1. "Either Jesus is God the Son and truly worthy of our worship and adoration and will truly give eternal life to all who trust in him, or we are deceived idolaters who will face eternal wrath for our idolatry. There is no middle ground."

2. "What we look up to in mystery, he looked up to in certainty. Let his certainty be our confidence when we pray."

3. "Because the Father and the Son are one in nature, one in essence, one in perfection, one in will, yet distinct in personhood, when the Father shows off the brilliance of the Son and glorifies the Son, he is showing off his own essential glory."

4. "If you are more excited about streets of gold in heaven and seeing lost family members in heaven than seeing Jesus face to face, you need to repent and ask Jesus to make him your greatest treasure, your greatest joy."

5. "Jesus bore our sin, bore the wrath we deserved. And by we I mean all of us who repent and trust in him. He called that shot from the beginning and saw it through to the end. He called the cross, he completed the cross. He saw death, he defeated death."

6. "Mamas and daddies in the room, when you're changing that diaper in the middle of the night, sing to Jesus and to that baby. Sing to Jesus as you commute to work. When you're sitting in that hospital room waiting for the results, sing to Jesus."

7. "From all eternity past, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit have dwelt in infinite fellowship and oneness and joy and delight and satisfaction. The One true God has always dwelt in unapproachable light and perfect love, bliss and goodness in his three Persons."

8. "Only man could stand on behalf of man and bear man's sin, and only God could withstand the wrath of God, drink it to the dregs and get back up again."

9. "You can put your absolute love and loyalty into these relationships and they will all leave you either voluntarily through them just saying, 'I don't want nothing to do with you anymore,' or involuntarily through death. But Jesus Christ, he is the one who lives forevermore."

10. "Our golem-like craving for our own glory will lead us to a golem-like life, lonely and empty, and to a golem-like end in the lake of fire. But Christ died so that those who live might no longer live for themselves, but for him, who for their sake died and was raised."

Observation Questions

1. In John 17:1, what specific request does Jesus make of the Father, and what is the stated purpose of this request?

2. According to John 17:2, what has the Father given to Jesus, and for what purpose was this given?

3. How does Jesus define eternal life in John 17:3? What two specific things does He say are necessary for eternal life?

4. Looking at John 17:4, what two things does Jesus declare about His earthly ministry?

5. In John 17:5, what kind of glory does Jesus ask for, and when does He say He previously had this glory?

6. In Isaiah 42:8, what does God declare about His glory? How does this relate to Jesus' prayer in John 17:1?

Interpretation Questions

1. When Jesus asks the Father to glorify Him "that the Son may glorify you" (John 17:1), what does this reveal about the relationship between the Father and Son?

2. Jesus speaks of having "authority over all flesh" (John 17:2). How does this authority relate to His ability to give eternal life?

3. What does Jesus' statement about having glory "before the world existed" (John 17:5) tell us about His nature and identity?

4. How does Jesus' confidence in declaring His work "accomplished" (John 17:4) before His death and resurrection demonstrate His divine nature?

5. Why is knowing both "the only true God and Jesus Christ" (John 17:3) necessary for eternal life? What does this tell us about Jesus' identity?

Application Questions

1. When was the last time you found yourself treating something or someone as more worthy of glory than Jesus? What specific steps can you take to reorient your worship?

2. Think about your prayer life this past week. How has Jesus' confident relationship with the Father influenced how you approach God in prayer?

3. Jesus defines eternal life as knowing God and Christ personally. How are you actively pursuing this knowledge in your daily life? What practices help you grow in this relationship?

4. When facing difficult circumstances, how does Jesus' perfect accomplishment of His mission encourage you to trust Him with your challenges?

5. In what specific ways can you express Christ's worth through singing and worship this week, both in private and with others?

Additional Bible Reading

1. Philippians 2:5-11 - This passage beautifully parallels John 17:5, showing how Christ's voluntary humbling led to His ultimate exaltation.

2. Colossians 1:15-20 - These verses expand on Christ's pre-existence and His role in creation, helping us understand His claim to eternal glory.

3. Hebrews 1:1-4 - This text explains how the Son is the radiance of God's glory, illuminating Jesus' relationship with the Father described in John 17.

4. Revelation 5:1-14 - This vision of heavenly worship demonstrates the ultimate fulfillment of Jesus' prayer for glory, as all creation honors Him as God.

Sermon Main Topics

I. The Eternal Stakes of Worshiping Jesus as God

II. Jesus Uniquely Glorifies the Father (John 17:1–3)

III. Jesus Perfectly Accomplished His Mission (John 17:4)

IV. Jesus is a Glory Native (John 17:5)

V. The Urgent Call to Glory in Christ Alone

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Detailed Sermon Outline

Are we idolaters for worshiping Jesus?

Are we Christians committing idolatry by worshiping Jesus? I know this question might seem odd asked from the lips of a Christian pastor, but think about it. We've been singing to Jesus all morning. We sang Glory to His name. We called Him the great I am the King of glory and of grace.

We beautifully sang, We will glorify the King of kings. We will glorify the Lamb. We will glorify the Lord of lords, who is the great I Am. And if you're unfamiliar with Christianity, that title, the Great I Am, is referring to God's personal name, Yahweh. So we were just singing that Jesus is God.

But isn't it God who said, you, shall have no other gods before me? Exodus 20, verse 37. Didn't God say, Hear, O Israel, Yahweh our God, Yahweh is one. Deuteronomy 6:4. God is the one who said, I am Yahweh.

That is my name, my glory I give to no other.

Isaiah 42:8 so you can see why Jews of Jesus's day, and many to this day, say we Christians are blaspheming God by worshiping Jesus as God. The Jews of Jesus's day were seeking to kill him because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own father, making himself equal with God. So They rightly recognized that a claim to sonship was a claim to divinity. But they wrongly responded by seeking Jesus's harm. And they picked up stones to stone Jesus.

When he said, Before Abraham was, I am. Because he was saying, Before Abraham came into existence, I was, I always have been, and I always always will be Yahweh.

And our Muslim friends agree with our Jewish friends on this. The Quran says whoever associates others with Allah in worship will surely be forbidden paradise by Allah. Their home will be the fire.

So understand what is at stake here for worshiping Jesus as God. The Quran says all who worship him as God will be in hell forever. Jehovah's Witnesses, Hebrew Israelites, Oneness Pentecostals, and so many other groups say that we Christians are lying about who Jesus really is.

Either Jesus is God the Son and truly worthy of our worship and adoration, and will truly give eternal life to all who trust in him, or we are deceived idolaters who will face eternal wrath for our idolatry. There is no middle ground.

And Christians who profess faith in Christ had to face this. The thuds of stone striking the body of Stephen until he laid lifeless on the ground were either justified or unjust. The Christians who were fed to lions for saying Jesus is Lord and Caesar is not either died for the truth or a lie. So are you willing to bank your eternal destiny on Jesus being God? Is Jesus Worthy of glory, honor, and worship.

This is an eternally costly question. So please look with me in John 17, verses 1 through 5, as we consider this question. That's on page 903 in the red Bibles, in your seats. It's page 903. And if you don't have a Bible at home for you to read, please take that as a gift from us to you.

So that you can read it. So that's John 17, verses 1 through 5.

It reads, When Jesus had spoken these words, He lifted up His eyes to heaven and said, 'Father, the hour has come. Gloryfy your son, that the son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all flesh to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

I glorified you on earth having accomplished the work that you gave me to do.

And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.

The main point of this passage is that Jesus prays for his glory and we should glory in him. Jesus prays for his own glory and we should glory in him. So why is Jesus worthy of such glory? One, because he uniquely glorifies the Father. He uniquely glorifies the Father.

That's verses 1 through 3. Two, Jesus is worthy of glory because he perfectly accomplished his mission. He perfectly accomplished his mission. That's verse 4. And three, Jesus is worthy of glory because He is a glory native.

He is a glory native. And that's verse 5. Point one, He uniquely glorifies the Father. This is our longest point with the most verses, but I want you to see in them that Jesus, His unique glorification of the Father is what shows that worshiping Him is not idolatry. But let's let the text set the pace.

Look at verse 1.

When Jesus had spoken these words, what does it mean by these words? Well, this refers to the words of comfort, confidence, and commission that Jesus spoke in the previous three chapters, chapters 14 through 16. In the final moments before his death, Jesus gives his farewell speech to encourage his sad and confused disciples. And it's kind of like we're jumping into a Netflix series at a crucial turning point of the season, right before the season finale. All season long, a period of about 3.5 years, the protagonist, Jesus Christ, has led his band of ragtag disciples on a physical and spiritual journey, progressively revealing that he is the Christ, that means the anointed one, the long awaited king, the death defeating, Satan stomping, sin conquering savior and son of God, and that by believing you might have life in his name.

Jesus reveals his divine sonship through seven miracles and seven I am statements. But by the time we get to chapter 17, His greatest miracle is yet to come. In this chapter, chapter 17, Jesus is praying for the eternal well-being of his present and future disciples. He is departing back to heaven so his prayers will secure them for eternity. Verse 1 also says he lifted up his eyes to heaven.

Did you see that? The skies declare the glory of God, but Jesus is the only one on earth who knows exactly what heaven is like. So he looks there with conviction that his father hears him. Oh brothers and sisters, what we look up to in mystery, he looked up to in certainty.

Let his certainty be our confidence when we pray. If only we would just pause to take a moment and remember Christ's certainty in prayer, wouldn't it fuel our devotion and fervency to him in prayer if we remembered Christ's absolute confidence? But then in verse one, he begins his prayer, Father, the hour has come.

Several times in John's gospel, Jesus has told people that his hour had not come. Like when his mother asked him to turn water into wine in John 2, or when the authorities sought to arrest him but failed because his time had not yet come. But then something shifts in chapter 12, verse 27. Maybe turn there with me real quick. John chapter 12 verse 27.

I love that sound of Bible's crinkling. It's like a symphony to a preacher's soul. John chapter 12 verse 27.

Now is my soul troubled, and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour, but for this purpose I have come to this hour. Fast forward a little bit to John chapter 13 verse 1.

Now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. This hour is both ominous and triumphant. The hour has come for Jesus's violent death and subsequent resurrection and return to his Father. No cross, no no crown, no grave, no glory. Then Jesus offers his first prayer request in verse 1 back there in chapter 17.

Back in chapter 17, his first request is a request that is either idolatry, insanity, or integrity. Look at it.

Glorify your Son, that the Son may glorify you. Jesus is asking God the Father to exalt him back to heaven after his death and resurrection in splendor and in majesty to show off his greatness. Jesus's greatness. That's what Jesus means by glorify your Son. So, children here.

Glory is like when you look up at the sky and you look at the sun and it kind of hurts your eyes because its power is so strong. Well that's the glory of the sun. Well when we glorify something we're showing off its brightness, its splendor, its power, its majesty. Well Jesus is praying for the Father to do that to him.

So Jesus is asking the Father to do the unfathomable. Don't let this be lost on you this morning. Who in their right mind would ask God to glorify them? Please don't say you.

You are not worthy and neither am I. But you might say, well, if Jesus is only asking for glory from the Father to give it back to the Father, doesn't that reduce the shock of this request? No. For one, Jesus is asking for glory is shocking because God doesn't share His glory with anyone. I am Yahweh, that is My name.

My glory I give to no other. Isaiah 428. So Jesus is asking for the Father to give what God has sworn to never give to anyone else. Else, lest God himself be guilty of idolatry.

But here's the thing. Because the Father and the Son are one in nature, one in essence, one in perfection, one in will, yet distinct in personhood, when the Father shows off the brilliance of the Son and glorifies the Son, he's showing off his own essential glory. But secondly, Jesus's asking for glory is still shocking because Jesus is making his glory essential to the Father's glory. Now stick with me. See, God's faithfulness to the redemptive plan is at stake here.

No glorifying Jesus, no people glorifying the Father, and therefore God would fail to fulfill his word.

God isn't supposed to need anyone, so why would God stake his integrity on another person's glorification?

This is unique because the eternally begotten Son is necessary for the Father's fatherhood.

Are you tracking with me? If God did not eternally beget the Son, he would not be God the Father.

And God's begetting is not like our human procreation. Humans need partners, time, nutrients in order to procreate. The Father needs no partner, no time, no nutrients to beget. He eternally begat the Son. So don't read creaturely procreation back on the Creator like the Jehovah's Witnesses and Islamic doctrines do.

God the Father and God the Son are essential for the other in essence because no father, no son, and no son, no father. So then it is fitting that in redeeming the world, God the Son being brought back to glory is essential to the Father fulfilling his word and accomplishing his redemptive plan. One triune God displaying the unity of action in redemption reflects the unity of essence from all eternity. Now this is eternal, mysterious truth. So it's okay if it's challenging to process, but God has revealed this much to us and it is glorious.

That is glory in our triune God. But if you have further questions, you can read A book called the Trinity by Scott Swain. The Trinity by Scott Swain. Now, verse 2 tells us how the Son glorifying the Father, how His glory is essential to the Father's glory. Look at verse 2.

Since you have given Him authority over all flesh to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. Have you ever been given a task to complete, but not given the authority necessary to get it done?

Well, Jesus is given authority over all flesh, which is shorthand for creation, to give eternal life to those the father gave him. Did you see that? Those the father gave him. But if Christ is not raised from the dead and exalted, to his father's side. He cannot raise those the father gave him from the dead and give them eternal life.

One is necessary for the other. But God is not an unjust boss. He gives Christ the task, the authority, and sees it through to fulfillment.

But who are those the father gave him? These are the people that God has chosen before the foundation of the world to be saved. We call them the elect. And no, God doesn't vote on who he saves. He chooses who he saves before time, not based on any virtue or foreseen faith in them.

I know this raises a lot of questions that I don't really have time to adequately delve into, but if your question is, how does election work with God's justice? Well, the answer, the short one is perfectly yet mysteriously. And you can read Romans chapter nine. Let me know what you think. Romans chapter nine.

If your question is, well, how does election work with evangelism? How do you answer? Election fuels evangelism and guarantees the success of evangelism. Read 2 Timothy 2:10. That's 2 Timothy 2:10 and Acts 16:11-15.

Or if you have a question about how is election loving? Ah, election is infinitely loving. Read Ephesians 1:1-14 and what you'll see is that like a faithful husband has a very special love for his bride that is different than his love for any other woman, so too does God God have a special love for the elect. And brothers and sisters, do not let survivor's guilt or survivor's remorse keep you from rejoicing that he chose you. If you have repented and believed the gospel, that means you are chosen.

And it wasn't because of anything special in you, but because he chose to set his love on you. Rejoice, you are chosen. Rejoice, you are predestined. Rejoice, you are redeemed. Rejoice, you are sealed.

And rejoice, you are uniquely loved.

Now look at verse 3 with me.

What is eternal life? Eternal life is knowing the only true God and Jesus Christ whom he sent. So eternal life is not just living forever, but it is personal knowledge and fellowship with the only true God and Jesus Christ whom he sent. If you are more excited about streets of gold in heaven and seeing lost family members in heaven than seeing Jesus's face, you need to repent. And ask Jesus to make him your greatest treasure, your greatest joy.

Or if you're okay with kind of saying a prayer and asking Jesus into your heart, but you have no desire, no affection to grow in an intimate, accurate knowledge of who God is, your faith is suspect and maybe even dead.

And if that's you, please humble yourself and admit that you are either spiritually sick or spiritually dead and you need help. And maybe reach out to mature Christians that you can tell are spiritually alive and ask them to open up the Scriptures with you to teach you what real salvation is.

Now, the great goal of the gospel is not merely escaping hellfire. It's not merely defeating death. Those are just the byproducts of the great goal. The great goal of the gospel is personally knowing our triune God. We get to dwell with him forever.

He is the eternal life of the party. He is our cup and our portion forevermore. And now the fact that personal knowledge of God is eternal life, that's not that surprising. But what instigated Christian persecution was the and in verse 3. Did you see it?

The and? Know the one true God and Jesus Christ whom you sent. It was outrageous that Jesus would put himself on the same level with God.

By saying knowing him and the Father is equally necessary for eternal life. Can't have one without the other. So Jesus is not saying God the Father is God and he is not. No, no, no. He's saying I and the Father are one.

John 10:30. So John 3:16 then, For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believe in him shall not perish but have eternal life. Probably the most famous passage in scripture.

It's not merely about living forever. It's about a personal saving knowledge of who God is that begins the moment you are born again when you repent and believe the gospel. And it continues throughout a lifetime. You have to repent and believe and trust and rely on God the Father and his only begotten son who is truly God and truly man who died and rose again. And in order to be saved from your sin.

Stop trusting in your good works. Stop trusting in yourself. Repent and trust in Christ alone for salvation. Repentance is simply a change of mind evidenced by a change of conduct. Christ wants you to change your mind about what the meaning of life is.

To recognize that he is the meaning of life. Not you. Relinquish that and turn to Christ alone. So do you have eternal life?

Do you have personal knowledge of God and Christ? Or do you merely look at Jesus as a historical figure? Is God just the man upstairs, the man above to you? Or children, maybe, is God just a just somebody that your parents worship. But that's not really personal to you.

Well, we plead with you that you would put your trust in Christ Jesus today and turn to him. Jesus came to bring people like you and me sinners into a personal relationship with God, which glorifies him forever. And that is only possible because Jesus Christ has been glorified. He is at the right hand of the Father right now. So point one, Jesus is worthy of glory because he uniquely glorifies the Father.

Point two, Jesus is worthy of glory because he perfectly accomplished his mission. Look with me at verse four.

I glorified you on earth having accomplished the work that you gave me to do.

Larry Bird, a legendary NBA player, was infamous for calling his shots before he took them. He would say to his opponents, I am about to walk down to that three-point line in the corner and I'm about to pull up and shoot it. I'm gonna make it. And so his opponents would do their best to play the best defense that they could. Larry Bird would proceed to get the ball, dribble down to that corner, shoot the three, and drain it right in his face.

It surely angered his opponents, but it also proved Larry Bird's greatness. Well, Jesus is calling his shot before he makes it. Because his greatest work, his greatest miracle is yet to come. That is his substitutionary death and his resurrection from the grave. Because at the point, like Mark said earlier in John 17, Christ has not yet died or resurrected.

Yet he says to the father, I have accomplished the work you gave me to do. See, Jesus's mission was to fulfill the law, preach the gospel, perfectly display the father's perfections, gather and equip the first fruits of the elect, die rise and return to heaven to send the spirit to the elect and come back again. That's a lot of work.

So now, don't get me wrong. John has already shown how Jesus has accomplished most of his mission already from chapters one through 16. Jesus preached the gospel. We saw that he perfectly displayed the father's perfections. Take the seven I am sayings and seven signs, for example.

They display Jesus has all the Father's perfections in bodily form. Jesus said, I am the bread of life. And he backed it up by feeding 5,000 people with five loaves of bread, two fishes, and then there were leftovers afterwards. He proves that he is the divine source of eternal sustenance. He said, I am the light of the world.

And he backs it up by healing a man born blind, showing Jesus is the divine source of eternal illumination. Jesus said, I am the door of the sheep and the good shepherd. And he proved it by loving his disciples to the grave and back again. He houses his disciples, protects, guards, and feeds his people eternally. Jesus said, I am the resurrection and the life.

He is the source of eternal life itself. And he proved it by raising Lazarus from the dead and by raising himself from the dead. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. I am the true vine. He turned water into wine, showing he's the living water.

He walks on water and stills the storms, showing that he is the God of creation. Jesus perfectly displayed all of his father's perfections. And then Jesus also gathered the first fruits of the elect and equipped them.

But he had not yet died for sin and risen from the grave. But he says to the father, I've accomplished it. And Jesus wasn't lying. Both he and the father knew that the son would not shirk his responsibilities. If Jesus said he's gonna do something, it was as good as done.

So he could say, I have accomplished the work that you gave me. And then he went and he did it. He would later be betrayed by one of his own disciples, one whose feet he washed only a few hours earlier. He would be struck without a cause.

He would be forsaken and abandoned by all his other disciples. The civil authorities who knew he was innocent, they still condemned an innocent man to a grisly execution. The people he came to save, they chose a murderer to go free instead of him, even though Jesus had likely healed some of their cousins in them.

He was beaten, he was stripped naked, he was nailed to a wooden beam and lifted up for all to see.

The physical pain was excruciating, but what was worse still was the awful load of sin that he would have to carry in his body.

All the sins of those the Father gave him, were on his shoulders. He carried our idolatry. He carried our blasphemy. All of our disregard of his commands. All of our disrespect to our parents and other authorities.

All of our disrespect to him and our misuse of authority. And all of our murdering. All of our hatred. All of our unjust anger. All of our adultery and the lust that drives that adultery.

All of our stealing, all of our lies, all of our coveting, he bore our sins of omission and sins of commission, bad things we've done and good things we failed to do. He also bore our weakness, all of our guilt, all of our shame, all of our abuse. He bore it in his body.

First Peter 2:24-25 says, He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed, for you were straying like sheep, but he is now returned to the shepherd and overseer, of your souls. But see, worse still is that he bore all of God's wrath against our sins on himself. Isaiah 53, verse 10 through 11 says, yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him. He has put him to grief when his soul makes an offering for guilt.

He shall see his offspring. He shall prolong his days. The will of the Lord shall prosper in his hands. Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied. By his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.

Jesus bore our sin, bore the wrath we deserved. And by we, I mean all of us who repent and trust in him. He called that shot from the beginning and saw it through to the end. He called the cross. He completed the cross.

He saw death. He defeated death. He rose again and look at his greatness. He is worthy of our worship. He is worthy of our adoration.

Let us keep singing songs of His divinity. Let us sing to Jesus. Let that be more of our week this week. Mamas and daddies in the room, when you're changing that diaper in the middle of the night, sing to Jesus and to that baby. Sing of Christ's greatness.

Sing to Jesus as you commute to work. Turn on one of those CHBC albums on Spotify or wherever you listen to music and sing to Jesus while you're sitting in that hospital room waiting for them results. Sing to Jesus. Bring your church bulletin along with you so you can remember some of these songs. And when you're sitting at that graveside, sing to our grave conquering Messiah.

Jesus is worthy of glory because he uniquely glorifies the Father. Because he perfectly accomplishes his mission. And finally, Jesus is worthy because he is a glory native. He is a glory native.

I am a DMV native. No, not the motor vehicles, okay? But no, I'm a DC, Maryland, and Virginia native. And if you're new here to the area, welcome. DMV is short for DC, Maryland, and Northern Virginia.

And if you live near a metro station, you live in the DMV. I was born in DC, but I was raised in Prince George's County, PG. So I'm a PG native, okay? To be specific. There's a difference between a DC native like Josiah Reedy and I.

And we're particular about such things in this area. But maybe like us, you feel a sense of dignity and belonging to your hometown. Now, if you grew up traveling a lot, this might not relate to you as much, but you can imagine. But DC, sometimes when you're away from home for long, you can start to feel homesick, right? DC is nice, but like Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz said, there's no place like home.

When you read verse 5, Jesus sounds a little homesick, don't he? Look at it.

And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with youh. Before the world existed. Man, how sweet is that? How intimate are those words? Father, father.

That's what Jesus has been calling his father from all eternity. It's almost like the son is reaching up to his dad and saying, pick me up again. Jesus longs to be back in glory with the Father where he was before the world was created. For all eternity past, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit have dwelt in infinite fellowship and oneness and joy and delight and satisfaction. You read that in Romans 8, I mean, Proverbs 8 earlier.

You were always my delight. I was always your delight, wisdom says to the Father. The one true God has always dwelt in unapproachable light and perfect love, bliss and goodness in his three persons. The Father delighting in the Son and the Spirit. The Son delighting in the Father and the Spirit.

The Spirit delighting in the Father and Son. This is glorious. Yet mysteriously. John 1:1 tells us that the eternal Son, John 1, chapter 1, says, the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.

All things were made through Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. And then in verse 14, it says, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

And truth. The Word was God, when it says that, proves His divinity. When it says, the Word was with God, that proves His distinct personhood. And in verse 14, when it says, the Word became flesh, that proves His humanity. And then in verse 18 of chapter 1, it keeps going and it says, In John chapter 1 verse 18, no one has ever seen God, the only God who is at the Father's side, He has made Him known.

God the Son at the Father's side makes the Father known. See, the Son left heaven, took on flesh and blood, truly God, truly man, two natures, one person, he never ceased being God or emptied himself of divinity, but he did leave behind the glory of heaven and emptied himself by becoming man. He mind-blowingly did subtraction by addition. That is, he added humanity to his person. As Philippians 2:6-11 says, that's Philippians 2:6-11, it says, Though he was in the form of God, he did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped.

That means clung to. No, but he emptied himself by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men, and being found in human form, He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore, God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth and, Every tongue confessed that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

Only man could stand on behalf of man and bear man's sin. And only God could withstand the wrath of God, drink it to the dregs, and get back up again. Jesus, the God-man, he deserves glory because he is a native of glory, but was willing willing to lay aside the visible opulence of heaven's glory and take on human flesh to serve us, to die for us, and rise again. How great is that love. And now he ascended to the right hand of the father.

And he is sitting there pleading for us right now. And he is still in his glorified human body forever being the perfect bridge between God God and man. Let us pray to the God man forever.

So are we idolatrous for worshiping Jesus? Not one bit. It's idolatrous not to worship Jesus. It's idolatrous not to glorify Jesus. It's idolatrous to let any lesser glory steal our chief affections.

What lesser glories are trying to steal your chief affections these days?

Maybe it's the lesser glory of another religion.

Well, let me cut to the chase. Muhammad is dead. You can go to Medina and check out his grave.

Buddha is dead. All other religious leaders are dead, but Jesus is alive.

Just as the scriptures prophesied, and he was seen by over 500 pairs of eyes. And I don't know about you, but I'd rather bank my eternity on the one who defeated the grave than somebody who's still in a grave.

Or maybe it's the lesser glories of human relationships that are trying to take preeminence of your life. Maybe it's your parents. Maybe it's your spouse. Maybe it's your kids.

Maybe it's your friends. You should love them, but not more than Jesus. Do you understand that you can put your absolute love and loyalty into these relationships and they will all leave you either voluntarily or through them just saying, I don't want nothing to do with you anymore, or involuntarily through death.

But Jesus Christ, he is the one who lives forevermore, and if you trust in him, he will never leave you nor forsake you. And the pleasure found in trusting him, following him, it outshines any other relationship, and it fuels more faithfulness in those relationships.

Or maybe is the lesser glory lust some sight or app calling you to sacrifice your integrity on the altar of a quick hit of pleasure?

Brothers and sisters, lust is not strong enough to satisfy permanently. No matter how many offerings you offer it, It doesn't have the power to give permanent pleasure. But Christ's glory far surpasses the pleasure of lust. In his presence is the fullness of joy, and at his right hand are pleasures forevermore. And you through faith in him can have foretaste of that eternal pleasure in Christ, but it's not a microwave type of pleasure.

No, it's more of a crockpot kind of treasure.

And the more you simmer on those truths, the more satisfying they become, the more delectable they come, and the more disgusting your sin becomes. And one day, the fullness of pleasure will arrive. We will see Christ face to face, and His glory will incinerate all sinful desire and erupt with eternal, never-ending pleasure forever.

The glory of Christ far surpasses lust. Or maybe it's the glory of yourself that is in the way. Maybe it's the lesser glory of self. See, we are all born glory thieves. We want to steal the glory of God for ourselves by nature.

Whether it's by craving praises for being so attractive.

Craving praises for being so strong or so smart or so funny, being so servant-hearted, so godly, so passionate for Jesus. See, those things aren't intrinsically wrong, but when we're trying to find our absolute glory and satisfaction in them, we are in sin.

Our Gollum-like craving for our own glory will lead us to a golem like life, lonely and empty, and to a golem like end in the lake of fire. But Christ died for all that those who live might no longer live for themselves, but for him who for their sake died and was raised. Brothers and sisters, true life is daily crucifying our glory stealing desires and remembering who died for us, and pursuing his glory alone.

Now in conclusion, if God the Father glorifies God the Son, we would be fools not to glorify him too. Let us glory in Christ Jesus, who uniquely glorifies the Father. Let us glory in him who uses his authority not to fleece the flock, but to save the flock and to give us eternal life.

Let us glory in Christ Jesus who perfectly fulfilled the law. Let us glory in Christ Jesus who perfectly accomplished the cross. Who better than Larry Bird? He called the cross and he accomplished the cross. He called the grave and he emptied the grave.

Let us glory in Christ who though being truly God, a glory native, became truly man so that he could take the wrath that we deserve. Brothers and sisters, let us count all things lost for the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus our Lord. And let us also lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God forever. Let us pray to him day and night.

Let us memorize these truths about who he is. Let us proclaim them to the world. Let us sing them to one another. Let us encourage one another in the way, and let us be home sick for heaven.

And marched together to Zion. And on the day, the great I am, the faithful and the true, the Lamb who was for sinners slain, is making all things new. Behold, our God shall live with us and be our steadfast light, and we shall air his people be all glory be to Christ. Let's pray.

Father, we bow before youe asking that yout would get all the glory youe deserve from our short lives. May we live for Christ's glory and alone and may all lesser glories fade in comparison. We ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen.