(#1563) Day 9. I Will Seek To Bring Glory To God (23/9/26)
Welcome to this Come to Jesus Daily Devotional (currently posted on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday) as we continue our 9-week series: Fresh Vision From Jesus' High Priestly Prayer from John 17.
To watch this devotional, go to:
Please read John 17:1-5
1. Jesus Is Worthy Of Our Worship
Notice the way Jesus prays for His own glory alongside the glory of the Father. This is extraordinary and points to His deity and equality with God.
Jesus prays:
‘“Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you.”’ (John 17:1)
He also prays:
‘’And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.”’ (John 17:5)
The word translated “glorify” is the Greek doxazō. It means to glorify, honour, praise and magnify. It carries the idea of God's glory being revealed and recognised.
Firstly, then, let’s recognise that Jesus is worthy of our worship because He is God - and He calls us to worship Him.
C. S. Lewis famously challenged the idea that Jesus can simply be regarded as a great moral teacher:
“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronising nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.” (C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity)
If Jesus is truly God, then He is worthy of our worship and our submission. We are not simply called to admire Him as a great teacher; we are called to fall at His feet and call Him Lord.
2. Through the Cross, Jesus And The Father Are Glorified
Jesus asks that the Father would glorify Him, and that, through this glory, the Father would also be glorified.
He is not asking to be glorified through earthly success, popularity, wealth, or power. The ‘hour’ has come - the hour of His suffering and death.
The cross displays the glory of Jesus and the Father in at least four ways:
i. Worth - The cross reveals Jesus’ glory through His Love And Obedience
Jesus’ glory is reveal by his going to the cross in complete obedience to the Father's will. His willingness to obey and suffer demonstrates His love for the Father, and the worth of the Father.
Jesus' obedience also reveals the Father's worth: the Father is so worthy of love and obedience that the Son willingly gives Himself in complete submission to Him.
And this is why Jesus can say:
‘“I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do.”’ (John 17:4)
The worth of God is revealed when His people love Him, trust Him and obey Him - even when obedience is costly.
ii. Love - The Cross Reveals the Glory of His Love for the World
Jesus' glory is also revealed through His love. He willingly gives Himself for sinful and undeserving people. The cross reveals a love that reaches even those who have rebelled against God.
And through this self-giving love, the glory of the Father is also revealed. We know that:
‘“God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son”’ (John 3:16).
The Father sent the Son, and the Son willingly gave Himself.
At the cross, we see the glorious love of both the Father and the Son.
iii. Victory - The Cross Reveals the Glory of Jesus' Victory
The cross is not Jesus' defeat. Through His death and resurrection, He defeats sin and death and is exalted in victory.
Jesus' victory over sin also brings glory to the Father because it reveals God's wisdom and saving power. As Jesus said:
‘For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.’ (John 3:17)
The cross reveals that God's wisdom and power are greater than sin, death and every power that opposes Him.
iv. Salvation - The Cross Brings Jesus Glory Through Those Who Become His Worshippers
Finally, the cross brings Jesus glory as people from every nation are rescued, forgiven and brought into relationship with God.
Those who are saved become worshippers of Jesus. His glory is displayed as people see who He is and respond with faith, love and worship.
And this also brings glory to the Father, because those who come to Jesus are brought into relationship with the Father.
So, through the cross, the glorious worth, love, victory and salvation of God are revealed.
3. A Pattern for Our Lives
In all of this, Jesus gives us a pattern for our own lives.
Like Jesus, our lives are to bring glory to God. We are to pray for this. We are to reveal something of His worth, His love, His victory and His saving grace.
We are to pray:
“Father, be glorified in my life.”
This means that our desire for God's glory must become greater than our desire for our own glory.
Moment To Reflect
Through the cross, the glorious worth, love, victory and salvation of God are revealed.
Is your obedience to God bringing Him glory?
Is your love imitating the grace-filled love of God?
Are you sharing the gospel of God’s victory and salvation with others?
Are all aspects of your life - private and public - bringing glory to God?
Download the booklet
Below is the link to download the devotional booklet: Fresh Vision From Jesus Prayer. This is a series of 27 devotionals based upon Jesus' High Priestly Prayer in John 17.
This year we celebrate the 150th anniversary of the founding of CCP; to watch our anniversary video, please select the link below:
Community Group Study
1. Notices
It might be good to begin with notices. Please share from this week’s Church News.
2. Icebreaker
You might want to use the icebreaker: How has God been speaking to you from His Word recently, and how has this helped you?
3. Worship together
Let’s begin our time together by lifting our eyes and hearts to worship our great God. Perhaps you have readings and songs that you would like to use together. Let’s be open to the gifts that the Spirit wants to give in order to encourage one another.
4. Study and pray together
Balanced Time Allocation - Please ensure a balanced focus on discussion, SIV (Serve, Invest, and Invite), and prayer so that each section is meaningful and fruitful.
On Sunday, we continued our series, Fresh Vision From Jesus’ Prayer, reflecting on God’s vision for our lives and the church through Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer in John 17.
As we spend a final week focusing on the ‘myself’ aspect of our vision we will reflect on the importance of our personal relationship with God based on Jesus’ relationship to the Father.
As we ask the question - ‘Where is my heart?’ we will consider whether our hearts are near or far from the Father.
If we desire to have hearts nearer to Him, will we surrender those things that are getting in the way of our hearts being near to Him?
Read John 17:1–5 together and discuss:
What spoke to, challenged or inspired you from Sunday’s message?
Has anything from the series of devotions particularly encouraged or helped you? If so, what could you share with the group?
On Sunday, we reflected on how, like Jesus, we need a vision of what it means to live as a child of God. How does this understanding of who we are transform the way we live?
As you reflect on Jesus’ prayer in John 17 - as well as what we read of His earthly life in the gospels - how would you describe Jesus’ relationship with God the Father?
Please read James 4:8. and discuss:
What are some examples of things that are impacted by being near something else (e.g. a person standing next to a fan, in the heat of summer vs someone who is far away from the fan)?
Describe the ways a person’s life can be impacted by purposely drawing near to God or by neglecting a close relationship with God (i.e. being ‘far’ from Him).
Where is your heart today? Take some time to consider this question personally. You can either share and discuss this together or take some time to quietly reflect on this.
Let’s pray together:
In our prayers together, we continue with the same themes as last week:
For our new series: Pray that God uses Fresh Vision From Jesus’ Prayer to inspire, refresh, and re-envision us as a church.
For Serendipity: Pray for Graeme, the team, and the relaunch in its new format. Ask God to raise up more volunteers from within the church family.
For students: Pray for the young people in our church and community who are heading off to university.
Let’s also pray for one another based on our study, and bring before God any other needs or requests for prayer.
SIV:
Have you had any recent opportunities to Serve, Invest in, or Invite someone toward Jesus? Let’s encourage one another by sharing testimonies of God at work through us.
Pray for the ‘people of peace’ in our lives, asking God to open their hearts and give us the Love and boldness to share His love as He opens opportunities.
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