Christ's Purpose to Magnify God

Let's read in John chapter 17, please and John chapter 17 I know that this is a theme for the Bible reading tomorrow morning. I don't purpose to take anything away from it But I would like to just notice an expression that the Lord Jesus uses and Like to consider him and then I would like to make a practical application to our own lives as well So John chapter 17 and We'll read verse 3 John 17 and verse 3. The Lord Jesus is praying to God his father It says and this is eternal life That they might know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou sent. I Have glorified thee on earth.

I have finished the work which thou gave us me to do I Is just doing a brief survey of the gospel of John and there are many things that we could appreciate from this Unique gospel. We're not going to go into the details of of John itself But I would just like to notice a few thoughts maybe in contrast to the the gospel of Matthew What I like to consider from John is how the Lord Jesus the purpose of his life would be to magnify God or his father And I was thinking the contrast might be the gospel of Matthew Because in Matthew, it's Christ's greatness that could be put on display You read of the greatness of his person even in his genealogy the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David the son of Abraham a great genealogy and right from the very beginning of Matthew chapter 5 6 & 7 you see the the greatness of his Authority to teach and that is something that the people would remark at the greatness of his authority to speak and then you will see the greatness of his power in chapter 8 & 9 of Matthew and the many people that are healed by his power as Chapter 11 is summed up. What are the things that you see? Well, the lame are made to walk the lepers are cleansed even even the dead are raised up And absolutely, this is a display of the power of the Lord Jesus Even in casting out the demons as authority that he possesses.

I Don't have the answer for this, but this just notice this today. It's interesting. That's not found in in John's gospel is that the demon possessed men that are healed and the other Gospels are not found here The temptation of the Lord Jesus is not found here.

I'm not quite for sure the reason why anyway So what you see is the greatness of his compassion as a king and Then you will see the glimpses of the greatness of his kingdom through that gospel. What is being put on display in? Healing the sick and freeing people from from demonic power even feeding the multitudes twice over in Matthew It's just a very small glimpse of the greatness of his kingdom. That is to come But when we come over to the gospel of John This is my suggestion to you that really what is set out before us is a greatness of God The greatness of the father and of course this gospel is unique and that is what it sets out This awesome relationship between God the Father and God the Son God the Father and God the Son something that is very unique as The very word itself says God's only begotten Son is what we find here this relationship that is eternal between them and yet what we can appreciate that there is a son who honors his father a Son whose purpose as it were in life was to glorify his father now I'm not going to I I'm not going to say that you're wrong If this is your idea interpretation of this verse that we have read But when the Lord Jesus says the work that you have given me to do I have finished it Some people would say that is in anticipation of the cross and his work What I would suggest to you that what he is saying here is this the purpose his mission of life Until this point what had been fulfilled was making God known You notice what verse 3 says? This is eternal life that they might know God Not taking away from anything else as far as the work of the cross But I think that we all notice through the gospel as we go through a few other verses here What the purpose of the son was? It was to make the father known to a world that did not know him And of course, it's not taking away from the greatness of the purse of the Lord Jesus as he makes himself known for who he really is But the emphasis is this is that he is the one that has come from the father With a purpose of glorifying not himself, but glorifying the father This is what it says This is eternal life that they might know You and how is it that God was made known to mankind? Well, it was made known through the person of the Lord Jesus through the words that he said he spoke that is Emphasized in John's gospel and the works that he performed and the example that he sets with his action So to know God We think of this is to come to know To understand to perceive to have the knowledge of to be acquainted with You see God revealed himself in the Old Testament in many ways, but we would have to say in limited ways But God reveals himself in the fullness of his person and he's sending his son into this world The Bible says that in him dwells all the fullness of deity bodily So everything that God is could be put on display in this one person in this one man He is the image of God Hebrews tells us everything that God is The reason that he came was to make God known Without any shadow of doubt as to who God is or what God desires or what God's purposes for us Can be seen in the Lord Jesus and his purpose I would take it was to draw men to the father To draw men to the one that had sent him and very practically before I forget and hopefully I won't But as this applies to us, you see the awesome reality of John's gospel is this that God has a son But the very beginning the very first chapter also tells us is how you and I can become the children of God So if the purpose of God's unique son was to make God known in this world Is that not your purpose in mine as well to make God known to a world that does not know him And he could say when he came to the end of his public ministry and even his private ministry with his disciples.

I Finished the work that you gave me to do I Have made you known There is nothing that is any longer hidden that could not be known By looking at his person and listening to his words So we come back to the beginning of this book and I'm going to read a lot of verses. I won't have you turn to them But I just noticed last night in reading this twice over in the first two verses in the beginning was the word And the word was with God Repeated twice over that link between the father and the son Is there anyone that is better fitted or suited to make God known than the one who ever was with God? John 1 verse 14 says the word was made flesh and dwelt among us and we be tell his glory Glory as the only begotten of the father There is that link with this person and the father the only begotten of the father Full of grace and truth verse 18 then says no man has seen God at any time No one has ever been able to fully contemplate God for who he is. And yet the Bible says this The only begotten son which is in the bosom of the father.

He has declared him What does that mean well the word declared there is the very root word is exegesis That is drawing out of a text as a biblical exegesis is drawing out the meaning of a text. It is teaching What is a what is drawn out from the very the very interpretation of a passage? And that is what the Lord Jesus does for us He is the one that leads to a knowledge of God He is the one who has has shown the way the path as it were to declare him as to explain God The drought is to show the way it is to unfold it is to declare the purpose of mission of the Son In John's gospel, I'm suggesting to you was not the display of his greatness But to put on full display who God is in the greatness of God his father He is great. Yes.

Absolutely. John tells us that he is a creator of all things Nothing was created without the person of the Lord Jesus That's an awesome truth But John tells us says his purpose was to declare God To make God fully known to put God on display And we can appreciate the link just going through the gospel here very briefly chapter 3 Nicodemus comes He says we know that you are a teacher come from God For nobody can do these signs that you do unless God were with him So here very practically as far as the works of the Lord Jesus, we are going to see but for you and I as The children of God the people know that we have a link with God Is this something that has a mystery to people that years down the road after knowing someone they're gonna come and say I didn't Know that you were a Christian The purpose of our life is not to hide Christianity The purpose of our life should be to make others know we have a link with God that this is something that we enjoy is a knowledge of God and That it might be their purpose a desire to know the God that that we know So you come over to the end of the chapter and Will we emphasize here the words of the Lord Jesus and is this the end of chapter 3 it says The one who comes from above is above all the one who is from the earth is earthly and speaks in earthly terms The one who has come from heaven is above all speaking of the greatness of the Lord Jesus He testifies to what he has seen and heard Yet no one accepts his testimony The one who has accepted his testimony has affirmed that God is true To bring people to an understanding of who God is and to believe God as we're going to see is a purpose of the Lord Jesus he goes on to say verse 34 the one whom God sent speaks God's words So it isn't just simply he speaks good words That he is wise that he is intelligent No, it is the one that has been sent from God is the one that speaks God's words not his own words chapter 4 The Lord Jesus says this My meat is to do the will of him that sent me and to finish his work I would take it in the very context even of John chapter 4. He is fulfilling this mission What does he say to that woman who has come to draw water from the well that Samaritan woman Not only does he say give me to drink, but this is what he says He says if you knew the gift of God If you knew the gift that God desires to give you and who it is That is speaking to you. You would have asked of him living water and that of course would desire of the Lord Jesus to express to this woman that there is a God that longs to forgive That there is a God that longs to cleanse from the defilement of sin That there is a God that longs to give purpose and meaning to a person's life to know him And not only to know him but to worship him And this is what the Lord Jesus speaks to this woman that there is a God who saves a God who forgives And a God who is longing for the worship of those that he has redeemed In chapter 7 to make this point again, it is of course One of the feasts and the Lord Jesus brother earthly brother are speaking to him saying that he should go up Depart hence and go into Judea that thy disciples may see the works that thou doest For there is no man that doth anything in secret and he himself seeketh to be known openly If thou do these things show thyself to the world Make yourself great Make yourself a spectacle for everyone to see this was the thinking of his brethren But listen to what the Lord Jesus says, of course verse 5 his brother did not believe in him and Jesus Now about the midst of the feasts went up to the temple and taught and the Jews marveled saying How knoweth this man letters never having learned? Jesus answered them and said my doctrine is not mine But his that sent me if any man will do his will He shall know the doctrine whether it be of God or whether I speak of myself And he speaketh of him he that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory But he that seeketh his glory that sent him the same is true and no unrighteousness is in him In other words his earthly brothers say magnify yourself But he is found in the temple and he's teaching Not performing great signs and wonders that all might be convinced of the greatness of his person But speaking the Word of God the doctrine of the one that sent him with what purpose Not seeking his own glory.

He says but seeking the glory of the one that sent him chapter 14 verse 8 Philip says to him Lord Show us the father and it suffices us Jesus said unto him have I been so long with you and yet hast thou not known me Philip He that has seen me has seen the father How sayest thou then show us the father? Believe us thou not that I am in the father and the father in me the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself, but of the father that dwelleth in me. He doeth the works What was his mission? My meat is to do the will of him that sent me if you have seen me You have seen the father This is eternal life that they might know God Making God known through his words making God known through his works Making God known through his actions as we have read Who is the one that said for God so loved the world? That he gave his only begotten Son. It was the Lord Jesus It was God that loved it was God that sent Moreover, God did not send his son to the world to condemn the world The gift is of God if you knew the gift of God it is the father that seeketh such to worship him John chapter 5 says he that hears my words and believes God the purpose Bringing people to a knowledge of God an understanding of who God is Will create the greatest confidence as we've been hearing about faith You see when we speak of faith in God or in the Word of God We are putting our confidence in a person that cannot lie Not someone who is striving to deceive But someone who promises and able to fulfill what he has promised and the Lord Jesus says that's why I spoke this So that you might understand that it is true that you might put your confidence in the one who sent me Who hears my words and believes God that sent me? So the Lord Jesus in all the things that he does is giving glory to God Not the works not his works to magnify himself But works to glorify God and we can appreciate that even in sickness and in difficulties John chapter 9 you have the man that is born blind you have John chapter 11 Lazarus who is sick and ultimately dies And even the Lord Jesus is going to be magnified in both of these cases you notice what the Lord Jesus says He says this sickness is not unto death but for the glory of God that God might be glorified I Must have works.

I must work the works of him that sent me verse 40 again of chapter 11 Jesus said To one of the sisters if thou believest shouldest thou not see the glory of God. Is that not what I told you? And I appreciate John chapter 10 as well as the Lord Jesus speaks of himself as the door to the sheepfold as a good shepherd That chapter 10 verse 28 says I give unto them eternal life his sheep and they shall never perish Neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand, but I love what is added Listen to words of the Lord Jesus No man shall pluck them out of my hand my father which gave them me is Greater than all and no man is able to pluck them out of my father's hand the greatness of God in saving sinners and Keeping us and preserving us How thankful we are that salvation does not depend on us or anything that we do It depends wholly on the work of the Lord Jesus on the cross. He is the one that saves He is the one that keeps and if there's any doubt in the mind of anyone the Bible says there is a father's hand That keeps us safe that no one can pluck us from his hand So back to what began in John chapter 17.

This is eternal life That they might know thee to know God To know a God who is holy. Yes To know a God who is just yes to know a God who has loved Yes, all of this is put on display by the person of the Lord Jesus To bring men and women to an understanding of who God is and that they might glorify God by believing him So he comes to the end of his life as it were his public and private ministry. The cross is before him What he could say the mission was this to make God known and the person of the Lord Jesus who was sent He could say I have glorified thee on earth I have finished the work which thou gave us need to do and I suggest in that context What was his purpose his mission to that point? Was to make the father known And he could say I've been faithful And I have done it.

I have spoken the words. I have done the works. I Have made God known without any shadow or anything that has been left hidden undiscovered I Have finished the work which y'all gave us me to do if you like to turn over to first Peter I'll finish with this first Peter And we'll read in chapter 2 first Peter chapter 2 and we'll read at verse 9 Though the words here sons or children of God doesn't appear I think we can appreciate the teaching of Peter as the same first Peter chapter 2 verse 9 it says he are a chosen generation a royal priesthood and holy nation a peculiar people That you should show forth the praises the virtue the excellency of him The one who has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light Which in time past were not a people but are now People of God which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy Dearly beloved.

I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims abstain from fleshly lust which war against the soul Having your conversation your behavior honest among the Gentiles the unbelievers That whereas they might speak against you as evildoers That they may by your good works, which they shall behold glorify God in the day of visitation That is to consider our manner of living The way that we act the words that we say the things that we do To consider that this is this is an evidence of of the God that they know That that God might be glorified in these things For you and I as believers what an awesome challenge we have We did not have the awesome privilege of the Lord Jesus to ever have been with the father But through the Lord Jesus through the Word of God, we have come into a relationship with God In our purpose our desire our mission as it were could be simply this to make God known To our children to our families to our co-workers to the people that surround us Not making ourselves great Not that we might receive the praise of those that surround us, but that God himself might be magnified this makes me think of of Ephesians chapter 2 as something that is often spoken in the gospel, but Verse 10 is hardly ever reached. I'll just read it Ephesians chapter 2 And we'll begin at verse 8 Ephesians 2 verse 8 says for by grace. Are you saved through faith? Not not of yourselves.

It is the gift of God. It's not of works lest any man should boast For we are his Emphasis is his workmanship Created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them This book this chapter, of course is an awesome testimony to the fact that it is only the grace of God The love of God the mercy of God that is guilty dead sinners. We could ever be saved When it comes to salvation, we absolutely understand it cannot be any of our doing because we can do nothing We're utterly helpless We are lost.

We are far away from God, but we read those words, but God and God saves us by his grace by his undeserved favor his kindness toward us in the Lord Jesus and The hesitation is this to speak of works lest anyone be confused that we are saved or we are kept by our doing But the Bible is absolutely clear We are not saved by doing anything by working by any merit of ours. It is what God has done for us But you come to verse 10 and it tells us We are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works with this purpose with this end in mind and What might the purpose be? Well, we can borrow the words of Peter to make God known I have glorified thee on earth. How can you and I glorify God is by making God known? the greatness the excellency of God and who he is and Maybe I've said this before you'll forgive me I'm not What would you say a great connoisseur of art is something that I have seen once in a while great paintings maybe sculptures You know when you see these things you might wonder at all of the detail and you might wonder at how it as it were brings things to life a painting or a Sculpture, but when you admire those things, you're not so much admiring the work itself the canvas or the paint or the stone What you are appreciating is the ability of the artist to produce that And I trust that when people see our lives as People that were once dead in sin and far away from God That they can see people who are different from this ungodly world that they can see the things that we do the way that we act and the care and compassion that we display and lives that are holy or that are righteous and See our lives and magnify the one that has done this in us That it might be true in some small sense so we fail compared to the Lord Jesus as He comes to the end of his life.

He could say I have finished the work that you gave me to do I have magnified you I have made your name great. I Have put on display what you are and the greatness of who you are as a God of holiness It's a God of love as a God of redemption Wouldn't that be wonderful to come to the end of our lives and say I Finished the work that you have given me to do I have glorified you glorified your name