Salvation
John 17:1-2
Jesus is fully man.
Jesus is fully God.
Consequently, Jesus leads us into our discussion of salvation. His teaching will set our course.
Sadly, this has not been the case for much of modern evangelicalism.
It is easy for us to come to salvation and assume that salvation is for us.
Most of our evangelical culture treats salvation as if it were something God has created for us to have and our possessing it is the end and point.
This is evidenced in our emphasis on escaping hell and gaining heaven.
This is evidenced in the appalling lack of theological acumen in the church today because of the over emphasis on getting saved without any sense of discipleship.
The Scriptures guard against that if we will deal with them properly.
I want to help us guard against mistreating the glorious doctrine of salvation by dealing with Jesus on the issue.
Our Foundational statement for understanding the work of salvation:
- Jesus is on a Mission (to) be glorified by the Father as he glorifies the Father (by)
securing some of a fallen humanity that the Father has given the Son through his work on
the cross
1. Jesus is on a mission
- “Father, the hour has come” (perfect / active / indicative)
- Jesus has been speaking of the cross and his death, and this is the event he has in view.
- This is past action that is completed in the indefinite past
- In other words, the appointed hour, the mission’s climax has come.
A. The cross is not a reaction to an unknown series of events.
- God foreknows all things effectively
- “God’s foreknowledge is his foreordination.” – J.I. Packer
B. Jesus coming, living, dying and rising were plan “A” (Acts 4:28)
C. Jesus is in control of history and man’s free actions w/in that history
D. Jesus is still on a mission, and we get to participate
E. All of Jesus’ actions were intentional
What is Jesus’ mission?
2. Jesus’ mission is to be glorified by the Father as he glorifies the Father
- “glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you,”
The vocabulary of “glory” is the vocabulary of honor and shame.
To give one glory is to give honor to.
In this context, the story of redemptive history is vital.
God created everything that is, and it was good.
There was rebellion in heaven, and Satan and his followers were cast into the earth.
Satan tempts our first parents with the prideful temptation to rebel and disobey God under the false premise that they can be like God.
Rather than believe God and trust his good for them, they eat and thus honor the lies of Satan and dishonor their perfect, holy and good God.
Man, in his rebellion, chose Satan over God and death entered the race.
Adam and Eve would suffer separation from God and broken fellowship with God.
Adam and Eve would suffer death, murder, sickness and disease.
That fall from grace has infected the entire human race ever since. Man is conceived guilty of rebellion against God, and thus lives his days at war with God.
But God, being rich in mercy, and zealous for justice sent forth his Son to reclaim their honor by saving some of the rebellious humanity by an act of justice that would result in grace for all who will believe.
This is the work of the cross of Jesus Christ: to restore the proper honor due God for man’s rebellious and dishonorable act of disobedience by justly punishing sin and offering reconciliation to all who will come to him by faith.
- The cross displays the justice of God Romans 3:21-26
- The cross displays the grace of God 2 Corinthians 5:21
- The cross displays the holiness of God
- Our great God is so other that he can execute justice and dispense grace
in one holy act.
- The Son gets glory from his people’s (people given by Father) adoring worship
- The Father gets glory from all of humanity:
- The saved confess Jesus as King in response to grace to the Father’s
glory
\ - The rebellious confess Jesus as King to their condemnation as justice for
their rebellion and unbelief
Jesus’ mission of the cross brings glory home.
Jesus’ mission of the cross restores worship and worshipers to the proper place, and sentences rebellion and the rebellious to the proper place all to the honor and glory of Father and Son (witnessed to by the Spirit).
(The Spirit’s job is to testify to this mission of Jesus, not himself)
How does Jesus bring honor and glory to Father and Father to Son?
3. Glory is given to Son and Father by securing some of a fallen humanity that the Father has given the Son
The work of Father giving Son glory and the Son giving Father glory is the purpose of missions.
Mission is not some additional line item.
Mission is not some person-centered pursuit.
Mission is the glorious work of Jesus by the Spirit to restore honor to the Son and Father.
In other words, the end of missions is not the salvation of the lost.
The salvation of the lost is the means to accomplishing the regaining of honor to Son and Father.
This truth hinges on the grammar of this sentence.
- “, since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you
have given him.”
The word translated “since” is a subordinating conjunction (kathos). Its grammatical purpose is to join a subordinate clause to a main clause.
So, the main clause is “Father, the hour has come; glorify the Son that the Son may glorify you.”
The subordinate clause is “since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him.”
The main point: The hour has come to restore glory to Son and Father
The means to that end: eternal life is given to those the Father has given the Son (this truth of a gift from Father to Son will be the foundation of next week’s talk)
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