notice that what Jesus emphasizes is different than what most Christians focus on in their objections. It is a plan that Jesus delights in because He is a loving shepherd who is jealous FOR His sheep. His emphasis is that none of his sheep will be snatched away from His hand and that their salvation is secure against all enemies.

This plan is provides enormous comfort because just as you could do nothing to gain salvation, you cannot mount up enough mistakes to result in you losing it. No one will snatch us away from the Father’s hand since it was never for our glory that we were saved in the first place. It is for His great glory that we are redeemed and His great glory that we continue to remain redeemed.

That is Christ’s emphasis and He delights in it so much that he begins his high priestly prayer with it. If you want to meditate on a passage of Scripture that walks through this in greater depth, read Ephesians 1 slowly and emphasize all references to God and His will. I think it will be helpful if you’re struggling with it.

This work Jesus is about to accomplish, will not be left to chance, or the fickle minds and desires of dead branches who can do no good thing on their own.

The mind of Christ delights to know that you were seen and known before time began by the Father. He delights that you were given to Him so you would receive eternal life. And because of that, you are able to take joy in this promise as it results in your redemption AND preservation.

The mind of Christ glorifies God by delighting in His Plan.

There are a lot of things more to say about this but suffice it to say, that this doctrine of election is one that is born out of the love of God for an undeserving people which is accomplished by the sinless Son of God, that we might be to the praise of His glory.

Application:

The work is done. He has not only bought us with His blood but Jesus has accomplished all of our righteousness too. What is left - is simply to rest in the finished work of Christ. We do not need to worry about maintaining our acceptance in Christ. That was settled long ago and cannot be undone. We cannot be severed from Christ and he will not cast away the salvation of souls which cost Him so dearly.

We are His chosen people. We may not completely understand how it all works but the Father gave us to the Son. Jesus gave us eternal life and no one will ever snatch us out of His hand.

Conclusion

This wonderful passage could be the source for a much much longer sermon. I have barely begun to scratch the surface.

But we’ve seen how the mind of Christ is set on glorifying God through waiting on His timing, obedience, and delighting in His plan.

One day when we see Him face to face, many of these mysteries on earth, will be uncovered and our understanding will be enlightened. Once more, just like the disciples learning of redemption, we will with unveiled face, behold the glory of the Lord in a completely new light. It will set us to rejoicing as God continues a wonderful work in us.

I’ll finish with these verses from Paul to the Philippian church as a final meditation for us.

Phil 2:5-11 “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. 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.”

Let’s pray