Completing God s Work John 17 1 Jesus

Completing God’s Work

John 17: 1 Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, 2 as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him. 3 And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. 4 I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do.

Completing God’s Work • Glorification should be by action not by words – "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me" (Jn 4: 34) – “I have finished the work You have given Me to do“ • "I have finished" • He was perfect in doing His work and in carrying out the father’s will. • "It is finished" (Jn 19: 30)

Completing God’s Work • What do we do? – Can we say, "I have finished the work which You have given (Me) to do"? – Have we attained perfection in completing it? • We may say: – You started the work, O Lord, by Your grace, and I finished it. • "Without Me, you can do nothing" (Jn 15: 5) – You, O Lord, have finished this work yourself, but due to Your humbleness, You ascribed it to me. • He gave the Law and the Commandments, yet He always say, "the law of Moses" (Jn 7: 23) • His saints perform miracles but the power is His

Completing God’s Work • We may say: – The work You gave me to do, I took part with You in completing it. • "We are God’s fellow workers" (1 Cor. 3: 9) • "I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase" (1 Cor. 3: 6, 7) – The work You gave me to do, You finished it, and I was merely an instrument in Your hand. • "Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but to Your name give glory" (Ps. 115: 1). • It is God who starts, and finishes.

I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do.

What is the work? • Part of it relates to Yourself, that you may sanctify yourself to God. • The other part relates to others that you may lead them to God – "Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you" (1 Tim. 4: 16)

Your Responsibilities Towards Yourself • Joseph the Righteous: – "How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God" (Gen. 39: 9) – With regard to the service of others, Joseph was perfect, because he brought life to all people in his days. • His work as Minister of Supply in Egypt was given him by God, "to preserve life" (Gen. 45: 5). • He was also perfect in his work in Photiphar’s house, "and whatever he did, the Lord made it prosper" (Gen. 39: 23)

Your Responsibilities Towards Others • Your obligations towards your family: – Not only the social obligations, but the spiritual as well. – "You shall teach [God’s Laws] diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house" (Deut. 6: 7)

I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do.

Your Responsibilities Towards Others • "I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours. You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word" (Jn. 17: 6) • Have you also manifested God’s name to the people? • Do you feel ashamed sometimes of mentioning His name! – “I will speak of Your testimonies also before kings, and will not be ashamed. " (Ps. 119: 46). • In meetings we speak of many subjects on the society and its problems. Do we mention God?

David and Goliath • All people were speaking about that valiant champion, describing his height, his armor and weapons, his threats (1 Sam. 17). – No one mentioned God's name! • David manifested God's name: • "The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine" (1 Sam. 17: 37) • "You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts…This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you…that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel" (1 Sam. 17: 45, 46) • "Then all this assembly shall know that the Lord does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord's, and He will give you into our hands" (1 Sam. 17: 45 -47)

I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do.

How to Manifest God’s Name • We should manifest God's name to people in a way that makes them love Him. – "I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them" (Jn. 17: 26) – “I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me… and they have kept Your word"(Jn. 17: 6).

How to Manifest God’s Name • Who are those given by the Father? – Everyone You put in my way. – The twelve, My own whom I loved to the end (Jn. 13: 1) – the multitudes on the mountain, and the crowd – Zacchaeus the tax-collector who climbed up the sycamore tree (Lk. 19: 4), – Nicodemus who was afraid of the Jews (Jn. 3: 1, 2), – Martha who was worried and troubled about many things (Lk. 10: 41) – To all those I manifested Your name. • God has given you friends, colleagues, acquaintances, neighbors, and many others.

Beware of How You Manifest God’s Name • Beware lest your works cause People to blaspheme the good name – When you manifest God's name to the people but you are away from Him! – "The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you"(Rom. 2: 24). – God's name should be manifested by actions – "In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest"(Jn. 3: 10) – “I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ. ”(Gandhi)

How to Manifest God’s Name • Manifest God's name to all people everywhere – Not only in Jerusalem and all Judea, but also in Samaria and to the end of the earth (Acts 1: 8), as far as the Gentiles (Acts 22: 21). – "As you have testified for Me in Jerusalem, so you must also bear witness at Rome" (Acts 23: 11).

How to Manifest God’s Name • How many people have known God's name through you? – How many have loved God's name through you? – What is the fruit of your ministry? – How many people remember God's name when they remember their meeting with you, especially those who had no previous relationship with God? • “What do you know about Christ? ”

I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do.

Keeping Them in His name • "Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me" (Jn. 17: 11). • "I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish…and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand"(Jn. 10: 28, 29). – Do you do the same for those whom God gave you? – Do Follow up God's work in their lives ? – Do you pray for them? – Do you offer burnt offerings as Job the Righteous had used to do continually for his children? (Job 1: 5)

Completing God’s Work • Glorification is by action not by words • God is the one who works • The work pertains to our ministry: – To ourselves – To others • We should manifest God's name to people in a way that makes them love Him • We minister to all those given by the Father • We minister to all people everywhere • We must keep them in His Name

I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do.