6 "I have manifested Your name to the men whom You gave Me out of the world; they were Yours and You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. 7 Now they have come to know that everything You have given Me is from from You; 8 for the words which You gave Me I have given to them; and they received them and truly understood that I came forth from You, and they believed that You sent Me. 9 I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom You have given Me; for they are Yours; 10 and all things that are Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine; and I have been glorified in them. 11 I am no longer in the world; and yet they themselves are in the world and I come to you. Holy Father, keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me, that they may be one even as We are."
- A Christian is someone who has looked at Jesus and has been shown God. (v.6) Many people saw Jesus. Although his physical appearance was ordinary, some people saw God in Him. When you think about God, do you think of Jesus (the image of the invisible God, Col. 1:15)?
- A Christian is someone who has come out of the world. (v. 6) The world in John's gospel is humanity living in darkness (John 3:19). When God looks at the world, he only sees two people groups...those in Christ and those not in Christ, or those not in the world and those in the world (following the lusts of the flesh). We don't need to hid the fact that we were saved out of the world, as if we were never part of it. The gospel message is that we were redeemed out of the world, purchased with the precious blood of Christ. The only people God saves are worldly people.
- A Christian is someone who has kept God's Word. (v. 8) Many initial followers of Jesus left him because they could not accept his teachings (John 6:66), but others kept and obeyed His words. Even though Christ's disciples failed to obey perfectly, God looked at them through eyes of grace. Our Christian lives should not be overcome with guilt of sin. If we are in Christ, Jesus declares us faithful ("they have kept your word"). He has radically changed us, and though we still struggle with sin, we aren't to keep our focus on confessed and forgiven sin. It has been dwarfed by the work of Christ. We should never look at our lives with more scrutiny than Jesus does. In Psalm 40:11-12, David prays about his many enemies and sins, and yet he expresses confidence that he will receive mercy. The sins and enemies fuel his confidence in God's character and promises. Jesus prayed for believers to be kept in God's name, knowing the character of God. It's when we forget or ignore his sovereignty, goodness, love, mercy, grace, strength, etc., that we will struggle in this life.
Appreciated this post. So many things learned from this small passage. Thanks, Jeannette
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that you were blessed by this post. I was somewhat frustrated because I could not communicate the complete sermon - just the main ideas, so it came across a little choppy. How was CHBC? Did Mark Dever preach?
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