Set Apart For God's Glory

[INTRODUCTION

God wants to work in us and through us so that one day the earth will be filled with His glory.

Isaiah 43:6-7 NIV 6 … Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth— 7 everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.”

God created us for his glory to be revealed.

[THE GLORY OF GOD]

The word Glory is from the Hebrew word Kavod.

- Originally meant “heaviness” referring to the armour used in battle.

- Over time, Kavod became linked to “honour”, “respect”, “dignity”

- All these attributes and the like are used to describe God as El Hakkavod, “The God of glory”

Nevertheless, El Hakkavod is far more than that. It is packed with ideas of beauty, excellence, magnificence, transcendence, and all wonderful qualities of God.

And as his creation, we should allow God to use our lives for his glory. There are many ways we can put the glory of God on display, such as

- Confessing our sins,

- Obeying His Word.

- Loving our neighbours in our words and actions

- Praising and worshipping Him

[SEEK GOD’S GLORY IN PRAYERS AND EXTEND IT THROUGH OBEDIENCE]

Jesus ushers in the glory of God by completing his mission which God gave Him, Jesus provides the way for men to spiritually come back to life by dying on the Cross as punishment for all sins

Jesus, the Son of God, relies on God the Father fully and is perfect in His obedience to God’s will. As believers of Jesus, we should follow Jesus’ example in seeking God’s glory in prayers and in extending God’s glory through our obedience.

[MAIN TEXT INTRO]

Furthermore, we must remember that we are “Set Apart for God’s Glory”.

Today, we are going to learn from the book of John 17:13-19, how we are set apart for God’s glory.

But before we read the texts, let me give you the context.

[CONTEXT – JESUS PRAYER]

- Jesus knew that he would soon be arrested, put on trial, and crucified on the cross. Consequently, Jesus will be leaving behind His disciples

- And so, He gathered them in the upper room (of a house), had a last meal with them, and even washed their feet.

- And then He gave them His farewell speech. He predicted his death and Peter’s denial. He comforts them, revealed to them that He is the “Way to the Father”, and promised them the Holy Spirit

- He even warned them that the World will hate them because of Him.

- Jesus ended his parting words with this famous phrase “In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33)

- After Jesus delivered his parting words, he looked toward heaven and started praying.

- His prayer is recorded in John 17 which is divided into 3 parts

o v1-5 is Jesus’ prayer for Himself (which we covered last week)

o v6-19 is Jesus’ prayer for his disciples

o v20-26 is Jesus’ prayer for all believers

Through Jesus' prayer, He reveals to us His origin, His future, His mission, and His deepest concerns and hopes for His disciples and for believers.

Let’s read the part of Jesus' prayer where we can learn, how we are set apart for God’s glory.

[MAIN TEXT]

John 17:13-19 NIV

13 “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. 14 I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. 15 My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. 17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. 19 For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.

[THE WORLD]

Indeed, we can have a glimpse of what is in Jesus’ heart. We can see that one of Jesus’ main concerns before He dies on the cross is the world.

In fact, throughout the 26 verses of John 17 (NIV), the word “world” appears 17 times.

The word “world” in Greek is “Kosmos”. The English word “Cosmos” was derived from it and it has at least 6-7 meanings. It can be used to refer to

- the whole universe

- the physical world with all its creations

- the people in the world

But here, the apostle John uses the word “world” to refer to the way of life of men and women who opposed God. It refers to the evil, organized, system under the devil.