Trinity Series - Sermon # 10

If you have not been following this series, please go to the post for January 22 where an explanation of the format is given. Happy studying!

All of God:
Exploring the Mystery of the Trinity
Love and Unity in the Body – Applications from the Trinity
John 17:1-26

This past Thursday was the National Day of Prayer. It is a shame that I am mentioning this today instead of last Sunday. I was remiss in not encouraging you to participate in the event, whether in Angier, Dunn, Lillington, Fuquay, or Raleigh. I was actually a participant in the program at Fuquay-Varina on Thursday. I was asked to pray for the church, which I was very glad to do. I have never heard so much about Jesus in one hour as I did at the event in Fuquay on Thursday. Apart from standing and sitting in the direct sun for an hour and a half without having applied any sunscreen, it was a great day and a real encouragement to me!

As I prepared for the two minutes I was allotted to pray for the church, I did so with an audience in mind. It was my desire to instruct those who were listening as well as to bring my petition to the Lord. Does that seem strange to you? Sometimes we hear people say things like, “Prayer is simply a conversation with God.” That’s true – but, that’s not all there is to prayer. There are all kinds of prayers – private prayers, small group prayers among believers or non-believers, large group prayers led by an individual in front of secular, religious, or church groups. During prayer we can worship, we may confess, we bring our requests to the Lord, and always we should give thanks to our Creator and Redeemer. Anyone can pray at any level, but not all prayers are exactly alike.

We are going to look at an extremely important prayer in Scripture today – Jesus’ prayer in the garden on the night He was arrested, recorded in John 17. When we read this prayer in a moment, you will think it quite different from the other words Jesus spoke on this same occasion when He passionately asked the Father to allow the cup of suffering that was before Him to pass. In John 17, as we will read, Jesus will consecrate Himself in preparation for the cross. Is this a contradiction? Absolutely not! It is no surprise that Jesus was both resolute and horrified as He considered the burden of taking the whole world’s sin upon Himself! But, that’s another topic for another day. Today we will begin to make application to this long study that we have pursued about the mystery of the Trinity. We will continue to see how the Trinity matters in our everyday lives over the next few weeks.

Clearly, we would not have time to exhaust the truth in John 17 – truth that was given to us in Jesus’ prayer, a case where He taught doctrine as well as communed with His Father. Since our focus is on the Trinity, please look for references to the oneness of the Father and the Son and consider how that makes a difference in our relationship with God and in our relationships with one another. Also, you will notice, when we begin to read, that the first words of chapter 17 are “When Jesus had spoken these words, He lifted up His eyes to heaven” – and, then He began His prayer. What words had Jesus just spoken? The words that we have read so often these last few months, as we have learned about Father, Son, and Spirit, that are recorded in John 14-16 when Jesus taught His disciples about their relationship with the Triune God in His last major time of instruction with them. Even though John 17 does not bring the Holy Spirit into this relationship, we know, based on our understanding of Scripture, the Spirit was facilitating, and intimately involved in, this prayer. So, as you stand for the reading of the Word, please look for teaching about the Trinity in our text. John 17:

1 When Jesus had spoken these words, He lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son that the Son may glorify You,
2 since You have given Him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom You have given Him.
3 And this is eternal life, that they know You the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.
4 I glorified You on earth, having accomplished the work that You gave me to do.
5 And now, Father, glorify Me in Your own presence with the glory that I had with You before the world existed.
6 I have manifested Your name to the people whom You gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word.
7 Now they know that everything that You have given Me is from You.
8 For I have given them the words that You gave Me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from You; and they have believed that You sent Me.
9 I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours.
10 All mine are Yours, and Yours are mine, and I am glorified in them.
11 And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name, which You have given Me, that they may be one, even as we are one.
12 While I was with them, I kept them in Your name, which You have given Me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that Scripture might be fulfilled.
13 But now I am coming to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves.
14 I have given them Your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.
15 I do not ask that You take them out of world, but that You keep them from the evil one.
16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.
17 Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.
18 As You sent Me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.
19 And for their sake I consecrate Myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.
20 I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word,
21 that they may all be one, just as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that You have sent Me.
22 The glory that You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one even as We are one,
23 I in them and You in Me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that You sent Me and loved them even as You loved Me.
24 Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, may be with Me where I am, to see My glory that You have given Me because You loved Me before the foundation of the world.
25 O righteous Father, even though the world does not know You, I know You, and these know that You have sent Me.
26 I made known to them Your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which You have loved Me may be in them, and I in them.”

“I want, I want, I want!”

“I’m sorry, Justin, I am sorry Nicole – candy will ruin your dinner.” “I want, I want, I want!”

“I said, No.”

“You’re mean! I want, I want, I want!”

“Well, just a little piece – I want you to eat your dinner!”

That kind of scene occurs far too often in our day. And, even though many of us would be appalled when we observe it, or something similar, almost all of us are affected by the spirit of the age. It also subtly influences the way we think about God. For instance, when you think about Jesus praying for the Father to spare Him from the cross, how does that play out in your mind? Do you think of the Father as mean, or at the very least, stern, severely so? Maybe some of you think of His heart breaking as He says, “No, Jesus – I am so sorry, but this is the only way,” but I imagine that many would picture the Father replying, “I said No – don’t ask again!”

If so, it is a classic example of this world shaping our thoughts about God. Instead, we need to allow the truth about who God is to determine and direct our hearts, minds, and actions. Let’s put it into perspective. When your child is threatened, in any way, how do you feel? Afraid, angry, defensive, deeply hurt – the range of emotions. And we are imperfect parents. Our heavenly Father is perfect. And He loves the Son with a perfect love – He always has and His love did not change one bit when Jesus sought another way for the redemption of men and women other than bearing our sins on the cross. Can you imagine the agony of the Father when the Son asked, “Please, let this cup pass from Me?”

No wonder Scripture speaks so much about the Father’s love in sending the Son to die for our sins! And, it is why when we face pain and loss in this world, our best response is to look to the cross. I believe it was John Stott who said, “I could not live in this world of suffering and believe in God apart from the reality of the cross.” In other words, God understands our pain because He endured pain at a much higher level than He ever calls us to endure. “But,” you say, “that agony was temporary and had a very short end in sight – 3 days.” Two responses to that: 1) if, on the cross, the Father poured out and the Son endured the wrath of God that was equal to an eternity of hell for us, there is a dynamic that is so far beyond our comprehension that we should be quiet; and 2) for those who belong to Jesus, our struggles are also temporary. Heaven is our ultimate reality.

Let’s think about the love within the Trinity. Look at verses 22-24:

22 The glory that You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one even as We are one,
23 I in them and You in Me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that You sent Me and loved them even as You loved Me.
24 Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, may be with Me where I am, to see My glory that You have given Me because You loved Me before the foundation of the world.

From eternity past, the Father loved the Son and the Spirit, the Son
loved the Father and the Spirit, and the Spirit loved the Father and
the Son. Some have said that it was necessary for God to create men
and women in order to be able to love. But, the love that existed in the Trinity was the foundation for His love for us. In the portion of Jesus’ prayer that we have just considered, we see order – the Father loved Jesus; now Jesus wants His followers to know the Father’s love that He has known since before the foundation of the world.

C. S. Lewis addressed this question in Mere Christianity. Quote: “All sorts of people are fond of repeating the Christian statement that ‘God is love.’ But they seem not to notice that the words ‘God is love’ have no real meaning unless God contains at least two Persons. Love is something that one person has for another person. If God was a single person, then before the world was made, He was not love.”

But, of course, we have just read that God loved the Son before the foundation of the world. There is much more support for this truth throughout the New Testament, as there is support for the truth that there is complete unity within the Trinity. In verses 22-23, Jesus asks the Father to bring unity, perfect unity, within the ranks of His followers, and once again, the request is based on the perfect unity that already existed within the Trinity.

Next Sunday morning we will talk about how the order of authority and submission within the Trinity speaks to order in government, in society, in business, and in families. Our focus today is on the unity of purpose within the Trinity that exists along with the perfect love of the three for one another and for the one, for the three are one. The Trinity exists in a community and part of what it means that we are made in the image of God is that we were created to exist in community. In the process of creation, God repeatedly said, “It is good, it is good.” When He created Adam He said, “It is not good that man should be alone. I will make a helper for him.” Community. Love and Unity.

Can you imagine how good it was for Adam and Eve before the fall? Perfect love for their Creator and perfect love for one another. Even though they were different, they had unity of purpose, looking to their Creator for guidance to know what to do and how to live. Then, sin ruined everything. And while there were excruciating consequences for their sin, God immediately began to work toward the redemption of those who would believe Him. He made a covering for Adam and Eve’s nakedness from the skin of animals, thus the first strokes on the canvas that displayed the picture of redemption that would point to the cross where Jesus, the Lamb of God, would die as the perfect substitute and sacrifice for our sins and so bring partial redemption to this fallen world. Full redemption awaits those who repent of their sins and believe that Jesus died in their place.

In the midst of this fallen world, the church is a called out assembly, or, community, of believers. We are called to be salt and light to a dark and decaying world, a part of God’s plan to draw men and women to Himself. Jesus told His disciples “By this all people will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:35) And, the value of such knowledge for those who do not believe? They begin to recognize something tangible about the character of God.

The more the community of Christ-followers reflects the true community of the Trinity, the greater our impact on this world will be. Many of us feel that our primary responsibility for love and sacrifice must be toward those outside the church. Scripture, in fact, says the opposite – our first responsibility for love and assistance is to our brothers and sisters in Christ. Though it may seem strange to you, loving one another is one of the ways we evangelize. True community among followers of Christ has a palpable effect on those who observe from without.

Unfortunately, Satan is aware of how important our unity and our love for one another is, and he designs his opposition to God’s plan accordingly. I would say that he is pretty effective in leading us to express true love – for ourselves – and to stand with self-righteous fervor against our brothers and sisters who see or do things a little differently than we do. Now, if you whole-heartedly agree with me, quit thinking about how you hope so and so is listening. The thing about love is that it always begins as my responsibility. It is not based on someone else’s actions or reactions to my love. Linda used to say that when a relationship between two people is at a breaking point, someone has to give 100%. Giving in love doesn’t mean “giving in,” but it does, indeed, speak to the way that God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit love us.

I have heard far too often, “I get along with non-believers at my work better than I do with Christians.” That statement represents a host of inconsistencies that seem all too common in our day. Why do we allow ourselves to be caught in Satan’s snare in the way that we treat one another? I think it is the age old problem that when you put religious fervor behind a personal conviction that you have against a particular action or style that someone else exhibits, there is great danger. Something that has deeply impacted me these past few years as we have studied 2 Timothy and Philippians is the biblical principle that while there are some truths that are non-negotiable, such as the truth of the gospel, there is also much room for diversity within our community.

Just think of the diverse roles of the three Persons in the Trinity. Yet, there is perfect unity. I know, there is also perfection in the Trinity. Since some of you are not perfect, that makes my job much more difficult! Just kidding. I am the first to admit imperfections! Even with our imperfections, we are called to represent the nature of God on earth. How can we do that as the sinful men and women that we are? When we yield to the Lord, the power of the Holy Spirit makes us more like Jesus, which is the eternal plan of the Father.

Oh, my goodness – we could stay here until 12 midnight and barely scratch the surface of the truth we have encountered this morning. I wish you could know only half of the Scripture that I considered bringing into this message. We will get to a little more application in the Home Fellowships this week, but I want to end with a word of hope and a word of challenge concerning our call to live in this community of believers, as love and unity identify us with the Savior. The Apostle Peter, writing to first century believers, said “Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.” (1 Peter 4:8)

All of us have the sin nature within us, whether we are Christ-followers or not. If we are Christians, either the old man, dominated by the sin-nature, or the new man, led by the Holy Spirit, will be in charge of our lives. My problem is that so often it is difficult to discern who is in charge, God or me. When I am in charge but I think that God is in charge, I can really make a mess of things, especially when I want to set someone else straight. The answer? Love. Love others in the community, because love covers a multitude of sins, and there is no way to anticipate the creative ways we can sin against each other in the body of Christ. So, let’s love one another and work together in unity in order that all will get at least a tiny glimpse of our triune God, where perfect love and perfect unity reign in the great three in one. Let’s pray.