Eternal Life

Father, we so desperately need your Holy Spirit to work in the depths of who we are,

to bring your word to the depths of who we are,

to help us to understand the gospel at the very depths of who we are.

And so we ask that you would do that ongoing wonderful work in our lives

so that we might be free and we might glorify you and enjoy you forever.

And this we ask in the name of Jesus, your Son and our Savior. Amen.

Please be seated.

I'm actually a pretty quiet guy, but I get paid to speak on Sundays and other types of times.

And of course, in a sense, I get paid, so to speak, to speak to people.

So there's lots of times that without intending to, I offend people.

I'm going to share a story of a friend of mine who was speaking to a group of people,

and he was under the impression that everybody who was there was a Christian.

And what he didn't know was that there were four or five Orthodox Jews who were there,

or at least very conservative Jews.

They didn't have the, you know, all that stuff that some Orthodox Jews wear,

but they were very conservative Jews.

And they were wearing kippahs, but he didn't notice this.

And he was actually reading a text from John's Gospel.

And some of you might be familiar that in John's Gospel,

one of the ways that John refers to Jewish people is as the Jews.

And it's, in a sense, the job of the pastor or the Bible study leader or the preacher

to help people to understand what that particular word means.

It's a literal translation of a word that John uses.

But this fellow, he didn't do that.

And he kept reading the text.

It was a good expository thing of the text.

And he kept using the word the Jews, the Jews, the Jews, the Jews, the Jews,

all the way through without helping the congregation,

and especially without helping the four or five Jewish people who were there

understand what was being said.

So it actually sounded, the whole point of the sermon to them

was that it was as if we Christians were blaming the Jews

on every bad thing that happened to Jesus.

And they were quite offended.

They were very, very bothered by it.

It was a real, just unfortunate, missed opportunity.

And especially because with a couple of simple things,

the speaker could have clarified, amongst other things,

that Jesus was Jewish, that John was Jewish.

I'm surprised how many Jewish people are surprised to find out

that every book in the New Testament, with the exception of Luke and Acts,

was written by a Jewish man.

And it catches them by surprise when you tell them that.

And it just, it brought needless offense.

And I'm sure I could have also, I'm sure you could probably give me examples

of times that I spoke and I offended you without realizing it,

or I offended one of your friends.

The text of Scripture that we're going to be looking at today,

it's something I've almost talked about quite a few times,

but there's a way that Jesus talks and prays

that Christians find very precious,

but that is deeply offensive to a lot of people in Canada.

And it's going to come up very, very powerfully in this prayer,

especially at the beginning, at the end,

but the verses that we're going to look at right now.

So it'd be a great help.

We're going to look at the text, and then we're going to sort of,

just a very short text this morning,

and then we're going to sort of camp in it,

look at it a little bit more deeply as to why it is that Jesus used this language,

and whether there's a way that we could get around it

to make it a little bit less offensive.

And so John chapter 17, it's verses 1 to 5,

John 17 · chapter mention

and I think Andrew's going to have the text up on the screen.

You know, we put the text on the screen

because it's very helpful for a lot of you,

but I really want to encourage you to bring your own Bibles to church.

You know, if you're the type who likes to make little notes in them,

it's just there's something about having your own copy of the word

or your own version that you can refer to,

but the words are going to be on the screen.

So it's just five verses, and it goes like this.

And so just if you remember, if you're a guest, you might not know this,

we're coming to the end of John's Gospel.

Judas is left to betray Jesus.

Probably even as Jesus is speaking,

the troops are getting their swords and their stuff on,

and they're heading to where Judas knows that Jesus is going to be in a short while,

or some time that evening he knows that Jesus is going to be in a certain garden.

And so even as Jesus is talking,

the troops and the betrayer are moving ahead of Jesus to wait for Jesus to capture him.

And Jesus knows that this is happening.

He knows that he's going to die on the cross the next day.

And this is, in a sense, his final prayer of consecration of himself, of his disciples,

and he's also praying for you and me.

And these three sort of elements of praying in terms of just consecrating himself

this prayer for the disciples who are literally right in front of him.

And literally, I believe this very literally,

literally Jesus is looking down the ages and he sees you and me

sitting here on a Sunday morning in an ice storm in postmodern, post-industrial,

advanced capitalist Canada.

And he's praying for you and me as well.

And those three types of things weave in and out of this prayer in a very, very beautiful

and complex way with very simple childlike language.

And here we'll just look at the first five verses, the first sort of grouping of the text.

And it goes like this.

When Jesus had spoken these words, these words of comfort and challenge and exhortation,

these words that he is having victory over the world,

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.

Now just sort of pause.

Here's the thing which all the way through John's Gospel,

one of the main ways that Jesus refers to God as his Father.

And that's very simple and not that controversial in a room like this for most of us.

But you could well imagine that if you got invited by some friends to maybe lead a Bible study

for some inquirers at church,

and you would have many, not just women but men,

wonder why it is that you call God Father.

And why is all this masculine imagery?

And maybe there would be a time when you're leading a Bible study at a university,

at your workplace,

and you come to this and you happen to know that maybe there's a woman or a man in the group

who aren't Christians who were terribly abused by their dad,

that were sexually abused by their father.

And you'd come to say this,

and it might very well be if you have emotional intelligence,

and you're just conscious of this big issue of abuse in the person's life,

and you come to the word father,

and you might hesitate in saying it.

You might wish that you'd chosen another text.

You might wonder, like I said to you,

my friend, there was a simple way that he could have used,

every time he said the Jews,

there was a simple explanation he could have done

to bring the meaning of the text out

in a way that wouldn't offend Orthodox Jewish

or just any Jewish person.

It wouldn't offend them.

with a couple of simple explanatory things.

And you might wonder if this is a place where you should say,

mother, the hour has come.

And maybe to substitute child for son.

Because it's not just amongst people who've been sexually abused by their dad,

and it's not just in the queer studies or feminist studies

or women's studies departments.

It's a very, very common thing in our culture

to be just deeply bothered by using this language of father.

And I just want to highlight it for you.

And I'm going to circle around.

We're going to return to it.

There's been quite a few times I thought I wanted to talk about it,

but we need to grasp this.

And actually, believe it or not,

if we grasp why it is that Jesus is saying father,

it actually helps us to enter into, in a far deeper way,

everything that's going on in this text.

All of the theology, all of this whole thing about the gospel,

which is just so wonderful,

that actually fulfills the longings and yearnings of feminists,

of social justice warriors, of capitalists,

of the broken, of the successful.

The gospel is the end of the longings and yearnings,

the true deep longings and yearnings of our hearts.

It is an answer to the hurts and the wounds and the brokenness.

It is the answer to our sins.

And I just want to highlight to you that this is such a hard term for people

and say, but if we're going to circle back and we're going to look at it,

and as we start to pierce into the heart of Jesus in the language,

we realize that it's revealing the heart of Jesus.

In a very powerful way.

You just said right now, we'll come back to it.

Don't worry about it.

Well, I'll read that last part of verse one again.

Father, Father, the hour has come.

Glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you,

for you have given him authority over all flesh

to give eternal life to all whom you have given him.

And this is eternal life,

that they may know you, the only true God,

and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

Now just pause here for a second.

There's a very, very wonderful little contrast here in the verse.

If you look up at verse two,

since you have given him authority over all flesh

to give eternal life to all whom you have given him.

It's a very, very wonderful little contrast here

between these two things,

because even in our language,

the word flesh tells us about something very earthy and physical.

Flesh.

It doesn't say you've given authority over all spirits,

or all minds, or all consciousnesses.

It uses this word flesh.

And in John's language,

in the Gospel of John,

whenever John uses this word flesh,

he wants us to understand fully the frailty

and the weakness

and just the ordinary aspect of human life.

You know, I don't know if they give,

I'd never tell this to my interns, you know,

but I've heard supposedly that they tell people,

like, if you're worried about speaking,

just imagine all the people with no clothes on, so to speak,

that they're just ordinary people underneath maybe their $4,000 suits

and their $3,000 handbags.

Could be this person with the suit has the handbag

or it could be different sexes.

And you just try to get at the ordinariness of them.

But this, I don't know if that is something,

the advice that they give,

I don't know if it would help if you did give that advice,

but there's this wonderful contrast here in John

about the fact that Jesus,

God the Father,

has given authority over all human beings.

And human beings are flesh.

We are born,

babies are spectacularly demanding

and spectacularly helpless.

And we're just frail.

I drove Barbara Allen home.

If I move my arm a certain way

and I look like I'm wincing,

I had a really bad fall, actually, coming in here.

Many of you may be,

some of you may be had a bad fall.

I think I might have actually bruised a rib

because I really fell hard.

And it's,

I was just thinking about that

while I was praying before the service

that in some ways God wanted me to remember

that I'm flesh

as I get to speak.

I'm frail.

I'm one virus away from death.

I am one car accident or slip away from death.

We are flesh.

But it's flesh that gets eternal life.

This wonderful contrast,

eternal life to flesh.

And verse 3,

verse 3,

and this is eternal life,

that they may know you,

the only true God,

and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

In some ways,

that's the,

my main point for the whole sermon

is just for you folks and myself

to grasp the wonder and the beauty

and the power

and the relevance of that line.

At first, it sounds kooky.

Like,

it sort of sounds like,

okay, George,

you're saying something like

if you know that 2 plus 2 equals 4,

you have eternal life?

If you just know Jesus and God,

you have eternal life?

Like, that doesn't seem to make any sense.

It sounds like it's a bit of a kooky type of thing.

Like,

why on earth would eternal life

depend upon knowing a couple of things

about Jesus and God?

But once again,

in that which looks like

it's sort of very confusing

and doesn't actually make much sense

and just looks ridiculous,

when we pause

and actually listen to what Jesus is saying,

we see how,

in fact,

this text is,

it is the end of our longings

and our yearnings,

and it is better than religion,

it's better than spirituality,

and it's better than irreligion,

and it's just very powerful.

But let's finish the verse,

this section.

I'll read verse 3 again,

and this is eternal life,

that they may know you,

the only true God and Jesus Christ,

whom you have sent.

It's the only time in the Bible,

by the way,

that Jesus refers to himself

as Jesus Christ.

Only time Jesus refers to himself that way.

Verse 4,

I glorified you on earth,

having accomplished the work

that you gave me to do,

and now,

Father,

see,

once again,

he uses that word,

glorify me in your own presence

with the glory that I had with you

before the world existed.

It's a very,

very,

you know,

very,

very powerful text.

Now,

so here's the,

here's the problem,

you know,

right off the,

we'll go right back to the problem.

I mean,

there's just so much problem

around this text,

right?

Like,

why is it that Jesus calls God Father?

Like,

doesn't Jesus know,

like,

if Jesus is God,

shouldn't he know that even back in his day,

there were dads who were sexually abusing

or physically abusing their kids?

Like,

even in Jesus's day,

didn't he know that there were just terrible,

horrible,

absent dads?

And even if he didn't know that that was there,

if he's God,

like,

wouldn't he know that that's going on right now?

And,

and why would he choose a word that's so offensive?

And what about all that other stuff?

Like,

I already mentioned,

like,

why is it that our eternal destiny just hangs on whether or not we know something?

Like,

that just seems,

like,

odd.

Like,

it sounds like,

I don't know,

like,

there's a secret handshake to get into a certain organization,

and if I teach you the secret handshake,

then you're part of this inner club and inner circle that other people can't be,

and maybe is it the same thing?

You get to know the code word,

the password,

and those select few who know the password,

they get in,

and it has nothing to do with anything else.

And why is this,

all this stuff about,

excuse me,

glorifying?

Like,

why is it that God seems to be addicted to getting said,

you're really good,

you're really good?

Like,

it just sounds like lots of this text,

you can just,

like,

a lot of this text is just,

it seems a bit odd.

It would seem very odd to Canadians.

And,

and,

and part of the problem for many of us who've been Christians for a long time,

the text is so wonderful to us,

we don't realize how weird it sounds to others.

So,

let's just begin with,

with one of them.

If you could put up the,

the,

the,

the text,

Andrew,

my,

my big point,

you're going to see this like four or five times throughout the rest of the,

the,

my time up here.

This is eternal life,

that they may know you the only true God and Jesus Christ,

whom,

whom you,

whom you have sent.

So,

how about this language of God and calling God father?

And,

and all this other talk about knowing.

We just need to actually just pause for a second and just think about a little bit about what it means to know something.

And,

and it's very,

very helpful if you think in a sense of types of things that you know by types.

And so,

if you think about the difference between knowing a rock or a pebble,

let's,

we'll use the word pebble,

knowing a pebble,

knowing a bug,

knowing a dog,

knowing a person,

and knowing God.

And if you think about these things a little bit,

you'll start to get a little bit of an understanding and appreciation for what it is that Jesus is doing all the way,

all the times that he talks.

Now,

I'm not a science type here.

There might very well be somebody here who has a degree in geology,

or a degree in physics,

or a degree in chemistry,

or,

or something like that.

But basically,

if you want to know a pebble,

if you want to know about a pebble,

the pebble is,

well,

the pebble is a pebble.

It can't run away.

It can't hide.

It can't pretend.

In fact,

you know that everything about knowing the pebble all comes from you.

And,

and so,

you know,

and it can't,

the pebble can't resist you knowing about it.

All of the,

all of the effort of knowing flows from you.

And so,

you know,

if you,

you,

you,

you really want to understand the pebble,

you might bring in some geologists to identify the pebble,

and you might,

you know,

you might subject it to x-rays or other types of things to see,

what's inside of it.

And,

and you could maybe see if there's some metal in it by waving a metal detector over it.

And you could weigh it.

And,

and you could take photographs of it.

And all of the effort of knowing the pebble,

it all flows from you.

And the pebble is just,

it's just a pebble.

Now you take something a little bit different.

Take something like a bug.

And once again,

when it comes to knowing a bug,

almost everything,

virtually everything about knowing the bug comes from you.

The bug contributes nothing.

The only difference is,

well,

you might have a hard time catching the bug.

Because bugs move,

generally.

It might be that some people want to know the bug,

are afraid of bugs,

and,

and that,

that's not really the bug's fault.

But the main thing is the bug can move and a bug can die.

And they do die.

But apart from those simple things,

once you catch the bug,

and,

and then you might actually catch three or four bugs,

and a couple of them you kill,

so you can rip them apart and see what they're like inside.

And,

and others you just study how they move.

And it might be that they're hard sometimes to study in their movement,

because they don't move if they think they're being watched.

But fundamentally,

like,

virtually everything about knowing the bug,

all comes from you.

The bug does some things without being conscious of it,

that frustrates your knowledge.

But,

but fundamentally,

everything that comes from you,

about the knowledge,

comes from you.

The bug doesn't know you at all.

The bug is just a bug.

Now we move to a dog.

And now dogs are a little bit different than this.

I don't know how many of you are dog people,

but I know there's at least a couple of dog people in the room.

And,

and,

and everybody will tell you,

like,

you know,

I,

I know people who'd say,

why do I want a boyfriend?

Like a dog is a lot better.

Dogs always happy to see you.

They never get into arguments with you.

They're always friendly.

And there's all these wonderful things about,

about dogs that are just so,

just so wonderful.

And,

and,

and you can get to know the dog,

but there really is a sense that the dog also plays some role in you getting to know the dog.

I mean,

the dog could bite you or run away.

You know,

you could get a dog that's been physically abused and you've,

you've,

you've rescued the dog.

And it's going to take you a lot to really get to know the dog,

because the dog has been so terribly wounded.

And,

and still most of the knowing of the dog comes from you,

but still the dog has an actual role in being known.

And the dog actually,

in some ways can reveal himself or herself to you.

And there actually is a different relationship that can develop between something like a dog and a human being.

And the same could be said about a cat or a horse or some of the higher animals,

that there is really,

in a sense,

something that is in that other,

that dog that has to be open to being known,

that is necessary for you and me to know the dog.

Now we move to human beings.

Human beings are very,

very different than knowing a bug,

knowing a pebble,

and knowing a dog.

I,

when I was the first 10 or 15 years,

because I'm a very slow learner,

I,

I sort of felt that I had to go to every wedding.

When I did the wedding and I got,

you know,

I could do the wedding and they invite me to the reception.

And,

and for the first 15 years or so,

because it was how I was trained,

I went to every wedding reception when I did the wedding.

It took me a while to realize I said,

I should stop doing that.

Because,

you know,

a lot of times,

because I was doing a lot of weddings for people who didn't go to the church and they didn't know me,

they liked the building or whatever,

and I would do the wedding.

And it took me a long time to realize that on one level,

they were actually happier if I didn't go to the wedding.

Because,

like,

you go to the wedding reception,

what do you do with the priest?

Like,

oh,

dear,

he's coming.

I was hoping he wouldn't.

I mean,

they say,

oh,

we really hope you come.

We'll be so sad if you don't.

But then when you don't,

they forget that you said no,

and they're actually probably happy.

So what would often happen?

Well,

I think there was a movie a few years ago about all the rejects,

like the people they hoped,

they wouldn't come to the wedding and they all get to sit at a table.

Anyway,

I go to that table.

That's who the minister goes to when it's a secular wedding and I did their ceremony and they want me to go.

And I'm at that table,

right?

And so sometimes what it means is they pick the kooky people that nobody wants to sit with,

and I sit with them.

Nothing personal.

The kooky people are the hyper charismatic aunt,

or maybe the fundamentalist uncle,

or the person who's really into crystals or talking to ghosts or,

you know,

whatever.

And,

or often it's the 90 year olds who haven't brought their hearing aid,

who just sort of sit there,

you know,

95 year old,

and they're drooling.

And I'm,

I'm with them,

right?

Because I'm at the table where they don't want to put all the people they wished had said,

no,

I'm at that table,

right?

And,

and so sometimes I'm at these table,

I was at these tables.

And,

and the reason I'm there isn't because I actually thought when I met what they thought was a kooky,

charismatic,

we'd have a great time.

Like that was spectacular.

Or the fundamentalist that they didn't like.

And I sit with them,

I'd have a spectacular time with them,

right?

They didn't know I'm like a kooky,

charismatic fundamentalist.

They didn't know that about me,

right?

But I am by their definitions.

That's what I was.

So I was actually with a brother or a sister,

but sometimes it would be with the people who had like zero social skill.

In fact,

their social skills were in the negatives,

not the naughty.

Zero would be a step up,

five steps up from where they were.

And so you're sitting at this table with these people who are unbelievably introverted or whatever,

and you try to start a conversation with them.

And they give grunt answers or don't answer at all,

or every answer is a no or a yes.

And I'm here trying to make conversation with them,

getting completely and utterly exhausted,

looking at my watch,

wondering,

what on earth can I leave politely now that I'm here?

I don't go to,

you know,

I only go to weddings with people I know now,

even if I've done the wedding ceremony.

Anyway,

but the point of all of this is this,

other than you think,

George,

why did you go to so many wedding receptions like that?

But the point is this,

if I'm sitting beside somebody at a wedding reception,

and they don't want to be known,

I cannot know them.

I can know a few superficial things about them.

I might be able to tell a police officer afterwards,

you know,

whether they were African American,

or whether they were Asian,

or,

you know,

whether,

you know,

whether they were tall or short or old or young.

I might know a few,

like,

irrelevant things about them,

but if they don't want me to know them,

I cannot know them.

They can ignore me.

They can tell lies to me.

They can,

I need them to reveal themselves to me,

if I'm going to know them.

That's how it is with people,

isn't it?

I need them to,

I need to reveal some things about myself.

They need to reveal some things about themselves.

There has to be this,

in a sense,

opening of ourselves to each other,

a giving of information,

and a willingness to be known for me to know another,

human being.

So remember where we've gone.

We've gone from the pebble,

to the bug,

to the dog,

to the person.

Now we go to God.

And if there is a God who really does exist,

who is anything at all,

like the way Jesus describes him,

then you'll see,

well,

actually,

you know what you'll see?

Here's the hard thing to think about.

I have more in common with a pebble

than I have in common with God.

I'm finite.

God is not just big.

He's infinite.

I live in time.

God created time

and doesn't live in time.

I need an environment to live in.

God doesn't need any environment to live in.

I have a beginning and an end.

God has no beginning and no end.

I can only know a few types of things,

very limited.

God knows everything.

And you could go on and on and on and on.

I am physical with a soul.

God,

well,

God is God.

Doesn't have a body part,

body or parts.

Doesn't have passions.

The fact of the matter is,

is that there is more in common

between me and a pebble

than there is between me and God.

And if that is the case,

then if,

if just to merely know another human being,

I need that human being

to reveal

something about themselves to me.

They need to be willing to be known

if I am to know them.

And I have to be willing to be,

I have to be willing to know them

and to be known myself

if there's going to be any real knowledge

that goes on.

In the case of God,

at a most fundamental level,

everything about knowing God

has to come from God.

Everything.

And when I mean everything,

I mean literally everything.

With nothing left out,

it all has to come from God.

None of it can come from me.

And in fact,

actually,

if God was a very,

very cruel God,

he could just sort of

force openness in me.

It's only because

it's something about

the nature of God

as revealed by Jesus

that we'll talk about

in a couple of minutes

that the fact of the matter

is that God actually wants me

to know him.

He doesn't force me.

It's not like a demonic,

possession.

He's made me to be free.

He's made me to have a will.

He's made me to want to know him.

But unless God reveals himself

to me

and to you,

I can't know anything about God

without him revealing himself to me.

And so I guess what I want to say

about this is this.

If you could put up

the first point,

Andrew,

it is because God is personal

that you cannot invent

ways to address him.

It is because God is personal

that you cannot invent ways

to address him.

I could call a rock

anything I want.

I could call a bug

anything I want.

I could step on the bug

if I wanted.

I could call a dog

anything I want.

Actually,

I can't call a human being

anything I want.

I mean,

if I called Daniel

a girl,

he'd be offended.

And he's way bigger

and stronger than me as well.

You know,

and if I called him,

I don't know,

Betty

or something like that,

he wouldn't answer.

If he did,

it would be very rude

or something like that.

And he should do

something like that.

You know,

I'm limited in that.

But it's precisely

because God is God

and the way that Jesus

is trying to reveal

who God is,

he's revealing a God

who is infinite,

who is a person.

It's precisely

because God is personal.

That we are completely

and utterly dependent

upon God

to reveal himself to us.

And I can't just

take the words of Jesus

and say,

I'm going to substitute

mother every time

he says father.

And I'm going to substitute

child every time

he says son

because then

what I'm doing

is I'm just in,

I can't,

if God is personal,

you can't,

you get the point,

you can't do it.

Now,

some other point in time,

we,

not now,

we can talk,

all we can do

is try to guess

why it is that Jesus,

I mean Jesus,

Jesus lived at a time

when there were

goddesses everywhere.

Like it wasn't as if he went,

as if you could go up

to Jesus now

and he'd go,

oh,

duh,

there's goddesses?

I didn't know that.

You mean I'm permitted

to call God?

Oh,

no.

Goddesses were everywhere.

And he just even

had to read his Old Testament

to have language

of goddesses.

He knew that,

but God,

why did God choose father?

I don't entirely,

I don't know.

I just know that he did

and he did it

because he knows you

and me

and he knows,

and I could give you

some guesses

as to why God

used this language

to reveal it,

but it's a very,

very personal word.

It's even more personal

because father

is a very,

very good translation,

but the actual word

is the adult word,

the adult intimate word

that a child would use

of their,

like an adult child

would use of their father.

Actually,

I shouldn't say adult.

It's what anybody

at your stage of life

would use

to address your father.

father.

And the translation

is right to use

the word father

because for some of you,

I mean,

I would call my dad,

dad.

And some of you

might call your dad,

daddy.

And some of you

might use other types

of language,

but it's actually,

the word is actually

the intimate,

personal form

of private address

between a child

and their father.

That's actually

the Greek word

that's used.

And it's a word

that beckons us

into a relationship

with God.

And we can't correct it.

All we can do

is say,

Jesus,

you knew,

for some of us,

all we can say

is,

Jesus,

you knew

what my earthly father

was like.

And I don't know,

I don't know,

Jesus,

why you use this language,

but I know

that you know me

and you know me

so well

that you died

on the cross for me,

you love me so much

you're willing

to die for me.

And I don't know

why you use this language

and I'm willing

to walk with you,

Jesus.

I ask that you

would reveal this to me,

that you would bring

healing so that

I could use this word.

I understand why

some of us

have to pray that prayer.

That's fine.

But we can't replace it.

Jesus gives this language

because he loves us.

Well,

in some of your case,

George,

well that's very interesting,

but what about

this whole problem

with glory?

Like,

why is it that

we've seen that?

Like,

if you could put up

the scripture text again,

Andrew,

I'll just say

that the main point here,

this is eternal life

that they may know you,

the only true God

and Jesus Christ

whom you have sent.

But if you look at

all the language around it,

like,

those of you

who have your Bibles,

you know,

verse 1,

glorify your son

that your son

may glorify you.

You've given him

authority over all flesh.

You know,

in verse 6,

verse 5,

Father,

glorify me

in your own presence

with the glory

that I had with you

before all of the world

was,

you know,

before there was world.

And all this language

of authority

and glory

and all that,

like,

like,

does God have

some type

of a problem

that he needs

to always be,

like,

using language

like this?

Andrew,

if you could put up

the next point

that would be helpful.

And it's this,

actually,

my last four points,

I have to be,

well,

I'm going to really

have to rush.

Sorry.

They're going to be questions.

If living

an impersonal life

is to be avoided,

why do you want

to live

with an impersonal God?

If living

an impersonal life

is to be avoided,

why do you want

to live

with an impersonal God?

I almost wanted

to name this point,

who would choose

to live with a toaster

rather than a person?

Who would choose

to live with a toaster

rather than a person?

You see,

this language

of the point

that it is,

this is eternal life

that they may know you,

the only true God

and Jesus Christ

whom you have sent.

Most of the analogies

that our culture

uses for God

are basically

impersonal images.

The Star Wars movies,

it talks about the force.

Most Buddhism

and Eastern religions,

the analogy

that will be used

for who God is

is that God

is like all things

which is impersonal.

That when you finish

the cycle

of reincarnation

and reincarnation

and reincarnation,

what happens

is that a human being

is like a drop

of water

and the drop of water

finally merges

with the ocean

so the ocean

is the image of God

and the fundamental image

of a human being

is like a drop of water

which is impersonal

and the impersonal

drop of water

gets merged

with the impersonal ocean

and most of the images

that we use

in our culture

about God,

we use language

of like it's

that God is like light,

God is like a force,

God is like all of nature

and it's all impersonal,

impersonal language.

Yet the problem is

that none of us

wants to live

like if we had everything,

if we were stuck

in solitary confinement

and all of the food

that just came to us

just came by a machine

through the door,

we would experience that

as cruel and unusual punishment.

We would understand

that if you were

to completely

and utterly lost

to dealing

and spending

the rest of your life

without any type

of human contact

or personal contact

and all you had

were walls

and all you had

were things

and there was

no human being

to talk to,

not even a dog

to give you some comfort

but completely

and utterly impersonal,

we wouldn't want that.

But at the same time,

we have this image

of God

as if it's something

like a pebble,

like a thing,

not even a bug

but like a pebble.

But,

and this is,

by the way,

all the way

through the Old Testament

a constant thing

about idolatry.

There's these wonderful texts

that happens a couple of times

where the prophet says,

like,

don't you folks

understand what you're doing?

You go to a tree

in the forest

and you cut down the tree

and out of the tree

that you cut down,

part of it

you make a fire out of

and the other part

you make an idol out of it,

this dead wood

you make an idol out of it

and you bow down

and worship dead wood.

Like,

what's wrong

with this picture

of you thinking

that God

is something

like a rock

or dead wood

that you would bow down

to worship?

And the wonderful thing

about Jesus here

and about the gospel

is that

if we think about it

nobody would want to have

such an impersonal future.

We would really think

it was cruel

and unusual punishment

if there was a prison

that you sent somebody to

that meant

they would never even have

a single word,

a single human contact

for the entire rest

of their life

until they died.

All of the food

would be brought

by machines

in a room

without ever seeing

a human being

and we would view that

as cruel and unusual punishment

because it's a completely

impersonal future

yet we desire

as a culture

an impersonal God.

Why does that make any sense?

Because we understand

the value of a person

and Jesus is revealing

a God

who is a personal God

who loves you

and wants to be known.

Could you put the scripture

text up again please Andrew?

I have to go through

these far more quickly

than I thought.

This is eternal life

that they may know you

the only true God

and Jesus Christ

whom you have sent.

But what about this problem

of God wanting

to be glorified

and God wanting

to be praised?

Could you put up

the next point Andrew please?

Here's in terms

of a question.

If you look down

on a person

who always needs

to be praised

how can you look up

to a God

who always needs

to be praised?

Now this is

what's so wonderful

about what Jesus

is saying

and what he is revealing

about the nature of God.

To our Jewish friends

and our Muslim friends

I do not know

how they would

answer this question.

Because the fact

of the matter is

is if you had

a child or a friend

and they came

to the point

where you always

had to praise them

they always had

to be praised

time and time

and time

and time and time

again you would

look down your nose

at them.

And I don't know

how Jewish people

and how Muslims

would answer this

but you see

here's the wonderful

thing about the gospel.

And if you look

back in the text

Jesus describes

how from all eternity

the Father

was glorifying

the Son

and from all eternity

the Son

was glorifying

the Father

and they don't need

any human being

to give them praise.

It's not because

God has a lack

it's not as if

God the Father

is saying

dang it

Jesus doesn't

give me enough praise

like I want more

like come on

give more

Jesus just isn't

doing

the Son of God

isn't giving me

enough praise

I think I'm going

to create George

and Daniel

and Anne

and a few other people

so they can top up

what Jesus

God the Son of God

just isn't able

to give

no that's not

how it works

at all.

Even the language

of glory

the language

of glorifying

is about a matter

about honoring

it's a matter

about recognizing

worth

it's a matter

of recognizing

just this profound

value

that when

we want to glorify

something

we want to praise

something

it's because

there's a depth

a wonder

a value

and so from

all eternity

the God

the Father

was saying

that the huge

value of the

person of God

the Son of God

and how worthy

he was to be

honored

and he said

you are

just to be

praised

and to honored

and glorified

and the Father

doesn't view this

as a lack

that all of eternity

he is glorifying

the Son

and the Son

doesn't view it

as any type of

lack

or need

in him

that from all

it just seems

that God

the Father

is so worthy

he is so

wonderful

and is so

worthy

for the Son

to say

to glorify him

and so from

all eternity

the Father

is glorifying

and giving

worth

and honor

and praise

to the Father

and the Father

to the Son

and then

God the Father

God the Son

and God the Holy Spirit

three persons

one God

from all eternity

they create

human beings

and human beings

are meant

not just to live

all by themselves

but to live

male and female

and to have families

and to live in communities

and to have churches

and have organizations

and God the Father

God the Son

God the Holy Spirit

is not saying

oh I am so needy

I am so needy

he's saying

no

from all eternity

there's this fullness

of love

this fullness

of praise

this fullness

of giving

of glory

and we want you

flesh

to come

and enter into this

out of our fullness

we desire you

to enter

into this

you could put up

the scripture text

again

Andrew

this is eternal life

that they may know you

the only true God

and Jesus Christ

whom you have sent

well

what about this whole

problem of knowledge

if you could put up

point number four

the problem is

that when

remember I went

through the beginning

about the whole thing

about the difference

between knowing a pebble

and knowing a bug

and knowing a dog

and knowing a person

and knowing God

and you realize

that in knowing

a person

you're changed

if knowing a person

changes you

how much more

must knowing

the personal God

I can't even

begin to count

the different ways

that my life

is different

from knowing

my wife

it would be

impossible

for anybody

to trace back

we've been married

37 years

what George

would be like

without knowing

having ever met

Louise

than it would be

to know him now

for me to have

spent 37 years

knowing her

like you can't

know a person

without being

changed

and if knowing

a person

is all about

opening yourself

to the other person

and at the same time

the other person

opens themselves

to you

and in some way

you enter into

the other person

in some way

they enter into

you and you're

changed

and as I've

shared with you

before

that's why

it is so common

when a loved one

dies

whether it's

a child

or your wife

or your husband

it often

feels for people

as if there is

now a hollow

spot inside

of you

that something's

left you

because you're

changed by

knowing a person

and so what

Jesus is saying

here is once

again just

helping us

to understand

this personal

God

and it just

makes sense

if knowing

Louise

changes me

how much

more must

knowing God

change me

you could put up

the scripture

text Andrew

this is eternal

life

that they may

know you

the only true

God

and Jesus

Christ

whom you

have sent

and now

if you could

put up the

point again

Andrew

the final

point

if knowing

a wonderful

person

feels like

a gift

how much

more must

it be

a real

and true

gift

to know

God

if knowing

a wonderful

person feels

like a gift

how much

more must

it be

a real

and true

gift

to know

God

I'm not

just talking

about some

famous people

that I've

known

I

you know

I've been

at some

gatherings

and you

see this

person

you can

just tell

maybe they

just radiate

goodness

or they

just radiate

wisdom

wisdom

and then

they say

want to

have coffee

and I

I'll tell

you this

I just

feel so

unworthy

I'll call

up Louise

and say

I just

feel so

unworthy

that they'd

actually want

to talk

to me

like it

just feels

like this

act of

grace

or gift

that they

would want

to spend

time with

me

and get

to know

me

and not

just to

spend

time with

me

so they

could talk

about their

accomplishments

or how

wonderful

they are

but here

this person

whether it's

a person

of great

accomplishment

or just a

person of

great goodness

or great

holiness

or great

wisdom

and they

want to

actually spend

time with

me and I

feel like I

have been

given a

profound

gift

and if

that is

true just

with a

person how

much more

true must

it be of

God

and that's

what Jesus

means by

saying that

only he

can give

this eternal

life only

he can give

this knowledge

of God

you know by

our normal

ways of

thinking about

things as I've

already shared

we tend to

think of God

as an

impersonal

force

and often

when we

think of

God in

personal ways

we get

very very

frightened

we worry

that God

is going

to hurt

us

we worry

that he's

all about

ego

and the

fact of

the matter

is that

no train

of secular

thought

no train

of secular

wisdom

no train

of ordinary

religion

no train

of ordinary

spirituality

will ever

say that

the way

that God

is going

to fully

reveal himself

and make

himself

known

is by

setting aside

his honor

and glory

and splendor

and divine

prerogatives

and entering

among us

to live a

fully human

life

and then to

die upon

the cross

bearing in

his person

your sin

and mine

your shame

and mine

your death

and mine

your doom

and mine

no train

of natural

thought

would ever

lead us

to understand

that that

is the

revelation

of the

glory

of God

only Jesus

reveals

the God

that really

does exist

and it is

not in

keeping

with any

train

of spiritual

thought

or rash

or wisdom

and so

this wonderful

thing is

that when

I reach

out with

my mind

or my

heart

or my

arm

to recognize

that Jesus

is the one

who can reconcile

me to God

and I need

him as my

savior

and my

mind

cannot reach

Jesus

my heart

cannot reach

Jesus

my will

cannot reach

Jesus

my hand

cannot reach

Jesus

because there

is an

infinite distance

between me

and him

but the

wonder of the

gospel is

that Jesus

crosses that

infinite distance

that I

cannot cross

and he

comes to

my mind

he comes

to my

heart

he comes

to my

will

he comes

to my

hand

he comes

to my

body

and as my

hand

touches

his hand

that is

crossed

to come

across

such

infinite

space

and I

touch

him

there's

not only

the sense

that he

becomes

in a sense

my

substitute

it's

not just

that he

becomes

in a sense

where I

exchange

my doom

for his

destiny

it is

also a

touching

of him

by which

I now

start to

know

God

and to

be known

by him

and to

know God

is a gift

of the

grace of

Jesus

and it

is

this knowledge

of him

is eternal

life

that is the

change that

it works

within me

that even

though I

walk around

right now

even as I

stand with

normal earthly

human life

when I

put my

hand in

the hand