OUR LORD’S HIGH PRIESTLY PRAYER

Part 2

JOHN 17:3-5

vs 3 This is eternal life, that they (Christ’s followers) may know You, (ginōskōsin – to know personally and intimately) the only true God (monon alēthinon theon the one and only real God, “all others are false”), and Jesus Christ  whom You have sent.

The only hope of eternal life is to have a personal and passionate relationship with God the Father and God the Son as revealed in Scripture.

The regenerating power of the Holy Spirit alone makes it possible for a sinner to have fellowship with God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ as He adopts us into God’s family, making us heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. Romans 8:15-17

It is by the sanctifying work of the Spirit that we are led to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood, removing the enmity that exists between a sinner and a holy God (1 Peter 1:2). Only then can a sinner know God intimately and personally.

Jesus said: “This is eternal life, that they (my followers) may know You (personally, intimately, passionately), the only true God, and (also) Jesus Christ (the Messiah) who You have sent.” 1 John 5:20

When the Bible speaks of eternal life it refers not just to a quantity of life but a quality of life. It is much more than just living forever; it is enjoying intimate fellowship with God both now and forever.

Eternal life cannot be reduced merely to endless existence, since the unredeemed in hell will also live forever, not in indescribable joy as those in heaven but in indescribable misery and torment.

Matthew 25:46; 2 Thessalonians 1:9; Revelation 14:11

Hell, like heaven, is an eternal dwelling place.

vs 4 I have glorified You on the earth, having accomplished (teleiōsas – finished, completed) the work (ergon – the task, assignment) which You have given Me to do.

In God’s perfect plan and in keeping with His perfect justice, the Son had to come to earth in order to save those whom the Father had given Him. Matthew 1:20-21; Titus 2:13-14

The Lord Jesus Christ glorified the Father during His time on the earth by having perfectly accomplished the work which the Father gave Him to do. John 6:38-39

Jesus was teaching the disciples that God’s sovereign purposes always come to pass, and He can be trusted for every detail of their lives. Daniel 4:35; Acts 2:23; 4:27-28

We must believe the truth that God carries out His own purposes without ever being thwarted by Satan or man, and He so directs and controls all events and all actions of His creatures that they never act outside of His sovereign will.

We can always trust God’s sovereign working in our lives and take comfort in knowing that He is in complete control.

vs 5 Now, Father, glorify (doxadzō – exalt, honor, magnify) Me together with Yourself, with the glory (doxa – honor, majesty) which I had with You before the world was.

Having accomplished everything according to the predetermined plan of His Father, Jesus knew that He would be exalted to the place of honor He enjoyed before His incarnation.

After an earthly life of submission and humiliation during the incarnation, Jesus was ready to return to the full glory that awaited Him at the Father’s right hand. It was time for His coronation. Philippians 2:6-11

Jesus looked beyond the humiliation of His death on the cross to the glory that awaited Him upon His return to heaven. The glory He would receive was rightfully His, both by His divine title (the second person of the Trinity) and by His perfect submission to the Father’s will.

Jesus also knew that His death would bring eternal life to all who would believe in Him, causing great joy in heaven, and would populate heaven with those who would worship Him forever.

The joy of seeing and praising Christ in triumph awaits all those who love Him, while all who reject Him will be rejected by Him.

Were it not for the cross, there would be no salvation from sin for anyone in any age, no gospel of grace, no hope for this life, and no eternal destiny but hell.

Without the cross, the eternal plan of salvation that God promised from before the beginning of time would never have come to pass.