The Glory of God in the Gloom of the Cross

John 17:1-5

I want you to think hard about some very famous Christian song lyrics that many of us have probably sung in the past. I want each of you to think hard about each line and try to discern if there is a theological issue in any of the lyrics.

Michael W Smith’s Above All Chorus:

Crucified, laid behind a stone

You lived to die, rejected and alone

Like a rose, trampled on the ground

You took the fall and thought of me

Above all

So, what do you think? Are there any issues with this chorus? It sounds really good at first listen, but there is a problem: it isn’t true. The song is full of marvelous truth, but a few simple words subtly undermine what the Bible actually teaches. The problem is this: on the cross, Jesus did not think of you above all. This might sound like bad news, but I want to show that: first, this is true, and second, this is at the very heart of the Greatest News in the world.

The hour has come for the glory of God

Jesus has fulfilled His ministry

He has completed the works that He came to do

He has taught the truth He came to teach

He has performed the works and miracles that He came to perform

He has lived every second perfectly

The climax of His work is about to happen

As marvelous as all that He has done thus far has been:

Made water into wine

Corrected and rebuked the religious leaders

Loved the Samaritan woman at the well

Healed the lame man by the pool of Bethesda

Fed five thousand men with 5 loaves and 2 fish

Healed a man born blind

Raised Lazarus from the dead

These all pale in comparison to what is about to come

All of it has been fixed in the sovereign plan of God

Every step of the way has been according to the design of God

There are no variations in God’s plan

Jesus is driven to prayer

It is striking that it is the very moment when Jesus acknowledges God’s sovereignty over what is happening in His life that He is driven to pray.

The doctrine of the sovereignty of God does not undermine the need for prayer

In fact, affirming it drives us to prayer in great confidence an hope

Redemption will be given for the glory of God

He has received authority over all flesh

This authority accords with the purpose of God’s glory being displayed to the world

The Greek word καθώς (translated since) means as or just as

His authority is for the giving of eternal life

Eternal life is to know the only true God and His Son, Christ Jesus

1 John 5:20- And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.

He gives it to all who the Father gives

If the Father does not give them, they don’t receive eternal life

Those who receive eternal life are those who believe

Belief in Jesus is a supernatural miracle that has God as its source and center

He alone holds this power and authority

It is for His glory

Ephesians 1:3-6- Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.

The universe is not man-centered

It revolves around God and His purpose to glorify His name

One last stop on the way to the glory of God

There is yet one more thing to accomplish

Galgatha waits for Him in the morning

He has fixed His face like flint to the cross where He will die

He must die to give sinners life

The Gospel is not that Jesus came to give us a better life and show us how to be nicer to each other

He came to absorb the wrath of God against sin for all of those who would humbly cast themselves on Him in faith

Isaiah 53:5- But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.

Hebrews 9:22- …without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.

A stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Greeks

1 Corinthians 1:23-24- but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

You and the glory of God

It is in the glory of God that we find our greatest joy

He is the source of true and lasting joy

John 16:24- Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.

Philippians 4:4- Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.

Are you struggling to find lasting joy in your life?

Perhaps it’s because you give some much time, thought, and energy to lesser things

How God-centered is your life?

Maybe this is new for you

You always thought of life as a mainly human thing, and God’s main job is to love and serve us

I pray that God will grant you to see the radical God-centeredness of God and that you will be strengthened in hope and joy in this

Maybe you would affirm all of this with a nod of your head

But what does your life say about what you believe?

Do you live with Christ and His Gospel as the central value and consideration of your life and all that you do?

What do you think about most often?

What do you set your heart’s desires on most deeply?

What do you talk about most passionately?

It is the beauty and worth of Jesus?

May the glory of God be your life

Philippians 1:20-21- it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

Romans 11:36- For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.