This Sunday will mark the end of our sermon series through the Gospel of John at Christ Baptist Church. We have spent about 16 months in the fourth Gospel (about 60 sermons). When you spend that kind of time with someone or something, you naturally cultivate ties that are difficult to break. My life will never be the same. I will forever be marked by the truth of John’s Gospel. I’m not ready to move on. We could spend the rest of our lifetime (and eternity) exploring and admiring the person and work of Jesus Christ in the Gospel of John (John ends his Gospel by pointing to Jesus’ inexhaustible greatness – 21:25). However, we must move on to explore the person and work of Jesus Christ from all of Scripture. God’s Word is rich with fresh truth about our Savior.
So, Justin, what particularly has been precious to you from your study and preaching of the Gospel of John? I’m glad you asked. I have been specifically captivated by just how passionate Jesus is to glorify the Father by speaking the words of the Father and accomplishing the will of the Father. John answers the question, “Who is Jesus Christ?” in a profoundly simple and majestic way. I counted well over 100 references in the Gospel of John to the relationship of the Father and the Son. The vast majority of these references communicate Jesus’ relentless passion to please His Father. Here are some examples:
4:34 – “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.”
5:19 – “…the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.”
5:30 – “I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.”
6:38 – “For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.”
8:29 – “for I always do the things that are pleasing to him.”
12:50 – “What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me.”
14:31 – “I do as the Father has commanded me so that the world may know that I love the Father.”
17:4 – “I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do.”
So, what is so significant about this emphasis on Jesus’ desire to please the Father by accomplishing the will of the Father? Here are just 3 of the many life-altering implications:
1. When Jesus obeyed the Father, He did so in the place of all those who trust in Him. Jesus’ obedience is credited to our account when we embrace Him as our Savior (Rom. 5:19). He not only died in our place; He lived in our place. We have not obeyed the Father and lived for His glory. However, because of what Jesus accomplished, we are treated as if we had obeyed as perfectly as Jesus obeyed. Take some time to ponder the greatness of this gospel!
2. When Jesus obeyed the Father, He left us an example to follow. We are to do everything for the glory of God (1 Cor. 10:31). We are supposed to have a relentless passion to please the Father in everything we do. With Jesus, we should say, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.”
3. When Jesus obeyed the Father, He did so to the end. His obedience culminated in His death on the Cross for our sins. When He said, “It is finished” (19:30), He was declaring that He had completed the plan of the Father to bear the sins of His sheep. The Cross was the supreme display of the glory of God because it was there that Jesus proved that His obedience was not half-hearted. He went all the way. The Father was glorified in the sacrifice of the Son and we get to spend eternity enjoying the benefits. And, because of His death, Jesus will continue to obey the Father by guarding those entrusted to Him (6:37-39; 10:28-29). What a Savior!
Friends, as we move on from the gospel of John, let us not forget the glory we have seen and the lessons we have learned. Jesus said, “If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him” (12:26).
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