The Glory Prayer of Jesus, Part 2

Why does the Bible say we've fallen short of glory?

Because that's what we were created to live in.

You and I were created by God to live lives that reflect.

By glory, I mean the nature of God.

God created man because he wanted something to represent what he was like.

This podcast is a ministry of Grand Parkway Baptist Church, helping people know, enjoy, and glorify God.

For more information about Grand Parkway, visit GrandParkway.org.

Let's pray together.

So, Lord, when we sing and say things like, Jesus who died will be satisfied, and earth and heaven will be one.

What we're saying is that you're going to reconcile all the things that seem real far apart right now.

The world is jacked up and people are crazy.

And sometimes we wonder, is anybody in charge?

Is anybody at the controls of this thing, okay?

And we confess from the Bible that the answer is yes, and that person's you.

It's not me.

The world works and life works when God's in charge.

When I try to get in charge, we try to get in charge, God will put it in the ditch, lickety split.

And so we've come today, God, to live in light of your victory and to come out of the darkness of our defeat.

Because in the darkness of our defeat, God, we feel shame and we start thinking this is just who I am.

I'm a shameful person.

But you're going to tell us from the word today that we were created by God for glory.

And so that is our native environment, and we've all sinned and fallen short of that, but we can be restored to live in light of your victory.

And this is what glory is all about.

And so, God, just kind of permeate our intellect and our affections with the glory prayer of Jesus from John 17.

This is our prayer.

We ask it in Jesus' name.

And everyone said, Amen.

Amen.

You can have a seat if you've got a Bible.

I invite you to take it and open up to John 17.

If you don't have a Bible, it's one on your row.

I'm on page 903.

Uh, and if you're our guest today, we're preaching through the gospel of John.

We just go verse by verse, unpacking it, saying what the Bible says and all of its ramifications.

Um, we let it find us, unwind us, it makes us think, it comforts us.

Sometimes it kind of scrapes us.

Uh, it doesn't polish us till we're real shiny, but it does scrape us until we're sharp.

And so uh uh we started last week.

I call this the glory prayer of Jesus uh because it's the last prayer he prays for his disciples.

And then shortly after this, he he gets arrested and he goes to the cross.

And so we start the journey to the cross.

And so uh this is just the glory prayer of Jesus part two.

Uh now I'm gonna read the first five verses.

And I told you last week I just preached what uh there's four words that kind of frame these five verses.

This the first part of this glory prayer of Jesus.

And here are the four words it's election, uh, eternal life, example, and exchange.

Last week we talked about the doctrine of election.

Uh, so I'm not gonna go back and rehash that.

Other than to say this, a lot of you had questions.

Now look at me.

Never let anybody stand before you with the Bible open without realizing you can ask whatever question you want.

You're not being a problem.

Some of you emailed me and said, Hey, I don't want to be a problem.

And I wrote back, you're not a problem.

Resend the email when you believe you're not a problem.

Uh and one guy's like, Shut up, dude, I know where you live.

Anyway, uh uh, and so always ask, okay?

You're you're you're not being a problem.

Don't let people preach to you that aren't willing to pastor you.

Does that make sense?

You don't need somebody talking up and telling you stuff, and you walk out and kind of go, Well, I thought I was ignorant and I went to church and that guy confirmed it.

No, you're not.

You're not you're not.

Here's the problem.

A lot of times preachers just don't have the moral and spiritual courage to tell you what the Bible actually says.

Uh, like last week, some people were like, hey, it just sounds like the doctor election, everything's kind of predetermined, and it doesn't matter what I do.

And I said, Yeah, that's called fatalism.

And here's the problem with fatalism, okay?

If you think, oh, it that God's chosen people for the very creation of the world, why should we do anything?

Why pray?

Why share the gospel?

Blah, blah, blah.

That's fatalism.

And here's the problem with fatalism.

You cannot have a fatalistic worldview that it's all predetermined, it doesn't matter.

You can't have that, and the existence of free will in human beings.

Because you say, well, what do you mean?

Because if you're a fatalist, if you're like, oh, it's just all big script, and we're just down here just kind of going through the motions of what God already knows is it God's already predetermined, then if you think God's predetermined it all, and it's somehow just we're just going through the motions, then everything becomes God's fault.

El Paso is God's fault.

Dayton is God's fault.

Gilroy would have a garlic festival.

That's the first problem with that.

Who has a festival for garlic?

Uh but but that maybe that was the first shooting.

A guy cut a hole in the fence, and when they're just indiscriminately shooting people.

If you just think, oh, it's just fatalism, this is like some big script up there.

No, as long as people have a free will, and you do, you could leave here today and break into a bank.

You couldn't eat at Chick-fil-A, but you could break into a bank that was closed.

And you couldn't say that was God's fault.

You could leave here and have a fight with your spouse and say things that were horribly hurtful to your spouse, and you couldn't say after afterwards, I'm glad that's over.

That was God's will.

Uh and so be careful you don't fall off on the side of fatalism.

Uh, let me read the five verses, and I'm just gonna pick up and I'm gonna preach today from verses three, four, and five.

It's 56 words.

And so everything I say to you today will come from these 56 words, but let's get the context.

Verse 1.

When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven and he said, Father, the hour has come.

Glorify your son, that the son may glorify you, since you've given him authority over all flesh to give eternal life to all, who 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 do.

And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world existed.

Last week we did the first E election.

I want to do the last three this morning.

The second E is simply this eternal life.

Eternal life.

And uh Jesus says, he mentions eternal life in verse two, and then in verse three, he says, and this is eternal life.

And he defines it that they know you uh and the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

I want to define a couple of words when we think about eternal life, because I want you to make sure you got the right concept in your mind.

I want to define the word eternal and the word life.

Eternal uh it means simply this without beginning and end, that which has always been.

Mark that right there in your mind.

That which has always been.

Uh, when I became a Christian at 18, I had this exuberant overwhelm this.

Oh my gosh, I'm forgiven for all of that.

But then shortly thereafter, I had kind of this low-grade anger and frustration because when I understood how good this was, here was the anger and frustration.

If this has always been, why didn't somebody tell me about it sooner?

And I started looking around at the people that I got high with in high school and I party with in high school who all went to church, and I remember this thinking, has this always been available?

And you people didn't, are you whoa, oh and so I had to come to one of two conclusions.

Either these people don't believe this and don't experience it, or they don't think that I deserved it.

And I was just like, who can be in that role?

And so I pretty quickly realized there was a difference in my friends that went to church and the people that experienced this life that the Bible talks about.

And so this is what we mean by eternal second word life, Greek word Zoe.

This may sound familiar.

I've been beating this drum all through the Gospel of John because it appears over and over and over.

And the Bible says life.

By the way, it Jesus didn't come to make bad people good people, he didn't come to make immoral people moral people.

That's behavior modification.

Jesus Christ left the perfection of heaven and came to the imperfection of earth to make dead people alive people.

And so the most often used synonym in the Bible for salvation, for what does it mean to have a relationship with Christ is life.

Greek word Zoe, and not just existence, but this is what he's talking about in this life, real and genuine, a life active and vigorous, devoted to God, blessed in the portion, even in this world of those who put their trust in Christ.

In other words, you can't have this life apart from a relationship with Christ.

But after the resurrection, to be consummated by new accessions, among them a more perfect body and to last forever.

The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 15, if only in this life we have hope in Christ, we're to be pitied above all men.

So this eternal life that Jesus comes to make available is not just, hey, I'm gonna get all my bills paid and I'm gonna be blessed in this life.

No, no, no.

It affects this life.

It is transformative in this life and it's transcendent in the next.

And so when we talk about eternal life, and this is what Jesus is talking about.

He says, and this is eternal life.

Now, why is it important for us to grasp this?

Because when we sin, we live in separation from God.

This is what we're missing out on.

This is what we're missing out on.

This is what we're choosing the lesser of when we sin.

And it's not about quantity, it's about quality.

And so I just want to say two things happen when you fail to understand what the Bible says about eternal life.

Number one, heaven loses its glory.

Heaven loses, when you when you when you don't have a biblical understanding of eternal life, uh the first thing happens is heaven kind of loses its glory.

It's kind of like because here's why.

It's not this life, like a good day in this world forever.

I had a fascinating conversation on a plane one time with a guy.

We're sitting there, and uh, it's about 30 minutes in the flight, and I got my Bible.

I was going to preach someone, I started reading, and he's kind of watching me, and he's ordering Jack and Coke.

I don't know if you know what Jack and Coke is, but there's a bourbon.

Some of you are smiling, like, yeah.

I know exactly what that is.

Uh and so uh and so he orders a second one.

He stops the lady and he says, Excuse me, will it bother you, sir, if I have another drink?

And I'm like, and I hear that voice in my head that says, Let's have some fun with this one.

Uh and I said, actually, there's a Bible, there's a verse in the Bible that says you can only have one Jack and Coke on a flight.

If it was an overseas flight, you could have two.

And he's like, shut up, make it a double, ma'am.

Uh and so, and then we get talking, he says, What do you do?

Do you read that book a lot?

And I said, Actually, I pastor a church, and he's like, Oh, gee whiz.

Did my ex-wife tell you to sit next to me?

And I said, No.

I said, I think the God of the universe foreordained for the very foundation of the world that you, I would sit next to you, we'd have this conversation.

He goes, What conversation?

I don't want to talk to you.

He's reaching down for his bow's headphones to put them on.

And I said, dude, relax.

I'm not gonna like preach to you and yell at you and stuff.

And so we just got kind of started talking.

And he said, You believe that book?

And I said, I do.

I do.

He said, You read it a lot.

I said, I read it, but more importantly, it reads me.

And the lady across the aisle is like started rocking, my my, my.

I looked at her and said, Pray.

And so we're talking, and he's kind of the lady brings the drink and he's kind of shaking.

I said, Are you shaking because you've had too many or not enough?

He said, probably not enough.

I gotta kind of get the joints lubricated early.

And I said, I understand.

Relax now.

By the way, when I say understand, am I saying that addiction is okay?

Alcoholism's okay?

No.

What I am saying is people don't need to get a religious whipping on an airplane.

That's all I'm saying.

And so we're just chatting along there, and he made a profound statement because I said something about eternal life, and he he's kind of sitting there and he's shaking so bad his ice is rattling in the cup.

And he says, you know what, to be honest, I don't want to live this life forever.

And I said, Neither do I.

You think eternal life in the Bible is like this life forever?

I mean, I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm what?

I said, dude, there are days.

I said, I live in a city that's got like way too many people in it, and I just think, God, why are all these people here driving in my lane, not using a blinker?

I said, You think heaven is just this forever?

And he goes, eternal life, and this is life.

No, no.

So that's what I mean when I say heaven loses its glory.

The second thing that happens when we you don't have a biblical framework for eternal life is right now is drained of its possibilities.

Right now is drained of its possibilities because we fail to see that this is the exact thing that Jesus came to bring to bear on believers.

Eternal life is not, hey, I'm gonna do my best and I'm just gonna get the snot kicked out of me.

I was talking to one of our ladies before this service and said, Hey, how's your summer?

And she's like, right, well, we had a water pipe break in our house and it flooded our house, and so all the flooring, our hardware floors are gone.

We had to take out sheetrock and blah, blah, blah.

And I said, Yeah, and your kids are going.

Mama needs school supplies.

And she's like, Yeah, tell me about it.

Who wants to do that forever?

No, it's not it's that that's existence, okay?

What the Bible talks about is something so much different.

Here's the way the Bible says it all through John, John chapter 1, verses 1 to 4.

John 1:1–4

In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God.

He was in the beginning with God, and all things were made through him.

Talking about Jesus, and without him was not anything made.

Hear this.

In him was life, and the life was the light of all men.

In Jesus, guess what that word is in the Greek?

Zoe.

In him is this way of doing life, this eternal life.

He leaves heaven, comes to earth to bring it to bear on all of us.

Nine chapters later in John 10, 10, he says this the thief, the false preacher, the lying teacher comes only to steal, kill, and destroy.

I came that they may have Zoe life and have it abundantly.

Jesus says this all through John's gospel.

This is what I came to make available, this thing called eternal life.

And it's so important.

I'm going to define it for you.

He says, This is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.

What do we take from that simple statement in verse three?

You take two things.

Number one, only in God is this life available.

Only in God.

Here, right there in the Bible, verse three.

He says, and this is eternal life.

Because love to ourselves, we would pervert it and make it about our best vacation forever.

This is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God.

Only in God is this life available.

You got to know God to experience that, and then get this and Jesus, whom you have sent.

Here's the second thing we take away from this: you can't know God in any way you choose.

You don't get to self-describe and self-define what you're willing to believe.

Here's a word for that in America.

It's called spirituality.

There's a big difference in spirituality and Christianity.

Spirituality says I take a little Hinduism, a little Buddhism, a little new age, a little Catholicism, I'm a grandma, and I take some Christianity from the church because I like my kids to be there, because it's got a good children's program, and I roll it all together.

And what you've done is you've violated the first and second commandment, okay?

You have other gods before him, and then you create, when you turn your back away from the one true God, you create a God.

You have to create a God.

But what the second commandment says is that you've made an idol, you've created for yourself an idol.

It's not biblical Christianity, it's your spirituality.

So nowadays, have you ever heard people say this?

Oh, I'm not religious, but I'm spiritual.

My buddy on the plane said to me, I don't think I'm very religious, but I'm kind of spiritual.

I said, This plane drops out of the sky 33,000 feet.

We hit the ground like a yard dart.

What happens to you?

We're not gonna do that, are we?

I said, Yeah.

Says over here on page 1011, you better drink fast.

He's like, dude, that ain't funny.

And I said, Did you always live with this much fear?

And he goes, You mean to tell me if this thing drops out of the sky?

I mean, you're not afraid.

I said, I'm not saying I would enjoy that.

I'm not that morbid person.

I got a life, I love my life, but I tell you what, if it did, I knew where I'd go.

I can't repeat what he said next.

Uh it was hyphenated.

Uh and I said, Hey man, I'm not trying to bust you up here.

I'm just trying to say, this is this is no way to live.

This life that you and I are talking about, this is not all there is of what it's all about.

See, you can't know God in any way you choose because left to ourselves, look at me.

We will formulate a God according to our willingness instead of according to our understanding.

This is why it's so important that you find a church that has the the moral courage to tell you that's what the Bible says, because your understanding is enlarged.

And when your understanding of God is enlarged, your capacity for enjoyment is enlarged.

You say, Well, I what do you mean you can't know God any way you choose?

You know God and the person he has sent, Jesus Christ.

One of the reasons that God sends his son to the earth is to say, I want everyone to know what I'm like.

That's why in John chapter 14, a couple chapters back, the disciples are like, Jesus is saying, I'm going, I'm gonna prepare a place for you so that where I am, you may be also, and I'll come again.

John 14 · chapter mention

And they're like, What?

They're confused.

And and one of the guys, I think Philip says, Hey, hey, just show us the Father.

That's enough.

And Jesus says, Hey, have I been with you this long and you still do not know who I am?

If you've seen me, you've seen the Father.

Now, by the way, my children hate John 14, 9.

Because I say it to them all the time, I have two daughters, and they'll say something, or they'll question me about something, and I'll say, Have I been with you this long and you still do not know who I am?

Or you're not Jesus, Dad.

Are you saying you're Jesus?

No, I'm not saying I'm Jesus.

I'm just saying I'm smarter than you.

Like this happened this week.

I get a call from my daughter, 21 years old.

She's at a residency in a church in Richardson.

She calls, hey Dad, dad, I just had a blowout.

Richardson, the road that goes through Richardson is Highway 75, Central Expressway.

It's like five o'clock on third.

I'm like, man, I'm picturing 18 wheelers flying down the road, and she's on the side of the road trying to trying to jack her car up.

And I'm like, babe, well, well, okay, time out, time out.

Are you okay?

Yeah, I'm okay.

Is your car okay?

You blow out, the thing flips, no, I'm I'm okay.

Okay, okay, you need to get out, you need to get your donut spare out.

It's in the back, blah, blah, blah.

I said, and it's real quiet.

And I said, Well, babe, where where where are you?

And she goes, I'm in the church parking lot.

And I was like, Wait, you had a blowout?

Did you drive to the church parking lot?

No, no, no, no, no, no.

I was in a hurry to leave work and I hit a curb in the church parking lot.

I'm in a hurry to leave this place every day, but I don't hit a curb on the way out.

I said, No, wait, let me get my head around this.

You did what?

She goes, yeah.

I kind of, she said, I kind of hit a curb.

That's what she said.

I said, you kind of hit a curb.

And all of a sudden, I feel rising up in me, I need to teach you who I am.

Uh because here's the thing: look at me.

This is the hardest thing that we as men do, and it's the most necessary thing.

We cannot always rescue our kids.

Because if you always rescue your kids, they don't develop some muscles they need to develop in order to be adults.

And so all of a sudden, dad coming to the rescue, stands down, and dad, the teacher, stands up and says, I got this.

And so I said, So you're in a hurry to leave work and you hit a kirk.

Yeah, and my tire just exploded, dad.

All right, well, here I know where you are, I know where the church is.

You need to Google NTB, National Tire and Battery, and see if you can get an appointment and they'll replace it.

So she got an appointment.

She goes, I got an appointment for tomorrow at four o'clock.

Thanks, Dad.

One of my coworkers came out and helped me get the spare going because I couldn't get it loose.

I couldn't bust the lugs loose.

It's great.

She gets down there.

I said, Let me know how much it is.

Now I didn't say I'm gonna do anything, I just said, let me know.

What she heard was, oh, Dad got this.

So girlfriend broke me off a text the next day.

Dad, my tire was$190.

Shut your entire mouth, what?

That thing got gold rims?

Would you get it from two trains?

Have a garage sale?

What in the cat hair?

I told her, now tell them you want about a 50,000-mile tire.

What does that mean, Dad?

It's just kind of a rating on it.

It's just not top of the line, just middle of the line.

I got a friend here in town that has a tire store that sells good tires at a good price.

We'll take care of it.

So she said, Well, I just took care of it.

It's 190.

So, and it's kind of like when your girlfriend you're dating would say to you, I love you.

It's not what she says, it's how she says it.

I love you.

Kind of like your turn.

You're like, back at you, I had a good time.

So she said, So she kept kind of working, she talked a little bit, and she said, So it was$190.

And I said, So, you want dad to drop$200 in your account?

Yeah, that'd be great, Dad.

Not gonna happen.

Silence on the end of the phone.

What do you mean?

You said you listen carefully to what I said.

Because, see, have I been with you?

Oh, Dad, don't say it.

Don't say it.

Have I been with you this long?

You still don't know what I what I'm all about.

Because here's the thing.

I could, do I have$200 I could drop in your account?

Yeah.

Or I could keep that and buy myself a new driver.

I said, here's the thing, baby.

I said, you get paid for work?

And she said, Yeah.

You want me to spend my own money?

That's called adulting.

You know what?

Wait till you have kids.

Them rascals is expensive.

Like sometimes they don't pay attention, they're flying to the church parking lot, and they hit a curve.

Okay, dad, that's enough.

So every once in a while, I have to remind my kids, listen to me, don't miss this.

This is free parenting sermon here.

I'm not reminding my kids just who I am.

That's what they think.

Oh, my dad's being a jerk.

I'm reminding them what they're capable of.

Because I don't want them to grow up and think my dad's capable of anything.

My dad's like MacGyver.

Because what happens is she thinks in her mind, I've always got to depend on a man.

Don't infect your daughters with that virus, man.

Uh-oh, did you feel that?

Got real still in here, like, oh, we're meddling now.

I love my kid.

She's coming home tonight.

My wife's gonna check her for ticks and everything.

I'm gonna walk out and go, let me see that$200 tire you bought.

Get back in and ride me around the neighborhood, Madison.

We're like an old school limp biscuit.

Rolling, rolling, rolling.

Keep rolling, rolling, rolling.

It's not funny, Dad.

I mean, that's that's that's that's I mean, I don't make that much money.

Oh, welcome to adulthood right there, sister.

No, no.

Here's the word I want you to get, okay, gather in your mind.

The Bible says he said, Hey, this is eternal life, that you know God, the one true God, and Jesus Christ, whom he has sent.

Now just let that word sent kind of arrest your attention.

S-E-N-T.

Draw your attention to that, who he sent.

What does God, here's what you gotta ask yourself.

Last week we talked about the doctrine of election.

I want to talk this morning about a little bit about the doctrine of man.

Doctrine means kind of the this compressed summary of what the Bible teaches about core beliefs about certain things.

What does the Bible teach about man?

Ask yourself, the Bible says God sent his son Jesus.

And so, what does God believe about humanity that is so important that he sends his son from the perfection of heaven to the imperfection of earth?

There's got to be something.

God's not a sentimental being, he's a principled being.

So there's some law in humanity that is unchanging and can only be, see, I've got friends that are alcoholics and they understand this better than anybody.

They joyfully say at their meetings, I came to the point in my life I was powerless over drugs and alcohol.

I needed a power greater than myself to help me regain control.

What is it that God believes about humanity?

It's the doctrine of man.

It's three simple words purpose, problem, and person.

Purpose, problem, and person.

Let me unpack each one just for a moment.

Purpose, what do you mean?

The Bible says that all have sin and fallen short of the glory of God.

Romans 3 23.

Let me ask you a question.

By a show of hands, how many of you in this room have heard that verse referenced before?

Can I see your hand?

Hold it up real high.

Real high.

Look around.

Now put your hand down.

Most of you.

Oh, all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

Now look at me.

I think preachers have done you a gross disservice because what we do is we take that and we use that to say to you, hey, you've sinned, right?

Let me tell you something.

I think you knew you sinned before you read that in the Bible.

I don't think you need some preacher to go, now all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

You're like, tell me about it, dude.

You think I shave my legs to come here a stranger, give me a religious lecture?

I got something inside of me that's kind of compelling me towards more because I think there's more in life and I might be missing out on it.

You see, what I want to say to you this morning from the Bible, and I say purpose, because see, when you just get drilled on you, all have sinned and falling short of the glory of God, what you start to believe is, well, I was created by God to sin.

That's why we've all done it.

And the Bible would say to you, and I would say to you, no, you were created by God for glory.

The real implicational part of Romans 3.23 is the back part.

For all of sin, got it, and fallen short of the glory of God.

Why does the Bible say we've fallen short of glory?

Because that's what we were created to live in.

You and I were created by God to live lives that reflect, by glory, I mean the nature of God.

God created man because he wanted something to represent what he was like.

That's why the Bible says, whatever you do, once you're converted, you become a Christian.

If glory is not your created purpose, then why once you're converted, does the Bible say things like, Whatever you do, whether you eat or drink, do all for the glory of God?

Because the Bible understands, hey, this is what you're created for.

I'm not minimizing sin, but I am magnifying glory.

And sin will not begin to lose its attraction in you until you understand, hey, I was created to live a life that reflects the worth of God, the nature of God, to remind people how smart God is.

I'm created for God's glory, and I'm supposed to do everything for God's glory.

This is why sin sounds so preposterous to me.

It's because it's not my created purpose.

Second word, it's problem.

Problem, what's the problem?

The problem is sin.

Because sin is the problem, it can never be the purpose.

And from the beginning, humanity is not trusted.

Here's how you know you evidence that you're talking to somebody that doesn't understand their purpose.

They say this.

Well, I mean, we're all just human beings, we're gonna sin.

It's not your created purpose.

It is the problem.

Because sin is the problem, it can never be the purpose.

And from the beginning, humanity has not trusted God, and because of this, sin entered into the world, and with sin came separation.

Adam and Eve were expelled out of the garden, they were separated, put out of God's presence.

And so we by nature are separated from God, and our choices express and enforce this separation.

The third P is just the person.

The person who can do something about this separation, and it's not the man or woman you see in the mirror every morning.

You working on you is religion.

God sending his only son is Christianity.

You say, What do you mean?

Because he makes available this thing called redemption.

You gotta begin with the fact that the only person who can do something about our separation is the only one who has done something.

And so we can't change our standing before God through our own efforts, regardless of how religious, well-intentioned, or benevolent those things feel.

That's again spirituality.

I worked in a soup kitchen, made myself feel better.

I volunteered, I feel better.

I adopted a shelter animal, made myself feel better.

All good things.

I'm not saying don't stop doing those.

I'm saying this.

Only God can do something about our separation, and he has by sending his son.

It's payment for our sins.

And if you want to see how mind-blowing this is, not now, but just write down John chapter 4, about 13 chapters back in John's gospel, Jesus goes out to a well.

John 4 · chapter mention

He's sitting there with his disciples.

They go to get food, and he's sitting there, and about noon, this lady comes staggering out.

Now, most Proverbs 31 women came to get water for their family at like six in the morning.

This lady comes staggering out at noon.

She smells like vodka and bad ideas, and she's like, Well, okay, whatever.

And she's getting water, and Jesus says, So subtle, hey, would you give me a drink?

And she's like, You're a Jew and I'm a Samaritan.

Why are you even talking to me?

He goes, That's okay, that's all we get hung up on the details.

And they start talking.

And she's like, you know, what about this?

And Jesus says, Hey, if you taste this water I give, it'll become in you a well springing up to eternal life.

There's that Zoe word again.

Jesus is saying to her, There's a different way of doing life, a different way of being the person you've been your whole life.

And this woman says back to him, by the way, she's been married five times, and she is shacked up with a man right now.

It's not her husband.

You say, How do you know that?

Because Jesus, he talks about this living water himself, a relationship with him, and she goes, Oh, sir, give me some of this water so I don't have to keep coming back here to this well and drawing water.

And Jesus kind of puts out his marble, stamps it out, and says, Sometimes you gotta beat them kids, and then I'm quiet.

Jesus didn't smoke.

I just picture that in the Bible.

It's kind of a delay in Jesus' like, let me finish this.

I'm about to rock your world, girl.

Brace yourself.

He says, I tell you what, go call your husband.

And she's like, He goes, she goes, I have no husband.

And Jesus says, Here's what I'm getting at.

Here's what the Bible's getting at.

He knows everything about you.

Stop being a poser.

Hey, Jesus.

We brought our kids today in the minivan.

Jesus says, Okay, go call your husband.

She's like, Well, I kind of don't have a husband.

You're right.

You say you don't have a husband.

You've had five husbands, and the man you're splitting the rent with right now, he ain't your husband either.

And she says to Jesus, Sir, I can see you're a prophet.

And Jesus is like, No duh.

And so she plays religious trivia.

Once I ask him questions about worship, this, that, and the other.

It ends with her leaving her bucket.

And she goes into the little village she lives in and she says to her friends, hear this.

This is in the Bible.

She says, Come meet a man who told me everything I've ever done.

Could this be the Messiah?

Her whole town comes flooding out.

And Jesus is kind of like, All right, I'm about to cancel a few concert dates here.

And he stays there two extra days teaching these people about Christianity.

And the whole town converts.

And they say to her at the end of John 4, we no longer believe just because of what you said.

We have seen and heard for ourselves.

Let me ask you a question.

If God really is real and he knows everything you've ever done and he's willing to forgive you for it all, why would you not want a relationship with this God?

This is why he sends his son into the world.

This is the person of Jesus.

This is what you're created for.

You're not created to live in sin and shame.

You're created to live a life that reflects God's glory.

Here's the third E, is example.

Is example.

Look at verse 4.

Right there in the Bible.

He says this.

He says, I have glorified you on earth having accomplished the work that you gave me to do.

Very simple.

I've glorified you on earth by accomplishing the work you've gave me to do.

Glorifying God, it should not be, listen carefully.

Glorify God should not be this really difficult thing.

It shouldn't be, kids, come on, we're gonna hold hands and pray because we're gonna glorify God.

Your kids are like, I ain't touching your hand.

Dad, that's kind of creepy.

Here's what you gotta do.

You gotta figure out, you gotta ask yourself, what is what's the work God's given you to do?

Like I saw this yesterday on TV.

I caught my wife and I said, look at this.

And she's like, Oh, brother.

And I said, on the Texas bucket list, a little show, kind of like Texas Country Reporter's second cousin.

Uh, it comes on every Saturday.

And they did a story yesterday.

There is a brewery in Marble Falls, Texas called Save the World Brewing.

Did you know that?

Some of you are like, honey, write that down.

Got two words for you.

Road trip.

Yes.

There's a brewery in Marble Falls, Texas called Save the World Brewing.

Now let me stop right here.

I'm not saying, I'm not endorsing drinking.

I'm not against drinking.

I'm against, I'm for finishing the work that God's accomplishing the work God's given you to do.

This man and his wife were both pediatricians.

Got two words for you.

Cha ching.

He's in this men's group at his church.

They're reading the book, great book by Rick Warren called The Purpose-Driven Life.

And basically says, Hey, what is God putting your heart to do?

Why are you breathing?

He said, first guy in our group said, I love to sing worship songs to the Lord.

And so I just sing to the Lord.

And the guy thought, that ain't me.

Second guy said, I like to fix stuff.

And so I built stuff and I fixed stuff.

He thought, that's great.

They said, What about you?

He goes, I like to make beer.

Everybody in his group was like, So he and his wife, he said, What are we doing?

We're just paying the bills here with being doctors.

They both quit their jobs, started a brewing company called Save the World Brewing.

His wife said, I've always wanted to work for a nonprofit that gave away money.

And so they run their company, they pay their employees really well.

They don't even take tips.

They take the tips that you put in there at the bar and they give it to feed hungry children in their city.

And he said, We give away all if we covered our expenses, paid our people, we give away our profits.

Now some of you men are kind of like, see, honey, it's a mission trip.

The Lord's speaking, honey.

Some of you right now are Googling Marble Falls, Texas.

If you go to Marble Falls, go eat at the Blue Bonnet Cafe while you're there.

Oh man, make you slap somebody.

Oh man, it's so good.

Now again, look at me.

It's not about beer, it's about accomplishing what God's put in your heart to do.

What does God put in your heart to do?

See, that's the example.

Fourth word, fourth E is just exchange.

It's verse five and we're done.

You still awake?

Look at verse five.

Don't miss this.

And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.

Now, if you're a Big Bang person, Big Bang Theory, you got a problem right here, okay?

You say, wow, I'll get to that in just a minute, but let me start with the first part of verse five.

Notice the phrase that now, Father, glorify me in your presence.

Who can say that to God?

Who can say to God, hey, I want you to glorify me in your presence?

Only God can say to God, glorify me.

See, the Bible sometimes raises its voice and sometimes it's just subtle.

And what it's saying here, it's Jesus is God.

He's not just a good guy, a moral teacher, a prophet.

Father, glorify me in your presence.

Then he says this, with the glory I had with you before the world existed.

Get those last four words, before the world existed, before there was anything to bang into.

If you're a big bang theory person, the Bible says that God existed before anything existed.

Right here in John 17, before the world existed.

Okay?

So God, Jesus is pre-existent, is the word we use for that.

In other words, he existed before anything was created.

He was God's agent of creation.

Colossians says that all things were created by him, and for him, all things were made.

Okay?

Jesus is not a solution to the problem that the Old Testament created.

And now we got Jesus in the New Testament.

He has always existed.

If God existed and nothing else did, why create anything?

You ever drive on 59 South about 5 o'clock on any day of the week and just think there's too many people in the world?

And you don't know how to drive, and you're yanking me in a bad mood if I ever get home?

I mean, it's like, I mean, I just live right over here, and the people in my neighborhood, despite the fact that it says, do not park in the street, park their cars on both sides of the street.

And so you kind of kind of weave through there.

And I'm just like, hello.

And one of the teenage kids lives next door to me.

She parks that far from the curb.

I'm like, why don't you just park in the middle of the road?

I took a picture and texted to her dad.

Is your kid allergic to this curb?

I mean, I think this.

Pray for me.

I think this.

Why are there so many stupid people in the world?

Now, to be clear, I'm not saying my teenage neighbor is stupid, brilliant kid.

I'm just saying when I drive around, you people make me crazy.

And I think this, I think, why would God make so many of these things?

It's an honest question.

Think about it.

You're smart people.

If you're pre-existent and you're not lonely, and you don't need any friends or anything, by the way, I told my wife and I had this conversation about the motivation of God in creation.

And I said, he wasn't lonely.

He didn't need people, he didn't need friends.

He's standing in the solitude and the sufficiency of himself.

I looked over, my wife's got tears in her eyes, and I'm like, What are you doing?

And she said, My Sunday school told me as a little, my Sunday school teacher told me as a little girl that God made me because he was lonely and wanted friends.

That's terrible.

No wonder kids are so full of themselves.

Are you serious?

And she said, Yeah.

I got told that growing up in the church.

That God was lonely.

No, God doesn't create out of need.

If he has need, he can't be God.

He creates out of nature.

Here's why God makes people, and a lot of them, because he wants glory from their lives.

See, I don't know what you mean.

He says, give me, uh glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world existed.

Listen to this and we're done.

You still with me?

Uh for Jesus to come to earth, he has to give up some glory and take on humanity.

He's still fully God and fully man.

He couldn't come full of glory because you say, why not?

Because you couldn't look upon him, you couldn't touch him, you couldn't eat with him because he would have killed you.

The radiance of his glory would have struck you dead.

You read in the Old Testament, and an angel of the Lord manifests, and people fell to the ground and became like dead men.

Look at Moses in Exodus.

God tells Moses, I'll go with the children of Israel.

And then Moses gets excited.

He goes, Show me your glory.

God's like, easy, check yourself before you wreck yourself there, bro.

He said, You hide over in the cleft of the rock, I'll put my hand on you, and my glory will pass by.

And then I'll take my hand off, and you can see my back.

But God says, This, you will not see my glory and live.

So God accommodates humanity.

And now Jesus has accomplished the work that the Father gave him to do, and he says, Give me the glory back.

Why am I saying, why is this such a big deal?

Listen to me.

Here's why this is such a big deal.

Because we as a culture and we as a country are not prepared for the tattooed, muscular, incredible Jesus that is coming back.

Because we think Jesus in the manger.

He's not coming back for redemption, he's coming back for judgment.

The Bible gives us a picture of let me.

Now I was talking to Blake, our spiritual formation pastor this week.

Uh, and he he was telling me about, he said, Yeah, I read this Tim Chester guy, very, very uh good delineation.

So uh Tim Chester is the pastor in England somewhere.

He says this that Jesus' first coming, it's about redemption.

It's in secret, it's in grace, and with the offer of salvation.

Jesus' second coming, it's judgment.

It's in public, uh, in judgment, no salvation is available.

And here's the big mistake we make in our country.

We want Jesus to be forever what he was only willing to be for three and a half years.

Well, he well, actually 33, he journeyed on this earth, but we don't have a record of about three and a half years of his life.

And we just think, oh, that's what he's gonna always be.

This is the way the Bible describes this tattoo Jesus who's gonna show up.

Revelation 19, 11 says this.

John, same John that records the gospel of John, records the book of Revelation.

And he says, And then I saw heaven open, and behold, a white horse, the one setting on, and is called faithful and true.

And in righteousness he judges and makes war.

His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, crowns, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself.

He's clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is the word of God.

And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and purple, were following, uh, white and pure, were following him on white horses.

From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron, and he will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty, and on his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

Here's why, and I'm done.

His first coming was to give you and I a clear indication of what God is like, also to give us a clear reflection of what people are like, that we've sinned and fallen short of our created environment of the glory of God.

And then finally, to get us ready for a second coming.

So the question we have to ask ourselves this morning is simply this Am I ready?

Am I ready?

Not gonna be glowy, sweet baby Jesus in the manger.

You say, well, I think that's just uh, yeah, that's John using a lot of the book of Revelation, it's figurative language.

Doesn't mean it's not true.

He's just kind of saying, hey, you you need to get your mind kind of raised up a little bit because when he comes again, he's not gonna be coming for redemption, he's coming in judgment.

And so we all have to ask ourselves this morning, hey, do I do I have a right view uh of Jesus?

Or am I still stuck in his first coming?

Or am I prepared for a second coming?

Let's pray together.

If you're our guest, just relax.

We like to teach the Bible and then give you some soul space to think about it.

So I'll voice a short prayer.

Some questions come up on the screen for you just to kind of reflect upon.

Don't try to write them down.

You whip your phone out and just take a picture.

That's great.

Uh something to think about, talk about.

Community group to start next week.

We'll process some dialogue about them.

For right now, let me voice a prayer.

Father, thanks that your word is thought-provoking, it's soul-shaping, and it's comforting.

So, right now, as we just kind of think digestively about this, let it be let your word be all those things to whoever it needs to be those things to.

We pray, we reflect, and we listen in Jesus' name.

Let me tell you this about God.

In the counseling session one time, I was talking to a lady, and she said some things, and I said, Tell me how you were disciplined as a child.

She goes, I sent to my room.

And I said, Really?

What was that like?

And she said, Well, my parents would go, go to your room.

And I said, And then what happened?

She goes, No one ever came and checked on me.

She said, I would wait hours and finally I would come out and they'd be watching TV and having fun, and they forgot to come and check on me and tell me my punishment was over, and so I kind of just came out and went on with life.

But I never knew that they were done being mad at me.

And I said, You know, it's not the gospel, right?

And she goes, What do you mean?

And I said, Jesus, God is so compassionate, He sends Jesus to check on us.

And say, hey, I'm not here to punish you.

It's over.

Jesus didn't come to rub your nose in it, He came to set you free from it.

Does that make sense?

And that's what the Bible's trying to tell us over and over and over.

Just a reminder.

Hey, you aren't created to sin.

Sin's never going to meet your need.

You're created for glory.

Okay?

Let me voice a prayer.

God thanks for the truth of the Bible.

Let it set us free because we were created for freedom.

Anything else is just us settling for bondage, and we're not made for bondage.

We're made for freedom.

It was for freedom that Christ set us free.

And so let us stay there and live from that place.

We ask in Jesus' name.

And everyone said, Amen.

If you're a guest, let me say thanks for being part of our service.

Hopefully you've had a chance to pull those guest cards in your seat row there in the in a seat back pocket.

And if you would, just if you haven't filled one out yet, just fill one out and drop it in the wooden boxes by the doors on your way out.

There's a few opportunities for engagement we want to make you aware of by way of our video announcements.

So let's take a moment and observe those together.

Here's a look at what's happening at Grand Parkway Baptist Church.

Tomorrow, August 12th, our final men's outing for the summer will be at Rudy's Barbecue in Richmond at 6:30 p.m.

We look forward to seeing you there.

Each of us has an opportunity to bring consequence and blessing to our community.

Fort Bend Independent School District is hosting a mentor training on our campus August 18th from 1 to 3 p.m.

This training is for those who have signed up to be mentors, but will also serve as an interest meeting for those who want to know more.

To register, email mentor at grandparkway.org.

Vacations are wrapping up and school is starting back.

The fall semester is here, and with it are opportunities for you to become more like Jesus.

One of those opportunities is Community Groups, which begin next Sunday, August 18th.

To find a group, check out our website at grandparkway.org.

Another opportunity is our midweek studies.

Here's a look.

Hi, I'm Blake Carcastle, Spiritual Formation Pastor, here to guide you through our midweek opportunities this fall.

Each of these classes are designed to deepen your understanding of the truth and your relationships with each other.

Midweeks will include classes on Tuesday mornings and Wednesday evenings.

So on Tuesday mornings, we're going to be offering classes for women.

These classes are led by Christy Goldson, Katie Grubbs, Johanna Morrissey, and Caitlin Witten.

They'll be teaching on identity, church history, Abraham, and living a life of genuine faith.

Now, Wednesday evenings, we have something for everyone.

Children are learning about the invitation God offers to all believers to take the gospel to the unreached peoples in this world.

Students are going to be thinking through some of the big questions that teens are asking.

Adults will be led by four of our pastors, Wade Burgess, Martin McClendon, Travis Dunham, and myself.

We'll be teaching on classes on stewardship, neighboring, gospel-centered living, and biblical counseling.

As you can see, we have something for every person in every season of life.

So I want to challenge you to commit to participating in midweeks by registering yourself and your family.

We look forward to seeing you there.

If you heard anything this morning, you have questions about, or if you're going through something and you say, I'd like somebody to pray with me, we'd glad to do that, okay?

If you have any questions about Christianity, what it means to have a relationship with Christ, we'd love to explain that to you.

And so we'll be available down front, myself and some of our pastors, we'll be available down front.

Uh, if we can do anything to help, come up and just introduce yourself.

We'd love to meet you.

And more than that, we'd love to help you, okay?

We like to finish our service with a spoken blessing.

So stand to your feet if you would.

Hold your hands out in a posture of receiving.

You are created by God to live a life that reflects the character and the purpose of eternity.

Depart now and stop settling for anything less.

In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

Bless you.