Glory and the Cross

On May 24th, God opened a door that was glorious.

!

God is interested in His glory today.

And He's interested in every one of us this morning bowing the knee before His glory.

And He will do whatever is necessary to lead us into the greatness of Himself.

To help us to see what is truly good.

What is truly worthwhile.

What is truly glorious.

And it can only be found in Him.

Oh, may God help us today.

To rediscover the wonder of His glory.

To come to the point where we say,

God, You are truly glorious.

There is nothing that I desire besides You.

Heaven and earth may pass away.

But if I have You, I have enough.

I have everything.

I have what truly satisfies.

I have what is truly glorious.

And Jessica, in this video that we just watched,

talks about the door that God opened into her life

to reveal the glory of Himself to her.

And to help her manifest God's glory to her stepdad.

And to anyone in the watching world who would take notice.

What Jessica did

was not a testimony to the value of her stepdad.

Her stepdad was a wicked man.

It's not even a testimony to the goodness of Jessica,

but a testament to the glory of God.

And what God can accomplish in every life.

Every life that submits to Him.

Every life that would bow the knee to the wonder of our God.

might God open up a window into glory

so that we can behold Him this morning

and just stand back

and just enjoy the wonder of our God today

as we look into the Word.

John chapter 12

John 12 · chapter mention

in our continuing study through this Gospel

pinpoints the significance of glory

and connects glory of Christ with the cross.

It's almost paradoxical.

How is it possible for something

that brought the most shame

to evidence the most glory?

How can that be true?

We'll look at that this morning

as we evaluate this passage.

John chapter 12

John 12 · chapter mention

beginning in verse 27.

We're going to look at this continuing narrative.

And a couple of weeks ago

as Pastor Kenoyer shared with us

we saw this small group of individuals

we don't know how many there were

this group of Gentiles or Greeks

that came

and they asked Philip

they said,

Hey Philip!

We want a private meeting with Jesus.

Can you arrange that for us?

And Philip goes to Andrew

as you remember

and Philip and Andrew together

go to Jesus

and they say,

Hey Jesus!

There's this group of Greeks

that wants to spend some time with you.

They want some personal

intimate interaction with you.

And Jesus responds

not in the way we'd expect

but Jesus responds here

in verse 23 of chapter 12

and he says,

The hour has come

for the Son of Man

to be glorified.

Jesus had glory on his mind.

Jesus had the cross in view.

In just a few short days

the cross,

the brutality

and the terror

and the horror of the cross

would come crashing down

on the shoulders of Jesus Christ.

And yet Jesus

understood

that through the cross

glory would come.

The glory of Christ

and the glory of the Father

would be made manifest

through the cross.

So I want to ask this question

this morning.

As I have wrestled this week

with this question

about glory in the cross.

and that is

how does the cross

lead to glory?

How does the cross

lead to glory?

In what way

does the cross

play a factor

in exalting Christ

and leading

to the glory of God?

What does the cross

do

to help us

see the glory

of Christ

and the glory

of the Father?

And as we walk

through this passage

I want us

to behold again

the glory of God.

To understand

the significance

of this central theme

that was foundational

in the life

and ministry

of Jesus.

We'll see

that it was

the motivation

for His coming

to earth.

It was the foundational

purpose

for Him

becoming a man

and going

to the cross.

Glory

was in view.

Let me read

the first

verse

just for our

instruction

and some context

so you can see.

We'll be working

through verses

27 to 36

and I'll be

I know there's

four points

in your outline

today.

I'm going to spend

the bulk of our time

probably 80%

of the morning

on point number one.

So don't

stress out

about the fact

that we still

have three points

to go

and the time

is almost up.

Okay?

I know if I were

there I would

feel the same way.

So I think

it's really

significant for us

to really

soak

and to bask

in the

important

and crucial

truth

of the glory

of God.

We have got

to understand

this as a people

and if we begin

to understand

the cross

and how it

relates to glory

it will shape

us as people.

It will not only

shape the lives

that we live

it will shape

the way we

present Jesus

to others.

So let me read

this first verse

and we'll get

started.

It says now

Jesus says

in verse 27

if you're

visiting with us

and you're using

a pew Bible

it's on page

899.

Now is my soul

troubled

Jesus says

and what shall

I say?

Father save me

from this hour

but for this

purpose I have

come to this hour

Father glorify

your name.

Then a voice

came from heaven

I have glorified

it

and I

will glorify

it

again.

First we see

in these first

few verses

I want to draw

our attention

to the fact

that the cross

reveals

the preeminence

of God.

The cross

reveals

the preeminence

of God.

He is supreme

He is ultimate

He is the only

one that matters

in your life.

He is central

He is foundational

He is everything

preeminent

and I want us

to see

the significance

of what Christ

has accomplished

for us

in leading

to glory.

Now just by way

of context

and helping

to develop

this theme

and helping

you see

how important

it is

for the gospel

writer

for John

himself

I want to

give us

some background

information

so bear with

me here.

I want us

to see

that God's

glory

is the main

theme

of John

and his

writings.

God's glory

is a theme

throughout

the gospel

of John.

We find

here

even in

John chapter

John 12 · chapter mention

12

that glory

comes up

in every

section

of this

chapter.

In the

first few

verses

from verses

1 through

8

what is

taking place

there?

Jesus

shows up

in Bethany

and Mary

comes and

worships

Christ.

He is

preeminent

for her

and she

pours out

this costly

ointment

on his

feet.

She anoints

his body

for burial

without even

knowing that

she was

preparing him

for that

time.

She humbles

herself

and worships

her God.

He is

preeminent.

He is

worthy of

worship.

He is

worthy to

be adored

in glory

although it's

not mentioned

here in this

first few

verses

certainly is

the heartbeat

of Mary.

She recognizes

the glory

of Christ

and she

worships

him.

And then

in the

next several

verses

from verse

9

through

11

we find

this man

Lazarus

who had been

raised from

the dead.

And if you

remember from

our study

in chapter

11

you remember

that the

reason why

Lazarus was

raised from

the dead

was for

the glory

of Christ.

Flip back

just briefly

to chapter

11

and looking

at verse

4 it

says but

when Jesus

heard it

meaning he

heard about

the fact

that Lazarus

was ill

it says

this illness

does not

lead to

death

it is

for

the

what?

The glory

of God

so that

the son

of God

may be

glorified

through it.

I would

just encourage

you

underline

that word

the word

for glory

the glory

of God

and that

the son

of God

might be

glorified

through it.

And then

in verse

40 of

chapter 11

notice

what Jesus

says to

Mary

he says

did I

not tell

you

that if

you

believed

you would

see

the

what?

The

glory

of God

Lazarus

was a

living

testimony

to the

glory

of Christ

only

Christ

as the

resurrection

and the

life

could

raise

Lazarus

from

the

dead.

And

as we

go back

to chapter

12

verse 11

we see

because

on account

of him

on account

of Lazarus

many

of the

Jews

were going

away

and believing

in Jesus.

The glory

of Christ

the glory

of the

Father

was in

full view

through

the

resurrection

of

Lazarus.

And then

moving to

the next

little section

from verse

12

to 19

pastor

referred to

it as

the

tragic

entry

and

some

of

your

Bibles

has it

listed

as a

heading

the

triumphal

entry.

Again

if you

notice

and I

would

encourage

you

to

underline

the

word

in

verse

16

John

is caught

up

is caught

up

with the

glory

of

Christ

and not

only

the glory

that he

would

experience

as

Jesus

rode

into

Jerusalem

and the

crowd

shouted

Hosanna

blessed is

he who

comes in

the name

of the

Lord

Jesus

was

definitively

stating

in full

public

view

who he

was

identifying

himself

as

savior

as

Messiah

as

future

king

and the

people

would

recognize

that

in a

moment

and would

bless

him

and glorify

him

shouting

praises

and

Hosanna

to him

moving

to

verses

20

to

26

I

just

read

for you

verse

23

as

the

Greeks

came

Jesus

says

the

hour

has

come

for

the

son

of

man

to

be

glorified

underline

glorified

and now

here

in

this

section

of

verses

from

27

to

36

Jesus

says

father

glorify

your

name

then

a

voice

came

from

heaven

I

have

glorified

it

and

I

will

glorify

it

again

in

the

sections

that

we'll

be

looking

at

in

the

next

couple

of

weeks

from

verse

36

halfway

through

to

verse

41

we

see

in

verse

41

Isaiah

said

these

things

because

he

saw

the

glory

and

he

spoke

of

him

and

then

in

our

final

section

that

we'll

deal

with

the

first

week

of

October

in

verse

43

it

says

for

they

loved

the

glory

that

comes

from

man

more

than

the

glory

that

comes

from

God

do

you

think

that

the

apostle

John

is

interested

in

the

glory

of

Christ

I

mean

if

we

can't

begin

to

see

that

from

this

chapter

we're

not

going

to

see

it

anywhere

in

John

John 12 · chapter mention

chapter

12

there

are

eight

references

to

the

glory

of

Christ

the

glory

of

God

and

throughout

the

gospel

of

John

John

more

than

any

other

gospel

twice

as

many

is

found

in

Luke

three

and a

half

times

as

many

as

found

in

Matthew

and

six

times

as

many

times

as

found

in

the

gospel

of

Mark

speaks

about

the

glory

of

Christ

the

glory

of

God

it

is

significant

for

John

so

not

only

in

John

John 12 · chapter mention

chapter

12

but

throughout

the

gospel

of

John

we

see

this

continuing

theme

right

at the

outset

in

John

John 1 · chapter mention

chapter

1

we

see

that

John

is

looking

at

the

glory

of

Christ

and

he's

magnifying

him

for

who

he

is

In

verse

14

of

chapter

1

he says

the

word

became

flesh

and

dwelled

among

us

and

we

beheld

his

glory

the

glory

as of

the

only

begotten

of

the

father

full

of

grace

and

truth

in

chapter

2

verse

11

John

says

this

beginning

of

signs

Jesus

did

in

Cana

of

Galilee

and

he

manifested

his

glory

and

his

disciples

believed

in

him

in

chapter

8

verse

50

he

says

I

don't

seek

my

own

glory

there

is

one

who

seeks

and

justifies

and

then

in

chapter

17

this

prayer

of

Jesus

to

the

father

in

the

moments

leading

up

to

his

crucifixion

Jesus

is

praying

to

the

father

he

says

glorify

your

son

that

your

son

also

may

glorify

you

I

have

glorified

you

on

earth

I

have

finished

the

work

which

you

have

given

me

to

do

so

glory

stands

at the

outset

of

all

that

Christ

has

accomplished

and

the

purpose

for

which

he

came

we

see

that

here

in

verse

27

Jesus

says

now

is

my

soul

troubled

and

what

shall

I

say

father

save

me

from

this

hour

but

for

this

purpose

I

have

come

to

this

hour

we

find

many

different

purposes

in

the

gospels

of

why

Jesus

came

but

we

see

that

this

is

the

central

purpose

and

this

would

be

the

next

point

that

I

want

to

make

God's

glory

is

the

central

purpose

of

Christ's

coming

his

purpose

is

the

central

purpose

of

his

coming

we

know

that

Jesus

came

to

seek

and

save

the

lost

we

know

he

came

to

serve

and

not

to

be

served

!

to

give

his

life

a

ransom

for

many

we

know

that

from

Mark

Mark 1:38

chapter

1

verse

38

Jesus

says

let us

go

to

his

disciples

let us

go

into

the next

town

that

I

may

preach

there

because

for

this

purpose

I

have

come

in

in

Luke

Luke 4 · chapter mention

chapter

4

he

says

I

must

preach

the

kingdom

of

God

to

other

cities

also

because

for

this

purpose

I

have

been

sent

in

John

John 18 · chapter mention

chapter

18

in

speaking

with

Pilate

we

find

Jesus

says

for

this

purpose

I

was

born

and

for

this

purpose

I

have

come

into

the

world

to

bear

witness

to

the

truth

so

we

know

that

Jesus

has

come

!

for

many

purposes

but

the

central

purpose

the

purpose

that

brings

it

all

together

the

purpose

that

unifies

all

the

others

is

the

purpose

of

glorifying

God

and

in

these

verses

we

see

this

central

purpose

coming

into

view

the

purpose

that

Christ

has

for

coming

to

earth

is

to

glorify

himself

and

to

glorify

the

father

it's

unmistakable

through

this

text

as

we

look

at

Jesus

his

own

statement

about

his

purpose

to

glorify

himself

but

in

what

way

in

what

way

would

Jesus

and

the

father

be

glorified

through

the

cross

I

wrestled

with

this

this

week

and

as

I

looked

through

the

I

think

there's

33

or

39

different

accounts

of

the

glory

of

Christ

being

recounted

in

the

gospel

of

John

and

throughout

Matthew

and

Mark

what

is

the

point

of

glory

what

was

it

about

the

cross

that

led

to

glory

was

Jesus

glorified

because

of

obedience

to

the

father

was

he

glorified

because

he

conquered

sin

and

death

was

he

glorified

in

calling

people

to

repentance

was

he

glorified

because

he

accomplished

all

that

God

had

called

him

to

do

was

he

glorified

in

setting

all

things

right

all

things

back

to

normal

the

things

that

had

been

broken

in

the

fall

when

Adam

and

Eve

had

sinned

now

in

restoring

creation

back

to

its

original

sense

in

fellowship

with

the

father

was

he

glorified

through

being

the

supreme

example

of

humility

glory

was

he

glorified

in

becoming

the

supreme

savior

and

king

would

he

be

glorified

as

a

reward

for

the

cross

why

does

the

cross

point

to

glory

certainly

as we

look

through

the

gospel

we

see

evidence

of

the

glory

of

Christ

showing

up

in

so

many

different

ways

we

see

that

God

was

glorified

through

the

works

of

Jesus

as

Jesus

performed

miracles

and

disciples

and

followers

believed

it says

the

glory

of

God

was

placed

into

view

and

as

Jesus

is

speaking

the

words

of

the

father

certainly

there

was

a

sense

in

which

the

glory

of

God

came

to

bear

in

the

hearts

of

people

that's

why

Jesus

talks

about

by

testifying

to

the

words

of

the

father

as

people

got

to

witness

his

life

and

to

see

the

character

compassion

his

tenderness

his

grace

and

mercy

his

forgiveness

his

power

God

was

certainly

glorified

all

throughout

the

ministry

of

Jesus

beautiful

paint

strokes

were

being

added

to

the

canvas

the

portrait

of

God

was

being

revealed

in

all

its

splendor

to

anyone

who

would

notice

the

image

of

God

was

breaking

through

with

clarity

and dimension and depth and wonder and fullness and balance and in beauty.

All of these glimmers of God coming through the portrait of Jesus

as he worked out and played out the life of God in the presence of others.

And throughout the scripture, the glory of God is always connected to the person of God.

It's always connected to the presence of God.

It's his expression of his quality and character.

Some examples might be Moses who in Exodus 33 says,

Show me your glory.

And God said, I will make all my goodness pass before you

and will proclaim before you my name, the Lord.

And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious

and I will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.

And as we remember, God put Moses in the cleft of the rock

and let his presence pass before Moses and the glory of God was there.

Also in the construction of the tabernacle in Exodus chapter 40,

Exodus 40 · chapter mention

it says,

Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.

And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud settled on it

and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.

In Isaiah 6 verses 1 to 4, Isaiah is having this vision of God and he's standing there.

Isaiah 6:1–4

He says,

I saw the Lord sitting on a throne high and lifted up and the train of his robe filled the temple.

Above him stood the seraphim.

Each had six wings.

With two he covered his face.

With two he covered his feet.

And with two he flew.

And one called to the other and said,

Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts.

The whole earth is full of his glory.

And the foundations of the threshold shook at the voice of him who called.

And the house was filled with smoke.

The glory of God.

His presence that was manifest in the Old Testament.

And the presence of God that showed up through Christ in demonstration of his works and his words and his life

was manifest through Jesus.

So that God showed through his life.

And so the cross brings God glory by showing himself to the full.

The cross is the fullest expression of who God is.

The portrait is complete through the cross and through his resurrection.

It is through the cross that we get the clearest picture and the fullest picture of who God is.

His justice and forgiveness.

His power and his humility.

His hatred of sin.

And yet forgiving and forgiveness in Christ.

His sovereignty over all.

And yet his submission to authority.

His righteousness.

And yet his mercy.

His wrath.

And yet his patience.

His purity.

And yet his willingness to endure the shame of sin.

And taking it on himself.

His eternality.

And yet his willingness to be subjected to frailty.

We see in the cross.

We see in the cross the fullest portrait of who God is.

Showing up in full view.

And calling us to the glory of God.

Calling us to understand who he is in his mercy and goodness.

So that Christ could show forth God in every way.

Jesus put God on display through the cross.

In all his splendor.

The portrait of God was seen in his fullest expression through the cross.

So that one commentator writes,

God receives glory when his attributes are manifested.

And nowhere was his magnanimous love for helpless sinners.

His holy wrath against sin.

His perfect justice.

His redeeming grace.

His forgiving mercy.

Or his infinite wisdom was more clearly seen than in the substitutionary,

propitiatory death of Jesus Christ.

It is in the cross that we behold God.

And it should call us to marvel at who he is.

Christ's death was preeminently for God's glory.

And so as we look at the cross, we remember that the cross was for God.

The cross was to show the wonder of God.

To call attention to the love of Christ.

To the justice of Christ.

To the truth of Christ.

To the forgiveness of Christ.

This picture of the glory of God culminates on the cross.

So this truth should lead us to delight in the glory of him.

And God's glory, point number three, God's glory needs to be the supreme affection of the saints.

Since God's ultimate goal was in the cross was to glorify himself.

To make much of himself.

To show the fullest portrait of himself to the world.

In the same way that purpose of Christ in the cross must drive us as individuals.

It must drive our hearts to bow in worship to the glory of God through the cross.

To see him is truly glorious.

To glorify him means it relentlessly destroys glory in me.

Let me say that again.

The cross removes any perspective that would raise my value in the image of this world.

And exalts the portrait of Christ in the portrait of God as being all glorious.

There is a movement today.

There is an undercurrent today.

In our music.

In our media.

In the books and literature that are being produced.

That would seek to convey that the cross proves that I can make much of myself.

They would say that Christ's priceless sacrifice shows how much he values me.

They would say that Christ's love on the cross demonstrates the length to which he will go.

To show that I am the object of his love.

And how much I mean to him.

But the cross was never intended to convey the greatness of me.

But the greatness of him.

And I gave this video as an illustration.

The practical outworking of what that looks like.

No one would watch this video and say that Jessica's stepdad was worthy of forgiveness.

Because he added some value to the table.

He would say he deserves to be locked away.

He deserves to be forgotten.

He deserves maybe even to die for what he did.

It doesn't even exalt Jessica.

Jessica deflects all the glory to Christ.

In working through her heart.

To help her to do what she could not do on her own.

And that is to operate in the strength of the Holy Spirit.

And to convey the love of Christ.

The love that was empowered by the Holy Spirit.

To convey forgiveness.

To someone who is truly unworthy.

In every way.

And through that example.

God receives glory.

Because through that example.

Only God can accomplish that kind of forgiveness.

I appreciate what one commentator says.

And I've actually provided several of these in the foyer out there.

It's chapter 10 of John Piper's book, Don't Waste Your Life.

It's a free resource online.

But I printed several of these.

And they're on the table out there.

Let me read for you just a couple of snippets of this.

To help reinforce this in your mind.

John Piper puts it this way.

He says,

Oh God.

You know I tremble now for fear.

That many of the ones who call you Lord have made themselves the prize and glory of your grace.

How many Lord have made your love a witness to their worth.

There was a time.

Love felt like this.

When I could not conceive of any greater joy than the honor of my name.

When I was so absorbed in me that it was inconceivable for joy to rise by admiring rather than being admired.

But now, thanks to your mighty grace, I see it as an invitation.

And so it came into the world.

This great inversion we call sin.

And love was made to stand now on its head.

I grieve Lord.

Just to put it into words.

But here it is with the shame.

Your love no longer means that you do what you must to make yourself our joy.

It has come to mean that you do what you must so that we can feel our worth.

It was a sad exchange.

And doubly so.

Not only did it rob our souls of that one joy that you designed to satisfy us for eternity.

But worse.

It robbed you of your honored place as treasure of our lives.

How could I, Lord, have ever been so blind?

To think that being loved by you means making much of me and not yourself.

How could I put my eye to some great telescope designed to make me glad with visions of the galaxies?

And notice in the glass a dim reflection of my face and say,

Now I am happy.

I am loved.

How could I stand before the setting sun?

Between the mountain range and the vastness of the sea

and think that the everlasting joy should come from making much of me.

The glory of the cross.

The purpose of the cross was so that we would make much of him.

And as the object of his love.

The objects who were unworthy.

Objects who were enemies and rebels.

Hostile against our God.

Should elevate our view of him.

Not our view of us.

Oh, the goodness and grace of our God.

Now, running through the next three points.

But that is a background.

Most of the work has been done.

Because what we see as playing out in the rest of this passage

is we see the evidence of what the cross did.

What it accomplished in showing the glory of Christ.

First, we see in verse 31 that the cross reveals the purity and the power of God.

Reveals the purity and the power of God.

Notice in verse 31, Jesus says,

This voice has come for your sake, not for mine.

Now is the judgment of this world.

Now will the ruler of this world be cast out.

There should be nothing that should delight our heart more.

For those who are persecuted.

For those, excuse me, who feel like you're unjustly treated.

To know that the judgment has come.

That Christ on the cross declared that justice would happen.

Sin would be dealt with.

It would not go unpunished.

It was punished in Christ.

And it was a declarative statement that the sentence had been passed.

That God would judge sin.

It would not go forgotten.

So that Paul, in encouraging and commending the church of Philippi,

says this in Philippians 1, 27 and 28.

He says this,

Only let your life be worthy of the gospel.

So that whether I come and see you or I'm absent,

I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit,

with one mind, striving side by side,

and not frightened in anything by your opponents.

This is a clear sign to them of their destruction,

but of your salvation and that from God.

In enduring hardship,

we are acting with Christ to declare that God will take care of sin one day.

He's taken care of sin for us who are in Christ,

who have been forgiven.

And because He is holy,

because He is pure,

He will judge sin.

And we can rest in the fact that Christ,

in being punished on the cross,

in carrying the penalty for sin on Himself that led to death,

helps us to believe,

to be convinced,

to be assured,

that He will continue to be faithful,

to judge sin in the future.

He is judge and justifier.

We can trust Him.

But also the power of God that was displayed to the cross.

Satan was defeated.

His schemes were dismantled.

His desires were destroyed.

His plan to disrupt the purpose of creation,

Christ demolished through the cross.

In Colossians chapter 2,

Colossians 2 · chapter mention

Paul brings this into perspective.

He says,

Jesus set all of these legal demands aside.

He nailed them to the cross.

He disarmed the rulers and authorities

and put them to open shame

by triumphing over them in Him,

in Christ.

Jesus states categorically

that He is authority.

He is ruler.

He is king over the visible and invisible parts of this world.

Christ triumphed through the cross,

destroying death and sin

and all the enemies that we would be confronted with.

Jesus was victorious.

Next week we're going to deal more with this third point.

The cross reveals the plan of God.

The cross reveals the plan of God.

We find in verse 32 and 33,

Jesus says,

And I, when I am lifted up from the earth,

will draw all people to myself.

That plan involved Jesus' death.

He alludes to it several times

through His ministry to the disciples.