Sermon Notes + 10.20.2024
SERMON NOTES
With Me Where I Am
John 17:24
Dr. Tony Chute, Lead Pastor
Overview: As Jesus begins to conclude His High Priestly Prayer, He asks that those who have been given to Him by the Father will be with Him to see His glory. The basis for His request is not fear of loneliness but an extension of love. Jesus notes that He was with the Father and loved by the Father before the foundation of the world, thus indicating that He was perfectly satisfied apart from the creation of the world or the presence of any living thing. Yet, as Jesus prepares to return to the Father, He desires that those whom the Father has given Him will be in their presence also so they too can share in the love of the Triune God. This petition for our presence with Christ and pledge of everlasting love is a promise for us today as we live in relationship with the Lord and one another.
01. God expresses and experiences love apart from our presence because God is love.
02. God establishes His presence among us in order that we may experience His love.
03. God invites us into the fullness of His presence as a promise and pledge of His everlasting love.
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION & DISCOVERY
1. Jesus says that the Father loved Him before the foundation of the world. What does this statement tell us about the nature of that love? Is it temporary? Is it earned? How does the statement “God is love” (1 John 4:8) prove itself to be true in light of the eternal love God the Father has for God the Son?
2. Why does Jesus desire that those whom the Father has given to Him will be where He is? Do you agree with the statement that this request is not due to fear of loneliness but is rather an extension of His love? How does the incarnation of Christ demonstrate God’s desire to be with us and bring us to Himself? See John 1:9-18 for further insight.
3. In what ways has God established His presence among us in order that we might experience His love? Consider the presence of God in the Garden of Eden; the presence of God in the tabernacle and the temple; the presence of God in us and in the church. How do each of these examples point to the connection between God’s presence and God’s love?
4. In what way does heaven represent the ultimate fulfillment of God’s presence and God’s love coming together for us? Would heaven actually be heaven without the presence of God? In other words, if we had all the beauty and peace and joy in heaven that is possible for us to have, would it be heaven without the presence of Jesus? See Psalm 73:25 for further insight.
5. The Bible says that no man can see God and live (Exodus 33:20), but it also says that “when He appears we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him as He is.” (1 John 3:2). Think about our limitations here on earth and how they will be removed when we get to heaven. How will our future glorification enable us to behold God in all His glory? Take a moment to thank God that “what no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love Him.” (1 Corinthians 2:9).
For Further Reading: John Bunyan, All Loves Excelling: The Saints’ Knowledge of Christ’s Love (first published, 1692; Banner of Truth Trust edition, 2022).