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Study:
John 13:31-38 [31]
So, when he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man is glorified,
and God is glorified in Him. [32] “If God is glorified in Him, God will
also glorify Him in Himself, and glorify Him immediately. [33] “Little
children, I shall be with you a little while longer. You will seek Me; and
as I said to the Jews, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come,’ so now I
say to you. [34] “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one
another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. [35] “By
this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one
another.” [36] Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, where are You going?” Jesus answered him, “Where I am going you cannot follow Me now, but you shall follow Me afterward.” [37] Peter said to Him, “Lord, why can I not follow You now? I will lay down my life for Your sake.” [38] Jesus answered him, “Will you lay down your life for My sake? Most assuredly, I say to you, the rooster shall not crow till you have denied Me three times. What are the facts of the passage?:
What do those facts mean?: (Verse
31) - Now
is the Son of Man glorified - Now is a time reference that
draws a line between what was before and what comes after. Now that Judas
is gone Jesus is free to communicate some things to the disciples that He
could not before. With the unfaithful gone and only the faithful present
Christ is now able to speak words of unqualified and unmasked love and
encouragement. Now
that the last human step is taken to secure the death of the Son of Man,
the glory to result from that death is assured. How is there glory in such
wickedness and horror you ask? In the horror and terrible expression of
human wickness that was the cross God wrought the securing of the
salvation of His people. In the greatest shame of man, God wrought His
greatest expression of grace and mercy! Nowhere do we see the full
character of God expressed more completely than in the cross! That is
glorious! (Verse
32) - If
God be glorified in Him... is a conditional statement wherein the
condition is implied as being surely met. He will surely be glorified by
Christ's obedience. Christ is He who brings ultimate glory to God. Really,
any glory we, as creatures, bring to God is a reflection and a result of
Christ's perfect and righteous obedience. That is certainly some thing to
think about. Any capacity we have to give glory to God we have because we
are redeemed. We are redeemed because of the imputation of our sin to
Christ and of Christ's righteousness to us. All glory that comes to God is
the result, directly or indirectly, of Christ's work. Glory
or glorify literally refers to the thinking of or the having
of an opinion. Thus it refers to praise or adoration given because of
one's opinion of the object of praise. This is what it is to glorify God.
It is to speak those things which cause another to give praise and worship
to God. Whether by word or deed, that which we say or do that causes
others to see and praise the character of God is glorifying to Him. It is in the past tense and points to the sovereign will of God in the death of Christ. As we mentioned earlier, all glory that comes to God comes to Him because of the work of Christ. That glory was secured and sure from eternity past. The decree of God is the power behind all of these things. It is His plan and his purpose that is served by Christ and by all men. How do those facts apply to my life?: The idea of glorifying God by means of the words and actions we put forth with the intent of moving others to know and worship God is powerful. All that we say and do must be aimed at achieving this goal. What should I do in response?: |
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