Heavenly Focus
“And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself,
with the glory which I had with You before the world was.”
(John 17:5)
“With the glory which I had with You
before the world was.” Wow!
This is so incredibly profound to ponder.
Imagine all that Jesus has experienced,
leaving Heaven and coming to earth.
Everything from the womb to the tomb,
And everything in between.
Can you imagine being the Creator of the Universe,
and of all things, coming to live inside the one you created?
The Almighty, All-powerful God,
being born as an infant?
“Who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard
equality with God a thing to be grasped, (utilized or asserted)
but emptied Himself, (laid aside His privileges)
taking the form of a bond-servant,
and being made in the likeness of men.
Being found in appearance as a man,
He humbled Himself by becoming obedient
to the point of death, even death on a cross.”
(Philippians 2:6-8).
“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served,
but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”
(Mark 10:45).
This boggles the mind.
I think about how Jesus, The Creator of the Universe,
bent down and humbly washed the feet of the one
He had created and formed in the womb.
It’s no wonder Peter responded the way he did!
He recognized and understood who it was that
was offering to do so.
Magnify that countless times over, and we see Jesus humbling Himself,
And doing far more than bending down to wash a person’s feet.
We see Him enduring indescribable suffering and crucifixion,
to take our place and punishment.
“And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself,
with the glory which I had with You before the world was.”
(John 17:5).
Can you imagine what that glory must have been like?
All that Jesus knew and experienced before the world was?
How beautiful it must have all been?
We never see Jesus complain, but oh how hard
It must have been to leave all of Heaven and
Come to this earth.
To endure all that He did.
And for One so perfect and Holy
To have all the sin of mankind poured out upon Him.
Oh, how incredible is the very heart of God.
How impossible to know the depths of His love.
For us to grasp the full magnitude of His sacrifice for us.
How the words in Jesus’ prayer echo and resonate in my heart.
Philippians goes on to say how God answered Jesus’ request.
“For this reason also, God highly exalted Him,
and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name,
so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow,
of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:9-11).
Amen!
Imagine every person who has ever lived good or bad.
Every person, believer and non-believer.
Even the ones who tortured and crucified Him.
And all of mankind whose sin caused Him to be put there.
Oh, what an incredible debt that we could never repay.
Oh, what a joy to be able to say Jesus; Jesus Christ is Lord.
“And this is eternal life, that they may know You,
the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”
(John 17:3).
When I think about how the LORD, GOD ALMIGHTY
And The Creator of the Universe took the form of
An infant in the womb,
I am reminded of this quote from the movie “Aladdin” where the
genie says, “Phenomenal cosmic powers! Itty bitty living space!”
How much greater this is true of the LORD, GOD ALMIGHTY.
“But who is able to build a house for Him,
for the heavens and the highest heavens
cannot contain Him?” (2 Chronicles 2:6a).
It’s hard to fathom this with our finite minds.
To grasp it in earthly terms.
God is clearly not a genie. God’s greatness and
power goes so far beyond what we can conceive.
Yet in this humorous, cartoon comical way,
It makes a point in its own way.
It’s so surreal to think about God doing this,
living like this -being like one of us!
There’s no way to fully understand its depths - His depths.
What a comfort it is to reflect upon
how much greater He is than all else.
Greater than all of our troubles and woes,
than all of our sorrows and sicknesses,
and all of our trials and hardships.
The One who created the Heavens and earth,
Who comes in the flesh as God incarnate,
Is anything too hard for Him?
We’re not talking about Ant-man, lol.
We’re talking real-life, real-world,
God who is the Great I AM.
The Becoming One, The Alpha and Omega,
Who was and is, and is to come.
The Eternal God.
Who loves you and I with an everlasting love.
The One who spoke and there was life.
