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1:45The sentence that I think is probably the most shocking statement, one of the most memorable statements from all of my time in studying John's writings, whether that's the Gospel of John, the letters of John, or the Revelation that we have been working through, it's this sentence in chapter in verse 22: The glory which you have given to me, I have given to them. What does he mean? What is that about? I want to go into that a little bit tonight. The message is continuing that celebration of the incarnation into the new year.

2:37As you know, I like to tell Christmas stories as a way to communicate theological truth in a way, hopefully, that even a child can understand. I do that. Number one, I want to explain things, wanted to explain things to my children. But I found that if I couldn't explain them in simple terms, then I probably really didn't understand the biblical concept. You remember on Christmas Eve, I shared a story called Christmas Dirt, and that was all about sanctification. How is one sanctified in Christ as we approach and celebrate the incarnation? We celebrate the birth and life and death and resurrection and coming glory of Jesus Christ. And how, in light of these truths, how are we to live? Well, we are to be sanctified. How are we to be sanctified? And simply put, we are to stay long, remain long in his presence. There isn't a magic formula for how you become Christ-like. It's just spending time with him. How do you engage? How does the word of God reign over you? Well, you spend time in that word. You spend time with the word and there, and in the interaction with the word, and the discussion of the word with others, and all this. We are, though we are but dust, and to dust we are returning, yet we can pick up the very fragrance of Christ as we go through this life by staying in his presence. We're dust. But wow, what a glorious privilege. He's given dust. To be able to reflect and to image the invisible God. Well, that's the doctrine of sanctification. Tonight, I want to talk to you about this doctrine of glorification. Glorification.

4:52If you think about it, what are all the fallen-down Christmas lights that you see still scattered around town and on people's houses, perhaps your own? What does that have in common with the blown-over cardboard snowman you see in your neighbor's yard or the wilted poinsetta that's set out on the street? What do all these have in common? Well, they have in common that they speak of a celebration that has come and gone. They're relics of a celebration. We celebrate the incarnation, and one of my concerns, and certainly as we look to the new year, is that we move on and we think about Christmas, we celebrate Christmas, we celebrate the profound truths, but then we go on and then we're kind of like, okay, let's get this stuff out of the way, let's move on. And very quickly, we get back into a routine and a grind of life. That totally sets aside the great truths we celebrated at Christmas. We quickly forget. And so, but it's important to remember what happened at Christmas and the revelation that comes with Christmas and how that should impact our new year. Well, this statement, and I'm going to zero in on verse 22: The glory which you have given me, I have given to them. Who is the them in this passage? It's the 11 disciples and all of those who will believe through their word. By the way, that's us. How do we know about Christ? We know through the words of these 11. We're reading John's Gospel. It's through the proclamation, the apostolic testimony, that we know who Christ is. And so Jesus, when he is speaking, the glory which you have given me, I have given to them. Think about the glory that Christ's Father gave to him. And the tense is perfect. It's the perfect tense. The glory which you have given me. You have given me this glory.

7:31Settled, never to change. It has been given. And then he says, This, I have given to them. Just as you have given me glory, I have given them that same glory, and I have given it to them. Jesus didn't retain the glory of his Father. He didn't hold it back, but he shared it. He has given it to all believers. Think about that for a moment. Can there be anything more valuable that Christ could give? He's given us his glory. So today, if you are in Christ, we are unified in this, that God has, that Christ has given us his glory.

8:25Now, what does glory mean? Well, I can tell you what it doesn't involve. Notice the phrase, which you have given to me. It shows up a couple of times in verse 22 and 24. The kind of glory that Jesus has in mind is something that was given to him by his father. It's not something that he intrinsically possessed as the Son of God. Like his omniscience, like his omnipotence, his eternal being, his power. He doesn't give away his godness. His deity.

9:02That kind of glory is, that is what he has as being in essence God, the Son of God. But Jesus, God incarnate, has received glory. What was that? What was God in the flesh? What did Jesus, Son of David, what was his privilege? Well, his privilege, his glory was his ability to manifest the Father. That's his glory. The ability to manifest God. And the Old Testament, as you look into what is glory, it's that word, Hebrew word, kavod.

9:52It speaks of splendor. Christ gave away his splendor. Christ gave away his magnificence. Christ gave away his distinction, that kind of thing. His distinguished, his mark of honor, all that. His splendor, his magnificence. There's something about God incarnate that is magnificent by virtue of him being incarnate. That is uniquely his, a magnificence. When you come to the New Testament, they typically translate this word as doxa. We're just saying the doxology. It's that same word. It's that same concept that is spoken about in Hebrew, Kabod.

10:40But it too speaks of magnificence, splendor, prestige. That glory, that radiance, that splendor, that prestige that he has given. You remember in the Old Testament, there's the tabernacle glory. Remember the glory cloud that filled the tabernacle in Exodus 40? In verse 35, Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud had settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. The little tent. The tabernacle, if you just looked at it, it wasn't very impressive to look at. You can see replicas of it, especially in contrast with the great towers and places of worship of the pagan deities. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob came in this little tent. It wasn't, the glory wasn't of an earthly dimension. The glory that was given to the tabernacle. Tabernacle was that it was there that the visible manifestation of God was set. So, what was the glory of the tabernacle was that you could see the glory cloud.

12:20Ordinary, but then extraordinary because it was there one could see the manifestation of God. John 1:14, John speaks about the glory of Christ, and he describes it like this: And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and full of truth. Saying the Word, the very Word of God, became flesh. We saw His glory. It was not that Jesus' physical appearance or statue, just like the tabernacle of old, it wasn't that His physical features were all that impressive. They were common. But it was His ability to manifest the presence of His Father. That's what distinguished Him.

13:23He would do things that only God could do. He would say things that only God could say. And it was there. And he, there, people knew, God is with you. God. And so when Jesus says he has given his glory to his people, he is saying that he has given them the same distinct privilege and ability of manifesting God. That's what he's saying. I have given them that same distinct privilege and ability to manifest our Heavenly Father. How does he do it? By redeeming them, by putting His Spirit in them, and by shepherding them. He has given them this distinct glory. He has given you and me this distinct glory. Notice he makes this phrase, I in them and you in me.

14:24Jesus' glory was that the Father was in him and manifested through him. Likewise, the church's glory, our glory, is not in our godness. We're not God. We never will be God. But the manifestation of God. And only the church has that unique ability to manifest God. That's what redeeming them. Putting his Spirit in them and shepherding them is necessary. And this glory is distinct from the glory in nature or the glory we see in the stars, the skies, or the creatures. They display something about God's power, but they do not display his personality. You and I have the distinct privilege of being able to manifest something about God's personality and his character.

15:38Look back. Why does he give believers his glory? Look back at verse 22. The glory which you have given me, I have given them, that they may be one, just as we are one. I in them and you in me. That comparison. He has given us his glory so that we may be one just as he and the Father are one. Think about that for a second. I in them and you in me. That's the dynamic of this oneness. The comparison is a oneness among God's people that parallels the oneness between Father, Son, and Spirit in the Trinity, that kind of oneness.

16:35And it can only be a work of him. I in them and you in me. This is the dynamic of this oneness. The Father is in Jesus. Jesus is in us. Therefore, the glory of the Father is in us. Do you see that? Jesus in us. When we receive Christ, we receive Father and Son because the Father is in him. Look at another reason, second reason he gives believers His glory. Look at verse 2. I mean, look at verse 23, that they may mature in unity. Notice what he says, that they may be perfected in unity, so that they be completed into one, that they be matured into one, perfected. You see, there's unity among those who walk in Christ's glory.

17:44There can absolutely be no unity where people are not sanctified in the truth or seek their own glory. Look, if you're seeking your own glory, you never will be unified with God's people. It's incongruent. There is no unity where people are seeking their own glory. But there is unity among those who walk in Christ's glory. That's what he's given for all of us to share, his glory. And that's what makes us one. But if you go wanting your own glory, or if I go wanting my own glory, there will definitely be a disconnect, for sure.

18:40But there's a third reason that he gives believers his glory. Number one, he gives them his glory, that they may be one. Number two, that they mature in unity. And number three, that they may teach the world three essential gospel truths. That they may teach the world three essential gospel truths. Look at the end of verse three. So that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you have loved me. So that the world would know. You see, he has given his glory to his disciples, that ability to manifest the presence of God in a unique, distinct, and unique way, so that the world would know. That the Father sent Jesus. See, the world may not see that we're all that essential, but the Father knows, Christ knows, that in order for the world to understand that the Father sent Jesus, we have to be perfected in unity.

19:53Teach the world that you sent, that God sent Jesus. And second, notice, and love them who loved those in the world. And get this phrase, even as you loved me. Get that. Why does he give believers his glory? So that the world will know that God sent Jesus, that God loves believers in Jesus, and he loves them to the same degree that he loves Jesus. That's profound. To be loved by your heavenly Father to the same degree that the Heavenly Father loved his Son, Jesus.

20:38That's what it's saying. This is what Christ is communicating. This is what God has done. This is what Christ understands. You see, the glory of Christ unifies believers who behold it and who walk in it. And so, such unity and glory proclaims good news to a world that really needs it. The world needs to know that God sent Jesus. The world needs to know that God loves them and that God loves them to the same degree that he loves Jesus.

21:31So, he has given us his glory to bring all this about. Now, what? What do we do? As I read this morning in 1 Timothy 6:12, Paul exhorts Timothy and he says, This, fight the good fight of faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called. Take hold of the eternal life. He's not saying take hold of going to heaven. No, he's talking about a quality. Take hold of that kind of life, that eternal kind of life to which you were called. Start living eternal life. That's what Paul is exhorting Timothy. Fight the good fight of faith. How do you do that? Take hold of eternal life. Go out and live eternally.

22:26That's what you were called to do. That's what you called. Who you were created to be. Stop living in a lie. Stop serving the gods of this earth. So I wrote a story to communicate this, to try to, anyway. It's a story about taking hold of the life that you were made to live. Kids, are you listening? Call it the Christmas lion. The lion. Once upon a time, in the northern regions of the African continent, there lived a tiny population of a certain kind of ant. They thrived only in the meadow of the nearby mountains. Among them was a little ant who got too big for his britches. His name was Bajka. Now, Bhodjka, he was a skimpy little ant, a worker ant. He didn't like to work, though. He was significantly smaller than the others. His head was really compressed. His hair was not long and straight like the others. He was limp, and he had some patches. He was the only thing large about Bhajka were his mouth. And his worldly ambitions. All that to say, he was not by any means a noble specimen of his kind. However, he was a smooth talker, a skilled politician, and a good liar.

24:17So he could probably become president. But that was enough to convince the colonies to accept him as their king. And so he became their king. But being the king of a little ant colony wasn't enough for Bajka. He wanted to become Bajka the Great and rule over all the creatures of Africa. So he developed a plan, capture and convince a son of the true kingly line to serve his ambitions. Who was the true king? Well, unquestionably, it was the chief of the Barbary lions that once roamed throughout the deserts and mountains of northern Africa. They were majestic creatures. They were admired for their size, their dark manes, and their great strength. And so, the great lion heist was underway.

25:17Cubs were typically born in the late spring each year, each weighed about three and a half pounds, small enough for the ant colony to collectively lift and carry one off. And since the cubs could not walk for the First couple of weeks, and their eyes were closed as well, the ant king knew he had to act quickly. He knew that the ant colony could not capture a cub that could walk on its own, and more importantly, he knew that if the cub ever saw the true king, all his deception efforts would unravel. And the heist went exactly as planned. Moments after the first cub was born, under a canopy of darkness, the ants carried him away and hid him from the presence of his father. So the next phase of Botchka's master plan was more difficult than the first. He had to convince the child of the kingly lion that he was an ant.

26:14And so the great lion deception was underway, and the whole colony was part of this deception. They fed and nurtured the newborn cub. The first thing the lion cub saw when he opened his eyes was the ant king. And the ant king spoke smoothly to him, stroked the cub's fur, and deceivingly called him son. Well, in the cub's innocence, he simply trusted the ant king and believed himself to be the child of this strange and curious little insect. When the cub was old enough to walk, he was immediately enrolled in kinder ant school, where he began learning the language and the laws and the ways of the ant colony. Colony. Can you imagine a lion that could speak ant and eat what an ant eats and act like an ant? Well, upon graduating from kinder ant garden, he then studied at the construction center where he learned the art and science of building ant mounds. Everyone's got to learn that if you're an ant. And although the mounds he built were much bigger than the others, he became an accomplished mound builder and grew accustomed to living in an ant mound. Can you imagine an ant mound big enough for a lion to live in? It's pretty big.

27:41Once his mound building training was complete, he was enrolled in the War Department, where he learned how to identify and destroy the enemies of the colony, such as the ant-eating spiders, the insects, the reptiles, the birds, and the mammals. I mean, could you imagine the surprise an aardvark would get when he stuck his tongue into an ant mound, expecting for a little ant to pull out a big lion? Well, even though there were many times the lion could tell he was not like the other ants, he simply believed the lies he was being told. The brainwashing was a tremendous success. As one could imagine, the lion spectacularly surpassed all his peers and graduated. At the top of his class, and after two years of training, he was ready to enter the Ant King's service. And so, the great African takeover was underway. Botchka wasted no time. He weaved a little throne into the glorious mane of the lion, where he would sit, deceive, and order the lion to do his bidding. Work, work, work, slave, slave, slave. Such was the life of the lion who thought he was an ant. And using the lion's strength, the ant king advanced his domain upon the continent with pride, with arrogance, and great fury over all his enemies. Under the inspiration of the ant, the lion quickly eradicated the colony's natural predators. Ant mounds, like great pyramids, began filling the African landscape, which became megacities of the king's kind, until at last, Botchka's dominion spread all the way to the southern tip of Africa. Well, having conquered the continent, the ant king returned from his great campaign to his home colony in the northern meadows. He entered the meadow on Christmas Day. It was quite a scene, pompously sitting upon his lion-mane throne of his land. Lion slave, and there he was. The little ant had become the king of Africa. At least that's what he told himself and everyone else. However, Botchka was too busy celebrating himself to notice that the greatest threat to his empire was passing through the meadow at the same time.

30:23First, it was the sound of a rustling in the tall grass that caught the attention of the lion slave. Next, his eyes caught a glimpse of a large, shadowy figure moving in the distance. Then he heard a roar that shook the mountains and garnered the attention of all. The true king had stepped into the meadow. And for the first time, the lion slave saw the true king. And in an instant, he understood who he was. His whole life suddenly started to make sense. He was not an ant.

31:03He was of a completely different kind. He was of a kind that was meant to rule over ants, not be ruled by them. Well, Botchka's lie had been exposed. He panicked and tried to speak smoothly and deceptively to his lion slave, but it was too late. And with one upward blast of the lion's breath, the ant kings. Was hurled from his little throne. And from that day forward, the lion acted like a lion. He acted like the one he was born to be.

31:47Without the slavish strength of the lion, the ant king's empire quickly declined until at last it was once again confined to that one small meadow. And that is why, to this day, the Bachka ant can only be found in a meadow of northern Africa. You see, this is more than a story about a little ant who got too big for his breeches. It's a story about a lion who stopped thinking he was an ant, who stopped serving the king of the ants, and started being who he was born to be. It's a story about how one look at the true king caused a deceived lion to realize who he was.

32:34You see, the ant king personifies Satan's ambitions for self-glory, his subtle and overt lies, and his cruel bondage that he inflicts upon all of those who believe his lies. And some of you, this is you tonight. The lion slave depicts the way most people live their lives. Lives, not realizing who God created them to be. They serve the Lord of the ants instead of the King of kings. And you see, the baby in the manger reveals to us the perfect humanity. He shows us who we are and what we are to be now.

33:25He also shows us of what we are going to be hereafter. You see, the Son of God came into the world and he shows us how to live. He came into the world dependent, yet cared for. He came helpless, yet invincible, humble, yet glorious, and all because of the union he had with his father. That is how he lived. And that is also how we should live and can live now because Jesus has put us into union with his Father. The glory which the Father had given to Christ, he has given to us.

34:11And this is what he meant when he said, The glory which you have given me, I have given to them. A true union with the heavenly Father and the ability that comes out of that to manifest our Heavenly Father to live. Eternally, Jesus said that John goes on later to say, for whatever is born of God overcomes the world. 1 John 5, 4. It is also the reason for the repeated exhortations for believers to walk in the same manner he walked. 1 John 2, 6. You and I are to walk in the same manner as he walked.

35:071 Peter 2:21, we are to follow in his steps. You see, he's given us his glory so that we may walk through this life in the same manner as he walked. It's a staggering ideal. You may look and say, Yeah, but I don't walk as he walked. And all of us, if we're truthful, have to make that same confession. But we ought to walk as he walked. Let us never diminish that reality. You see, the revelation of Christmas tells us more than just what we ought to be now. It also tells us what we will be someday. Listen to what John says in 1 John 3:2. Beloved, Now we are children of God, and it has not yet appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when he appears, we will be like him because we will see him just as he is.

36:14Even though maybe everything isn't fully revealed, as this verse indicates, who we will be like is revealed. We will be like the Lord of glory. Seemingly impossible, yet true. This is God's gift to us. This is what is revealed to us in the incarnation. And so when we look upon the baby in the manger and consider his life, his work, and his glory, we are beholding another kind of humanity. A humanity that is unfallen, a kind that does not serve the flesh, nor the ruler of this world, but one that serves our heavenly Father. That's our kind, if you are in Christ. And having been born of God through the regenerating work of the Spirit through faith in Him, fallen humanity is no longer our kind. We have a new nature, a new kind. Jesus Christ is our kind. And we are commanded to go and walk as he walked. To live as he lived. And that's not some empty command. It's an expectation because God has equipped us. He has given us his glory.

37:45And so, as we go forward, may we remember this incredible revelation of Christmas and let it shape how we live in this new year. Let's not just forget what we celebrated. We celebrated that God has walked among us, He has revealed to us the perfect humanity, telling us how we should walk now, but also revealing what we will be like someday. You know, in Hebrews, take a couple more minutes. Just turn over to Hebrews chapter 2 if you have a moment. I want to show you something. Hebrews chapter 2, verses 6 through 9. You know, it's easy to get very discouraged. Sometimes we look around, get discouraged with the evil in this world, discouraged with other people. Even we get discouraged with among those who profess to be followers of Christ.

38:50But then we also get discouraged about ourselves. We don't measure up. And we look at ourselves in introspective. And we start seeing what failures we are. But God is mindful of this. Look at Hebrews 2:6. He understands our frame. He says, This, what is man that you remember him, or the son of man that you are concerned about him? We get discouraged. We look, but he understands our frame, he understands our weakness. What is man that you are mindful of us?

39:34We are pitiful, weak. But then, what does the writer of Hebrews do? He takes us back to God's original purpose for man. Look at this, verse 7. You have made him, speaking of man, for a little while lower than the angels. For a little while, lower than the angels. You have crowned him with glory and honor and have appointed him over the works of your hands. You have put all things in subjection under his feet. For in subjecting all things to him, he left nothing that is not subject to him.

40:21What? He has made man Lord over creation. That's what it's saying. But then we read this last sentence, verse 8. But now we do not yet see all things subjected to him. It's like, but now, look at man now, look at this mess across. We don't see man. We see with all of our progress, all we see quickly how all of our great gains can be wiped away in a moment. We go to the grave, swept away with all of our progress.

41:11Look across the globe, and not much has really been accomplished in the way of enduring righteousness. So, where is our hope? Look at verse 9. But we do see him who was made for a little while lower than the angels, namely Jesus. We do see man who was made a little bit lower than the angels for a little while. Jesus, because of the suffering of death. Now we see him crowned with glory and honor, so by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. There it is.

42:02We see that man has this high calling. We also see that now he is not living up to this high calling, but what we do see is Jesus Christ raised in glory, the perfect man. And that tells us he was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory. Humanity is. That is the trajectory. That is where we are going. The man Jesus Christ enthroned in the heaven is the earnest and guarantee of what we shall be. So says commentator Alva MacLean. The earnest and guarantee. So, how should this shape us?

42:55Let us keep our eyes steadfastly on him. And the vision will not only sweep away all our discouragement, says MacLean, but will change us more and more into the image of what we shall be someday by his grace. The ideal is beyond our power, yes, but not beyond the power of him who sits upon the throne of grace. Well, this is one of the great revelations of Christmas, and it should shape us as we go. Forward into the new year.

43:33No more serving ants. Okay? Let's live for the King of Kings. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for showing us who you are, for sending your Son, for showing us who we are, who are followers of Him. Show us more and more each day how we live this life, this eternal life. That's our calling. As Paul exhorted Timothy to fight the good fight and to take hold of the eternal life which you have set before us.

44:18May that be us, Lord. Thank you for these truths, and Father, may we walk in the glory that you have given us. It was costly. It is spectacular. It's too good to be true, and yet we dare not contradict it because it is true. And so, Father, go with us now. May we live for your glory and all of the things we will face this week and year. May you help us see through the lies, stop serving the ants and the Lord of this earth.

45:03May we walk in the same manner you walked. Thank you for this victory that we have in Christ. In Jesus' name, amen. Good night, friends.