MAY 3 2015 | Jesus Prays to be Glorified

Sea Change Church · "Jesus Prays to be Glorified" · Adam Stadtmiller · May 3, 2015
John 17:1-5
Automated transcript. Not reviewed for accuracy.

Let me just pray and we're going to get into the message. We're going to be in John 17. Lord Jesus, as a pastor today, I'm just elated, Lord, of what you're doing with our people in this church. There's a lot of hard things going on, but we look up and we say that you are God and you are good and we just bless you and bring more, Jesus. And we just thank you in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. So, amen.

And like I said, if you're in your 20s and you want to do something here and be a part of it, we want to support you and we want to see the next generation of believers come up and that's exciting. Let me open your Bibles. We're going to read about Jesus' high priestly prayer. The last thing that Jesus does before going to the cross is what? Pray. Pray.

I mean, if Jesus has a go-to, it's prayer, all right? I mean, you know, he did the last meal and you see that with, you know, oftentimes, you know, they say, what's your last meal going to be? He did his last meal, but then he had a go-to and Jesus knows where to go when the chips are down. He goes to pray when things are going to be out of control because he knows that he is leaving the picture.

And instead of trying to control it himself and gathering the guys together for a strategy meeting, okay, there's going to be a strategy meeting, but he's not going to be there. Although the Holy Spirit will attend. It's about 40 days after Jesus raises from the dead. And Jesus is going to leave. And instead of controlling the situation, he gives control of the situation to his father, the father.

And here, you know, people have said to me, John in the back said to me, I love this father thing you're doing. And I said, you know, I love that. You know, that father thing the Bible does is really cool too, you know. So, this is a fresh, this is fresh revelation to me. God is introducing himself to me as father in a new way to me. But it just happens to be lining up with where I was preaching anyways.

This isn't a tangent that I'm on that I'm trying to insert into the scripture. When you take something and you add it into the scripture that isn't there, the word is called iso-Jesus. When you have the word, when you're trying to extract what is in the scripture, the word is exegesis. It means taking out from what is within. And what we see over and over again, especially in the book of John, and I love the book of John, because there's an intimacy in the book of John that I don't see in any other three gospels.

The synoptic gospels, the ones that are alike, all have powerful, important meanings. It's all the word of God. But there is an intimacy in the book of John that we find. And I'm going to read it here on the scripture as Jesus prays probably the greatest prayer ever prayed. It is Jesus' high priestly prayer. It says after Jesus said that, after Jesus said this, let's just stop.

The last thing that we see in chapter 16, Jesus says, in the world you will have what? Trouble. The world is terminally ill right now, okay? It is killing itself, all right? And we need hope. And Jesus says, in the world you will have trouble, but I have what? Overcome the world, okay? After Jesus said this, he went here. So that's after Jesus saying, the world is going to hate you, you're going to be cast out of the synagogues.

We've talked about if you're going to be hated, be hated for the right reasons, because of who you belong to. That's where it came down to. Not of the way that you present the gospel, but because you belong to the Father. A lot of Christians are hated for the wrong reasons. They present the gospel in a way that is hateful. I want to say that the gospel is offensive enough, as we will see today.

The gospel itself is offensive enough without us having to add anything to it to make it more offensive. The gospel is contrarian to the other thoughts and beliefs of the world. And so Jesus says that, and it says, after Jesus said this, he looked towards heaven and prayed. Let's just put a little check there. There is a real heaven. He looks towards heaven.

Now, that might be symbolic, because, you know, I don't know if heaven is in the north, because if you're in Australia, where are you looking to? I don't know. But we see here that he looks towards heaven, and he prayed. You know, that is contrarian today, because some people do not believe in a literal heaven. They do not believe in a literal hell.

And he says, and here's again Adam's tangent, but I think it was Jesus too, because Jesus' primary metaphor or the primary identity of Jesus is as a son. Now, as God, you have a lot of identities, because you're king, you're lord, you're all these different things. But over and over again, when Jesus talks about who he identifies with or the identity that he most identifies with, it is as a son.

And he lived in sonship, and he understood the responsibilities, and not only the responsibilities, the endowment of living as a son. That as a son, we don't have to live as if we're entitled. We live endowed because we know who our father is. And so Jesus comes as a son, and he wants us to be like him and to live as sons, and that in the broader term of sonship, meaning sons and daughters of God.

Every morning, I wake up and I say, today, I thank you, God, that I'm living as a son. I love that you are my father. And so it says, father, he says he's prayed, and he starts, and prayer always begins with who? Your father. Our father. Jesus is speaking to the father all the way till the end of, till he dies on the cross. He says, father, forgive them.

Father, into your hands I commit my spirit. It's father, father, father. And while the godship in the judicial understanding, meaning God had to turn away from the sin, as God, he never turned away his father. And can God do that? See, I've always thought this. This is a new thought for me, and I'm still unpacking it, but I can see that Jesus has a relationship with father till the end.

Let me just look at it this way. I can still, let's say I'm a pastor, but I'm also a father to my children. And I want to know that I can leave the role as pastor and be a father to my children. Or I can step into the role of pastor. Oftentimes, think of it this way, I get a phone call at home, and I'll have to become a pastor for a moment, but then I never stop being a father to my children in that moment.

What I'm saying is that God could have still turned his back on the sin that was upon Jesus as the God, the Father, as God, but still maintain connection as Father. Does that make sense? So I see that God can forsake, because he says, Jesus says this, My God, my God, why hast thou what? Forsaken me. So God, in the role of God that he had to, could have forsaken him.

And he did, because he had to. But he never lost contact with Father. Now this is a new thought for me, and I'm going to have to flesh this out. But I think it's biblically accurate. The more I look into it, I can see that Jesus said in chapter 16 that you will all desert me, but I will go to the cross with whom? The Father is what he says, if you go back and look at John 16.

That the Father was with him. And I want to say that no matter what you go through, the Father is with you. The Father will never forsake us, and we are never forsaken. And so he prays and says, Father, the hour has come. Glorify your son, that your son may glorify you. That's really, really powerful there. Next verse. For you granted him authority over all people.

Now this is the gospel. Jesus gets in as he's praying. He starts speaking about core elements of the gospel. I want to say we need to understand the core elements of the gospel, what it means, and why it is contrarian to so many other thoughts and so many other paths or religions. For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life.

Only Jesus can give eternal life. To all those you have given him. Next verse. Now this is eternal life. That they know you. So realize this. That in eternal life, it isn't just a state of unknowing bliss. Okay? There are religions, there are paths that say when you go into a place like nirvana, it's an unknowing bliss and there's just a peace. The Bible talks about a personal God.

It says that there is a personal God and you will know him as your father. That is key. That eternality, that heaven is a place where there is a personhood of God and you will be known and he will know you. And he will give you a new name, it says. Name that has always been. And it says that they know you, the only true God. Here we go again. Another element of the gospel.

There is only one God. And Jesus Christ whom you have sent. Now we know that they are one because I and the Father are one. It says, verse 4, I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. I love that. I have brought you glory on earth by giving you, go back to verse 4 if you would. I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do.

I just love that Jesus is all about the reason I do what I do is to bring you glory. Let me say, why do you do what you do? It's a great question. I want to say, when we're not doing, when we're doing, I'm going to get this is all messed up. When we do what we do for something other than the glory of God, stress comes with it. Concern, fear, anxiety.

I want to say, when was the last time you were really stressed and lost sleep because you felt God wasn't going to get enough glory for what you were doing? Oh no, I'm serious. Like, you're up at night wringing your hands. God, I really want you to get glory in this, but I don't know how I'm going to give you the glory in this because I want you to have glory in everything I do.

I just can't sleep at night because I want you to have the, we don't lose sleep over that. What do we, what do I lose sleep over? What are people going to think? What happens if this happens? What happens if nobody does this or no one likes what you, what if they said that, what if it's self-focused? Jesus is always focusing everything back. If he was going to lose sleep, which he never did, it was for the sake of that his father would not be glorified.

I want to say, if we can change our focus to, I'm getting up to live as a son to glorify my father today, it's going to change the way you live. If everything you do, if you get up, you walk into work and say, I'm walking in with the endowed sonship of the king of the universe so that I might bring him glory today and work. That's going to change your entire way that you do business.

It's going to change the entire way that you live as a father in your household, as a mother, as a daughter. It's going to change the way you live your life. It's living in an identity to bring God glory, and it's not self-focused. He says, I've brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave for me to do. Verse 5. And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.

Verse 6. Okay, that was the end. Verse 6. Finished it there at verse 5. Verse 6. What does he do? He immediately goes to prayer. I want to say, what's your go-to? What's your go-to? When things are bad with your kids, when there's a health issue, when there's a finance issue, what's your go-to? And does it have to get to red line before you go to prayer?

I mean, I find that a lot of people go to prayer when the doctor tells them that, you know, you have A or B. But how about taking that back to where it just becomes your go-to, your reflex action, that I am not going to try to control this situation anymore. We want to, I want to go to prayer. I said, we want to be a church that lets prayer define who we are.

That the prayers that you pray are what define who you are. And so we see Jesus praying for himself. And in the second part, we'll talk about next week, Jesus prays for his literal disciples. The disciples that he is living with that will change the world. And I want to say, just like them, or just like us, they were normal human beings. And I want to say that we can have just as powerful an impact as they did.

And Jesus says, you will go on to do greater things than I, and that counts. You have to put yourself in that category. And finally, Jesus prays for us. And one of the prayers that he prays is for unity of all believers. And I say it's one of the few things that Jesus prayed for, if not the only thing he prayed for, that has not come true. Yet.

But it will. You see, the bride of Christ will be unified. Why? Because Jesus only prays in alignment with the Father. And it says that everything that he prays for will happen. Because he knows how and what to pray for. And I want to say, if you want to walk in a stream of God's consolation and peace, fight for unity. Fight for unity. Fight for unity in your family.

Fight for unity in your work. Fight for unity in your church. Fight, fight, fight, fight for unity. Do whatever it takes to the extent of leaving truth to find unity and to fight for unity. Because it is something Jesus prayed for. And when you fight for unity, you step into the prayer of Jesus. We want to step into the things that Jesus prayed for.

Because there's power in the prayers of Jesus. Find out what Jesus prayed for and step into it. Take this prayer and pray through it over the next three weeks and dive in deeper. So we see Jesus here, as you'll see in your notes, again, going to his Father. And again, we see Christ focusing on the glory of God. The greatest concern of his was that he would give God glory.

I want to ask you this. Where and how? Do you even know how? Have you ever thought about it? How to give God glory in your current life situations? How would you give him glory? When you walk in, when you get home from work, to think to yourself, God, how do I give you glory today? When you walk down the street, when you go up and you go to a restaurant, when you talk to your server, okay?

Because that's a ministry. When you go out and people are serving you food, you know, just because we tip them doesn't give us the right not to care for them and realize that they're human beings. How do we give God glory in all that we do? One of the ways is prayer. Jesus asked, God, may I give you glory. When you come to God in prayer, it is a sign of submission.

Prayer is the great submissive work of the Christian. We are submitting our things to God and saying, God, take care of this. It is beyond me. And so we see Jesus here doing the same thing. If Jesus needs to pray for God to take control, I believe we need to do the same thing. And so we see him bringing glory. We see him asking, where can I bring you glory in my life?

So as that, is that a concern of yours? Did you think this week, think about it. When this week did you think, I want to give you glory? I want to give glory to God. I want to say it will completely shift the paradigm of the way that you live. So as we look at this, we see Jesus. Now, if you have your scripture in front of you, we're going to look at some gospel absolutes.

Because as Jesus prays, he speaks about what makes the gospel of Jesus different than other messages or other religions. And I want to say that it stands on its own. That it stands separate. I want to say there is a great desire by many people to defang the lion of the gospel. That you take, when you take away the teeth of the gospel, to make it a softer gospel, you actually take away the power of the gospel.

I had a friend that was at a conference this week. And he came back and he said that all these guys from India got up. And all these guys from persecuted countries got up and spoke about what God was doing in their countries. And how people were dying for the faith. And about the need to share Jesus and the story and what God did in the gospel.

And he said, and then the American guy got up. And the American guy started talking about story. And my friend was so frustrated. He said he got up there and he goes, you know, we got to just stop telling the story of Jesus dying on the cross. He said the guy rolled his eyes. He said Jesus dying on the cross. We've all heard it over and over again.

What I want is story. Tell me your story. Tell me the story of what you're doing. And he goes, you know, he goes, that is what is important. Stories change lives. Baloney. Okay. That is, that is exactly, a month ago I preached the exact opposite when I was here. What changes lives is the power of the gospel. The gospel that Jesus Christ died for the sins of mankind that we might be raised again and be reunited with our father God.

That is the gospel. Romans 1 16 says the power of the gospel says for the change that can bring salvation. Talks about there's a power in the inherent story. Look, your story is powerful. But it doesn't promise in the scripture that your story is going to change lives. It is the gospel that changes lives. And I want to say when, you know, that's one thing I see happening in America.

When we make it about our story, when we make it about anything else besides Jesus. Can our story set the ball for a spike of the gospel? Most definitely. Testimonies. The word of our testimony. But the testimony on our tongue needs to be the testimony of what Jesus did on the cross. That Jesus Christ crucified, risen, and coming back again. That's our core message.

And at this church, in my life, I'm going to go to the grave preaching that that is the core message of the gospel. I love stories. I love all those other things. But guys, that's the gospel. And that is where power is. And I want to say that when push is coming to shove in America here, we want to go to the things that have power. It says the weapons of our warfare are not the weapons of this world, but the weapons of our warfare.

And one of which is the gospel. And learning how to articulate the gospel. And so Jesus talks about some absolutes here. And I want to say that the problem and the offensiveness of the gospel is that it has absolutes. We're living in a culture that has less absolutes. That actually, the one thing I see as becoming absolute is that there are no absolutes.

That's the absolute. I don't know if anybody else sees that happening. What gives the gospel its teeth? And what makes it offensive? Because even Jesus talks about the gospel, him being a stumbling block. Jesus is a stumbling block for a reason. He isn't a stumbling block because he says all roads lead to heaven. Jesus says there's one way that leads to heaven.

He says I am what? The way. Jesus is not the destination. Do you get that? Jesus says I am the what? The way to the Father. I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes where? Unless it's through me. A lot of times, you know, I live 25 years of my Christianity with Jesus being the destination. Jesus told me himself in the scripture that he's the way.

And he's a great guy to journey with. I gotta tell you, it is fun to be on the way with Jesus. It is fun. But where is he taking us? He's taking us to a personal father who knows you by name. You are not going to dissipate into some level of peace. You are not going to dissipate into a oneness with all. You are going to continue to have an identity that God knew before he formed you.

Before, the scripture says in Jeremiah, before I created, before I formed you, I what? I knew you. We cannot depersonalize the fact that you are an individual and God cares for you deeply as an individual. Let me say it again. You're God's favorite. He smiled when he thought of you before time began. Now, Jesus says that we read in chapter 17 here, I was with you being glorified before the beginning of time.

So Jesus in that statement says, look, basically he's making a Godhead statement that I have always been. This is why the Jews wanted to crucify Jesus. Because he says, you know, he said, I am. And when he used the word Yahweh, he was saying, I am God. Jesus claimed to be God. I want to say there's a lot of other religions, paths, and ways that say Jesus is a good teacher and a prophet.

Islam calls Jesus a great teacher and a prophet. Jesus didn't say that. Jesus says, I'm God. Jesus didn't come to be a prophet. He didn't come to be a teacher. He came as God to save mankind. That is the gospel. And when we take away the truths and the absolutes of the gospel, it's like defanging a lion. You know, I mean, a lion's the king of the jungle, right?

Imagine, you know, and I don't want to go to the zoos, but imagine if you went to the, you know, to the, you know, out to the safari or wherever it is out in Africa. And you were out there and they say, hey, we, you know, this is the king of the jungle, but we've declawed and detoothed all of them just to make them a little safer for you. You know, how exciting would it be?

There wouldn't be an excitement. I want to say we need to realize that the gospel is a lion and it has teeth. And Jesus understood that. Jesus was crucified for a reason. And we have to know what that reason is. And we have to be willing to speak truth. I got to say, if you can't speak truth in an open society, how do we die for Jesus in a closed one?

I want to say, ask those Iraqi Christians. They understand truth. And they live and speak truth. I want to say, I think Christians right now are terrified to speak truth. Terrified of being called a bigot. Terrified of being called a hater. Terrified of all of these things. I want to say the way we speak truth is very important. The way in which we speak truth is very important.

We need to do so with love. But it doesn't change the fact that truth is truth. And we need not to be terrified. Because if you can't share truth in an open society, how are you going to die for Christ in a closed one? I just don't think it translates. And so how do we share the gospel? Over and over again. Getting the message back. So I want to give a few key things that Jesus says in regard to the gospel.

The first is this. The gospel absolutes. First one is this. Is that only Jesus can give eternal life. Eternal life only comes through Jesus Christ. And Jesus says, and you're going to see that right here in verse 2 and 3. Read it in your notes. For you, that's the Father, granted him, meaning Jesus, authority over all people that he might give eternal life.

First of all, eternal life exists is what Jesus is saying. Second of all, he is the one that has authority to give it. And the proof text there that I wanted to put is John 14, 6. And I've already said it once today. I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one, not a few people, no one comes unto the Father but through me. I want to say, where's the destination?

The destination is the Father. You know what heaven is? Heaven is you running into the arms of your Father and spending eternity bouncing on his lap, talking to him, having conversations, spending time with an intimate God who knows your name. It's not just a bunch of angels singing these pictures. There will be glory given to God. There will be all these things happening.

And the Bible gives lots of pictures of what happened in heaven. But more than that, it speaks about an intimate knowing. An intimate knowing being known now. Jesus says you can know God the Father by knowing him because it says that he is the exact representation of God the Father. And if you want to know the Father, get to know Jesus. Because Jesus will lead you to the Father.

The next gospel, absolute. And I understand that the world has problems with absolutes. But the gospel is a stumbling block. It's this. There's only one true God. It's monotheistic. You know, so, I mean, it stands contrarian. I have a friend that we've been talking about the comparative religions. And I've been looking more and more into my comparative religions of what makes Christianity.

Actually, I don't even like that word as much as I like. What makes Christ following different? You know, why is it different than Hinduism? Because there's not 632 gods I need to appease or 12,000 gods I need to appease. There is one true God. It is a monotheistic religion. It goes back to Judaism. There is one true God. And Jesus even says that as we see that in the verse.

It says, verse 3, now this is eternal life. That they know you. The only true God. Do I understand that this is not politically correct? Yes. Do I care? No. It's the truth. It's the truth. Look, I might as well just go get a job, you know, selling hamburgers, you know. The reason I've committed my life to this is for the truth of this gospel. And it's changed my life.

And I hope that if I ever have an opportunity to die for it, I will stand up to that point and know why I'm dying. I want to see that happen, but I want to follow Jesus. And I'm not ashamed of the gospel. Romans 1, 16. I am not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of God for the salvation of all mankind. I want to say, guys, as a church, we want to share it in love, but we will not be ashamed.

I am not ashamed of the gospel. Matter of fact, the more I think about the Father's love, the more secure I get in the Father's love, the less I'm ashamed of the gospel and the less I care what people think about me sharing it. I'm not trying to be, you know, hard or whatever else. It's just the truth. It's just the truth. Now, how do we go about and share it in a way that makes a difference, where we become people of light?

People say, there's a difference there. I want to be like that. Because you can either come with a hammer or you can come with a Father's love. And I understand if you want to talk just about the argumentative truths, it looks like a hammer. And even Jesus was a stumbling block. But what we want to offer is the Father's love. And as we go out, we walk in the Father's love.

We walk in a way of compassion. The next one we see is this, that heaven is a real place. People have tried to, you know, take away the teeth of the gospel, saying that heaven is not a real place where God exists and where we live as individuals. Scripture talks about a real place and that there is a hell. I understand we want to take away hell.

I want to take away hell. I don't like the idea of hell. Okay? By the way, it's not politically correct either. Hell is not politically correct anymore. In the church, it doesn't even. We're trying to erase hell. Okay? Was it Francis Chan just wrote a book, you know, kind of arguing against the points that, you know, everyone's going to end up in heaven.

I don't believe that. I believe that there is a real and eternal hell. And that is why I am hell-bent to tell people who Jesus is because I want them to know their father. We can't erase hell. Hell is a place, and Jesus died that people would not have to spend eternity there. And Jesus talks about that. He says, Jesus looks up towards heaven. Because he knew that's where his home was.

You know, last week I said on my gravestone, you know, I just wanted to say, you know, gone home. I'm ready, too. You know, back in the day, I used to be like, I want to, I hope I don't die for like 30, I got a lot of things I want to do. I have nothing left I want to do, okay? If there was a button and I could press it and just be done and go to heaven and be with Jesus, show me the button.

Because I just, seriously, I just don't, it's great here. God has got blessing. But I don't know if you've ever had that thing. I just, I hope God, Jesus doesn't come back for another like 30 years. I got some stuff I want to do. I lived in that place forever until I'm getting in touch with what my home really looks like. I want to be here to finish the work of my father.

And that makes me happy. That every day when I show up and I come here, today I was driving here and I'm like, man, Lord, I used to drive to church. Oh, it's kind of worse. I wonder if anybody's going to come. Is it going to look like, you know, be all upset, frustrated, stressed. You know, write your identity in the attendance figures, you know, just over that.

I want to get here to share the love of God with you guys and be with you and look into your eyes and eat Mexican. By the way, we have Mexican food today. Told me to tell you that. Cinco de Mayo. It's the work of the father. I love doing the work of the father. I love going home and being with my family because it's what God's given me to glorify him.

I love when David and I talk on the phone or I hang out with my mom. I just love it. The lighting in doing the work of the father. But if I could press the button and Jesus come back now, I'm ready. I'm definitely ready. And that was a big shift for me. A huge shift for me. And it's come from knowing how much God loves me. I want to say again, God loves you so much.

There's a real heaven and God wants you there. He wants to embrace you. This is the gospel. This is the gospel of Jesus Christ. And finally, Jesus is God. And he was sent by the father and existed before time began. In John 10, 30, he says, I and the father are one. I and the father are one. I want to say, I want to continue on this tangent of the gospel of knowing God as father.

That Jesus came and died for the purpose that you can have an intimate relationship with him. That you can know him. And I want to encourage you. What would it look like if you lived as sons and daughters? That if you walk out of here and saying, I am a daughter of God. And I am endowed. My father's got my back. My father loves me. My father cares for me.

And to have a heart transplant with the father heart of God. I'm going to ask Jim to come up. I'm going to pray for you as we're going to do the time of communion. And as we take this communion, I want to encourage you to take it as sons and daughters. Come to the table. Jesus Christ has opened the way. We can go how before the throne of God? What does the scripture say?

Boldly. Boldly to the throne of God. And God loves you. He loves even all your, he's not afraid of your sin. He's not afraid of your darkness. He touches lepers. He's not afraid. And so Jesus, we just pray right now, God, that you would just bless us, God, as sons and daughters. We want to live the truth of the gospel. We want to understand that the gospel has teeth.

But we want to share it in a way, God, that makes a difference. Like those Iraqi Christians we saw, Lord God. So much love and compassion in their heart. So God, let us be a church that stands on the truth. And then teach us how to share the truth, God, in a way that glorifies you. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen.