I was thinking about this yesterday in church. John 17:1-2~When Jesus had spoken these words, He lifted up His eyes to heaven and said, "Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, since you have given Him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given Him. And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed."
In this, we see the heart of Jesus, and how much He desires to do the will of the Father in order to glorify the Father. All throughout Jesus' ministry, His only goal is to glorify the Father, and that will is so strong that He prays out, Father let them crucify me so that they can see how glorious you are!
A few parts of the sermon that really struck me:
Quote: Richard Cimino –– It is in the light of this prayer of Jesus that we begin to understand the terms that Jesus set forth for a man our woman to be His disciple — Matthew 8:34 “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.The cross is not some momentary difficulty. The cross is not a boss who picks on you. The cross is not your spouse misunderstanding you. The cross means the end of self. The cross means living and (if need be) suffering; and (if need be) dying for the will and the glory of God.
HEREIN LIES THE ESSENCE OF CHRISTIANITY — The Trinitarian God is inviting us to turn from a life lived for self will and self glory and participate in HIS life, Which is the essence of eternal life
QUOTE: Paul David Tripp — You were liberated from your little kingdom of one by the cross, to go back and live in it simply misses the point of the Gospel.
So, all this to say, one more confirmation that I need to give up myself and live for the Lord; live boldly and fearlessly in order to glorify Him. I am going to be ridding myself of all of my excess possessions and holding a yard sale with my dear friend Sunny. If anyone has anything, old clothes, toys, trinkets, whatever, that they don't want, we will be taking donations to sell at our yard-sale sometime in the beginning of May (details coming soon). All proceeds will go towards funding our mission trips.
I feel as though my life has been "Wrecked" for the Lord. Without Him and without the desire to follow Him and glorify Him, I would be living in my cozy house in my cozy town most likely pursuing some sort of comfortable life style. Since He began this work inside of me I have been completely wrecked...Thank-you Lord for upsetting my comfort. I'm filled with enthusiasm and elation.
To close out, a beautiful quote by Spurgeon: To me the Bible is not God, but it is God’s voice, and I do not hear it without awe.
*To read the complete sermon: http://richardcimino.tumblr.com/post/4495101284/sunday-morning-metro-04-10-11-jesus-prays-john-17
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