Imagine That.

Joel Adkins

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Can You Only Imagine?

I can only imagine What it will be like When I walk by your side I can only imagine What my eyes would see When your face is before me I can only imagine I can only imagine, yeah

Surrounded by your glory What will my heart feel Will I dance for you Jesus Or in awe of You be still Will I stand in your presence To my knees will I fall Will I sing hallelujah Will I be able to speak at all I can only imagine I can only imagine

I can only imagine When that day comes And I find myself Standing in the sun I can only imagine When all I will do Is forever, forever worship you I can only imagine I can only imagine

Surrounded by your glory What will my heart feel Will I dance for you Jesus Or in awe of You be still Will I stand in your presence Or to my knees will I fall Will I sing hallelujah Will I be able to speak at all I can only imagine, yeah I can only imagine

I can only imagine yeah I can only imagine yeah yeah I can only imagine yeah yeah I can only imagine I can only imagine yeah yeah I can only imagine

I can only imagine When all I will do Is forever, forever worship you I can only imagine

Bart Millard, Mercy Me

What Will Heaven Look Like?

For a moment this morning, I want you to imagine what heaven will be like. What do you think heaven will look like? How will you look in heaven? Likely, you may have thought of streets of gold and other things. Good. But who will be there? Jesus?yes? Friends and family? yes? Me? by the grace of God.

But who will be there? What will that look like?

John 17:20–23 ESV

20 “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, 23 I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.

Context is everything. Jesus has just completed the upper room discourse… Jesus has shared in a meal with his disciples. Judas has left the scene to betray Jesus. Jesus has washed his disciples feet and told them to do as he had done to them. He tells them bad things will happen, the Holy Spirit is precious and necessary, … the Upper Room Discourse. And then he begins to pray in Chapter 17.

He’s going to pray for three groups of people in this chapter.

Jesus Prays For Three Groups of People in John 17

Go back to the very beginning of this chapter. John 17.1-5

John 17:1–5 ESV

1 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, 2 since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. 3 And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. 4 I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. 5 And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.

Jesus prays for Himself.- John 17:1-5

Jesus is praying for himself. He’s declaring what He’s done: He’s been the embodiment of his father in all that he’s spoken, done, and been.

He has not only given eternal life. He has declared what eternal life is: That people would come to know the only true God and His Son Jesus Christ whom he has sent.

There is a subtle message Jesus is giving in this prayer for Himself. Up to the time of Christ, Jews felt that God was their God. To be Jewish was to have God and everyone else would one day know his wrath. But Jesus is changing the message. In spite of all the other gods that existed in this society he was in, there was truly only one true God. And His Son, Jesus Christ. And to know Jesus was to know the father was to know eternal life (and secret: when you get to the end of the prayer you see that this God isn’t about wrath at all but all about love!)

But I digress.

Now, read John 17:6-19 to see the second group of people that Jesus is praying for.

John 17:6–19 ESV

6 “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. 7 Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. 8 For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. 9 I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. 10 All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. 11 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. 12 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. 13 But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. 14 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. 15 I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. 19 And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.

Jesus Prays For His Disciples.- John 17.6-19

Jesus now prays for His disciples. He prays that they would carry on the mission that He had brought to them. And note, Jesus prays that they would be “one as we are one”. See John 17.11

John 17:11 ESV

11 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.

But he prays this, so that they can carry out the mission that Christ has given to them.: Look at Matthew 28.19-20

And Acts 1.8

Matthew 28:19–20 ESV

19 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, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Acts 1:8 ESV

8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

And who could argue that the apostles did not do exactly what Jesus commissioned them to do. The reason you are here today is because they fulfilled Christ’s commission to them.

But church, understand this: There’s still one more group that Christ prays for:

Look at the text for this morning John 17.20-26

And this is where I am going to do the one verse at a time that I typically do. Everything prior to this is context for the message.

John 17:20 ESV

20 “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word,

Jesus Prays For You and Me-John 17:20

Church… that is us.... He is praying for you and for me.

Jesus would not say, “I’m praying for you.”… He DID pray for you!

Don’t you want to know what He is going to pray for you?

What does Jesus pray for?

John 17:21 ESV

21 that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

That we would be one with each other, even as Jesus is one with His Father. -John 17:21

John 17:22 ESV

22 The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one,

That we would have His glory, but again…

That we would be One as He and His Father are one. -John 17:22

John 17:23 ESV

23 I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.

That He would be in us, and God would be in Him, and again, that we would be one… but there’s something unique here- that we would be “perfectly one”. Perfectly one!

That We Would Be Perfectly One.

Note that in the last three verses Jesus has prayed that we would be one “unified” three times, and the third time He says that we would be “Perfectly” one.

What does that mean? Let me help you… mature. Grown up. Adult. Pettiness gone. Politics gone. Divisiveness gone. Desire for power gone. Hassle gone. Vain ambition gone. Prejudice gone. Pride gone.

If you are all that you are headed for being one. If you aren’t all that, it’s because you are still like the world. You haven’t matured. You are not mature. You will be petty, you will be political, you will be divisive, you will crave power, you will create hassles, you will be outwardly spiritual but inwardly self-seeking(vain ambition), you will privately hold your prejudices and they will come out in your behavior, and your pride will be like the pharisees… you will show your philacteries, and be spiritual in all the right places, and privately you will be full of dead men’s bones.

And if a pastor or leader comes along and hinders your ability to be immature, you will storm out the door, shout from the mountaintops how wrongly you have been treated, remove as many people as you can with you, hold hostage as many people as you can, divide and conquer in any way possible… and you will prove the level of your maturity and the height of your narcissism.

To be one means not only inclusive and diverse- it means if you know Jesus you are with us. period.

Emma’s birthday party… she’s only one year old. Nana and Papa birthday party. Emma will grow up. But she was part of the family the day she was conceived. We didn’t tell her we had to wait to see how she would work out- she had full membership rights the day she was conceived. She is, will be, and forever shall be and Adkins. One of my grandchildren. One of my progeny. I dare you to say she isn’t.

It means that as God the Father and the Holy Spirit are one, so should the church of Christ be one. And I do think he meant this local church. But there’s a reason for that. Look in that 23rd verse one more time.

“So that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.”

Why?

Remember John 17.21…

John 17:21 ESV

21 that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

So The World may Believe.-John 17.21

stop. Wait a minute. Please get this. Don’t mess this meaning up.

Jesus wants us to be one, so the world will believe know that He was sent by God and that God loved them just like He loved His Son.

Do not read these verses, particularly 21, He was sent by God and God loved us just like He loved the Son. That is not what this verse is saying.

So church, get this: Our “oneness” is our witness to grow faith in God to the world AND to express to the world the love of God through Jesus Christ for them.

I’m going to stop right here, because there’s a point I mentioned earlier that I absolutely need to emphasize because it is so critical to our understanding this prayer of Jesus for us:

Up to the time of Christ, everybody had their own god. And the Jews believed that Yahweh was the only true God for them, and all the other people were just out and subject to the wrath of God when Messiah comes. But the question is, “How will we know Messiah”?

And here is the Messiah, Jesus, and He is saying that His love is not exclusive to one group, but rather that it is meant for the whole world- no matter who it is and where they are- it is for everyone. So the flood gates of salvation and the possibility of relationship with God and eternity with Him are open to everyone.

And in our day and age the best way that love will be expressed will be through the “oneness” of us. Us!

Now, before you lose the thought of the “world” and “anyone” knowing Christ, I want to remind you of some verses.

Matthew 28:19–20 ESV

Acts 1:8 ESV

8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Now, church, stop and understand something. There was a time when you had to go on a plane or a boat to find Judeans and Samarians and the others who lived at the end of the earth. But something has changed since Jesus prayed this prayer.

The ends of the earth have come to us.

But the reason all of this oneness is prayed for by Jesus. Is so the world will know His love, and that they will be with Him. (see vs.24)

John 17:24 ESV

24 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.

Can you imagine all the world being with Jesus?

Can You Imagine?

Revelation 17:9 says “behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb”

Revelation 7:9–17 ESV

9 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” 11 And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.” 13 Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” 14 I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15 “Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence. 16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. 17 For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

Can you Imagine what heaven will look like?

We pray, “thy kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven.”

What did Jesus pray for us? That’s the bottom line:

The Church Should Reflect Heaven

You can not only imagine what heaven will look like, you can be heaven on earth, church, if you will only imagine it. If you will put feet to your faith.

The church, if standing before a mirror, should look like Revelation 7:9-17

Revelation 17:9 says “behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb”

If your opinion is “they don’t look like me”, all I can say is, oh yes they do.

If your opinion is, “they haven’t been here long enough” all I can say is they have been loved as long as Jesus loved you.

If your opinion is, “their ways are not our way,”, need I remind you that God’s ways are not our ways?

There is no excuse for a church not to reflect the appearance of heaven here on earth.

Happy faces line the hallways Those whose lives have been redeemed Broken homes that He has mended Those from prison He has freed Little children and the aged Hand in hand stand all aglow Who were crippled, broken, ruined Clad in garments white as snow

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