WHAT JESUS DID AND STILL CONTINUES TO DO
A Compilation of messages that explain Bible verses on
this topic.
A Compilation of messages that explain Bible verses on
this topic.
ALL THAT JESUS DID PROVES THAT HE WAS ONE WITH HIS FATHER
“If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him.” - John 10:37-38
At the beginning of my Christian life, I was thought a lot about how much I would have enjoyed being contemporaneous with the Lord. I was thinking that if I could see Him with my physical eyes, hear Him with my physical ears, I would have the greatest faith. But the more I studied the Gospels, asking the Holy Spirit to help me understand what I read, I realized that it was not like that at all for those that lived in His time. Even if they witnessed the miracles Jesus did, not even being in the physical presence of the Lord could make they believe that He was the Messiah, if they chose to have hard hearts. Having faith in Jesus is a matter of choice, once the Holy Spirit touches our hearts.
Do you think it was easy to see a man, living as everyone else and believe that He could be the Son of God? Perhaps not having prophets among them for several generations prior in Israel and saw no miracles, it was easier for them to believe that Jesus was just a prophet than Christ, the Messiah they had been waiting for. After all, we may say that we are more privileged than those who lived in Israel when Jesus actually walked on the earth, because we have the Holy Spirit who reveals Jesus to us, as well as the New Testament in a written form.
It is not possible for anybody to know Jesus, without believing first that He is the Son of God, that He is one with the Father and that He came to do His Father’s works.
JESUS GLORIFIED FATHER GOD IN ALL HE DID, FULFILLING WHAT GOD SENT HIM TO DO
“I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do. And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was. I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word.” - John 17:4-6
Jesus continued His prayer, saying that He glorified His Father on the earth, by doing His will. God expects the same from us. Jesus did nothing on His own, while He lived in a human body. In many verses we read that He did only what He saw His Father doing, or what His Father sent Him to do. In Acts 10:38 Peter states very clearly that God anointed Jesus with the Holy Spirit, did good and healed all who were oppressed, for God was with Him.
Jesus was ready to return to His original glory. That is a glory that He always had and will continue to have forever. Jesus did not pray for God to give it to Him, instead Jesus said: “the glory which I had with You before the world was.” The Lord had identified His own personality in God, from the beginning of His prayer, but He was and is always one with His Father and the Holy Spirit. He was ready to go back to the original relationship of glory in God’s trinity, that was suspended while He walked on earth to save us.
Jesus Christ manifested Father’s God name as He revealed God’s very self to the people given to Him. The disciples belonged to God and He gave them to His Son as they gave themselves to Jesus, obeying the Scriptures. We are also to keep God’s Word on a daily basis, in order to belong to Him and Jesus Christ.
JESUS IMPARTED TO THE DISCIPLES WHAT HE RECEIVED FROM FATHER GOD
“Now they have known that all things which You have given Me are from You. For I have given to them the words which You have given Me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from You; and they have believed that You sent Me.” - John 17:7-8
After spending more than three years with the Lord, the disciples finally understood that all that Jesus gave and told them truly came from God. It was not easy to be around Jesus in human form and see Him live life as a human being. Even if Jesus was perfect in all He did, He proved to them that He knew their thoughts and feelings and He performed so many miracles, it was still very hard for the disciples to believe that their Teacher was God, the Messiah, the Son of God, the One awaited by the Jews for so long. Even if the Holy Spirit was not yet living in them, eventually they finally believed who Jesus was. All the lessons that Jesus taught to the disciples (and to us too, through the Bible), were the full manifestation of who the Father was, is and will be forever.
When we truly believe that God sent Jesus and all He did was God’s will, we cannot do anything else but obey God. As a result, we start to benefit of all the blessings that come with the state of being God’s children.
“Now they have known that all things which You have given Me are from You. For I have given to them the words which You have given Me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from You; and they have believed that You sent Me.” - John 17:7-8
After spending more than three years with the Lord, the disciples finally understood that all that Jesus gave and told them truly came from God. It was not easy to be around Jesus in human form and see Him live life as a human being. Even if Jesus was perfect in all He did, He proved to them that He knew their thoughts and feelings and He performed so many miracles, it was still very hard for the disciples to believe that their Teacher was God, the Messiah, the Son of God, the One awaited by the Jews for so long. Even if the Holy Spirit was not yet living in them, eventually they finally believed who Jesus was. All the lessons that Jesus taught to the disciples (and to us too, through the Bible), were the full manifestation of who the Father was, is and will be forever.
When we truly believe that God sent Jesus and all He did was God’s will, we cannot do anything else but obey God. As a result, we start to benefit of all the blessings that come with the state of being God’s children.
OUR LORD JESUS PRAYS FOR US
- “I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours. And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them.” - John 17:9-10
Our Lord was praying for the ones that God gave Him. Who are those? From Jesus’ prayer, we learn that they are those whom He had taught, have received the truth, who were to remain in the world and “… those who will believe in Him through their word” (John 17:20) and those are us.
Before the Father gave us to His Son, we belonged to Him, but then, Jesus gave us back to His Father and at the same time we belong to both of them, as they are one. In the next verse, Jesus says that all that are His, are the Father’s too and all of the Father’s are His also. As long as we live for Jesus, He and the Father will be glorified in us.
When Jesus calls us His sheep, He emphasizes again that we are in His hand and in the Father’s hand at the same time, as He and the Father are one, as we read in John 10:28-30: “And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. I and My Father are one.”
OUR LORD PROTECTS US, SO THAT WE MAY HAVE HIS FULL JOY
“Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves.” - John 17:11-13
Jesus was praying shortly before His arrest for crucifixion. He was asking His Father to protect His disciples, as He knew that after His death and until they would be baptized with the Holy Spirit, it would be a dark and dangerous time for them. There is power in unity and Jesus commits His spiritual children to His Father and asks Him to keep them in a holy union.
Jesus protected them all, except Judas, the son of perdition, to fulfill the prophecy from Psalms 41:9. The Good Shepherd watched over His flock and He did a great job. Only Judas who was not truly one of the flock, was lost by his own actions and will.
The Lord was ready to leave the world and return to His Father. As His joy came from the strong and continuous relationship He had with His Father, Jesus desired the same relationship of pure joy for His disciples with Father God. This is true for us too. This joy that comes from a sincere and strong relationship with God is deep and long lasting. This deep joy helps us to make it through the hardships of life, especially when everything crumbles around us.
THROUGH JESUS WE BELONG TO GOD AND ARE NOT OF THE WORLD ANYMORE
“I have given them Your Word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.” - John 17:14-16
The Lord’s prayer, as High Priest for all of us who follow Him, is also prophetic. He was asking His Father, ahead of time to protect His disciples from the snares, lies and temptations of the evil one, during persecutions and hardships. Jesus was speaking at other times, about the hate of the worldly people against God’s children. Those who live in sin, like and appreciate those who are like them. They cannot be around God’s children, because the darkness in them cannot stand the light in the righteous ones. Jesus did not pray for persecutions to be removed from our path, but that God will not allow us to be tempted beyond the strength we have to resist them.
We cannot mingle with the world, do what they do, go where they go, continue to have fellowship with them, if we want to follow Jesus. The Lord has nothing in common with the world, as the world belongs to Satan, since Adam and Eve fell into sin. When Jesus is our true Lord, we follow Him, do our best to obey Him and our goal is to become more like Jesus, with the help of the Holy Spirit.
JESUS PRAYS FOR THE UNITY BETWEEN CHRISTIANS OF ALL AGES
“I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.” - John 17:20-21
Jesus concludes the list of His requests to His Father, with a great statement in our favor. He also prayed, for the generations of believers that were to come, to know Him after hearing the Gospel. All generations after the apostles, including us and the future ones, are part of them and all that Jesus prayed to the Father, is for us too. What a blessing and a privilege to have the Son of God praying for us, before we were even born.
Since Jesus rose from the dead and went back to heaven, He is sitting at the Father’s right hand, and making intercession for us (Romans 8:34). God’s will for us is to make it to heaven. The Lord wants us to have success and live blessed lives in obedience to Him, until the end. He wants us, as His church, to love each other and be in unity with one another and with Him, so that those around us can see Jesus in us and believe that He is the Son of God.
JESUS IS PREPARING THE PLACE WHERE WE CAN BE WITH HIM FOREVER
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe in Me as well. In My Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?” - John 14:1-2 (BSB - Berean Study Bible)
Jesus encouraged His disciples after some disturbing events. In the previous chapter, the Lord had indicated Judas as a traitor and told Peter that He would deny Him. For sure these things did not sit well with many of them, so the Lord taught them and us too, a very important truth. It is up to us to not let our hearts be troubled, no matter what happens. What we allow our minds to think about, will make us happy or sad, courageous of fearful, trustful or doubtful and so on.
We may prevent sadness, by believing that our Lord is more than able to solve our problems and see us through. We also have much reason not to be troubled, if we focus on the fact that Jesus is preparing a special place in His Father’s heavenly home for each of us. Our Lord knows what we truly like and what we are wired for. The place He is preparing for every single one of us, fits perfectly with our personalities and desires. We will get to enjoy living in the best home possible in the most perfect location, in heaven, for all eternity.
JESUS TOTALLY FULFILLED HIS FATHER’S WILL
Then Jesus said to them, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things. And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him.” - John 8:28-29
Jesus told His disciples on several occasions, about His coming crucifixion and resurrection. If they would have truly paid attention and heard Him while He was with them, they could have rejoiced after His crucifixion instead of being fearful and hiding. How often we do the same! The Lord warns us about things to come in our lives, but we do not truly hear what He tells us. Because we do not truly hear, then when it happens, we despair instead of trusting Him to accomplish what He already told us He would do. Jesus came to earth and endured the limitations of living in a human body, into a sinful and evil world, to be lifted up on the cross dying in our place and paying for our sins.
The Lord Jesus did nothing out of His Father’s will. Every step of His earthly walk was led by His Father. Jesus knew that His Father was with Him all the time, because He always pleased God. We should want to please God too and know that He is always with us. Only our will and sin can separate us from God. Our Lord would never leave us, but if we want to leave Him, He will not force us to be His against our will.
Jesus told His disciples on several occasions, about His coming crucifixion and resurrection. If they would have truly paid attention and heard Him while He was with them, they could have rejoiced after His crucifixion instead of being fearful and hiding. How often we do the same! The Lord warns us about things to come in our lives, but we do not truly hear what He tells us. Because we do not truly hear, then when it happens, we despair instead of trusting Him to accomplish what He already told us He would do. Jesus came to earth and endured the limitations of living in a human body, into a sinful and evil world, to be lifted up on the cross dying in our place and paying for our sins.
The Lord Jesus did nothing out of His Father’s will. Every step of His earthly walk was led by His Father. Jesus knew that His Father was with Him all the time, because He always pleased God. We should want to please God too and know that He is always with us. Only our will and sin can separate us from God. Our Lord would never leave us, but if we want to leave Him, He will not force us to be His against our will.
JESUS HAS RECONCILED US TO FATHER GOD
For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation. - Romans 5:10-11
Through Jesus we are reconciled to God, into a state of fellowship and pure union with Him. While living in sin, we were at war with God. This proves God’s amazing love and grace, as He gave His Son to die for the salvation of His enemies. And He did not stop at just sparing us from eternal damnation, but He adopted us into His family and made us His children! If He loved us that much we can be sure that while being His, He will help us even more to remain on the narrow path, that leads to heaven.
And the good news does not end here. By following Jesus we can rejoice in God’s love. Through Jesus we received reconciliation with God and in Him we can find the fullness of love, hope, joy and peace.
Through Jesus we are reconciled to God, into a state of fellowship and pure union with Him. While living in sin, we were at war with God. This proves God’s amazing love and grace, as He gave His Son to die for the salvation of His enemies. And He did not stop at just sparing us from eternal damnation, but He adopted us into His family and made us His children! If He loved us that much we can be sure that while being His, He will help us even more to remain on the narrow path, that leads to heaven.
And the good news does not end here. By following Jesus we can rejoice in God’s love. Through Jesus we received reconciliation with God and in Him we can find the fullness of love, hope, joy and peace.
Copyright © 2021 Carmen Pușcaș. May be used for personal study or instruction but shall not be copied and/or distributed in whole or part without permission or for financial profit.