The Perfect, Obedient Son

Purpose of John

John 20:30–31 ESV

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

Text: John 8:29

John 8:29 ESV

And he who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him.”

I always do the things that are pleasing to him.

I—Jesus Christ, the Light of the World (emphatic in Greek, perhaps to make a contrast)

Always—at all times, without fail

Do—action, active, positive work

The things that are pleasing—what is desirable, satisfying, pleasing, a cause of delight

To him—to the Father, to God

“Nobody’s perfect.”

How many of us have said or heard these words?

Often an excuse for sinful behavior, bad habits, mistakes

Actually, there is one. And he said we also must be perfect. (Matthew 5:48)

Matthew 5:48 ESV

You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Psalm 15:1–2 ESV

O Lord, who shall sojourn in your tent? Who shall dwell on your holy hill? He who walks blamelessly and does what is right and speaks truth in his heart;

What pleases God?

Love for God and obedience to God

Deuteronomy 10:12 ESV

“And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul,

Trust in God (faith)

Hebrews 11:6 ESV

And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

Love for others

1 John 3:11 ESV

For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.

Proverbs 14:31 ESV

Whoever oppresses a poor man insults his Maker, but he who is generous to the needy honors him.

Living for the glory of God

1 Corinthians 10:31 ESV

So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

Why should we seek to please God?

God is our Creator, and we are made in his image, for his glory.

If we do not live for his glory, we are not fulfilling his purpose for us, and we are dishonoring him.

When should we please God?

All the time—there is never a moment when it’s right not to please him.

God demands that we always live in a way that pleases him

Does anyone please God perfectly all the time?

Adam failed

Genesis 3:6–12 ESV

So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths. And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.”

Adam was the first man whom God created, whom God appointed as the covenant head of the human race. His name means “man” or “humanity.” He was in the Garden of Eden, daily walking with God in close fellowship, in a perfect world, with everything he could possibly need. He was the first prophet, priest, and king, whom God commanded to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth with humans as the image of God. But he chose to disobey God’s only prohibition, and by his sin he plunged all of humanity into sin and its consequence, death. If we’re ever tempted to think that sin is caused by our environment, all we have to do is look at Adam, who had the perfect environment and yet failed. He did not perfectly obey God.

Noah failed

Though Noah is called a righteous man in Genesis 6, and he along with his family were the only ones saved from the great flood, yet after the flood we see him falling into sinful drunkenness and exposure in Genesis 9.

Abraham failed

Abraham is one of the greatest heroes of the faith, often mentioned as one of the greatest examples of faith. And yet multiple times he lied about his wife Sarah and endangered the fulfillment of the promise when she was taken by Pharoah in Genesis 12 and later by Abimelech in Genesis 20. He also sinned by following Sarah’s advice to have children by her slave Hagar. One of the great heroes of the faith was not without some significant flaws.

Moses failed

Though Moses was a humble man and the great deliverer of the people of Israel from Egypt, his failure to obey God and demonstrate God’s holiness by speaking to the rock resulted in missing out on the Promised Land.

David failed

1 Kings 15:5 ESV

because David did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and did not turn aside from anything that he commanded him all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.

One of Israel’s greatest kings, the one through whom God promised that the Messiah would come, failed in spectacular ways. Though he was a man after God’s own heart by God’s own testimony, David committed adultery with Bathsheba and murdered his friend Uriah to try to cover his adultery. Though he serves as the model for all the kings who followed him, he also failed to perfectly obey God.

Israel failed

Even beyond individual people, we look at the nation of Israel, whom God chose as a new humanity, a new Adam so to speak. They were to represent God to the nations as a model of proper worship and right living. Yet we see the nation of Israel fall into idolatry and all kinds of sins throughout their history, resulting in severe punishment and exile for their faithlessness.

We fail

And lest we should think ourselves better than all of these people, we must admit that we also have failed to live up to God’s laws. Though God requires perfect obedience, we have fallen far short of his glorious standard.

Romans 3:23 ESV

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

James 2:10 ESV

For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.

What hope do we have then for eternal life and a restored relationship with God? Only those who are pure in heart will see God, and every one of us has failed to be 100% pure.

Our only hope is in the blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ, who perfectly obeyed God’s laws, never sinning and always doing what pleases God. By his death, resurrection, and ascension, Jesus offers us forgiveness from our sins and right standing with God.

Jesus is perfect

He always did what pleases the Father

He perfectly loved and obeyed the Father, perfectly trusted the Father, always loved others perfectly, and always lived for the glory of God.

He never transgressed God’s law

Exodus 12:5 ESV

Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats,

Hebrews 9:14 ESV

how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.

1 Peter 1:18–19 ESV

knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.

He always obeyed every detail of God’s law

Matthew 3:15 ESV

But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented.

Matthew 5:17 ESV

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.

John 19:30 ESV

When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

He perfectly loved others

John 13:1 ESV

Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.

He always trusted the Father and submitted to him

Luke 23:46 ESV

Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last.

Philippians 2:7–8 ESV

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.

He always lived for the glory of the Father

John 5:30 ESV

“I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.

John 17:4 ESV

I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do.

Jesus’s Obedience was Tested and Proven through Suffering

Hebrews 2:10 ESV

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.

Hebrews 4:15 ESV

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.

Hebrews 5:7–8 ESV

In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered.

Hebrews 5:9–10 ESV

And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek.

Hebrews 7:26–28 ESV

For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself. For the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect forever.

1 Peter 2:22–24 ESV

He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.

The Father’s confirmation of the Son’s perfection.

His words at Jesus’s baptism

Matthew 3:17 ESV

and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

Mark 1:11 ESV

And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”

Luke 3:22 ESV

and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”

Jesus’s transfiguration

Matthew 17:5 ESV

He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.”

2 Peter 1:17 ESV

For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,”

The Father’s presence was within the Son

John 8:29 ESV

And he who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him.”

Colossians 1:19 ESV

For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,

The Father set his seal on the Son

John 6:27 ESV

Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.”

The Father appointed the Son as Judge of all

John 5:22 & 27

John 5:22 ESV

For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son,

John 5:27 ESV

And he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man.

Acts 10:42 ESV

And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead.

Acts 17:31 ESV

because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”

Because Jesus is the perfect, obedient Son of God, he is fit to be both our Judge and our Savior. He will be the Judge of all people and the Savior of those who trust in him.

Application:

Know Jesus as your Judge.

Trust in Jesus as your Savior.

Come to Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins and a right relationship with God forever.

Obey Jesus as your Lord.

Love Jesus as your Treasure.

Love the Son! Find your delight and satisfaction in Jesus.

John 17:26 ESV

I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”

Praise God for his Perfect Son!

PRAY

Communion

1 Corinthians 11:23 ESV

For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread,

1 Corinthians 11:24 ESV

and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

1 Corinthians 11:25 ESV

In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

1 Corinthians 11:26 ESV

For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.