Recap
of 2/24/13 (John 17:1-19):
1. John 17 is the
Holy of Holies of the New Testament. “If I could hear Christ praying for me in
the next room, I would not fear a million enemies. Yet distance makes no difference. He is praying for me.” (Robert Murray
McCheyne).
2. Jesus’
willingness to go to the cross would bring glory to God the Father. His “hour” had come, the hour of His death,
burial, and resurrection. By His obedience God would be honored;sin, death and
Satan would be vanquished. Jesus chose
the glory of God despite the suffering.
3. “Every sorrow,
every pain, every bit of suffering, every circumstance, every joy, everything
that comes into your life is going to be for the glory of God. Do you ever think of it that way? There’s no place for self-sympathy, growling,
and grumbling. Why? Because it is all going to ‘redound to the
glory of God’ (2 Corinthians 4:15).”
“Whatever the past may have been between you and the Lord, dear
reader—whether you see only failures and weaknesses in the years behind you—may
I suggest something? Get down before the
Lord and say, ‘Lord, from here on I desire to live for the glory of Christ.’”
(Mitchell)
4. Eternal life is
a personal, intimate relationship with God through His Son, Jesus Christ. To know Him intimately is have eternal life,
not just endless existence but abundant life here and life with God through all
eternity. Everyone will live forever,
the only question is where and with whom; with God in His presence, or with
Satan and his angels in the lake of fire.
5. Believers are
“set-apart” to God (sanctified), that is separated from the world and set-part
for God’s special use. We are set-apart
by the Word of God which is truth. As we
read, study, and meditate upon the Word, God applies it to our lives and uses
it to make us useful to Him, as well as productive in our spiritual life.
6. Jesus completed
the work God the Father had given Him to do.
All who make God’s glory and will central in their lives can say the
same. “How few of us feel, under the
shadow of death, that life is complete, that its work is finished! What a pathetic series of beginnings and
failures and imperfect endeavors it does seem to be. Yet, if one does the will of God, the symbol
of life need not be a broken column.” (Erdman)
