Give God the Glory

Scripture: John 12:20-33

Introduction

The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.  Rev. 22:17

• Why are we here? What is the meaning of life? Is it just a random event we are here?
• No, we are here for a very specific purpose that fits a very specific purpose of our Creator
• And when we achieve the plans He has for us, it gives Him glory.
• But we don’t spend our days sitting around thinking only of serving Him, do we?
• We spend our days tending to the needs of ourselves and our families and others.
• We go to work and pay the bills and we work for the needs of our church and its mission.
• Sometimes we are on the path God wants us on and mostly, we are wandering around lost
• Such is our fate as imperfect humans serving a perfect God.
• The difference with Jesus is that He was a PERFECT human serving a perfect God.
• And in His service, Jesus demonstrated to us what it means to the Father to be obedient.
• We may never be called upon to give our lives in the service of God as Jesus did.
• We can still offer our lives up in obedience to God whenever we feel His call on our heart
• Our story today is about the relationship Jesus had with the Father and His obedience.
• There are three things I want us to think about giving glory to God:

1. To Serve Jesus is to Serve God
2. The Ultimate Obedience
3. The Ultimate Defeat

1. To Serve Jesus is to Serve God

• Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 10:31-33:

So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.  Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God – even as I try to please everyone in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved.

• If we believe in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, then we are saved for all eternity.
• How do we know that someone is saved? By their fruit.
• Jesus said in Matthew 7:15-20:

Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.  By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?  Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.  A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.  Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.  Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.

• What does He mean by fruit?
• In the information system world that I work in, we call that OUTPUT.
• Output is what a system produces. A human is also a type of system.
• We take in inputs and process those inputs and then BING! Out comes some OUTPUT.
• Galatians 5:22-23 talks about the output from a person aligned with the Holy Spirit

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

• I can tell when this is working for me because I’m not normally patient or kind or gentle.
• I will say that I notice it the most in myself when I am doing work for Jesus.
• Jesus said: Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
• I don’t think we will ever totally get it right, but the more we turn away from our life in the world and turn to a life serving Jesus, the sooner we can experience life with Jesus.
• Until Jesus came into the world, we really didn’t know what an afterlife would look like.
• Not only has Jesus torn down the barrier between life and death, but He has shown us.
• Because Jesus was obedient to serving God the Father, He was glorified by God.
• We can give glory to God by giving our lives to serving Jesus.

2. The Ultimate Obedience

• Jesus is predicting and explaining how He must die to be glorified.
• What do you think it means to be glorified? Recognized by the Father.
• We see in verse 28 that Jesus appeals to the Father to glorify His name in Him:

Father, glorify your name!”  Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.”

• It is in this recognition of Jesus’ obedience to God that He is glorified.
• It is the ultimate honor that God could bestow on Jesus by giving Him His glory.
• Jesus reflected on the value of His achievement and the awful price He was about to pay:

“Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour.”

• He is saying that the whole point of His coming to earth is summed up by the cross.
• By this point in John’s Gospel, Jesus has already done so much for people.
• He has performed many miracles and healed many people.
• He even raised his friend Lazarus from the dead.
• All this work was important but what He is about to do on the cross is the ultimate obedience to God.
• We are probably not going to be called on to endure torture and death for God.
• But we are called to make a choice to follow Jesus and that isn’t easy in this world.
• This world is about instant gratification and all the pleasures of the flesh.
• Choosing Christ doesn’t always feel good on the surface. Not like a box of candy.
• But the truth is that choosing Christ is the ultimate obedience for us.
• And choosing Christ will enrich our lives far beyond anything this world can offer.
• We all have a need that can only be filled by Jesus Christ.
• And when we let Him inside, He brings the Holy Spirit to help us.
• Even as Jesus is glorified, He glorifies us along with Him.

3. The Ultimate Defeat

• Our world has been in the grips of the foul spirit of the fallen prince of darkness.
• He gained power in the garden of Eden when sin entered mankind.
• God has allowed the enemy to maintain power for a time because it serves His purpose.
• We are a corrupt and disobedient people and God allows an alternative to Him to exist.
• If we didn’t have this alternative there would be no choice.
• God gives us free will and He wants us to choose Him but He doesn’t force it.
• Paul summarizes the situation in Ephesians 2:1-7:

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.  All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.  But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.  And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.

• When we reject the devil and his ways and choose God through Jesus Christ He is glorified.
• The voice of God from heaven glorifying Jesus was for our benefit according to Jesus.
• Jesus said in verse 31:

Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out.

• Ultimately, this is Jesus’ world. He is the one who created it after all.
• And now, He has come to earth to reclaim it in His name.
• The enemy has gained far too much power and control in this world and Jesus has come to balance the scales.
• “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth,” He says in verse 32 “I will draw all people to myself.”
• The enemy is busily turning one of Jesus’ own disciples, Judas Iscariot to betray Him.
• Satan believes that he has the upper hand and is going to take Jesus down on the cross.
• The Jewish leaders, so corrupt and so devoted to themselves and their place in the world, are planning to take Jesus down on the cross.
• What they didn’t realize is that Jesus came to the world planning to leave it on the cross.
• It was the plan all along and the enemy was incapable of seeing it coming.
• Jesus went willingly to the cross so that He could take us with Him.
• We will all die just like Jesus, but because Jesus did it for us, we can now go with Him.
• This is the ultimate defeat of an enemy who seeks to destroy us.
• And in that is the ultimate win for us.
• It starts with a choice. Who are you gonna choose?
• An enemy who seeks to destroy you?
• Or a loving Savior who willingly chose a terrible death on the cross to save you?
• The choice is yours
• We will know you by your fruit.
• Give God the glory.