by Keith Hunt
These are the words Jesus prayed on the last night before
His death on the cross.
"Father, the hour is come, glorify thy Son, that they Son may
also glorify You" (John 17:1).
It was the time when planned history was to be fulfilled in
a way that was truly to be GLORY. It is written that before the
foundation of the world, the One we know as the Son of God, the
Messiah Christ Jesus, was to come as a flesh and blood human
person, live totally righteous, overcome sin and Satan in the
flesh, and so be able to take all sin that had ever been
committed from the time of Adam, upon Himself, so human people
could have their sins washed away by His blood sacrifice. So they
could be reconciled, made at one, with the Father, and be given
eternal life from the indwelling of God's Holy Spirit. It was not
physical gold or silver, or any amount of money, or the giving of
wealth, or the collecting of "good deeds" - working whatever acts
of nobility; there was no amount of charitable works that could
redeem mankind from sin and death.
"Forasmuch as you know that you were not redeemed with
corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conduct by
living the traditions of your society. But it was only through
the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and
without spot: Who truly was foreordained before the foundation of
the world, but was manifest in these last times for you" (1 Peter
1:18-20 - paraphrased myself)).
Yes before the foundations of this earth, the Father had a
desire, a longing, a plan. He wanted to create in His very own
image (Genesis 1:26) physical people who could be His literal
sons and daughters (John 1:12) if they would accept the way God
the Father had planned THE way it should be. That way was to have a
member of the very Godhead come to earth as a human man and give
Himself as the ransom to redeem or buy back, the children of God
who had been cut off from the Father through sin. A member of the
very Godhead was willing to step aside from the Godhead and be
the atonement sacrifice, as it is written:
"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. Who
being in the form of God (a part of the Godhead), did not grasp
at hanging on to being equal with God. But was willing to put aside
a mighty reputation, and took upon Himself the form of a servant,
and came in the likeness of human kind. Being then human He
humbled Himself, and was willing to be obedient to the plan and
only way God had said it could be, death, even death on a cross,
to atone for human sinners" (Philippians 2:5-8 - paraphrased
myself).
Only a perfect sinless member of the very Godhead could take
upon Himself the sins of all people who ever lived or will live.
It may seem strange to us that a Godhead member dying on a cross
could be "glorifying thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify Thee"
but it was so. The very act of a member of the Godhead putting
aside Godhead glory, and coming as a physical man, to live
without ever sinning, to then be willing to die on some upright
wooden pole ... to think of that as "glory" puts a perspective on
"glory" that is not the way the human mind wants to think is
glory. There was no human "gold medal" hung around the neck of
Christ. There was no "national anthem" being played over powerful
loudspeakers. There was no shouting of joy and hand clapping of
enthusiastic onlookers. The glory was certainly not in an outward
form of glory as we may think of it. But it was the time and
event of one of the most glorious spectacles the universe will
ever witness.
It was the glory of SALVATION made possible to all who will
be saved by grace through faith in Christ Jesus.
The glorious way of salvation by grace through faith is
fully and deeply explained to you in my study called "Saved by
Grace" on my Website. Tens of millions of people who call
themselves "Christian" have no clue as to the truth of the matter
on being saved by grace. I pray you will not be one of them.
"As You have given Him power over all flesh, that He should give
eternal life to as many as You have given Him. And this is life
eternal, that they might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus
Christ, whom You have sent" (John 17:2-3).
It is the Father that calls people out of darkness; it is He
that shows people what sin is, what His righteousness is, what
His way of salvation through Christ is all about. It is God the
Father that opens up the human mind so they can move towards
REPENTANCE and see that it is ONLY through faith in the glorious
work of Jesus on the cross, His shedding of His blood as THE
sacrifice for all sins, that anyone can have eternal life (John
6:44,65; 2 Peter 3:9).
God the Father is the ONLY true God, many people make gods
unto themselves, bow before them, have them as their "king pin"
but there is ONLY ONE supreme PERSON in the universe that is
above all else. God the Father is HEAD in authority over every
thing and every other being in the universe. Yes He is the head
of Christ (1 Corinthians 11:3). He is the HEAD of all His
children. The Father alone sits on the throne of the universe.
Christ Jesus sits at His right hand. All the Father's other
children will, as Jesus does, look to the Father as HEAD (1
Cor.15:24 with Rev.21:1-3,7,22; 22:3-5). Many studies on my
Website expound the truths of God and the Godhead.
"I have glorified Thee on earth: I have finished the work which
You gave Me to do" (John 17:5).
The WORK of Christ is given to us, amplified to us, in the
FOUR Gospels. Read them over and over, for in the words of Christ
you will find the way to eternal life. The work of Jesus is there
for you to discover. I have tried to put the four Gospels for you
in a modern way that is even easy for children to read, in the
series "The New Testament Bible Story."
If you want to be a disciple of Christ, you better read the
life story of Christ. And so the Father made sure to leave you
all that is important to know in what His Son did and taught
while on this earth in the flesh.
"And now, O Father, glorify Me with thine own self, which I had
with You before the world was" (John 17:5).
It's pretty simple to understand here what Jesus is saying. He
is telling us that He DID EXIST with the Father before the world
was. We have already seen in Philippians 2 that Jesus was part of
the very Godhead and was willing to put it all to one side for a
while. John was inspired to give us plain words, that a child can
understand, about the One who was God and was WITH God, before
the world was and who then became flesh. It does not take the
mind of a rocket scientist to understand the simple words of John
1:1-15. Many today have fancy ways of getting around such words,
to teach that Christ did not exists before He became a baby in
the womb of Mary. Such a teaching is one of the greatest HERESIES
man has ever devised. If you have the mind of a child you can
understand the clear words of passages like John chapter one.
Many of the "religious theologians" of Jesus' day, from their
worldly high class theology schools and rabbinic teachings handed
down from teacher to teacher, could NOT understand plain
Scriptures. Jesus once told them they were "blind leaders of the
blind" and they would all fall into the ditch. Many of the
common, "simple folk" we may call them, did understand, and so
with praise Jesus said, "I thank you Father that you have hid
these things from the wise and prudent, and have revealed them
unto babes." I tell you friends, as I read some of the
theological teachings of those with DR before their name, I am
amazed at times, how lacking they are in understanding the Word
of God.
"I have manifested Thy name unto the men which You gave me out of
this world: Thine they were, and You gave them to me; and they
have kept Thy word" (John 17:6).
God the Father does the calling. He is the One who opens up
the mind of persons to understand His word (John 6:44). If you
are one of those called to be a real disciples of the Lord Jesus,
then you should lift up your voice is PRAISE! At this time in
history it is NOT the MANY who are called but the few (1
Cor.1:26-31). If you will hunger and thirst after righteousness
(Mat.24:6), you will be filled, Jesus promised that. But you may
have to thirst for it, cry out for it, search the Scriptures as
the people in Berea did when the apostle Paul and Silas taught in
their midst (Acts 17:10-12). They as called "noble" - they had a
ready mind - they searched the Scriptures DAILY, to see if what
they heard stacked up with the word of God. And so, because of
this attitude of mind, many BELIEVED!
You have to have your nose in the Bible, you must be reading
it from cover to cover, searching, seeking, hungering after truth
and righteousness. If you are, you will come to see who teaches
the Word of the Lord correctly. And you will REJOICE in the
truths revealed to you by the Father.
"Now they have known that all things whatsoever You have given Me
are from Thee. For I have given them the words which You gave Me;
and they have received them, and have come to know for sure that
I came out from You, and they have believed that You did send Me"
(John 17:7-8).
Thank the Father that He is still calling, still opening the
minds of some to come to KNOW the REAL Jesus Christ, the Christ
of the four Gospels. Those who LOVE the Word, those who are
willing to be CORRECTED, taught, guided; those who hunger for
truth and righteousness, WILL be FILLED! Jesus spoke the Words of
the Father, those whom the Father is calling today will come to
know who is faithfully teaching the words of the Father.
"I pray for them: I pray not for the world (who will have their
time of salvation one day) but for them especially, whom You have
given Me; for they belong to You. And all mine are thine, and
thine are mine; and I am glorified in them" (John 17:9-10 - my
paraphrase).
God knows His own! His own will know the true God and His
Son Christ Jesus. It is BOTH the Father and Son who come to live
within each disciple via the Holy Spirit (John 14:23-24). They
are all CONNECTED together as One family - the Father and all His
children, from Christ down. Jesus is still praying for all the
Father's children. He is the great High Priest interceding on
behalf of all His brothers and sister, to the Father, as the book
of Hebrews brings out so wonderfully. He is not ashamed to call
us His brothers and sisters (Hebrews 2) and to call us His
friends (John 15:14). Notice being called Jesus' friend in verse
14 has a condition. And the only way to do what Jesus says is to
learn of Him through the four Gospels especially, and the rest of
the New Testament also. Once more it is keeping your eyes and
nose in the Word of the Lord, it is hungering and thirsting after
righteousness, it is searching the Scriptures continually.
"And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world,
and I come to Thee. Holy Father, keep through Thine own Name
those whom You have given Me, that they may be One, as we are"
(John 17:11).
A name signifies ownership and authority. We know that
"slander" can soon diminish a person's name. Has the Father POWER
and AUTHORITY? You bet He does! Is it possible that Christ's
request has and is being fulfilled? You bet it is possible! And
it is being fulfilled. Jesus said His flock would be "the very
little flock" as the Greek is better translated. He also said He
would build His church and the gates of hell, the grave, would
not kill it. He also added that His true disciples were the "salt
of the earth" - sprinkled here and there. Nowhere in the New
Testament is the Church of God said to ever become HUGE, the
predominate popular Christian religion of the masses. But God's
people will be here on earth, in the main, scattered, a few here
and a few there, sometimes a congregation here and there as it
was in the days of the first century apostles. There will be
times up to the coming of Christ in glory to this earth, times
when the Father's children will "turn the world upside down" as
in the days of the first century apostles. But that has not
happened very often in the last 2,000 years. As the end time of
this age gets closer to its end, it may well happen again for a
short time. Certainly in the last days the people of the Lord will
make a bold witness for the truths of God as they stand up to the end
time Beast Babylon power of the book of Revelation, many having
to die for the faith once delivered to the saints.
"While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name;
those that You gave Me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but
the son of perdition; that the Scripture might be fulfilled. And
now I come to You; and these things I speak in the world, that
they might have My joy fulfilled in themselves" (John 17:12-13).
Jesus said that in the last days DECEPTION would be so
strong that IF it was possible even the VERY ELECT found be
deceived (Mat.24:24). But it is NOT possible to deceive the very
elect. They are the ones with their nose in the Bible, they are
the ones who hunger and thirst after righteousness, and they will
never be lost. They may and will fall at times, we are all still
sinners, but in the end they will make it through and remain
faithful to the end and be with the Father and Christ for
eternity. It is not a case of being predestinated to be saved or
lost (I have a study on my website about "predestination") - it is
a case of those called and willfully wanted to be chosen, do have
the very power of God to enable them to remain faithful to the
end.
We do need to focus on the fact that the Father is the all
powerful One in the universe, and He has more than enough power
and strength to enable His children to inherit eternal life.
Satan has been defeated by Christ. With the Father and Jesus in
us, Satan cannot win. We the children of God were born to win, as
long as you have the attitude of mind as David did (so read the
life of David and the Psalms of David), who was a man after God's
own heart (so it is written) then you can and will WIN!
With this knowledge we can then have great JOY, just as
Jesus wants us to have.
"I have given them Your word, and the world has hated them,
because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world"
(John 17:14).
Those who truly follow Jesus' instructions of living by
every word of God (Mat.4:4), will not find they are liked that
much by the rest of the professing Christian world. And they will
surely be at odds with many of the ways of the society they live
in. Jesus in His ministry once said to His disciples that they
needed to "watch out" when men "speak good" about them, for so
they did to the false prophets down through history. I do not
think my Website would be too well spoken about in the world of
Christian religion. If I was invited to speak before the Congress
of the USA, including the President, I do not think they would
care for my speech and words of correction and admonition, and my
lifting up my voice like a trumpet to show the people their sins,
and to call for true deep REPENTANCE! If they did like what I
would say then I should examine what I have said, and stand it up
to the words of this verse 14.
.....................
Keith Hunt (written April 2009 Passover night)
To be continued
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