Christ Came Down…To Send Us Out

Gift giving…though we are thankful for them all…they always result in a variety of reactions:

Wow factor…

Some are expected…so no surprise… :Yes thats what I asked for.”

Some are nice…but will probably be forgotten in a matter of time.

Others are unspeakable and take your breath away…

How do you respond to the gift of Christ Came Down?

Our Christmas series has been Christ Came Down…the REASONS why Christ Came Down…

To SHOW us the Father…

To PROCLAIM the Truth…

To GIVE His Life…

To SAVE the Lost…

He is the greatest & most significant GIFT the world has ever seen or known.

This morning I want to wrap up our series with a challenge for us to consider.

In light of the gift we have received that is: Christ Came Down…

How do we LIVE?

How do we RESPOND?

What is Jesus’ desire for us as His followers?

This morning…I want us to think on one more reason…

Christ Came Down…to SEND Us Out!

But what does that look like?

What are the characteristics that should be true of every believer today.

We will be in John 17.

Jesus said this in the midst of a prayer…just prior to the cross:

John 17:18 “As You SENT Me into the world, so I have SENT them into the world.” (Christmas verse)

Jesus was not just born…but SENT…on a mission…to accomplish a PURPOSE to be fulfilled…

So Jesus said…so I have SENT them (disciples) into the world.

John 17 is a passage where we see the HEART & DESIRE of Jesus for His disciples.

We are going to look at 5 PRIORITIES today…

What it looks like for us to be in this world and marked as people who are following Jesus. (“world” 18x)

As we walk through them today…my question for you is this:

This is a gift…Christ Came Down…how are you responding and living out these priorities…in light of the gift that you have received?

Do you acknowledge this as the greatest gift…that it becomes the centre & anchor for our lives?

Or is it like a gift…I am happy for…but then I move back to what life is about me and my wants.

What we see in this prayer of Jesus is His desire for each one of us.

CONTEXT: John 17 This is a CRITICAL moment in Scripture…just prior to the cross…

Jesus has told His disciples of His need to suffer and die…

They’ve eaten the last supper…the dark hour of His betrayal was about to happen…

Judas had already gone to betray Jesus, money already changed hands…

Jesus told His followers…they will abandon Him…

So Jesus pulls away within earshot of His disciples…and this is what He prayed:

John 17:1-26 (aka The High Priestly Prayer).

1. Know God’s HEART…John 17:1-12

The first thing to see here is God’s HEART for His disciples and the world…and for YOU and I.

v.1 Jesus’ greatest desire was for God’s GLORY…which would be realized in His death on the cross.

“glorify”…is to reveal the splendour of the character of God…through what I am about to do.

Jesus is saying: Help me show what You are like…help Me put Your characteristics on display.

God has given Him “authority…over all flesh to give eternal life.”

“eternal life…” We often think this is only a place where you go when you die?

But Jesus clarifies in His prayer:

Eternal life is…KNOWING the only true God…and Jesus Christ.

This is God revealing His heart for you…He wants you to KNOW Him.

Maybe you come today with different ideas about what God is like…

This is a clear description (from Jesus) of God’s heart.

“…this is eternal life… that they know You…the only true God…”

Christ Came Down…Jesus is saying: “My heart for them is that they might know the Father.”

Is that true of you?

As you think about 2024…Have you been growing in your knowledge of Jesus?

Jesus said: “I glorified you on earth…I showed people…I told people what You are like…I put Your attributes on display…Having accomplished the work You gave Me to do.”

Notice…Jesus has been with the Father…

His prayer is that we would have eternal life by knowing the Father…

And all that intimacy leads to Him having accomplished the work.

INTIMACY WITH GOD…LEADS TO MISSION FOR GOD…

Jesus’ intimacy with the Father…as the Son…led Him to accomplish the work God gave Him to do.

If we have no intimacy with God…we won’t give two hoots for His mission.

Don’t miss God’s HEART here…He wants you to KNOW Him…which will change & transform you.

Maybe we came to Jesus…but we have stepped back from closeness/intimacy with God.

Maybe we know a lot about God…but it doesn’t mean we spend a lot of time with God.

What does your intimacy with God look like?

How do we pursue intimacy (nearness) with God? Spend time with Him.

“David, I just open my Bible and stare at the words. I have no idea.”

Find someone to help you…walk with Jesus in a better deeper way.

Read remainder of v.1-12 …watch for God’s heart.

I am only giving an overview of John 17…hopping to different passages…but take time to read the prayer for yourselves…hear Jesus’ desire for the glory of His Father…praying for His disciples and HE IS PRAYING FOR YOU.

2. Receive God’s JOY…John 17:13-14

God desires us to be a people of JOY. (Joy to the world the Lord is come!)

But true JOY is not based on circumstances…

v.13 So where do we find this JOY?

The world says… “You gotta make your own…find it deep within…you just need to find it.”

The world seems to think JOY is somewhere deep inside us that just needs to come out.

But the world has completely missed out on the fact that within each of us is nothing but sin…

And so it actually demands someone from outside of ourselves…to bring JOY into our lives.

I think that’s why Jesus doesn’t say: “I hope they have joy!”

No…He says …they need to have to have My joy…that is the ONLY joy that will satisfy.

We often think Jesus as “a man of sorrows” which He was …but also a Person of deep abiding joy.

“We must never picture Jesus going around with a long face and a melancholy disposition. He was a man of joy and He revealed that joy to others. His joy was not the fleeting levity of a sinful world but the abiding enjoyment of the Father and the Word. He did not depend on outward circumstances but on inward spiritual resources that were hidden from the world. This is the kind of joy He wants us to have, and we can have it through His Word.” Warren Weirsbe

This JOY Jesus speaks of is not in my life…it is in a relationship only with Him.

See also: Jeremiah 15:16 “Your words were found, and I ate them and your words became to me a joy and the delight of My heart.” (See also: Psalm 119:14; Psalm 119:162)

3. Pursue God’s PURPOSE…John 17:15-19

Remember Jesus is praying this just before the cross…thinking about the purpose of all He is doing.

v.15-16 Praying for His disciples…

Not to be removed from the world…but to be in the world but also protected from the evil one.

This is a good moment to check in on ourself…on our own propensity.

Do we look like the world…

Tendency toward cynicism/gossip?

Need to be noticed or be validated by certain people?

Operating according to the principles of thsi world?

That’s just running in the direction of the world.

Or maybe for some it’s in the opposite direction…we run from the world, escape from the world.

Jesus says…No…I want My disciples to be in the world….not of the world !

Jesus says…I want them to be part of showing My characteristics…put My glory on display!

Are we living out this tension at Fellowship? in your workplace…school? neighbourhood?.

Notice Jesus uses the plural… “help them” and “let they”…

I think this is best lived out with other believers…to say “I want to be in the world to point to Jesus.”

v.17-19 He goes on: “Sanctify them in the truth…..Your word is truth.” result of Christ Came Down

sanctify…GK: hagiazo means

to be set apart…to be made holy…(used 3x) consecrate, set apart

It means the same thing in each place…

We often think morally…set apart to not do certain things…to avoid certain things…

But it is also to be set apart for a certain purpose…(tabernacle furnishings consecrated) Exodus 40

Jesus is saying… “I want them to be set apart for purpose and I set myself apart for purpose…(that purpose is Him dying) so that we can have eternal life.

REMIND YOURSELF…God has placed you where you are for a particular significant purpose…

In your home, this church…your neighbourhood…your school…your work…something unique…

It is a MISSION especially for you…in the space you are in right now….God has given to each

Christmas ornament…set aside for Christmas…I will not bring them out in July for any other purpose.

The same is true for us…as followers of Jesus we have been set apart for a purpose…

And don’t miss the idea that God has a purpose for the space and the season that you are in today.

4. Live for God’s GLORY…John 17:20-24

v.20 I love that verse!

Knowing that on the eve of His death…Jesus is praying for you and me…not just His disciples…but for those who will believe because of His disciples.

Jesus fully knew where this was going and He assures us of what will happen…

Look specifically at what He is praying for here…that they may be one…(v.21)

Not praying for powertful worship services, amaxing exciting church programs…with razzle dazzle, smoke machines and light shows.

Jesus wants us to know God’s glory…

And He wants His church to be together united.

That HIs church will be ONE!

With all our individual preferences, differences and unique traits…Jesus’ desire is that the church would be ONE.

v.22 “the glory…(tricky) feeling, thinking, acting reflecting God’s character & greatness into the world.

The glory you have given to Me…I have given to the disciples.

Follow what He is saying:

God has placed His glory in Jesus…the weight, heaviness & significance of who God is…all His characteristics…His righteousness, His love & His grace…His mercy…His patience with us…has been put on display through Jesus…and has been made available to us.

Glory…is thinking, feeling and acting…in ways that reflect His character and greatness

Jesus gave it to us…

He wants us to share in that glory and demonstrate the glory of God in a world that is desperate to see it.

Yet we find ourselves pursuing so many other priorities…even living for our own glory.

Jesus is praying for something more special and unique…something far greater.

We can so easily misplace our pursuit of God’s glory and settle for lesser things.

What Jesus wants to share with you…does not end at the stroke of midnight…it lasts for all eternity.

Jesus wants to share an eternal glory for all of eternity and He wants to share it with you.

My question for you on this final Sunday of 2024…

Have you misplaced the object of what is truly glorious in this life are you pursuing the glory of lesser things…in light of what God is offering and the fact that Christ Came Down? What changes do you need to make?

5. Anchor Yourself in God’s LOVE…John 17:25-26

Jesus says…You are a righteous Father…so even though the world does not know you…I know you.

But He goes on to say: v.26 “…that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.”

Is God’s love something that you are regularly experiencing?

Is God’s love something that continually with gratitude anchor your life to?

Is God’s love just a notion in Scripture you know it’s there…but it’s not something you regularly experience?

Remind yourself of God’s love for you…CHRIST CAME DOWN…

To SHOW us the Father…

To PROCLAIM the Truth…

To GIVE His Life…

To SAVE the Lost…

Romans 8:35–39 (ESV)

35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?

38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

PERSONAL REFLECTION & ACTION…

As we wrap up this year: How can you actively pursue one specific element from Jesus prayer?

Jesus’ desire is to demonstrate His HEART so you can relate intimately with Him.

Jesus’ desire…is for you to know His JOY…but not our own joy but His joy that we share in.

Jesus’ desire…is for you to have PURPOSE…

Jesus’ desire…is for you to know His GLORY and live for His glory and nothing lesser than that. And ultimately as He wraps up his prayer…

Jesus’ desire…as He marches toward His death is to demonstrate His LOVE for you and me.

Close the year out …reflecting on the fact that Christ Came Down but also acknowledging:

We need God’s work in our lives…

We need His Spirit to confront us…convict us…change us and ultimately lead us to Jesus…who changes us…graciously working in and through and around us and through the people with us…