JC Blog

Jesus prayed an amazing thing for us in His High Priestly prayer in John 17. "I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me" ( John 17:22-23 ). Jesus showed us the glory of God. The Greek word for glory is Doxa, which signifies an "opinion, estimate, and hence, the honor resulting from a good opinion” (Vines Dictionary). God is the originator of every good thought. Jesus is saying that the thoughts, opinions and estimate of what God thinks about Jesus is what God also thinks about us. This is incredible!

Jesus came to reveal this truth to us. He prayed that we would understand this. He wasn't just praying for His disciples but everyone who would believe in Him through their message ( John 17:20 ). God thinks highly of us. He is the originator of every good thought toward man. He loves us, created us for relationship and didn't spare His own son so that we could be reconciled to Him. This is a powerful thing to consider when understanding the reason He came to earth was to destroy sin and the power of death that had held us captive ( Hebrews 2:14-15 ).

Angels Long to Look into These Things

"Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things" ( I Peter 1:10-12 ).

We live in an amazing time period because we live after the time when Christ came to earth. As believers, we experience everything that the prophets foretold would happen after the Messiah came. We are born again with the Spirit of God inside of us, no longer having a sin nature ( Romans 6:6-7 ), this changed everything. In fact David saw this and called us blessed. "Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him" ( Romans 4:7-8; Psalm 32:1-2 ). God deals with us according to what Jesus did and not according to what we do. Peter said even the angels long to look into this wonderful salvation that has been given to mankind.

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment—to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ" ( Ephesians 1:3-10 ).

Tomorrow we look at Hebrews 2:17: Jesus Reached Out to Give Us A Helping Hand

"For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham's descendants" ( Hebrews 2:16 )

This is an interesting verse. If you look at its context you will see that it is talking about both the fallen angels who rebelled against God and mankind after the fall of man. As I read and studied this passage I asked the Lord why He helped mankind and not the fallen angels. His answer to me was simple yet powerful, I created the angels to serve and worship me, but I created mankind for relationship.

Angels were created as servants to worship God

Angels are created beings the same as us. They were created to serve and worship God as well as minister and serve believers ( Psalm 103:20, Hebrews 1:14 ). In God's goodness He created the angels with a free will just as He did mankind. The angels knew who God was, experienced his power saw His glory, yet some rebelled. They made their choice in that moment knowing the full weight of their decision. In other words, there is no redemption for them because it was a willful decision to betray God.

Mankind was created for relationship

After God created Adam and Eve, he walked with them in the cool of the evening. This means He fellowshipped with them, talked with them and knew them. They were created for relationship. Even after they disobeyed His command and were banished from the garden, He still walked and talked with them ( Genesis 4 ). Sin didn't change this; they weren't out of fellowship with Him nor were they cut off from Him. After the fall, He still related to them just as He had in the garden.

The Bible records that "Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away" ( Genesis 5:24 ). One day Enoch was caught up into heaven to live with God because they were so close they wouldn't be separated any longer. Enoch knew the intimate relationship that God designed humans to experience with Him.

In the same manner, God and Abraham were friends. God trusted Abraham and revealed the gospel in advance because He did not want to keep it from their friendship ( Genesis 15, Genesis 17, Genesis 18:16-19 ). Abraham was the only Old Testament figure known as a friend of God ( Isaiah 41:8, James 2:23 ). They had a relationship.

David was called a man after God's own Heart ( 1 Samuel 13:14, Acts 13:22 ). Not because his life was perfect or because he lived holy. In fact his life was a series of wars, unrest, adultery, murder, not to mention all the ongoing trouble he experienced with his family. But he was called a man after God's own heart because He knew God. He knew God would rescue him. He knew God would forgive Him. He knew He could count on God. He knew that God should be the first person to run to in times of trouble. And He knew hope for the future because of their intimacy. Reading the words of David throughout the Psalms makes it clear that David had a relationship with God, and God constantly moved on David’s behalf.

As believers we are all called friends of God ( John 15:15 ). We have been brought into intimate unity with the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit ( John 17:22-23 ). We are called children of God ( Romans 8:14-16 ). And co-heirs with Christ ( Romans 8:17 ). This is an incredible truth. In the past few ventured into a deep relationship with God, but through Jesus we have been united with Him in perfect unity ( John 17:23 ). We have His Spirit living inside us reminding us of everything Jesus said ( John 14:26 ). God made it possible to have relationship with Him through Christ.

In all of these examples we see that God has befriended mankind and extended His love to us. The fall of man didn't change His mind about us. He still loves us, desires relationship and provides the way of restoration. David saw this and wrote, "What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor" ( Psalm 8:4-5 ).

Over the next two days we will look at Hebrews 2:16. We will look at why God helps mankind and not the fallen angles. Paying close attention to the importance God places on mankind.

Tomorrow we look at Part 2: God Thinks Highly of Mankind