“Given To Christ”
Jn.17:6-12
I had the joy of leading a middle aged man to the Lord, about 25 years ago, who had been a pretty rough character. He had the reputation for being about all the things the devil would lead a fellow to be. When the Lord saved him, his life made a pretty fast turn around. He had a great excitement for the Lord. I saw him about a week ago, and he still has that excitement.
One day, soon after he had been saved, he came to my house and said, “I’ve brought you a gift, and I think it’s something you’d never buy for yourself.” It was a genuine rail-road pocket watch. He collected these watches, and they were precious to him, but he wanted me to have one of his best ones.
I still have, right today, and I will always keep it, not so much because I love pocket watches, because pocket watches don’t really mean all that much to me. I will keep because he gave it to me, and it meant something to him.
I have also have this rock that sits on the top of my desk. When I was 5 years old, I went out in our drive-way and picked it up and painted the top of it black, took some red paint and put dots on it, and presented it to my dad for a paper weight. Now, my dad was a brick layer, and about the last thing in the world he needed, or wanted, was a paper weight. But, he thanked me for it, and I never knew after that what had happened to it. As a matter of fact, I never thought much about it. After my dad died, just a few years ago, my mom gave the rock back to me, telling me that it was in a drawer with some of his other things. The rock had no intrinsic value, but because I gave it to him, my dad kept it all these years. That fact, makes it valuable to me.
We are valuable because of whose we are, v6.
We belong to Jesus. We are gift to Him, from the Father.
The Bible speaks of us in several different ways: the people of God, the building of God, the bride of Christ, the body of Christ, etc.
We are chosen by the Father, redeemed by the Son, and regenerated by the Holy Spirit.
Don’t ever live like you are not valuable. Don’t settle for the devil’s pottage, when God is in the process of giving you the birthright of blessing.
We are valuable because of the investment that has been made in us, v6-8.
When a parent gets a child raised up to adulthood, he has a lot invested in him. All the food, clothing, education, time, and concern adds up to quite an investment. But, the investment doesn’t make you love the child less, if anything, it causes you to love him more.
Jesus poured his life into these immediate disciples, then instructed them to go and do likewise to others, right on down to us.
Jesus has shown us the Father, v6. When it says He manifested the Father’s name, it means He showed us the character of God, or what God is like. We have the responsibility to do the same thing for others. We are “exhibit A” in God’s case to the world!
He gave us God’s word, v8. Jesus lived by God’s word. When He spoke, He said what God’s word said. That’s exactly what we are supposed to do. When we speak God’s word, several things happen:
• Our faith is increased, because faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God, Romans 10:17. When our ears hear God’s word coming from our mouth, it does something to us. It increases our faith.
• It also brings about change in adverse circumstances. If God’s word says one thing, and your circumstances say something different, declaring God’s word, in faith, will bring about change. There are many examples in the Bible.
• We receive encouragement. You could never stay depressed believing and confessing God’s word. That’s a bold statement, isn’t it? Take Romans 8:28, for example. If you really believe and confess that all things are working together for your good, how can you possibly be depressed?
God has made a great investment in us, and I didn’t even talk about Jesus going to the Cross and dying in our place. Talk about an investment!
We are valuable because of whose we are,
We are valuable because of the investment that has been made in us, and
We are valuable because God has kept us, v9-12
In v11, Jesus asked the Father to keep us in His name. That means in the power and authority of who He is. He is the All-powerful, All-knowing, Ever-present, Eternal God. Could we be any safer than that?
Have you ever used somebody’s name to help you in an experience you were going through? Most of us have.
• Maybe you were applying for job, and you told the boss that some influential person had encouraged you to come and see him.
• Years ago, when I was just barely grown, I was going home one night, driving pretty fast, and highway patrolman pulled me over. Of all the patrolmen that could’ve stopped me, he was the one I would have least wanted to stop me, because he had a reputation that if he stopped you, you were going to get a ticket. When he looked at my license, he said, “Is Mrs. Baggett that works at the hospital related to you?” I said, “Yes Sir, she’s my mother.” He said, “Well, she’s a fine lady, and when my wife was in the hospital, she went out of her way to treat us nice. When you see her, you tell her ‘thank you,’ because I’m going to let you go because of her, and only because of her.” That was one time I was glad that she was my mamma!
There’s no authority like the authority of God. Now, we’ve been given Jesus’ name, and He has been given the name that is above every other name!
God has left us here to be His sign board to the world. We had to move our flashing sign. It’s still a sign, just as much as ever, but it’s not doing any good. People’s lives can get that way, but God can fix it for you in an instant. One touch from Jesus can fix things that man’s way of doing would take years, and then might never fix.
Why don’t you come to Jesus today with your need? You’re valuable to Him, and if you’ll count Him valuable to you, He’ll help you. Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.
