"The Believers' Ultimate Destiny"(John 17:24-26)

John 17:24-26

John 17 is known as the High Priestly Prayer or the final prayer of Jesus. Although it is not the prayer of Jesus in Gethsemane, this final prayer of Jesus is for His disciples and believers of Jesus. There are six parts of the High Priestly Prayer and the sixth part is what this sermon will be focusing on.

The six parts of the High Priestly Prayer are divided as listed below.

 

1.       Prayer for the Glory of the Son (v. 1-5)

2.       Reason for Praying for His disciples (v. 6-11a)

3.       Prayer that the disciples be protected from the evil one (v. 11b- 16)

4.       Prayer that the disciples be made holy (v. 17-19)

5.       Prayer for the unity of believers (v. 20-23)

6.       Prayer for the beliers' ultimate destiny (v. 24-26)

 

The believers’ ultimate destiny begins in vs 24. Here we read that Jesus wants us to be with him. This should also be our number one goal as believers. Paul repeats this in 2 Corinthians.

 So, we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.
2 Corinthians 5:6-8 ESV

Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works.  Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.
John 14:10-11 ESV

But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.
Philippians 3:20-21 ESV

 Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.
1 Corinthians 15:51-52 ESV
 
Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.
1 John 3:2 ESV

 O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me.  I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”
John 17:25-26 ESV

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
John 1:1 ESV

 so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God,
Colossians 1:10 ESV

The world's definition of success is typically the opposite of heavenly success. Moreover, the pursuit of worldly success is counter to our heavenly pursuits.

Jesus says that he wants us with him in the present tense. In spiritual terms this makes sense although in the physical sense it might not. In fact, Jesus tells us several times that Jesus is united with the Father who is in in Heaven.

 This is another part of the ultimate destiny of what Jesus wants for us. He wants us to be in the Father who is in Heaven just like Jesus is.

 One more aspect of our ultimate destiny is that Jesus wants us to see His full glory that we may be like Jesus. This is not vanity on Jesus part, but it is rather a necessity that allows us to see and obtain the goal that only Jesus’ glory can reveal.

 The journey of glory has a few steps which are all connected with each other. They are also all necessary to complete the journey of God. Very simply the steps are these.

 

1.       Love of God → glory of God

2.       Word of God → knowledge of God

3.       Knowledge of God → Love of God

 One of the important steps in the journey of glory of God is to Love God. Jesus allows us to love God in a true and complete manner. However, to love God, we need to know God first.

 Jesus allowed His disciples to know God. Through Jesus’s words and actions, he revealed the father to His disciples. In fact, Jesus was the Word. This is why only Jesus could give a complete, honest and comprehensible knowledge of God to us and His disciples.

 

  This knowledge of God will allow us to love our God. Without this knowledge, we cannot truly please God with our efforts. We also will not be able to produce the fruits from good works that God desires from us.

 For us believers, we need to have the word of God or to know Jesus. When we know Jesus, we can understand the knowledge of God. That understanding of God transforms us, so we have the love of God in our lives. It is only when we have the love of God in us that we finally do those good works that bring about glory of God. To put it more simply:

 Word of God → Knowledge of God → Love of God → Glory of God

1 Be the Centre

2 What A Friend We Have In Jesus

3 Amazing Grace (My chains are gone)

4 Wonderful, Merciful Savior