Gospel of John [17:1-3]. The Lord's priestly prayer; part 3. Joh 6:39; 1Jo 1:1-3; 2:1-6; 5:10-12, 20-21.

 

Title: Gospel of John [17:1-3]. The Lord's priestly prayer; part 3. JOH 6:39; 1JO 1:1-3; 2:1-6; 5:10-12, 20-21.

 

JOH 17:1 These things Jesus spoke; and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, "Father, the hour has come; glorify Thy Son, that the Son may glorify Thee,

 

JOH 17:2 even as Thou gavest Him authority over all mankind, that to all whom Thou hast given Him, He may give eternal life.

 

His acceptance of the cross is an exercise of that authority which the Father has given Him over all mankind.

 

JOH 19:19

 And Pilate wrote an inscription also, and put it on the cross. And it was written, "JESUS THE NAZARENE, THE KING OF THE JEWS."

 

Though written by order of Pilate, it is still true that His kingship is proclaimed in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek. By accepting the kingship of mankind, through the cross, He will bless mankind with eternal life.

 

This authority is the result of complete and total victory. All opposition has been destroyed. History must be finally played out but that has no effect on the victory.

 

Eternal life is offered to mankind through Him just as death was given to mankind through Adam, but the ones that the Father has given Him are those who have believed in Him.

 

JOH 6:37 "All that the Father gives Me shall come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out.

 

JOH 6:38 "For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.

 

JOH 6:39 "And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day.

 

JOH 6:40 "For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him, may have eternal life; and I Myself will raise him up on the last day."

 

Believer's are raised up because the justice of the Father is satisfied [propitiation] with the sacrifice of the Son on their behalf.

 

ISA 53:11

As a result of the anguish of His soul,

He will see it and be satisfied;

By His knowledge the Righteous One,

My Servant, will justify the many,

As He will bear their iniquities.

 

JOH 17:1 These things Jesus spoke; and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, "Father, the hour has come; glorify Thy Son, that the Son may glorify Thee,

 

JOH 17:2 even as Thou gavest Him authority over all mankind, that to all whom Thou hast given Him, He may give eternal life.

 

We are accustomed to think only in terms of Christ being given as a gift to us when we often don't recognize that we are also a gift to Him.

 

Notice how often He states this:

 

JOH 17:6 "I manifested Thy name to the men whom Thou gavest Me out of the world; Thine they were, and Thou gavest them to Me, and they have kept Thy word.

 

JOH 17:9 "I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom Thou hast given Me; for they are Thine;

 

JOH 17:11 And I am no more in the world; and yet they themselves are in the world, and I come to Thee. Holy Father, keep them in Thy name, the name which Thou hast given Me, that they may be one, even as We are.

 

JOH 17:12 "While I was with them, I was keeping them in Thy name which Thou hast given Me; and I guarded them, and not one of them perished but the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.

 

JOH 17:24 "Father, I desire that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am, in order that they may behold My glory, which Thou hast given Me; for Thou didst love Me before the foundation of the world.

 

JOH 17:3 "And this is eternal life, that they may know Thee, the only true God [as opposed to all false gods], and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent.

 

This is the one place where eternal life is defined more precisely.

 

Eternal life consists in the opportunity for the knowledge of God, which is embodied in the Revealer of the Father, the Son. The experience of eternal life in time is not just an intellectual knowledge but a personal relationship.

 

The Greek word used for "may know" is ginosko and it means more than a speculative acquaintance with the character and perfections of God. Just because you've memorized the 10 essences of God does not mean you know Him. Ginosko means to come to know, to recognize, and to understand.

 

1JO 1:1 What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we beheld and our hands handled, concerning the Word of Life — 

 

1JO 1:2 and the life was manifested, and we have seen and bear witness and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us — 

 

1JO 1:3 what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, that you also may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.

 

To know Him is to love Him, revere Him, obey Him, honor Him, and to have tremendous gratitude towards Him.

 

1JO 2:1 My little children, I am writing these things to you that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous;

 

1JO 2:2 and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.

 

1JO 2:3 And by this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments.

 

1JO 2:4 The one who says, "I have come to know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him;

 

1JO 2:5 but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him:

 

1JO 2:6 the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.

 

Eternal life as given and revealed to mankind is embodied in the Person of Christ.

 

1JO 5:10 The one who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself; the one who does not believe God has made Him a liar [salvation is in no other name], because he has not believed in the witness that God has borne concerning His Son.

 

1JO 5:11 And the witness is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.

 

1JO 5:12 He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.

 

1JO 5:20 And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding, in order that we might know Him who is true, and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.

 

1JO 5:21 Little children, guard yourselves from idols [worship only Him].

 

Hence, the last line of the book shows us the extreme danger of not knowing the one true God. Without that knowledge we will worship idols - wealth, power, approbation, social life, romanticism, materialism, intellectualism, etc.

 

Christ emphasized this in verse 3:

 

JOH 17:3

"And this is eternal life, that they may know Thee, the only true God [as opposed to all false gods], and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent.

 

To know Christ is far more than to know of Him. It is to know His person and work but also to know His suffering and glory as an experience in our own lives.

 

To know Him is to submit to the will of the Father as He did. He has given us a life to live that is His life and by living His life we come to fully know Him.

 

In this verse is contained the sum and essence of the Christian way, as it is distinguished from all the schemes of idolatry and philosophy, and all the false plans on which men have sought to obtain eternal life. The Gentiles worshipped many gods; the Christian worships one-the living and the true God; the Jew, the Deist, the Muslim, the Socinian, profess to acknowledge one God, without any atoning sacrifice and Mediator; the true Christian approaches him through the great Mediator, equal with the Father, who for us became incarnate, and died that he might reconcile us to God.

 

Eternal life is more than "outside of time" but it is a way of life that is only in Christ. "I am the way, the truth, and the life."