[0:00] On May 24th, God opened a door that was glorious.
[0:21] ! God is interested in His glory today.
[0:37] And He's interested in every one of us this morning bowing the knee before His glory.
[0:47] And He will do whatever is necessary to lead us into the greatness of Himself. To help us to see what is truly good.
[1:02] What is truly worthwhile. What is truly glorious. And it can only be found in Him.
[1:13] Oh, may God help us today. To rediscover the wonder of His glory. To come to the point where we say, God, You are truly glorious.
[1:31] There is nothing that I desire besides You. Heaven and earth may pass away. But if I have You, I have enough. I have everything. I have what truly satisfies.
[1:43] I have what is truly glorious. And Jessica, in this video that we just watched, talks about the door that God opened into her life to reveal the glory of Himself to her.
[1:58] And to help her manifest God's glory to her stepdad. And to anyone in the watching world who would take notice.
[2:12] What Jessica did was not a testimony to the value of her stepdad. Her stepdad was a wicked man. It's not even a testimony to the goodness of Jessica, but a testament to the glory of God.
[2:31] And what God can accomplish in every life. Every life that submits to Him. Every life that would bow the knee to the wonder of our God.
[2:41] might God open up a window into glory so that we can behold Him this morning and just stand back and just enjoy the wonder of our God today as we look into the Word.
[3:00] John chapter 12 in our continuing study through this Gospel pinpoints the significance of glory and connects glory of Christ with the cross.
[3:17] It's almost paradoxical. How is it possible for something that brought the most shame to evidence the most glory? How can that be true?
[3:30] We'll look at that this morning as we evaluate this passage. John chapter 12 beginning in verse 27. We're going to look at this continuing narrative.
[3:43] And a couple of weeks ago as Pastor Kenoyer shared with us we saw this small group of individuals we don't know how many there were this group of Gentiles or Greeks that came and they asked Philip they said, Hey Philip!
[3:57] We want a private meeting with Jesus. Can you arrange that for us? And Philip goes to Andrew as you remember and Philip and Andrew together go to Jesus and they say, Hey Jesus!
[4:09] There's this group of Greeks that wants to spend some time with you. They want some personal intimate interaction with you. And Jesus responds not in the way we'd expect but Jesus responds here in verse 23 of chapter 12 and he says, The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.
[4:34] Jesus had glory on his mind. Jesus had the cross in view. In just a few short days the cross, the brutality and the terror and the horror of the cross would come crashing down on the shoulders of Jesus Christ.
[4:52] And yet Jesus understood that through the cross glory would come. The glory of Christ and the glory of the Father would be made manifest through the cross.
[5:09] So I want to ask this question this morning. As I have wrestled this week with this question about glory in the cross. and that is how does the cross lead to glory?
[5:25] How does the cross lead to glory? In what way does the cross play a factor in exalting Christ and leading to the glory of God?
[5:37] What does the cross do to help us see the glory of Christ and the glory of the Father? And as we walk through this passage I want us to behold again the glory of God.
[5:53] To understand the significance of this central theme that was foundational in the life and ministry of Jesus. We'll see that it was the motivation for His coming to earth.
[6:08] It was the foundational purpose for Him becoming a man and going to the cross. Glory was in view. Let me read the first verse just for our instruction and some context so you can see.
[6:26] We'll be working through verses 27 to 36 and I'll be I know there's four points in your outline today. I'm going to spend the bulk of our time probably 80% of the morning on point number one.
[6:41] So don't stress out about the fact that we still have three points to go and the time is almost up. Okay? I know if I were there I would feel the same way. So I think it's really significant for us to really soak and to bask in the important and crucial truth of the glory of God.
[7:04] We have got to understand this as a people and if we begin to understand the cross and how it relates to glory it will shape us as people.
[7:16] It will not only shape the lives that we live it will shape the way we present Jesus to others. So let me read this first verse and we'll get started.
[7:28] It says now Jesus says in verse 27 if you're visiting with us and you're using a pew Bible it's on page 899. Now is my soul troubled Jesus says and what shall I say?
[7:41] Father save me from this hour but for this purpose I have come to this hour Father glorify your name. Then a voice came from heaven I have glorified it and I will glorify it again.
[8:01] First we see in these first few verses I want to draw our attention to the fact that the cross reveals the preeminence of God. The cross reveals the preeminence of God.
[8:15] He is supreme He is ultimate He is the only one that matters in your life. He is central He is foundational He is everything preeminent and I want us to see the significance of what Christ has accomplished for us in leading to glory.
[8:36] Now just by way of context and helping to develop this theme and helping you see how important it is for the gospel writer for John himself I want to give us some background information so bear with me here.
[8:51] I want us to see that God's glory is the main theme of John and his writings. God's glory is a theme throughout the gospel of John.
[9:04] We find here even in John chapter 12 that glory comes up in every section of this chapter. In the first few verses from verses 1 through 8 what is taking place there?
[9:20] Jesus shows up in Bethany and Mary comes and worships Christ. He is preeminent for her and she pours out this costly ointment on his feet.
[9:32] She anoints his body for burial without even knowing that she was preparing him for that time. She humbles herself and worships her God.
[9:45] He is preeminent. He is worthy of worship. He is worthy to be adored in glory although it's not mentioned here in this first few verses certainly is the heartbeat of Mary.
[9:58] She recognizes the glory of Christ and she worships him. And then in the next several verses from verse 9 through 11 we find this man Lazarus who had been raised from the dead.
[10:14] And if you remember from our study in chapter 11 you remember that the reason why Lazarus was raised from the dead was for the glory of Christ. Flip back just briefly to chapter 11 and looking at verse 4 it says but when Jesus heard it meaning he heard about the fact that Lazarus was ill it says this illness does not lead to death it is for the what?
[10:43] The glory of God so that the son of God may be glorified through it. I would just encourage you underline that word the word for glory the glory of God and that the son of God might be glorified through it.
[11:00] And then in verse 40 of chapter 11 notice what Jesus says to Mary he says did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the what?
[11:11] The glory of God Lazarus was a living testimony to the glory of Christ only Christ as the resurrection and the life could raise Lazarus from the dead.
[11:27] And as we go back to chapter 12 verse 11 we see because on account of him on account of Lazarus many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus.
[11:39] The glory of Christ the glory of the Father was in full view through the resurrection of Lazarus. And then moving to the next little section from verse 12 to 19 pastor referred to it as the tragic entry and some of your Bibles has it listed as a heading the triumphal entry.
[12:01] Again if you notice and I would encourage you to underline the word in verse 16 John is caught up is caught up with the glory of Christ and not only the glory that he would experience as Jesus rode into Jerusalem and the crowd shouted Hosanna blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord Jesus was definitively stating in full public view who he was identifying himself as savior as Messiah as future king and the people would recognize that in a moment and would bless him and glorify him shouting praises and Hosanna to him moving to verses 20 to 26 I just read for you verse 23 as the
[13:03] Greeks came Jesus says the hour has come for the son of man to be glorified underline glorified and now here in this section of verses from 27 to 36 Jesus says father glorify your name then a voice came from heaven I have glorified it and I will glorify it again in the sections that we'll be looking at in the next couple of weeks from verse 36 halfway through to verse 41 we see in verse 41 Isaiah said these things because he saw the glory and he spoke of him and then in our final section that we'll deal with the first week of October in verse 43 it says for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God do you think that the apostle
[14:04] John is interested in the glory of Christ I mean if we can't begin to see that from this chapter we're not going to see it anywhere in John chapter 12 there are eight references to the glory of Christ the glory of God and throughout the gospel of John John more than any other gospel twice as many is found in Luke three and a half times as many as found in Matthew and six times as many times as found in the gospel of Mark speaks about the glory of Christ the glory of God it is significant for John so not only in John chapter 12 but throughout the gospel of John we see this continuing theme right at the outset in John chapter 1 we see that John is looking at the glory of
[15:05] Christ and he's magnifying him for who he is In verse 14 of chapter 1 he says the word became flesh and dwelled among us and we beheld his glory the glory as of the only begotten of the father full of grace and truth in chapter 2 verse 11 John says this beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee and he manifested his glory and his disciples believed in him in chapter 8 verse 50 he says I don't seek my own glory there is one who seeks and justifies and then in chapter 17 this prayer of Jesus to the father in the moments leading up to his crucifixion Jesus is praying to the father he says glorify your son that your son also may glorify you I have glorified you on earth
[16:07] I have finished the work which you have given me to do so glory stands at the outset of all that Christ has accomplished and the purpose for which he came we see that here in verse 27 Jesus says 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 we find many different purposes in the gospels of why Jesus came but we see that this is the central purpose and this would be the next point that I want to make God's glory is the central purpose of Christ's coming his purpose is the central purpose of his coming we know that Jesus came to seek and save the lost we know he came to serve and not to be served!
[17:15] to give his life a ransom for many we know that from Mark chapter 1 verse 38 Jesus says let us go to his disciples let us go into the next town that I may preach there because for this purpose I have come in in Luke chapter 4 he says I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities also because for this purpose I have been sent in John chapter 18 in speaking with Pilate we find Jesus says for this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world to bear witness to the truth so we know that Jesus has come!
[17:50] for many purposes but the central purpose the purpose that brings it all together the purpose that unifies all the others is the purpose of glorifying God and in these verses we see this central purpose coming into view the purpose that Christ has for coming to earth is to glorify himself and to glorify the father it's unmistakable through this text as we look at Jesus his own statement about his purpose to glorify himself but in what way in what way would Jesus and the father be glorified through the cross I wrestled with this this week and as I looked through the I think there's 33 or 39 different accounts of the glory of
[18:51] Christ being recounted in the gospel of John and throughout Matthew and Mark what is the point of glory what was it about the cross that led to glory was Jesus glorified because of obedience to the father was he glorified because he conquered sin and death was he glorified in calling people to repentance was he glorified because he accomplished all that God had called him to do was he glorified in setting all things right all things back to normal the things that had been broken in the fall when Adam and Eve had sinned now in restoring creation back to its original sense in fellowship with the father was he glorified through being the supreme example of humility glory was he glorified in becoming the supreme savior and king would he be glorified as a reward for the cross why does the cross point to glory certainly as we look through the gospel we see evidence of the glory of
[20:09] Christ showing up in so many different ways we see that God was glorified through the works of Jesus as Jesus performed miracles and disciples and followers believed it says the glory of God was placed into view and as Jesus is speaking the words of the father certainly there was a sense in which the glory of God came to bear in the hearts of people that's why Jesus talks about by testifying to the words of the father as people got to witness his life and to see the character compassion his tenderness his grace and mercy his forgiveness his power God was certainly glorified all throughout the ministry of Jesus beautiful paint strokes were being added to the canvas the portrait of God was being revealed in all its splendor to anyone who would notice the image of
[21:12] God was breaking through with clarity and dimension and depth and wonder and fullness and balance and in beauty.
[21:26] All of these glimmers of God coming through the portrait of Jesus as he worked out and played out the life of God in the presence of others.
[21:39] And throughout the scripture, the glory of God is always connected to the person of God. It's always connected to the presence of God. It's his expression of his quality and character.
[21:53] Some examples might be Moses who in Exodus 33 says, Show me your glory. And God said, I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name, the Lord.
[22:09] And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious and I will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. And as we remember, God put Moses in the cleft of the rock and let his presence pass before Moses and the glory of God was there.
[22:28] Also in the construction of the tabernacle in Exodus chapter 40, it says, Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.
[22:38] And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud settled on it and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. In Isaiah 6 verses 1 to 4, Isaiah is having this vision of God and he's standing there.
[22:55] He says, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne high and lifted up and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings.
[23:05] With two he covered his face. With two he covered his feet. And with two he flew. And one called to the other and said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory.
[23:19] And the foundations of the threshold shook at the voice of him who called. And the house was filled with smoke. The glory of God. His presence that was manifest in the Old Testament.
[23:33] And the presence of God that showed up through Christ in demonstration of his works and his words and his life was manifest through Jesus. So that God showed through his life.
[23:48] And so the cross brings God glory by showing himself to the full. The cross is the fullest expression of who God is.
[24:03] The portrait is complete through the cross and through his resurrection. It is through the cross that we get the clearest picture and the fullest picture of who God is.
[24:16] His justice and forgiveness. His power and his humility. His hatred of sin. And yet forgiving and forgiveness in Christ. His sovereignty over all.
[24:28] And yet his submission to authority. His righteousness. And yet his mercy. His wrath. And yet his patience. His purity. And yet his willingness to endure the shame of sin.
[24:41] And taking it on himself. His eternality. And yet his willingness to be subjected to frailty. We see in the cross. We see in the cross the fullest portrait of who God is.
[24:54] Showing up in full view. And calling us to the glory of God. Calling us to understand who he is in his mercy and goodness.
[25:06] So that Christ could show forth God in every way. Jesus put God on display through the cross.
[25:16] In all his splendor. The portrait of God was seen in his fullest expression through the cross. So that one commentator writes, God receives glory when his attributes are manifested.
[25:32] And nowhere was his magnanimous love for helpless sinners. His holy wrath against sin. His perfect justice. His redeeming grace.
[25:42] His forgiving mercy. Or his infinite wisdom was more clearly seen than in the substitutionary, propitiatory death of Jesus Christ. It is in the cross that we behold God.
[25:57] And it should call us to marvel at who he is. Christ's death was preeminently for God's glory. And so as we look at the cross, we remember that the cross was for God.
[26:15] The cross was to show the wonder of God. To call attention to the love of Christ. To the justice of Christ. To the truth of Christ.
[26:26] To the forgiveness of Christ. This picture of the glory of God culminates on the cross. So this truth should lead us to delight in the glory of him.
[26:41] And God's glory, point number three, God's glory needs to be the supreme affection of the saints. Since God's ultimate goal was in the cross was to glorify himself.
[26:59] To make much of himself. To show the fullest portrait of himself to the world. In the same way that purpose of Christ in the cross must drive us as individuals.
[27:16] It must drive our hearts to bow in worship to the glory of God through the cross. To see him is truly glorious. To glorify him means it relentlessly destroys glory in me.
[27:36] Let me say that again. The cross removes any perspective that would raise my value in the image of this world.
[27:51] And exalts the portrait of Christ in the portrait of God as being all glorious. There is a movement today. There is an undercurrent today.
[28:03] In our music. In our media. In the books and literature that are being produced. That would seek to convey that the cross proves that I can make much of myself.
[28:14] They would say that Christ's priceless sacrifice shows how much he values me. They would say that Christ's love on the cross demonstrates the length to which he will go.
[28:29] To show that I am the object of his love. And how much I mean to him. But the cross was never intended to convey the greatness of me.
[28:43] But the greatness of him. And I gave this video as an illustration. The practical outworking of what that looks like.
[28:56] No one would watch this video and say that Jessica's stepdad was worthy of forgiveness. Because he added some value to the table.
[29:10] He would say he deserves to be locked away. He deserves to be forgotten. He deserves maybe even to die for what he did. It doesn't even exalt Jessica.
[29:21] Jessica deflects all the glory to Christ. In working through her heart. To help her to do what she could not do on her own. And that is to operate in the strength of the Holy Spirit.
[29:33] And to convey the love of Christ. The love that was empowered by the Holy Spirit. To convey forgiveness. To someone who is truly unworthy. In every way.
[29:46] And through that example. God receives glory. Because through that example. Only God can accomplish that kind of forgiveness.
[29:59] I appreciate what one commentator says. And I've actually provided several of these in the foyer out there.
[30:12] It's chapter 10 of John Piper's book, Don't Waste Your Life. It's a free resource online. But I printed several of these. And they're on the table out there.
[30:25] Let me read for you just a couple of snippets of this. To help reinforce this in your mind. John Piper puts it this way. He says, Oh God.
[30:36] You know I tremble now for fear. That many of the ones who call you Lord have made themselves the prize and glory of your grace.
[30:47] How many Lord have made your love a witness to their worth. There was a time. Love felt like this. When I could not conceive of any greater joy than the honor of my name.
[31:03] When I was so absorbed in me that it was inconceivable for joy to rise by admiring rather than being admired. But now, thanks to your mighty grace, I see it as an invitation.
[31:19] And so it came into the world. This great inversion we call sin. And love was made to stand now on its head. I grieve Lord.
[31:31] Just to put it into words. But here it is with the shame. Your love no longer means that you do what you must to make yourself our joy. It has come to mean that you do what you must so that we can feel our worth.
[31:45] It was a sad exchange. And doubly so. Not only did it rob our souls of that one joy that you designed to satisfy us for eternity.
[31:58] But worse. It robbed you of your honored place as treasure of our lives. How could I, Lord, have ever been so blind?
[32:09] To think that being loved by you means making much of me and not yourself. How could I put my eye to some great telescope designed to make me glad with visions of the galaxies?
[32:22] And notice in the glass a dim reflection of my face and say, Now I am happy. I am loved. How could I stand before the setting sun?
[32:34] Between the mountain range and the vastness of the sea and think that the everlasting joy should come from making much of me.
[32:44] The glory of the cross. The purpose of the cross was so that we would make much of him.
[32:58] And as the object of his love. The objects who were unworthy. Objects who were enemies and rebels. Hostile against our God.
[33:10] Should elevate our view of him. Not our view of us. Oh, the goodness and grace of our God. Now, running through the next three points.
[33:29] But that is a background. Most of the work has been done. Because what we see as playing out in the rest of this passage is we see the evidence of what the cross did.
[33:42] What it accomplished in showing the glory of Christ. First, we see in verse 31 that the cross reveals the purity and the power of God.
[33:53] Reveals the purity and the power of God. Notice in verse 31, Jesus says, This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. Now is the judgment of this world.
[34:06] Now will the ruler of this world be cast out. There should be nothing that should delight our heart more. For those who are persecuted.
[34:16] For those, excuse me, who feel like you're unjustly treated. To know that the judgment has come. That Christ on the cross declared that justice would happen.
[34:31] Sin would be dealt with. It would not go unpunished. It was punished in Christ. And it was a declarative statement that the sentence had been passed.
[34:46] That God would judge sin. It would not go forgotten. So that Paul, in encouraging and commending the church of Philippi, says this in Philippians 1, 27 and 28.
[35:00] He says this, Only let your life be worthy of the gospel. So that whether I come and see you or I'm absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind, striving side by side, and not frightened in anything by your opponents.
[35:17] This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation and that from God. In enduring hardship, we are acting with Christ to declare that God will take care of sin one day.
[35:37] He's taken care of sin for us who are in Christ, who have been forgiven. And because He is holy, because He is pure, He will judge sin.
[35:50] And we can rest in the fact that Christ, in being punished on the cross, in carrying the penalty for sin on Himself that led to death, helps us to believe, to be convinced, to be assured, that He will continue to be faithful, to judge sin in the future.
[36:09] He is judge and justifier. We can trust Him. But also the power of God that was displayed to the cross. Satan was defeated. His schemes were dismantled.
[36:22] His desires were destroyed. His plan to disrupt the purpose of creation, Christ demolished through the cross. In Colossians chapter 2, Paul brings this into perspective.
[36:37] He says, Jesus set all of these legal demands aside. He nailed them to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame by triumphing over them in Him, in Christ.
[36:54] Jesus states categorically that He is authority. He is ruler. He is king over the visible and invisible parts of this world. Christ triumphed through the cross, destroying death and sin and all the enemies that we would be confronted with.
[37:10] Jesus was victorious. Next week we're going to deal more with this third point. The cross reveals the plan of God. The cross reveals the plan of God.
[37:22] We find in verse 32 and 33, Jesus says, And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself. That plan involved Jesus' death.
[37:35] He alludes to it several times through His ministry to the disciples. He knows exactly what's coming. He's told them definitively what to expect. He knows that it will include several aspects.
[37:49] It will include Him being handed over to the Gentiles, being mocked, being shamefully treated, being spit upon, being flogged, being killed, and then rising again the third day. He was not ignorant about the horror of the cross.
[38:02] And we find here even in verse 27 that His soul was troubled because of it. But because of courage and obedience and abounding love and forgiveness, Jesus moved to the cross.
[38:19] It was part of the plan. He was willing to die. But as we'll look at more next week, the point of His dying was so that He could draw all men to Himself.
[38:30] Draw all men to Himself. Jesus came to seek and to save the lost. What does this mean?
[38:40] Who is the all that Jesus is referring to? Who is the all that Jesus will draw to Himself? Come back next week. We'll talk about that some more. Is it all men universally?
[38:53] Is it all men symbolically? Is it all men exclusively? We can see here in verse 37 a hint of the answer.
[39:06] It says, Though He had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in Him. So we know that this drawing of all men is not drawing of all men universally.
[39:20] So come back next week and we'll talk about that some more. What is that about? And finally, the cross reveals the patience of God. And Jesus concludes this passage by calling His hearers to repentance.
[39:35] By calling His hearers to confess who He is and to believe in Him. The light is among you, He says in verse 35. For a little while longer, walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you.
[39:50] The one who walks in darkness does not know where He is going. While you have the light, believe in the light that you may become sons of light. As we draw this service to a close, I'll ask the praise team to come up.
[40:08] And this morning, as we wrap up our service, my call to you, to you who are here and listening to this message this morning, the call is, Jesus is near.
[40:27] Jesus has revealed His truth to you. Today is the day of salvation. Will you respond while the light is near?
[40:38] We find in this next passage, Jesus probably having been teaching every day in the temple. We find at the end of verse 36, when Jesus had said these things, He departed and hid Himself from them.
[40:57] Jesus is giving us an opportunity to respond to the message of the gospel. Will you respond today, if you haven't already, and come to faith in Him, to make Him glorious in your life, to make Him Lord and Savior.
[41:15] We would love to introduce you to that friend, to that deliverer, to that rescuer of the soul. We would love to introduce you to Jesus this morning.
[41:28] So let's stand as we sing and let's praise.