◄ What Does John 17:4 Mean? ►

"I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do.

John 17:4(NASB)

Verse of the Day

This greatest of all recorded prayers of Christ is prayed as He set out towards the Garden of Gethsemane and the Cross of Calvary, and it gives us the most astonishing insight into the heart of God, the glory of God, the plan of God, and the will of God. The only begotten Son of God took on the role of sin substitute (on behalf of fallen humanity) so that we who believe on His name might be reconciled to God - through Him.

Christ came to earth as the sinless Son of God to live life as God intended man to live; perfect in God's sight, fulfilling every aspect of God's Law, submitting to guidance of God's Spirit, depending entirely upon God the Father, and desiring to do His will.

And because of man's rebellion against God and man's imputed sin nature (due to His disobedience), Christ came to live as God intended man to live so that the life of God could be lived through a man; the Man Christ Jesus. Although He was fully God, Christ lived as fully man so that God Himself could live His life through His only begotten Son. And for our sake He learned obedience through the things that He suffered.

And now the hour for which the Lord Jesus had been born into humanity's race had arrived. The eternal Son had set aside His glory, humbled Himself, and taken upon Himself the form of a servant, and so He was able to say: "I glorified You on the earth. I have accomplished the work that You have given Me to do."

Although this greatest of all recorded prayers was prayed before Christ's crucifixion and Resurrection, His prayer encompassed time on both sides of the grave. Christ had finished the work of salvation that the Father had given Him to do in every aspect of His life as God incarnate; glorifying the wisdom of God, the faithfulness of God, the holiness of God, and the love of God.

May we set aside self, live our lives as unto the Lord, and finish the works which God prepared ahead of time so that we should walk in them - to the praise of His holy name.

My Prayer

Heavenly Father, what magnificent grace that Christ should set aside His glory and live His life as a man. What amazing love that He would die a cruel death for me and rise again so that by faith in Him, I might have eternal life. To Him be all praise and glory, world without end, AMEN.