He Gave us His Glory
For God So Loved the World • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Transcript
Warren Brosi
February 4, 2024
Dominant Thought: Jesus gives us His glory to advance His love story.
Objectives:
I want my listeners to learn the meaning of glory in John 17.
I want my listeners to feel honored that Jesus gives us His glory.
I want my listeners to live generously in God’s glory.
Do you remember our bicentennial theme verse? Hebrews 13.8
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
Let’s keep practicing this verse along with our sign language to help us remember this truth.
Over the past few weeks, we’ve look at the gifts of God. As we seek to live generous lives as Christ is generous, it is helpful to look at ways God has given. In week one, investigated John 3.16, “For God so love the world that He gave His one and only Son.” Later in John 3, Michael showed us how God gives us His Holy Spirit: We are fully alive, advised, and authorized. Last week, the apostle John himself told us about Jesus encounter with the woman at the well in Samaria. “If you knew the gift of God and who is that asks you for a drink…the water I give will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (John 4.10, 14).
Today, we move to John 17 and the prayer of Jesus. If I’m not mistaken, John 17 is the longest recorded prayer of Jesus. He’s praying that Thursday night before He is arrested and then crucified on Friday. These are some weighty words.
The gift of God that Jesus prays for is found in John 17.22, where He prays for those who will follow after the disciples. Jesus prays for us during His last night on earth.
John 17.22, “I have given them [those who believe in Jesus] the glory you gave me, that they may be one as we are one.” These verses in John 17 serves as the Scriptural foundation for one of our core values, “Christian unity.” We chose the value of unity for a couple of reasons. One, whenever you get enough people together, you will have differences in opinions. We want to ensure that while we may have different opinions on some things, we still agree to work together as a united body of Christ to make more and better followers of Jesus. A second reason for our Christian unity core value is our history as a Restoration Movement Church. As an independent Christian Church/Church of Christ, we commonly say, “We are not the only Christians, we are Christians only.” We want to work together with other Christian brothers and sisters in our community to give the world a healthy and glorious picture of Jesus.
Recently, Jon Morrissette from Lakeside Christian Church, who preached here in Berlin in the late 1990’s, highlighted that our core value of Christian unity draws us into oneness with the Father. Jesus prayed that I in them and you in me—so they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and loved them as you have loved me” (John 17.23). The gift of God’s glory draws us closer to Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and to one another. In other words, Jesus gives us His glory to advance His love story.
Everyone who entered the building today has walked by the stone on the front of this building, “For the glory of God.” But what does that mean?
To help us understand how Jesus gives us His glory, let’s survey some Scriptures to understand what glory in the Bible even means, and then we’ll come back to John 17. Tim Mackie shares a helpful lesson on God’s glory on his podcast. You can follow this link to listen to his teaching: https://bibleproject.com/podcast/language-faith-part-2-glory/. I’m indebted to his teaching to help me share about this important theme.
What is glory? Glory is used in a variety of ways throughout the Bible, but it interesting that the Bible really transformed the idea of glory from the opinion about a person or thing and their reputation to honor brought or given to God. There’s an interesting story in the Hebrew Bible or what we call our Old Testament that uses the word glory in two different ways. It is found in 1 Samuel 4.12-22. The Israelites are in a battle against the Philistines. You may remember one of the famous Philistine warriors named Goliath. The Philistines won the initial battle killing four thousand Israelites. The elders of Israel asked, “Why did the Lord bring defeat on us today?” (1 Samuel 4.3). They brought the ark of the covenant which represented the presence of God into the camp. When the people saw the ark of the covenant, they raised a great shout so the ground shook. The Philistines became afraid saying to themselves, “a god has come into the camp” (1 Samuel 4.7). But after a pep talk, the Philistines fought back and finished off the Israelites that day and captured the ark of the covenant (1 Samuel 4.11).
News was brought back to the priest Eli. He was 98 years old and his eye sight was failing. The messenger told him about the battle. The Israelites suffered heavy losses, your two sons are dead, and the ark of the covenant has been captured (1 Samuel 4.17). 1 Samuel 4.18 tells what happened next.
When he mentioned the ark of God, Eli fell backward off his chair by the side of the gate. His neck was broken and he died, for he was an old man, and he was heavy. He had led Israel forty years.
The word describing Eli’s weight as “heavy” is the word, “glory.” In the next paragraph, Eli’s daughter-in-law, the new widow of one of his sons, goes into labor and dies in childbirth.
She named the boy Ichabod, saying, “The Glory has departed from Israel”—because of the capture of the ark of God and the deaths of her father-in-law and her husband.
Two different uses for glory in the same story. Glory can mean something heavy or weighty or important. It also represents the presence of God.
In the Old Testament, the children of Israel had two structures that represented the presence of God: the tabernacle and the temple. Both served a similar purpose of meeting with God. The tabernacle was a big tent where God would meet with His people. Once God’s people entered the promised land, they eventually built a more permanent structure, the temple.
Let’s read together some Scripture that described God entering the tabernacle and the temple.
First, the tabernacle, also known as the tent of meeting, is described in Exodus 40.34-35.
Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.
Moses could not enter the tent of meeting because the cloud had settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.
Solomon dedicates the temple in 1 Kings 8.10-11
When the priests withdrew from the Holy Place, the cloud filled the temple of the Lord.
And the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled his temple.
Both of these stories highlight the cloud representing God’s glory and Moses and the priests were unable to enter for a time.
Glory represents something that is heavy and important and is connected with God’s presence, but there appears to be some limitations or barriers to encountering God’s glory. It is not to be taken lightly.
Let’s look at two Psalms to round out our survey of glory in the Hebrew Bible.
The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Creation announces the glory of God. From a glorious sunset or sunrise, to the stars in the sky, to the mountains, oceans, rocks, hills, and plains, creation speaks to the glory of God. Have you seen the glory of God this week?
Many other Psalms speak of God’s glory (at least 48 times in the Psalms, one will find glory). Psalm 8 speaks about glory that everyone of us will find helpful and important. Psalm 8 begins and ends with the refrain, “O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory in the heavens..” It is a creation song. David considers the moon and stars and then asks the question, “What is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them? You made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor” (Psalm 8.4-5). Humans are a little lower than angels, but crowned with glory and honor and commissioned to be rulers of the earth. Friends, you are valuable. You are glorious and not in the heavy overweight sense like Eli in 1 Samuel 4.
So, we are crowned with glory and honor. Something weighty, important representing the presence of God. Something that creation and humans can reflect God’s glory.
Tim Mackie illustrates God’s glory by comparing it to the Joan of Arc statue in Portland, Oregon.
In Portland, Oregon, you’ll find a statue of Joan of Arc (1412-1431), the young girl who led the French against the British. She was captured and burned at the stake. This statue reminds people of her story from 600 years ago. Its golden color, we could say is glorious. It shines and represents something more than the metal it has been fashioned. The statue points to something bigger than itself. It points to a story of a girl and freedom for a country. A story of heroism and bravery. It is an image that points to something greater.
Psalm 8 reminds us humans are crowned with the glory of God. Genesis 1.26-27, tells us God made mankind in the image of God and the likeness of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Glorious. Humans are image bearers of God and we point to someone greater, God.
Unfortunately, we don’t alway live up to the glorious standards of God. The Apostle Paul says in Romans 3.23, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
Over the years, this beautiful statue of Joan of Arc has become the most vandalized landmark in Portland, Oregon. People have taken a huge drill bit and epoxy and fashioned the horse into unicorn. On another occasion, people have poured black paint upon the statue. While you can see the beauty, the vandals have marred the intent of the statue and its creator.
If only there was someone who could show us the way to glory. If only there was a perfect image of God we could look to and find our way back.
Enter Jesus. In John 1.1, we read, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Then, you go to John 1.14.
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
The phrase, “made his dwelling,” is the same word for tabernacle or pitch a tent. Eugene Peterson paraphrases John 1.14 in The Message, as follows.
The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood. We saw the glory with our own eyes, the one-of-a-kind glory, like Father, like Son, Generous inside and out, true from start to finish.
So, if you want to see what it looks like to live a glorious life, then look to Jesus. He was full of grace and truth.
So, now friends, we have a choice we can choose the marred life or the glorious life of Jesus.
John framed it this way in John 12. 42-43, even many leaders of the Jews believed in Jesus, but would not openly confess Jesus for fear of the Pharisees and being kicked out of the synagogue. The John comments, “for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God” (John 12.43). We live in that tension of the lures of the glory of man with the love for the glory of God.
So, whose glory will we love or whose glory will we embrace. Let’s hear the prayer of Jesus from John 17 once again with this background in mind.
In John 17.1, Jesus looked toward heaven and prayed: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your son may glorify you.” Finally, it is time for Jesus to go to the cross, die and be raised to life. The Son wants to glorify His father. Listen to John 17.4-5.
I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do.
And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.
Jesus is fulfilling the mission of His father to rescue mankind from their sins and bringing glory to the Father. He affirms He had glory in God’s presence before the world began.
Then, later in the prayer, He prays for us. Read John 17.20-26. Jesus says, “I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one.” Jesus has given us His glory that He had with the Father before the creation of the world. How’s that make you feel today? You are valuable and glorious because of the gift of Christ. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit created you in their image to point people to their grace and truth.
The purpose of this gift is so the world may know that God sent Jesus and loved them even as God the Father loves God the Son.
As divine image bearers, we reflect the glory of God. That’s one of the reasons, we’ve chosen to partner with Living Alternatives Pregnancy Resource Center this quarter as we find ways to serve in our bicentennial year. We value human life because we represent the glory of God.
One of the members of our American Heritage Girls troop, submitted a poem and artwork for her class last year to celebrate the sanctity of human life. She is now a freshman at Sacred Heart Griffin High School. It appeared on the front page of Catholic Times. The picture is a mom who is pregnant with the globe and her poem is placed inside the sun that is shining all around.
Here’s her poem, “If you let me live”
Dear Mom
You knit me together,
so we can be a family forever.
I may kick, shout, and cry,
but I know you try.
Hopefully, I will be able to give you a big hug,
as we sit together on this rug.
All of this is possible,
If you just let me live.
Please let me live,
I will mean the world to you.
-Your child
Jesus gives us His Glory to advance His love story.
How will we live in God’s glory today?
Here’s three suggestions based on our three theme words this year: Celebrate, Remember, and Serve.
Celebrate you have received God’s glory. He’s given it to you by giving you life and giving His life to rescue you from the power of sin.
Remember we are in a battle between loving the glory of others and the glory of God. Ask yourself the question, “Whose glory am I seeking?”
Serve by advancing God’s love story. His generous gift of glory will bless those around you with unconditional love and truth. How will you use your time, talents, and treasures to advance God’s love story. Have you thought about reflecting God’s glory by celebrating, forgiving, laughing, listening, respecting, creating, helping, empowering?
What kind of picture will we live out this week for the glory of God?