And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.

John 17:3

Christ defines what eternal life is.  In His High Priestly Prayer, which He uttered on the night before He went to the cross, He makes the simple statement, ‘and this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.’  What is it to ‘know’ God?  We can know God as He has revealed Himself.  He has revealed Himself in creation, and more specifically in the Scripture.  This brings us to Christ, Who is the Living Word, of which the written Word speaks.  Thus Christ’s statement, ‘search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life, and they are they which testify of Me,’ becomes critically important.  Christ was referring the Jews, who were scholars of the Old Testament to the documents about which they were subject matter experts, and was saying to them, ‘Those Scriptures are where you will read of Me.’  Therefore, eternal life consists in the knowledge of God the Father, ‘the only true God,’ and the knowledge of Christ.  This knowledge comes by the Scripture as it reveals Christ to us.  If we would know God, we must at all costs, know Christ.  We continue to examine the Scripture with the intention of learning what it will teach us of Christ, Who is the one Mediator between God and man.  This is eternal life.

Our Glorious Living God,
we rejoice that we may know You,
the fountain of all true knowledge.
We praise You that Christ
guarantees our entrance into Your Presence,
by the redemptive work which He has accomplished.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.

John 17:3

Christ defines what eternal life is.  In His High Priestly Prayer, which He uttered on the night before He went to the cross, He makes the simple statement, ‘and this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.’  What is it to ‘know’ God?  We can know God as He has revealed Himself.  He has revealed Himself in creation, and more specifically in the Scripture.  This brings us to Christ, Who is the Living Word, of which the written Word speaks.  Thus Christ’s statement, ‘search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life, and they are they which testify of Me,’ becomes critically important.  Christ was referring the Jews, who were scholars of the Old Testament to the documents about which they were subject matter experts, and was saying to them, ‘Those Scriptures are where you will read of Me.’  Therefore, eternal life consists in the knowledge of God the Father, ‘the only true God,’ and the knowledge of Christ.  This knowledge comes by the Scripture as it reveals Christ to us.  If we would know God, we must at all costs, know Christ.  We continue to examine the Scripture with the intention of learning what it will teach us of Christ, Who is the one Mediator between God and man.  This is eternal life.

Our Glorious Living God,
we rejoice that we may know You,
the fountain of all true knowledge.
We praise You that Christ
guarantees our entrance into Your Presence,
by the redemptive work which He has accomplished.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

‘Except’

While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name: those that You gave me I have kept, and none of them is lost, except the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.

John 17:12

What are we to make of the relationship of Christ and Judas Iscariot?  We must consider that as Christ was praying, He made reference to the fact that He had ‘kept’ all of the disciples ‘except the son of perdition,’ (or destruction).  Where can we begin in our consideration of this relationship?  Here is what we know.  All of us, as the sons and daughters of Adam’s fallen race are sinners by nature and by choice.  Out of that mass of humanity, descending to hell, God saves some.  There is a good argument to be made for the idea that He saves more than are lost, ‘that in all things He might have the preeminence.’  Having said that, the Scripture makes it clear that not all are saved.  The question becomes, if they will not be saved should they hear the gospel?  According to Christ and His actions, they should.  It was Christ Who declared the Gospel in Genesis 3:15 to Satan.  The first and simplest articulation of the Gospel message was to someone who would never repent.  So also, Christ spared no effort to treat Judas Iscariot as He did all the other disciples.  How this fits into the plan and purpose of God is difficult to derive.  The fact is, it pleases God to do so.  As we consider our own circumstances, let us rejoice that the Gospel has taken root in our hearts, and that ‘salvation is of the Lord.’  We do not always understand why God does as He does.  We do know that He does all things well.  In order for us to achieve a fuller understanding, we must wait until Christ makes all things plain.

Our Holy and Wise God,
we want to understand Your ways,
We rejoice that by the power of the Holy Spirit,
You will give us wisdom in due course of time.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

‘That They May Be One’

And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee.  Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.

John 17:11

Christ is both a Unifier and a Divider.  On the one hand He said,  ‘Think not that I am come to send peace on earth:  I came not to send peace, but a sword.  For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.  And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household.’  On the other hand, this is not the effect which He has upon everyone.  For those who receive Him, there is a unity which transcends blood relation.  This is a spiritual unity which the members of the Body of Christ enjoy.  At the point at which Christ prayed His High Priestly Prayer, He was mindful of the importance of the intervention of God, His Father, in order that this unity might become a practical reality.  To that purpose, He prayed the words of our text for today, ‘That they may be one as We are.’  Because Christ is Our Head and we are His Body, this unity for which He prays will ultimately come to pass.  God the Father always answers the prayers of His Well-Beloved Son.  The realization of this unity of believers is something which only comes in time.  For the people of God to have this unity, the Holy Spirit must do His work to take the things of Christ and show them unto us.  He must consistently sanctify us through the truth of His Word.  As He draws us nearer to Christ by those invisible spiritual threads, He draws us closer to one another.  So we begin to approach that complete unity for which Christ prays; ‘that they may be one as we are.’

Our Great God and our Savior,
We rejoice at the grand unity which exists among You,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
We praise You that You will unite all Your people,
in time, that we may be One, as You are.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning