Jesus in what has been called, His high priestly prayer in John17 asks the Father this: "Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved me before the foundation of the world."
That is a wonderful, awesome request made by Jesus Christ for Christians. That is the goal we have before us. That is where we are headed if we truly belong to God. To see the glory of Christ.
As I was reading this I noticed a process that God describes in the proceeding chapters of the gospel according to John in the 14th chapter primarily but also in the 15th chapter.
The first part of that process is spelled out in John 14:6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me." You must be in Christ, in order to know the way to the Father. You can not get to the Father in a saving way, unless you come to Him through the life, death, resurrection, ascension, and intercession of Jesus Christ. As a matter of fact, you do not even have a desire to come to Him, to follow Him, other than by the Person and Works of Christ being applied to you.
The next part of this process we see at John 14:15 "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments." Before this verse, Jesus talks about the works that He has done, saying that those who love Him will be able to do greater works. We have to remember Jesus is talking to His disciples, those who have every reason to not only love Him, but to adore Him. For us as well, to know what Jesus has done for us is to be brought to gratitude, love, adoration. The real reason for this is John 14:16 "I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever." It is the precious work of the Holy Spirit to turn our dead fallen hearts into a place that loves Jesus Christ. Another awesome fact being made here is that we have Him (the Holy Spirit) now and we will have Him always!!
Another step in the process is John 14:21 "He who has my commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him." Jesus is pointing us to a way to measure our Christian walk. This is not something new, it is as old as the Word of God, but it has been obscured in a lot of ways. The things that God ask us to do can't be done apart from His Spirit that He has given us. We know this well, especially when we try to accomplish God's work in our own strength. Obedience has always been the measure God looks at. Man has a tendency to soften God's requirement, and in the process, ends up serving an idol instead of the One True, Living God. We cannot alter God, God will always be God, the God of the Bible. When He draws near He is the same awesome God that He has always been. We must stop trying to change Him, to accommodate our corruption. For those who persist in following a Savior, who is not the Savior of the Bible will cause you to hear Jesus declare to them, "I never knew you; Depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness." (Matthew 7:23) That will be terror to those who hear it. It is the graciousness of Almighty God, that this warning has been presented for as long as the Word has been here. Just before that verse Jesus is speaking a warning about false prophets, who He calls ravenous wolves. and that you will know them by their fruit.
Which brings us to our final step in this process John 15:8 "My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples." One of the fruit we should be bearing is obedience, we will not have absolute perfect obedience on this side of glory, but we are on the wrong track if we use that as way out. Jesus says we should be seeking to prove that we are disciples of His. The biggest measure of this is our obedience, you are only going to serve the body of Christ out of your measure of obedience. If you have no regard for obedience, how can you truly serve Christ. You will only love your neighbor as yourself, out of the measure of your obedience. This is not saying that your obedience is what you are working for. You obey out of your love for Christ. Christ commands obedience, He always has and He always will. You love Christ out of the understanding that the Holy Spirit burns into your soul, of what Christ has done for you. You obey because you are growing in the knowledge of Him, we are not gaining anything for yourself, you are denying yourself. And more importantly, or most importantly, it brings glory to the Father!! That should be enough. Your obedience brings glory to Father.
Let us be on guard against teaching that does not stress obedience, obedience for the glory of the Father. There are many false prophets who have made an idol and are presenting that as Jesus, because its more attractive to man's fallen heart. The Jesus of the Bible commands obedience, and our proper position before Him, is one of awe and reverence. To treat Him in any other way may indicate that your Jesus is an idol and not the Holy One of God.
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"It must be our desire if we want to be disciples of Christ to fill our minds with such a great reverence for God and with such an unrestrained obedience that we may triumph over all contrary inclinations and submit to His plan." John Calvin
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