Parting Words-Part 12- Knowing God

Introduction-John 17:1-5

Jesus has just concluded His conversation with His disciples and now He lifts His eyes toward heaven and begins to speak directly to the Father.

We must recognize that Jesus need not have prayed this prayer aloud for He was in constant communion with the Father and yet He chose to pray aloud that the disciples might hear the wording of His prayer and know the substance of His praying.

What a privilege that we should have the opportunity to listen in upon a conversation between the Son of God and the Father!

In the beginning section of this prayer we find Jesus deliberately praying concerning Himself.

Ultimately He will pray for the disciples and for those that would follow after them in future generations(including you and I).

We can learn much about Jesus mindset as He approached the cross from the word of this prayer.

We can see first...

His Primary Concern (Vs. 1)

Jesus speaks here of the fact that “the hour is come” of course referencing the hour of His approach to the cross where He would lay down His life for all mankind.

John 12:23–24 KJV 1900

And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.

Jesus was well aware that at this very moment Judas Iscariot was approaching and that His betrayal would set in motion the events that would lead ultimately to the cross of calvary.

Yet in this moment Jesus concern is not for Himself. He is not seeking to escape from what is to come but rather He prays that God would glorify Him so that He may in turn glorify the Father.

Jesus primary concern is the glory of God and this should also be our primary concern as well.

The greatest aim of Jesus life and ministry was to glorify the Father and this ought also to be true of every follower of Jesus as we pattern our lives after His.

What is our primary ambition? So often we pray for deliverance or relief when ultimately our chief aim should be that God would be glorified by our lives.

In the next statement we can see...

The Authority Given to Him (Vs. 2)

The Father has given to Jesus authority over “all flesh” in order that He may give eternal life to all those that the Father has given Him.

This is simply to state that it is Jesus who has the authority to grant eternal life and it cannot be gained by any other means.

John 14:6 KJV 1900

Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

It is also clear that eternal life is not something that can be earned or attained but is the gift of God as is stated throughout the scriptures.

It is Jesus alone who makes the determination as to who it is that shall receive eternal life and we know this determination is based upon an individuals response to Jesus either in believing and receiving Him or rejecting Him in unbelief.

What then is this eternal life that is spoken of here?

Eternal Life Defined (Vs. 3)

We often think of eternal life as merely to live forever and though this is true this does not capture the full reality of the eternal life that Jesus gives.

Eternal life is more than just living forever, it is knowing God and Jesus Christ.

The word knowing here is not speaking of an intellectual knowledge, but speaks of an experiential knowledge actually having experienced the reality of a personal relationship with God in Jesus Christ.

God does not only want us to live forever but desires to have a personal relationship with us.

Life in the truest sense can only be experienced through relationship with God for a life apart from God is not life at all.

God’s desire is that we would not only know about Him but that we should have the joy of actually experiencing Him.

Consider the love of God which is one of His defining character traits, God does not only want us to have an intellectual knowledge of His love but desires that we should actually experience His love and know that it is real.

The Finished Work (Vs. 4)

Jesus then speaks to the Father of the fact that He has glorified Him upon the earth and that He has finished the work which was given Him to do.

This serves as a pattern for you and I to follow as we live out our lives upon earth.

Our ambition should be to do as Jesus has done to glorfiy the Father by our lives and to finish all the work that He has called us to do.

1 Corinthians 6:20 KJV 1900

For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.

The greatest success that any believer can experience in this life is to have the opportunity to glorify God with their lives and to complete the work that God has given them to do.

Acts 20:24 KJV 1900

But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.

2 Timothy 4:7 KJV 1900

I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:

Paul is a great example also of this pattern of living. His desire was to glorify God by finishing all the work that God had called him to do.

You and I should be intent on knowing what God would have us to do and then once we are sure of His will we must be intent upon carrying it through to the finish.

Often we set out to do the work that God has given us to do but how many times have we become distracted and failed to carry the work through to the finish.

Finally we have Jesus seeking...

A Return to Glory (Vs. 5)

Jesus Christ during His earthly ministry had to some extent veiled His former glory.

Now that the work is finished Jesus’ prays to the Father for a return to His former glory which had been His before the world was formed.

This is another confirmation of His deity as He speaks of the glory He possessed before the world was created.

After His resurrection and the period of further instruction with His disciples Jesus would ascend to the Father and assume His former glory at the Father’s right hand.

Jesus never ceased to be God, but He did voluntarily veil His glory during His time upon earth in order to become a man.

The glory which belongs to Jesus is equal to that of the Father unquestionably demonstrating His equality with the Father as God.

Jesus is indeed God and those who would desire to know God must come through Jesus Christ.

Conclusion

Glory is a persistent theme throughout this passage as Jesus seeks to glorify the Father and then speaks of His return to the glory which is His with the Father.

We must recognize that Jesus alone has the authority to give to men eternal life and that eternal life is not merely eternal existence but is the opportunity to enjoy a real personal relationship with God for all eternity.

Ultimately we learn from Jesus example as He finishes the work that God had called Him to do thus glorifying the Father.

Finally Jesus would return to the glory that He had left in order to come to earth once again enjoying an exalted position at the Father’s right hand.