Ø That They May Be One as We Are
Ø That None Should Perish
John 12, Part 7, conclusion of Chapter 12
This lesson is focused on the last
paragraph of this loaded chapter which sings the heartbeat of the Savior. I
pray you hear The “tick, tick, tick” of God’s
Heart:
Before
we dive in let me lay a foundation with a couple of verses that help in fully
appreciating this paragraph. Notice the thread of the word “Truth” in the
following verses. Holy Spirit testifies and guides us to the One Who is the
Truth. See beyond the unity, to the oneness of our Triune God. Then,
as we dig into the end of John 12, notice God’s intent accomplishes John 3:16
through His people growing in oneness with Him, the restoration of the oneness Adam had with the Father before the fall.
John 14:6 Jesus
said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father
except through Me. [NLT]
John 15:26 But I
will send you the Advocate—the Spirit of truth. He will come to you from the
Father and will testify all about me. [NLT]
John 16:13 When
the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak
on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the
future.
To
the carnal finite brain, and certainly to the people Jesus was talking to, the
following two verses make little to no sense. It’s not until five chapters
later that Jesus makes it totally plain,
John
12: 44 Then
Jesus cried out and said, “He who believes in Me, believes not in Me but in Him
who sent Me.
45 And he who sees Me sees Him who sent Me.
John 17:11 Now I
am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy
Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are.
Being
one with someone, indeed one with God, is different than being in unity or “on
the same page,” or in total intellectual agreement. Marriage is the Biblical
example:
Genesis 2:24 Therefore
shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife:
and they shall be one flesh. [KJV]
Mark 10:8 And
the husband and wife will be joined as one flesh, and after that they no longer
exist as two, but one flesh. (TPT)
this “becoming one” process. We’re much closer now than in years past but certainly we’ve not arrived. I can’t say, after these many years, that if you know me you know my wife. “Knowing about someone” is very different than being one with that person. Knowing a lot about God is not knowing Him like Jesus knows the Father. If we were Jesus and look at His church, in the light of the cry of His heart shown in John 17:11, we might be frustrated. Thankfully, we’re not Jesus and He’s not frustrated with us.
Understanding
the oneness Jesus has with the Father should provoke us to get closer to Him. In doing so, we experience
His love in ever deepening proportions. With that experience we look at the
people we encounter and see the gap between so many and the Father. We are
commissioned to do something about this.
John
12:45 And he who sees Me sees Him who sent Me.
Matt.
28:18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All
authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.
19 Go
therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name
of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20 teaching them to observe all things that I
have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
Amen.
Growing
in oneness with the Father helps us to get to where people see Jesus in us more
and more We get more in sync with the His heartbeat and that love of His just
pours from us in a way that will attract some and, sadly, bother others.
John 12: 46 I have
come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in
darkness.
Matthew 5:14 “You
are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.
Paul
exhorts us:
Philippians
2:14 Do all things without complaining
and disputing,
15 that
you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the
midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, (“tick, tick, tick”)
16 holding fast the word of life…
We
should also find important application and encouragement in these verses in the
day we live in here in the US. When we look at the socialist takeover of our
national government, we see gross darkness casting a shadow of fear and
intimidation. Thank God we don’t abide in that darkness but we show the light
of the Gospel. No matter what the wicked ones try to say or do, God’s light and
love should always shine through us, His Church:
John
8:36 Therefore if the Son makes you
free, you shall be free indeed.
2 Corinthians
4:6 For it is the God who commanded
light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light
of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
The
rest of the verses should encourage anyone who is sharing the Gospel, or
praying for individuals to come to Christ but they reject everything you say.
Never take that rejection personally.
John
12:47 And if anyone hears My words and does not
believe, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save
the world.
48 He who
rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him—the word
that I have spoken will judge him in the last day.
49 For I have
not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a
command, what I should say and what I should speak
The
Father has sent you and Holy Spirit guides you what to speak. They are not
rejecting you, only what you said and Him who sent you. Therefore:
- * Keep praying and never give up hope for their salvation.
- * Keep sowing seed, keep loving people with the love the Father has loved you,
- * Keep making disciples of those who receive Him.
- * Follow the example of the next verse:
John 12:50 And I
know that His command is everlasting life. Therefore, whatever I speak,
just as the Father has told Me, so I speak.”
Conclusion:
(“tick,
tick, tick”)
Prayer:
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