LEANING DAILY

 

John 17:1-3, Jesus spoke these words, lifted His eyes to heaven, and said: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as 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.”

 

“What greater gift can Jesus give us but the gift of Himself?” That was the question posed to us by Dr. Ed Newton last Sunday morning. John 3:16 tells, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever would believe in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”  And in John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” It seems to me that we need to be reminded from time to time just what He has done for us; He toughed our lives in such a way that through faith we have received Jesus Christ as the way, the only way to get on the narrow way that leads to eternal life in God’s eternal kingdom!

 

The verses from John 17 are the beginning of Jesus’ final prayer for His disciples (and all who would believe in Him); it shows His deepest desire for His followers. It is an example for how pastors should be praying for their congregation and how Christian parents should be praying for their children.  Look carefully at what Jesus prayed in these opening verses. Notice that His authority and power came from the Father and His purpose was to provide eternal life for all who would believe by faith in Him. His greatest concern was that people would know Him and His Word intimately and that God would keep them from the world’s ways, false teaching, and from Satan’s power. He wanted His followers to constantly live in His full joy (v. 13), be holy in thought, deed, and character (v,17), and that they would live in fellowship using His relationship with the Father as their guide (v 11, 21-22). It was His desire His followers lead others to Him (v. 21, 23), persevere in their faith and to be with Him in heaven (v. 24). In verse 26, He prays that the love the Father has for Him would be in His followers so that they would love Him with the same fervent love that the Father does. Finally, it is the desire of Jesus for the Holy Spirit to live in and guide His followers. You and I by our faith in Him are included in the followers He is praying for!

 

Everyone is going to spend eternity somewhere! The eternal life Jesus is praying about means living forever in God’s presence. Let me end with the notes in the LSSB regarding eternal life. “Eternal life is more than endless existence.  It is a special quality of life that we as Believers receive when we partake of the essential life of God through Christ; this allows us to know God in an ever-growing knowledge and fellowship with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In the New Testament eternal life is described as (1) a present reality (John 5:24). The present possession of eternal life is not secured and maintained merely by an act of repentance and faith occurring in the past. It involves also a present living union and fellowship with Christ (1 John 5:12) and there is no eternal life apart from Him. (2) Eternal life is described as a future hope. Eternal life is associated with the coming of Christ for His faithful and is contingent upon our living by faith and by the Spirit (Romans 8:12-17).”

 

The answer to Dr. Newton’s question above is simple. There is no greater gift than the gift Jesus gave to us than the giving of Himself! He is the only way you and I got on the narrow way and it is by Him we stay on it!

 

From now on DJSB will be used to note information or quotes from the David Jeremiah Study Bible and LSSB will refer to information and quotes from the Life in the Spirit Study Bible.  I have added Jimmy Swaggart’s Expositor’s Study Bible to be referred to from now on as JSESB.