WEBVTT 00:00:03.290 --> 00:00:07.490 Each year as I'm planning out the messages for 00:00:07.490 --> 00:00:10.050 the months ahead, I come to this slot of time 00:00:10.050 --> 00:00:14.550 before Christmas. And I ask myself a question 00:00:14.550 --> 00:00:18.250 that sort of goes like these adapted words from 00:00:18.250 --> 00:00:21.269 one of our hymns. What more can I say than to 00:00:21.269 --> 00:00:26.390 them I have said regarding Christmas? And yet 00:00:26.390 --> 00:00:29.570 as I find myself reading through the texts of 00:00:29.570 --> 00:00:33.619 Christmas and thinking over the theme, Each year 00:00:33.619 --> 00:00:36.939 it seems the Lord brings some truth to my heart 00:00:36.939 --> 00:00:40.299 that refreshes me, that I want to share with 00:00:40.299 --> 00:00:43.759 you. That is true with the theme for these four 00:00:43.759 --> 00:00:48.219 weeks of Christmas in 1992, as we talk about 00:00:48.219 --> 00:00:52.740 the glory of Christmas. The Christmas narrative, 00:00:52.740 --> 00:00:57.200 of course, includes many glorious events. We 00:00:57.200 --> 00:00:59.560 have, for example, the appearance of Gabriel 00:00:59.560 --> 00:01:03.429 to both Mary and Joseph, with the announcement 00:01:03.429 --> 00:01:07.629 to each of them of the virgin conception of the 00:01:07.629 --> 00:01:11.909 Lord Jesus Christ. And then there are the heavenly 00:01:11.909 --> 00:01:16.670 messengers that appear to shepherds interrupting 00:01:16.670 --> 00:01:19.870 their evening chores with the news of the birth 00:01:19.870 --> 00:01:23.950 of the Christ in Bethlehem nearby. What glory 00:01:23.950 --> 00:01:27.750 is involved in these angelic appearances and 00:01:27.750 --> 00:01:32.280 announcements. And then there is that special 00:01:32.280 --> 00:01:36.780 heavenly body, that unique star which directed 00:01:36.780 --> 00:01:42.060 the Magi from the East to Palestine and eventually 00:01:42.060 --> 00:01:46.780 to Bethlehem to seek and to worship the King 00:01:46.780 --> 00:01:51.980 born for the Jews. There is glory in that. But 00:01:51.980 --> 00:01:55.739 the greatest glory of Christmas is a glory that 00:01:55.739 --> 00:02:01.959 is hidden from human eyes. It was not the glory 00:02:01.959 --> 00:02:04.959 of Gabriel as he appeared to Mary and Joseph. 00:02:05.900 --> 00:02:09.080 It was not the glory of the angels as they came 00:02:09.080 --> 00:02:11.939 to the fields of the shepherds. It was not the 00:02:11.939 --> 00:02:15.159 glory of that star that directed the wise men. 00:02:16.580 --> 00:02:19.900 No, the greatest glory was the glory that was 00:02:19.900 --> 00:02:27.180 within the babe born in the manger. God hid the 00:02:27.180 --> 00:02:31.330 greatest glory of Christmas. within human flesh. 00:02:33.530 --> 00:02:36.969 This is not the first time that God hid His glory 00:02:36.969 --> 00:02:41.389 from human eyes. You recall that when the tabernacle 00:02:41.389 --> 00:02:44.770 was constructed in the Old Testament, God ordered 00:02:44.770 --> 00:02:47.509 them to build that tent of the meeting in a certain 00:02:47.509 --> 00:02:50.830 way, and there was this innermost compartment 00:02:50.830 --> 00:02:54.250 that was called the Holy of Holies, into which 00:02:54.250 --> 00:02:56.710 no one was allowed except the High Priest, and 00:02:56.710 --> 00:03:02.159 He only once a year. And it was within that place, 00:03:02.300 --> 00:03:06.039 the Holy of Holies, that God hid His glory, the 00:03:06.039 --> 00:03:12.780 Shekinah glory, His presence. This series that 00:03:12.780 --> 00:03:16.379 we're going to study will seek to describe and 00:03:16.379 --> 00:03:20.240 to disclose some aspects of the glory of Jesus 00:03:20.240 --> 00:03:23.460 Christ. I invite you to turn with me this morning 00:03:23.460 --> 00:03:27.199 as we begin to the seventeenth chapter of the 00:03:27.199 --> 00:03:32.180 Gospel of John. Our study is going to be focused 00:03:32.180 --> 00:03:35.439 on John in these upcoming weeks, and we begin 00:03:35.439 --> 00:03:41.740 today with verse 5 of chapter 17. And now, Father, 00:03:43.020 --> 00:03:47.400 glorify me in your presence with the glory I 00:03:47.400 --> 00:03:54.000 had with you before the world began. The glory 00:03:54.000 --> 00:03:59.719 of Jesus Christ is revealed in his pre -existence. 00:04:00.539 --> 00:04:03.960 That is the doctrinal truth that I want you to 00:04:03.960 --> 00:04:08.599 grasp afresh this morning. The glory of Jesus 00:04:08.599 --> 00:04:13.860 Christ is revealed in his pre -existence. The 00:04:13.860 --> 00:04:17.160 Messiah of Israel and the Savior of the world, 00:04:17.319 --> 00:04:24.079 the Lord Jesus, is eternal. and as eternal God 00:04:24.079 --> 00:04:29.379 he existed before the universe. This is not some 00:04:29.379 --> 00:04:34.639 small peripheral truth. This is a foundational 00:04:34.639 --> 00:04:39.959 truth to our faith. It is essential to the doctrine 00:04:39.959 --> 00:04:45.480 of the deity of Christ. If he is God, then he 00:04:45.480 --> 00:04:49.519 must be without boundary with regards to time. 00:04:51.149 --> 00:04:54.810 In other words, he must be eternal. And if he 00:04:54.810 --> 00:05:00.029 is eternal, then he must be God. The Lord Jesus 00:05:00.029 --> 00:05:06.790 Christ existed before time began. There are four 00:05:06.790 --> 00:05:09.189 truths about the glory of his pre -existence 00:05:09.189 --> 00:05:13.970 that I want us to look at this morning. First 00:05:13.970 --> 00:05:16.689 of all, the glory of his pre -existence reveals 00:05:16.689 --> 00:05:21.089 his eternal relation. Secondly, the glory of 00:05:21.089 --> 00:05:24.250 his pre -existence was manifested in his work 00:05:24.250 --> 00:05:29.110 of creation. Thirdly, the glory of his pre -existence 00:05:29.110 --> 00:05:33.569 was unaltered by the incarnation. And finally, 00:05:33.970 --> 00:05:37.189 the glory of his pre -existence was enhanced 00:05:37.189 --> 00:05:41.269 by salvation. Let's think about those four truths 00:05:41.269 --> 00:05:44.569 before we go our way on this Lord's Day. First, 00:05:44.829 --> 00:05:48.170 the glory of Christ's pre -existence reveals 00:05:48.170 --> 00:05:53.279 his eternal relation. Notice in this verse the 00:05:53.279 --> 00:05:58.379 Lord Jesus is praying to God the Father and he 00:05:58.379 --> 00:06:01.819 says to him, and now Father, glorify me in your 00:06:01.819 --> 00:06:07.839 presence with the glory I had with you before 00:06:07.839 --> 00:06:14.300 the world began. By the world he means this ordered 00:06:14.300 --> 00:06:17.759 universe, not just the globe on which we live. 00:06:19.819 --> 00:06:23.459 Jesus Christ claims here to have been with the 00:06:23.459 --> 00:06:29.180 Father before the universe was created. This 00:06:29.180 --> 00:06:31.560 is not the first time, of course, that John presents 00:06:31.560 --> 00:06:34.720 this truth. Go back to the very first chapter 00:06:34.720 --> 00:06:39.000 with me and review again this first verse of 00:06:39.000 --> 00:06:47.740 the Gospel of John. In the beginning was the 00:06:47.740 --> 00:06:53.209 Word And the Word was with God, and the Word 00:06:53.209 --> 00:06:59.949 was God. The word or the logos, as the Greek 00:06:59.949 --> 00:07:06.470 term is, means a thought or a concept. And then 00:07:06.470 --> 00:07:11.269 its expression, it being revealed, the logos. 00:07:12.410 --> 00:07:14.589 It had a meaning to the Hebrews, it had a meaning 00:07:14.589 --> 00:07:18.810 to the Greeks. But John sanctifies the term and 00:07:18.810 --> 00:07:24.329 gives it a biblical spiritual meaning when he 00:07:24.329 --> 00:07:28.930 says that Jesus Christ can be called the Logos. 00:07:29.470 --> 00:07:34.529 What he is saying is that in Jesus Christ we 00:07:34.529 --> 00:07:41.709 have the full mind of God. Everything that God 00:07:41.709 --> 00:07:47.329 is, is in Jesus Christ. And he is the expression 00:07:47.329 --> 00:07:53.050 of all that God is. That's what the term word 00:07:53.050 --> 00:07:57.870 means. It's not impersonal, it's personal as 00:07:57.870 --> 00:08:01.889 verse 14 makes perfectly clear. It is the person 00:08:01.889 --> 00:08:05.730 of Jesus Christ who is the word. And there are 00:08:05.730 --> 00:08:07.970 three facts about the word that we see in verse 00:08:07.970 --> 00:08:13.250 1. First it says that he was in the beginning. 00:08:14.279 --> 00:08:18.259 The emphasis is upon, in the beginning, he was. 00:08:19.899 --> 00:08:22.459 Here we have a statement like that of Genesis 00:08:22.459 --> 00:08:25.959 1 .1. In fact, it's allusion and allusion to 00:08:25.959 --> 00:08:30.620 that verse. John is referring here to the inception 00:08:30.620 --> 00:08:36.220 or the genesis of the universe. And what he says 00:08:36.220 --> 00:08:42.830 is, when that took place, That inception of all 00:08:42.830 --> 00:08:49.850 things the beginning the Genesis the word was 00:08:49.850 --> 00:08:54.169 The John puts that in a tense in the Greek that 00:08:54.169 --> 00:09:01.049 means the word already was in existence The word 00:09:01.049 --> 00:09:06.309 already has been When the Genesis took place 00:09:06.309 --> 00:09:11.350 says John Tenney says, the expression does not 00:09:11.350 --> 00:09:14.149 refer to a particular moment of time but assumes 00:09:14.149 --> 00:09:19.850 a timeless eternity. In other words, when the 00:09:19.850 --> 00:09:26.909 clock began to tick on the universe, when matter 00:09:26.909 --> 00:09:29.190 was brought into existence, and we'll talk about 00:09:29.190 --> 00:09:33.309 that in a moment, at that time the Word already 00:09:33.309 --> 00:09:39.490 had been. He's not a part of creation. He's not, 00:09:39.490 --> 00:09:42.289 as some false teachers try to tell us, the first 00:09:42.289 --> 00:09:47.789 thing that God created. As God Himself, He already 00:09:47.789 --> 00:09:54.570 had been in timeless existence when Genesis 1 00:09:54.570 --> 00:09:59.649 -1 took place. The second fact that we see about 00:09:59.649 --> 00:10:08.450 the Word is that He was with God. Now, the preposition 00:10:08.450 --> 00:10:12.309 here, with, can mean a lot of things in English. 00:10:12.370 --> 00:10:14.529 It can also mean a lot of things in the language 00:10:14.529 --> 00:10:19.070 in which John wrote. The literal meaning of it 00:10:19.070 --> 00:10:25.690 is to be face -to -face or to be toward. It's 00:10:25.690 --> 00:10:28.309 describing here in this preposition a relationship 00:10:28.309 --> 00:10:33.289 between the two parties. It is the most intimate 00:10:33.289 --> 00:10:38.960 kind of relationship. to face relationship. It's 00:10:38.960 --> 00:10:42.759 not merely two who are walking together and with 00:10:42.759 --> 00:10:48.480 each other, but they are with each other. And 00:10:48.480 --> 00:10:53.799 what it says is that the word Jesus Christ was 00:10:53.799 --> 00:10:58.720 an intimate communion with God when Genesis 1 00:10:58.720 --> 00:11:01.899 -1 took place. It didn't begin then. It already 00:11:01.899 --> 00:11:07.470 had been from timeless eternity. Not only was 00:11:07.470 --> 00:11:09.889 he in intimate communion with God, but notice 00:11:09.889 --> 00:11:13.169 that he is in distinction from God. That seems 00:11:13.169 --> 00:11:17.090 to be a contradiction, doesn't it? How can it 00:11:17.090 --> 00:11:19.730 be that the Word was with God and the Word was 00:11:19.730 --> 00:11:24.070 God at the same time? Well, the answer to that 00:11:24.070 --> 00:11:27.409 is found in the mystery of the triunity of the 00:11:27.409 --> 00:11:33.330 Godhead. That God is one and yet God eternally 00:11:33.330 --> 00:11:36.769 exists in three persons, God the Father, God 00:11:36.769 --> 00:11:40.190 the Son and God the Holy Spirit, and they are 00:11:40.190 --> 00:11:46.330 distinct, separate, individual, and yet all of 00:11:46.330 --> 00:11:48.909 the same essence, the same substance, they are 00:11:48.909 --> 00:11:55.509 all God, all deity, one God. And so it can be 00:11:55.509 --> 00:11:58.470 said that the Word was an intimate communion 00:11:58.470 --> 00:12:02.850 with God that is equal with God and that the 00:12:02.850 --> 00:12:07.370 Word was God. And John says here literally, and 00:12:07.370 --> 00:12:11.730 God was the Word. He's really emphasizing the 00:12:11.730 --> 00:12:17.710 fact that the Word was deity himself. He is not 00:12:17.710 --> 00:12:22.470 identical with the Father, but he is of the same 00:12:22.470 --> 00:12:25.250 essence as the Father, of the same nature as 00:12:25.250 --> 00:12:30.539 the Father. So what do we see here? Well, the 00:12:30.539 --> 00:12:35.039 glory of Christ's pre -existence shows to us 00:12:35.039 --> 00:12:42.220 His eternal relation. As God the Son, He was 00:12:42.220 --> 00:12:46.019 eternally related to God the Father and God the 00:12:46.019 --> 00:12:51.840 Holy Spirit, equal of the same substance with 00:12:51.840 --> 00:12:55.720 them, and yet distinct from God the Father and 00:12:55.720 --> 00:13:02.700 God the Spirit. the glory of His eternal relationship 00:13:02.700 --> 00:13:07.220 to the Trinity. The second truth that we want 00:13:07.220 --> 00:13:10.019 to see is that the glory of His pre -existence 00:13:10.019 --> 00:13:16.000 was manifested in the work of creation. John 00:13:16.000 --> 00:13:19.500 summarizes verse 1 and verse 2, but goes on in 00:13:19.500 --> 00:13:24.580 verse 3 to say, Through Him, the Word, all things 00:13:24.580 --> 00:13:29.659 were made. And without him nothing was made that 00:13:29.659 --> 00:13:34.440 has been made. By the way, notice here that all 00:13:34.440 --> 00:13:39.039 things were made. All things don't come out of 00:13:39.039 --> 00:13:42.860 matter, which is eternal, which is a fundamental 00:13:42.860 --> 00:13:47.899 doctrine of evolution. It is also a part of the 00:13:47.899 --> 00:13:51.220 Big Bang Theory, that matter has always existed. 00:13:53.799 --> 00:13:58.899 The Bible says that all things were made. That 00:13:58.899 --> 00:14:01.559 there was a time when they were not. They didn't 00:14:01.559 --> 00:14:04.620 exist. And then they were made. They came into 00:14:04.620 --> 00:14:11.179 existence. They became. And this happened not 00:14:11.179 --> 00:14:14.279 through a process, but through an event that 00:14:14.279 --> 00:14:19.000 took place. And what we learn in this verse is 00:14:19.149 --> 00:14:21.789 regarding the glory of Christ's pre -existence 00:14:21.789 --> 00:14:26.809 that he participated in creation. The glory of 00:14:26.809 --> 00:14:31.629 his pre -existence is that he is the creator. 00:14:36.330 --> 00:14:44.570 We hear this. And sometimes it gets to be customary 00:14:44.570 --> 00:14:48.750 and usual. Just think with me a moment about 00:14:49.870 --> 00:14:54.970 what we're talking about. Just take for example 00:14:54.970 --> 00:14:58.570 one star in all of the universe that we call 00:14:58.570 --> 00:15:05.129 the Sun. If the Sun that shines out there, not 00:15:05.129 --> 00:15:08.990 on Minnesota, at least it seems that way in the 00:15:08.990 --> 00:15:12.230 last month, but that Sun that shines up there 00:15:12.230 --> 00:15:16.840 in the heavens, if it were a hollow ball, You 00:15:16.840 --> 00:15:23.500 could fit inside of that hollow ball 1 ,200 ,000 00:15:23.500 --> 00:15:29.399 planet Earths and have room left over for 4 ,300 00:15:29.399 --> 00:15:35.019 ,000 moons to stuff in around the corners. That's 00:15:35.019 --> 00:15:39.559 just the Sun. The nearest star to us is called 00:15:39.559 --> 00:15:44.639 Alpha Centauri. And that nearest star is five 00:15:44.639 --> 00:15:51.879 times bigger than our sun. Beltikis, which is 00:15:51.879 --> 00:15:55.700 one of the visible stars in the constellation 00:15:55.700 --> 00:16:00.399 called Orion the Hunter, that one star visible 00:16:00.399 --> 00:16:05.059 in that one constellation is 248 times bigger 00:16:05.059 --> 00:16:17.470 than our sun. And Arcturus, is 10 times bigger 00:16:17.470 --> 00:16:23.470 than Delta Geese. In other words, it's 2 ,480 00:16:23.470 --> 00:16:27.909 times bigger than our Sun, which takes over a 00:16:27.909 --> 00:16:30.429 million Earths and over four million moons to 00:16:30.429 --> 00:16:33.990 fill. Now we're just talking about the size of 00:16:33.990 --> 00:16:37.970 some of these heavenly bodies. By the way, Arcturus 00:16:37.970 --> 00:16:41.350 and Orion, as well as some of the other constellations 00:16:41.350 --> 00:16:45.110 are mentioned in the Bible, Job 9, Job 38. God 00:16:45.110 --> 00:16:47.450 points to them, and he says, you want to see 00:16:47.450 --> 00:16:55.190 my glory? Look at this. Light travels at 186 00:16:55.190 --> 00:16:58.649 ,000 miles a second. That's faster than most 00:16:58.649 --> 00:17:04.049 preachers drive. 186 ,000 miles a second. Do 00:17:04.049 --> 00:17:05.890 you know that it would take you a second and 00:17:05.890 --> 00:17:07.970 a half to get to the moon, if you could do it? 00:17:09.089 --> 00:17:11.869 A second and a half to get all the way to the 00:17:11.869 --> 00:17:15.269 moon. Now let's suppose you wanted to go a little 00:17:15.269 --> 00:17:19.589 further and go to Mercury. It would take you 00:17:19.589 --> 00:17:23.490 four and a half minutes only. Or that you wanted 00:17:23.490 --> 00:17:25.910 to go to Jupiter. You could be there in 35 minutes 00:17:25.910 --> 00:17:29.470 at the speed of light. Or if you wanted to go 00:17:29.470 --> 00:17:32.490 all the way to Saturn and see those rings, it 00:17:32.490 --> 00:17:36.029 would take you 60 minutes, just an hour, at the 00:17:36.029 --> 00:17:38.150 speed of light to get there. Now we haven't gone 00:17:38.150 --> 00:17:42.240 out of our solar system yet. So let's do that. 00:17:42.279 --> 00:17:45.779 Let's go beyond our own solar system to go to 00:17:45.779 --> 00:17:49.960 the nearest star, to this star that's called 00:17:49.960 --> 00:17:53.339 Alpha Centauri. How long would it take us to 00:17:53.339 --> 00:17:55.980 get there to examine this heavenly body that 00:17:55.980 --> 00:17:59.000 is five times bigger than our sun? At the speed 00:17:59.000 --> 00:18:01.819 of light, it will take you four years and four 00:18:01.819 --> 00:18:04.920 months to get to the nearest star outside of 00:18:04.920 --> 00:18:12.460 our own solar system. if you were real ambitious, 00:18:13.619 --> 00:18:15.680 and you said, I'd like to get beyond our galaxy 00:18:15.680 --> 00:18:19.640 and go beyond the Milky Way. It has a nice ring 00:18:19.640 --> 00:18:24.099 to it, doesn't it? Milky Way. The next solar 00:18:24.099 --> 00:18:27.039 system, or next galaxy out there, Snickers, right? 00:18:29.299 --> 00:18:31.799 Let's suppose you wanted to get beyond the Milky 00:18:31.799 --> 00:18:36.720 Way, and that's just this one galaxy in which 00:18:36.720 --> 00:18:40.940 we are a little pinpoint. How long would it take 00:18:40.940 --> 00:18:43.920 you to get to the edge of the galaxy that we 00:18:43.920 --> 00:18:46.599 live in? At the speed of light now, and remember 00:18:46.599 --> 00:18:47.960 the speed of light you can be to the moon in 00:18:47.960 --> 00:18:51.160 a second and a half. You want to get to the edge 00:18:51.160 --> 00:18:54.500 of our galaxy, it will take you a hundred thousand 00:18:54.500 --> 00:19:00.779 years at the speed of light. That's just our 00:19:00.779 --> 00:19:05.720 Milky Way galaxy. The Milky Way galaxy is made 00:19:05.720 --> 00:19:09.980 up of a hundred billion stars at least. That 00:19:09.980 --> 00:19:14.380 takes Carl Sagan to really say that. So I'll 00:19:14.380 --> 00:19:18.720 try to say it like he does. Out there in the 00:19:18.720 --> 00:19:26.279 universe, there are billions of galaxies. Some 00:19:26.279 --> 00:19:30.400 smaller, some bigger than our Milky Way. Now, 00:19:31.220 --> 00:19:34.960 the glory of Jesus Christ's pre -existence is 00:19:34.960 --> 00:19:39.079 manifested in the fact that He created all of 00:19:39.079 --> 00:19:44.079 that. It says here, through Him all things were 00:19:44.079 --> 00:19:48.680 made. It doesn't just mean all things in a big 00:19:48.680 --> 00:19:53.839 lump. It means all things individually and particularly. 00:19:54.559 --> 00:19:58.140 That's the word. That's the meaning of it. He 00:19:58.140 --> 00:20:01.400 is the agent of creation. The scriptures say 00:20:01.400 --> 00:20:06.140 that through Him all things were made. On your 00:20:06.140 --> 00:20:10.339 own some time, look up 1 Corinthians 8, 6, or 00:20:10.339 --> 00:20:14.599 Colossians 1, 16 and 17. But turn with me now 00:20:14.599 --> 00:20:19.980 to Hebrews chapter 1, just for a moment, because 00:20:19.980 --> 00:20:22.460 I want you to see that not only did he bring 00:20:22.460 --> 00:20:27.019 all of this into existence, not only does he 00:20:27.019 --> 00:20:32.619 keep it all together, But it all will find its 00:20:32.619 --> 00:20:37.640 destiny in Him as its creator. Now if we had 00:20:37.640 --> 00:20:40.220 time to point out the context, you would see 00:20:40.220 --> 00:20:43.759 in Hebrews 1, it's talking about Jesus Christ. 00:20:46.279 --> 00:20:52.539 And God says about Him and to Him, quoting here 00:20:52.539 --> 00:21:02.460 now from Psalms, beginning in verse 10, Now, 00:21:02.539 --> 00:21:05.200 here's God the Father speaking to God the Son. 00:21:05.779 --> 00:21:09.920 He says, In the beginning, O Lord, you laid the 00:21:09.920 --> 00:21:15.380 foundations of the earth, and the heavens are 00:21:15.380 --> 00:21:20.579 the work of your hands. They will perish, but 00:21:20.579 --> 00:21:24.900 you remain. They will all wear out like a garment, 00:21:26.480 --> 00:21:30.380 like a pair of socks. They're just going to wear 00:21:30.380 --> 00:21:36.460 out. You will roll them up like a robe, like 00:21:36.460 --> 00:21:41.519 a garment they will be changed, but you remain 00:21:41.519 --> 00:21:48.000 the same and your years will never end." He points 00:21:48.000 --> 00:21:53.559 again to the eternal Son of God, the Lord Jesus 00:21:53.559 --> 00:21:57.869 Christ. And he says that the glory of his eternity, 00:21:58.109 --> 00:22:02.490 of his pre -existence, was manifested in his 00:22:02.490 --> 00:22:07.130 work of creation. The third truth I want us to 00:22:07.130 --> 00:22:11.049 see is that the glory of Christ's pre -existence 00:22:11.049 --> 00:22:16.029 was unaltered by his incarnation. Going back 00:22:16.029 --> 00:22:18.309 again to the Gospel of John, the first chapter, 00:22:19.089 --> 00:22:21.410 we come to a verse that will be our key verse 00:22:21.410 --> 00:22:24.890 for next week. But we want to point to it this 00:22:24.890 --> 00:22:29.609 morning as we say the Word became flesh and made 00:22:29.609 --> 00:22:32.990 His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, 00:22:33.069 --> 00:22:37.930 the glory as of the one and only who came from 00:22:37.930 --> 00:22:44.150 the Father full of grace and truth. The glory 00:22:44.150 --> 00:22:49.109 of Jesus Christ in His pre -existence was unaltered 00:22:49.109 --> 00:22:54.309 when He came in human flesh. It was hidden. His 00:22:54.309 --> 00:22:57.690 glory was hidden in that flesh, but it was not 00:22:57.690 --> 00:23:01.369 diminished. It was not altered by his union with 00:23:01.369 --> 00:23:07.369 humanity. His glory remained intact during his 00:23:07.369 --> 00:23:12.769 earthly ministry. And John tells us that at that 00:23:12.769 --> 00:23:18.430 wedding feast of Cana, Jesus began to show forth 00:23:18.430 --> 00:23:23.619 his glory. That is, He began to give man a peek 00:23:23.619 --> 00:23:29.039 at what was inside of him and who he really was 00:23:29.039 --> 00:23:32.740 by the miracle of changing the water into wine. 00:23:35.140 --> 00:23:39.859 And so he stood before his enemies in John chapter 00:23:39.859 --> 00:23:44.740 8 and verse 58 and he said to them, before Abraham 00:23:44.740 --> 00:23:54.589 was, what? I am. He's pointing back 1800 years. 00:23:56.049 --> 00:23:58.849 Almost as much time had passed from Abraham's 00:23:58.849 --> 00:24:04.690 day to Jesus as from Jesus' day to ours. And 00:24:04.690 --> 00:24:07.170 he says to these people who were denying who 00:24:07.170 --> 00:24:11.930 he was, God himself, before Abraham was, 1800 00:24:11.930 --> 00:24:18.460 years ago, I am. Many of you know that when he 00:24:18.460 --> 00:24:21.240 said, I am, and had a particular meaning to the 00:24:21.240 --> 00:24:26.819 Jews because God revealed himself to Moses by 00:24:26.819 --> 00:24:29.640 that special name there at the burning bush. 00:24:33.140 --> 00:24:38.039 Moses said, who will I say has sent me? God said, 00:24:38.259 --> 00:24:43.000 tell them that I am has sent you. It's the name 00:24:43.000 --> 00:24:48.349 for God. Jesus is claiming here that before Abraham 00:24:48.349 --> 00:24:52.970 even was born, he was in existence continually 00:24:52.970 --> 00:25:01.609 as God. In John chapter 3 and verse 13, he says, 00:25:01.809 --> 00:25:06.250 No one has ever gone into heaven except the one 00:25:06.250 --> 00:25:12.720 who came from heaven, the Son of Man. We don't 00:25:12.720 --> 00:25:14.779 have time to look at the context there. I simply 00:25:14.779 --> 00:25:17.920 point out to you that Jesus says the Son of Man 00:25:17.920 --> 00:25:25.019 came from heaven. That's his origin. Micah, speaking 00:25:25.019 --> 00:25:27.519 hundreds of years before he was born in Bethlehem, 00:25:27.619 --> 00:25:30.240 named Bethlehem as the birthplace of Messiah 00:25:30.240 --> 00:25:33.900 and said that out of Bethlehem would come forth 00:25:33.900 --> 00:25:38.539 he whose goings forth had been from days of eternity. 00:25:40.259 --> 00:25:44.299 That is his actions His deeds had been from eternity 00:25:44.299 --> 00:25:47.720 and he would come forth from Bethlehem. What 00:25:47.720 --> 00:25:49.779 was he saying? He's saying that the babe to be 00:25:49.779 --> 00:25:54.259 born in the manger existed before Bethlehem, 00:25:54.420 --> 00:25:59.460 before the world, from days of eternity. The 00:25:59.460 --> 00:26:03.180 glory of Jesus Christ was unaltered in his incarnation. 00:26:04.200 --> 00:26:06.839 It was hidden. It was covered by human flesh, 00:26:07.220 --> 00:26:14.400 sinless human flesh, united forever with sinless 00:26:14.400 --> 00:26:18.259 human nature, but the glory was unaltered. It 00:26:18.259 --> 00:26:23.319 was still there, undiminished. Now the final 00:26:23.319 --> 00:26:25.680 truth I want us to see this morning is one that 00:26:25.680 --> 00:26:27.799 relates very directly to you and me because it 00:26:27.799 --> 00:26:31.619 says the glory of his pre -existence was enhanced 00:26:31.619 --> 00:26:36.819 by salvation. I'm not saying that somehow he 00:26:36.819 --> 00:26:42.359 is more glorious. But His glory is seen to a 00:26:42.359 --> 00:26:46.779 greater extent. It's been drawn out to be more 00:26:46.779 --> 00:26:50.220 visible by salvation. We need to go back to John 00:26:50.220 --> 00:26:56.299 chapter 17 before we close. I've read verse 5 00:26:56.299 --> 00:26:59.920 for you. I want to go on now to verse 22 and 00:26:59.920 --> 00:27:04.700 verse 24. Jesus continues praying to the Father 00:27:04.700 --> 00:27:12.730 and He says, that they may be one as we are. 00:27:13.029 --> 00:27:16.210 Oh, I wish I had time to talk about that. Verse 00:27:16.210 --> 00:27:21.509 24, Father, I want those you have given me to 00:27:21.509 --> 00:27:28.269 be with me where I am and to see my glory, the 00:27:28.269 --> 00:27:31.690 glory you have given me because you loved me 00:27:31.690 --> 00:27:40.710 before the creation of the world. So Jesus prays, 00:27:41.190 --> 00:27:45.769 Father, glorify me with the glory that I had 00:27:45.769 --> 00:27:50.109 before. On this night before he goes to the cross, 00:27:50.130 --> 00:27:55.750 Jesus recalls with longing the glory that he 00:27:55.750 --> 00:27:58.769 enjoyed before coming into the world, the visible 00:27:58.769 --> 00:28:04.170 glory. He says, Father, glorify me with what 00:28:04.170 --> 00:28:08.940 I experienced alongside of you in your presence 00:28:08.940 --> 00:28:13.859 before I came into the world. So great was the 00:28:13.859 --> 00:28:16.539 joy, so supreme the delight between the Father 00:28:16.539 --> 00:28:20.019 and the Son before creation, that the impression 00:28:20.019 --> 00:28:23.900 of it on his consciousness as he came into the 00:28:23.900 --> 00:28:29.039 world was never lost. And he longed for the resumption 00:28:29.039 --> 00:28:33.400 of that glory. It included serene enjoyment of 00:28:33.400 --> 00:28:36.940 the Father's presence. unmixed with suffering, 00:28:37.759 --> 00:28:42.180 as William Hendrickson says. So we can begin 00:28:42.180 --> 00:28:45.319 to see how incomprehensible and how infinite 00:28:45.319 --> 00:28:51.240 his condescension in coming to Bethlehem, his 00:28:51.240 --> 00:28:55.400 saving sacrifice was purposed by God to accomplish 00:28:55.400 --> 00:28:59.740 redemption for his people. Here we have Jesus 00:28:59.740 --> 00:29:03.160 Christ praying as though the cross were already 00:29:03.160 --> 00:29:06.369 behind him. even though it's a few hours in front 00:29:06.369 --> 00:29:11.410 of him. And already he's anticipating his return 00:29:11.410 --> 00:29:16.269 to glory, and he's anticipating bringing along 00:29:16.269 --> 00:29:22.309 with him the redeemed. Was Jesus being selfish 00:29:22.309 --> 00:29:25.930 when he was praying that he might be glorified? 00:29:27.150 --> 00:29:32.029 Not at all. He is God, and all that God does 00:29:32.029 --> 00:29:35.759 indeed is for his own glory. There is no greater 00:29:35.759 --> 00:29:41.039 good for us than what is for the glory of God. 00:29:42.039 --> 00:29:45.299 God is glorified in His works. He delights in 00:29:45.299 --> 00:29:49.559 His works. And His work includes salvation for 00:29:49.559 --> 00:29:55.759 His people. And His purpose is that His people 00:29:55.759 --> 00:30:00.279 will share His glory. Jesus here is anticipating 00:30:00.279 --> 00:30:04.769 the joy of being with the Father again. in the 00:30:04.769 --> 00:30:08.529 company of the saved, so that the two can never 00:30:08.529 --> 00:30:14.430 be separated again. Who for the joy set before 00:30:14.430 --> 00:30:20.509 Him? writes the author of Hebrews. He endured 00:30:20.509 --> 00:30:25.990 the cross. Who for the joy set before Him? What 00:30:25.990 --> 00:30:31.029 is that joy? Being back with the Father and bringing 00:30:31.029 --> 00:30:38.750 with Him the redeemed. Jesus Christ is the eternal 00:30:38.750 --> 00:30:45.150 Son of God. As the eternal Son, He gives life 00:30:45.150 --> 00:30:49.670 to all of those who trust in Him. He gives eternal 00:30:49.670 --> 00:30:54.130 life to those who will trust in Him, the very 00:30:54.130 --> 00:30:58.769 life of God Himself. And we see here that He 00:30:58.769 --> 00:31:03.029 prays that all of those to whom He's given life 00:31:03.079 --> 00:31:07.480 and who have been given to him by God will one 00:31:07.480 --> 00:31:12.880 day be with him in glory." This is one of the 00:31:12.880 --> 00:31:16.519 reasons that I believe in the security of the 00:31:16.519 --> 00:31:21.559 Christian. Because Jesus has prayed for us that 00:31:21.559 --> 00:31:25.960 belonging to him we might never be lost. Belonging 00:31:25.960 --> 00:31:29.079 to Him, we might one day be with Him in glory. 00:31:29.359 --> 00:31:32.599 And is God the Father going to deny the prayer 00:31:32.599 --> 00:31:41.299 of His beloved Son? You see, God loves His children, 00:31:42.700 --> 00:31:46.119 the redeemed, just as much as He loves His beloved 00:31:46.119 --> 00:31:50.680 Son, just as much. And He will one day bring 00:31:50.680 --> 00:31:55.690 His children home to glory. And we will be there 00:31:55.690 --> 00:32:02.789 and we will see the glory of Jesus Christ, the 00:32:02.789 --> 00:32:05.210 glory that he had before he came into the world. 00:32:05.289 --> 00:32:08.670 We're going to see that with our glorified eyes 00:32:08.670 --> 00:32:13.410 and participate in it. We will never share his 00:32:13.410 --> 00:32:17.670 essential glory as God. We can't. We're created. 00:32:18.960 --> 00:32:22.259 But we are privileged to share the glory that 00:32:22.259 --> 00:32:27.640 He extends to us in reigning with Him, in being 00:32:27.640 --> 00:32:33.039 united to Him, in having His eternal life as 00:32:33.039 --> 00:32:36.920 our possession. I hope that's your possession 00:32:36.920 --> 00:32:40.119 today. There was a man named Fullerton one time 00:32:40.119 --> 00:32:43.720 who shared this testimony about his own struggle 00:32:43.720 --> 00:32:45.839 spiritually. He said, one Sunday morning, I made 00:32:45.839 --> 00:32:50.549 up my mind to be a Christian. I never doubted 00:32:50.549 --> 00:32:53.690 that I would do so. I thought I must leave off 00:32:53.690 --> 00:32:56.269 this evil thing and that wicked habit and do 00:32:56.269 --> 00:32:59.650 only things that are good. I must read my Bible 00:32:59.650 --> 00:33:03.150 more, pray more, repent and weep if possible. 00:33:03.250 --> 00:33:07.950 So I began. On Sunday I prospered. On Monday 00:33:07.950 --> 00:33:11.609 and Tuesday I almost succeeded. But on Wednesday 00:33:11.609 --> 00:33:15.289 and Thursday I made some serious slips. Finally 00:33:15.289 --> 00:33:19.240 on Friday I gave up in disgust. I began the same 00:33:19.240 --> 00:33:23.000 process again the next Sunday. In my self -confidence, 00:33:23.599 --> 00:33:25.700 I thought I knew now where I had gone wrong, 00:33:25.779 --> 00:33:28.400 so I increased my devotions, prayed more, and 00:33:28.400 --> 00:33:32.099 was careful to restrain my evil habits. Still, 00:33:32.400 --> 00:33:36.680 I did not find peace. Then I heard the new minister 00:33:36.680 --> 00:33:40.500 give his first address. He expounded on many 00:33:40.500 --> 00:33:42.819 things, but I can remember only one sentence, 00:33:42.839 --> 00:33:45.680 and that was the living Word of God to me, quote, 00:33:45.950 --> 00:33:49.809 All you have to do to be saved is to take God's 00:33:49.809 --> 00:33:54.789 gift and say thank you." Up to now I had been 00:33:54.789 --> 00:33:59.650 trying to get the Lord to take my gift and to 00:33:59.650 --> 00:34:02.150 make that offering worthy of His acceptance. 00:34:02.950 --> 00:34:06.890 Now I saw that it was I who had to do the taking 00:34:06.890 --> 00:34:11.510 and that Christ was the one I must receive. My 00:34:11.510 --> 00:34:14.230 heart turned to Him in gratitude. I took the 00:34:14.230 --> 00:34:18.070 gift. And I've been saying thank you ever since. 00:34:19.150 --> 00:34:24.389 Have you taken the gift and said thank you? Let's 00:34:24.389 --> 00:34:34.289 pray. My friend, if you've been trying like this 00:34:34.289 --> 00:34:40.329 man to be a Christian, it's time to stop. You 00:34:40.329 --> 00:34:44.260 can't make yourself a Christian. God is the one 00:34:44.260 --> 00:34:49.460 who makes Christians. And he does that when we 00:34:49.460 --> 00:34:54.539 take the gift and say thank you. Jesus came into 00:34:54.539 --> 00:34:57.639 the world that he might go to the cross, pay 00:34:57.639 --> 00:35:00.099 for your sins and take you back to heaven with 00:35:00.099 --> 00:35:03.840 himself that you might see and experience his 00:35:03.840 --> 00:35:10.480 glory. Will you today receive the gift? Will 00:35:10.480 --> 00:35:14.940 you tell God thank you? as an act of faith, I 00:35:14.940 --> 00:35:19.679 hope you will, right where you're seated. Right 00:35:19.679 --> 00:35:24.940 at this moment, just in your heart, receive and 00:35:24.940 --> 00:35:29.440 trust Jesus Christ as your Savior. Father God, 00:35:30.800 --> 00:35:35.380 we thank you today for your Son, glorious in 00:35:35.380 --> 00:35:40.829 His pre -existence. and we worship you through 00:35:40.829 --> 00:35:47.090 him today because he revealed you to us and we 00:35:47.090 --> 00:35:51.050 receive him with gratitude and we anticipate 00:35:51.050 --> 00:35:54.949 with great joy that day when we will be with 00:35:54.949 --> 00:36:02.409 you and see his glory and share it by the grace 00:36:02.409 --> 00:36:06.809 of God. Thank you. Amen.