Rabbi Schneider - How Do I Know God Loves Me?
Let's just jump right in today to where I left off last week. We're gonna see how Jesus talks to the Father about letting us, you and I his bride, participate, hallelujah beloved ones, in his glory. I'm in verse number 22, John, 17:22. Hear the Word of God. Jesus says to the Father: The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they might be one, just as We are one. Wow, Jesus says he has given us his glory. I've touched on this in previous weeks. The Hebrew word for glory, which Jesus obviously knew and spoke, is the Hebrew word Kavod, and it speaks of a weightiness of God's presence. So when Jesus is speaking of God's glory, he's speaking of the weight of God's presence; that God is in the process of immersing his church, bathing us in his presence.
I want you to know, beloved, that eye has not seen and ear has not heard the thing that is awaiting you in the kingdom. And the mystery of this world is that you and I can keep on entering in to more and more of it. We are on a journey, get this now, Church, of discovery. You see, Jesus said, if you continue in my Word, then you're truly disciples of mine. Notice Jesus said you must continue. You see, we are on a process of progressive revelation meaning that Jesus intends for us to keep asking, to keep seeking, and to keep knocking that we would enter into more and more of an experiential reality of the glory of God, Amen, in and on our lives. Jesus said, I have made them partakers of your glory, God.
Once again Jesus said in verse 22: The glory which You have given Me I have given to them. But just like the Israelites were given the nation of Israel, they were given the physical land of Israel, just as the Israelites were given the physical land but had to drive out the Amorites, and the Hittites, and the Jebusites to enter into it, you and I also have to press in, and press in, and press in to enter into the fullness of what God has given us. He's given us his glory, but beloved, we have to seek for it, ask for it, knock, obey; and as we do, you're gonna find yourself, we're gonna find ourself encountering the Lord in ever growing weights of his presence. Let's continue on.
Father God, I pray right now that these words that I'm speaking to your people, Father, that they would not just be words that would roll of their back like water off a duck's back, but that you would give people an experiential encounter with you through your Holy Spirit and through your Word; that they would understand that we would understand, Father God, as your church that we can experience you; Jesus, that you said that you have given us your glory; that the weight of God's presence is the portion of us your children. Jesus, I want to thank you that I'm staying excited about you because I believe that I can experience more of you, and that you keep on showing up more and more and more.
Beloved one, there may be seasons of dryness in your life, but life is a series of battling and then increased releases in God's joy in his glory. We go through battles. We go through trials. And then when we get through that season of battling and trial, then what the Lord does is he releases us into a new dimension of joy and glory. Then we go through another battle, another trial. God strengthens us because when we get strong we'll be happy. And then when we go through that next trial and get stronger as a result of hanging on to God through the trial, God gives us a season of release. He gives us a Sabbath in his presence. He comes to us in a manifest way that we experience his glory. We experience his love. We experience revelation in a deeper and new way. We enjoy it for a season. And then God calls up, us up to the next level on the mountain.
So let's keep on pressing on, beloved. Let's keep on overcoming because Jesus said in the Book of Revelation seven times, he that overcomes will inherit these things and be with me in the paradise of God. You've been called to glory, but we've got to seek forth, beloved. We've got to ask for it, and we've got to be faithful, Amen. I speak God's blessing over your life right now and I speak over you're going to enter into deeper and deeper experiences of the glory of God in and over your life.
Let's continue on. Jesus continues and he says here that, his desire that we be perfected in love. And look what he says in verse number 23, because the Father, he says, has loved us even, Jesus said, as he's loved Me. Let's listen in verse number 23. Jesus is speaking of a reality. He says: I in them, get this now, and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, we've talked about unity, so that the world might know that you sent me. And here is what I wanted you to hear. Listen: and love them, even as You have loved Me. Jesus is asking the Father that we would know and that the world would know that the Father loves us, his church, his bride, that includes you and me, even as he loves Jesus. Did you hear what I said? God loves you in the same way he loves Jesus; that God the Father loves you and I with the same strength and in the same way that he loves Jesus himself.
Father, we pray for a revelation of this; that we would know the height, and the depth, and the breadth, and the width of the love of God that is ours in Christ Jesus; Father, that we would know that you love us with the same love and the same strength that you love even Jesus with. Oh God, touch us, I pray right now, touch us with that revelation, God, that we would know how deeply and passionately loved we are by you, in Jesus's name.
Listen what he says now in verse 24: Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, that they might see My glory. Wow, isn't this awesome? You're going to heaven. Those of us that belong to Jesus, beloved ones, we are going to heaven. Eye has not seen, I've been quoting this verse, the things that God has prepared for those that love him. Do you know that in heaven, beloved, there's no... In heaven we see, we see a few scenes in heaven.
One of the scenes that I love the most, we see it revealed in Revelation, chapter 4, and also we see it revealed in Isaiah, chapter 6, wherein Isaiah, 6, Isaiah sees into heaven, and in Revelation, 4, John sees into heaven. And in both scenarios they see the same thing. They see God on the throne. And they see all these angels around the throne of the Lord. And both John and Isaiah tell us the same thing, that these angels in heaven that surround the throne don't cease crying out day and night, Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh, holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. And the Bible says they don't cease crying out day and night Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh, holy, holy, holy. And what is going on here is that every time they say the word holy, every time they say the word Kadosh, it's because a new wave, a new revelation, a new impartation, a new transference of the glory of God has washed over them so that every time they say holy it's because they're responding to a new wave, and a new experience, and a new dimension of the love, and the holiness, and the glory of God.
Every time they say it it's because they're being washed away with a new demonstration of his holiness. Every time they say it it's because they're responding to a new emanation of the holiness and the glory of God that's being presented to them. In heaven, beloved, it's like an ocean waves, huge ocean waves of God's glory are gonna wash over you forevermore, every wave being new. Remember when you and I were kids and remember when we were kids all the things that we experienced for the first time? Remember nature was brand new. You remember your first boyfriend or girlfriend. You remember going to the amusement park for the first time. You remember going to a concert for the first time. And all these things were so new. Life was so fascinating. It was such an adventure. And then as we started getting older it started wearing off because we've been there and done that.
In heaven it's always, always, always gonna be new, and it's gonna be, it's gonna take your breath away, and my breath away forever and ever as Jesus allows us to be with him and to experience the glory and the holiness of God, which is everlasting and always, always new. It's alive. And what's ever alive, beloved, is new and changing. That's who your God is, and that's what he has in store for you. That's why Jesus said that he endured the cross and despised the shame for the joy that was set before him. That's why Paul got to the end of his life and he said he had fought the fight, he had run the race, and now there was laid up for him the crown of righteousness. And so we endure a lot of things in this world keeping our eyes on Jesus, being faithful because of what is ahead of us, beloved. Our permanent home is not here. We're building, beloved, a habitation in heaven through the things that we're doing down here. Jesus is gonna come and reward to each one according to what he's done. Amen and Amen.
Let's continue on. The last verse I want to hit on today, beloved ones is this. He says in verse number 26: I have made Your name known to them, and will make it known. Jesus is gonna continue to reveal the Father to us. You know what? I said it was the last verse. I want to go back and just touch on one more thing in the verse I was just covering, 24. Jesus says, I want to bring them to heaven with me. I want them to be where I am. And Jesus said, get this now, that they may see My glory. Just to see Jesus, the beauty of our Creator, the beauty of the fountain of living waters; do you know that Jesus is the beautiful God? David said, one thing have I desired of thee, that I might behold thy beauty all the days of my life.
We're gonna see the glory of Jesus. We're gonna see the One who is the fountains of living waters. We're gonna see the one that's the Author of all beauty. We're gonna see him and behold his beauty, beloved, forever, and ever, and ever. We're gonna see this one who is everlasting life forever and ever. Jesus said, I want them to be with me where I am that they may see my glory. Being in heaven is gazing upon God and seeing his glory forever and ever. And not just seeing him with our eyes, but literally, beloved, receiving him and having him live through us. I mean, what can we say? Words fall so short of what it's gonna be like when we're fully participating in this reality that right now we can only describe with our words, and, and touch just a little bit by faith.
Wow, we see through the glass dimly, the Scripture says. We see through the glass but dimly. But this is where we're going. And our time left on earth is so short. There's such a little bit of time left for us. Most of us have lived half our lives already. I know that because my audience, I know the average age of my audience. And you know what? We're gonna be in God's presence just like this. What a wonderful future is in store for you and I in Jesus. And then the last verse, beloved, says this. Jesus said: I have made Your name known to them, and will make it known, get this now, so the love with which You have loved Me may be in them, and I in them. Two final concepts, Church, from this verse, two final concepts as we conclude this series; number one, Jesus said, I have made your name known to them, and he said, and I love this, will continue to make it known.
When Jesus speaks about revealing the name of God, what he's talking about is revealing the revelation of the person of God. In other words, when Jesus speaks about revealing the Father's name, he's talking about revealing God himself to us. And what Jesus says is not only has he revealed God to us, those of us that believe right now, we believe because Jesus gave us revelation. But Jesus said, I'm gonna continue to reveal it. Do you know what this means, Church? This means that God is gonna continue to reveal himself to you and I. That's why we want to keep seeking. God wants us to keep seeking because God wants to keep revealing himself. Jesus said, I've revealed your name to them, and he said, and I will continue to reveal it.
That's exciting to me that, I don't know what fresh part of God Jesus may reveal to me today or tomorrow or next week. But one thing I have faith for and passion about is Jesus is gonna keep on revealing God to me. I'm gonna keep on understanding as will you that are seeking more and more of his nature; more and more truth; more and more mysteries of the kingdom. That's why we're excited about Jesus because we know that there's gonna be more and more that's gonna keep coming to us as we keep seeking him. That's what Jesus is saying here. He said Lord, I've revealed your name. Father, I've revealed your name, and he said, and I'll continue to reveal it.
Now the last verse, beloved ones, is just so breathtaking that if we can receive it, it's gonna just make us even right now feel so good. When I get done saying this, you're gonna feel so much better than you did when you started watching this episode today. Listen to the last thing that Jesus says here in his high priestly prayer before he goes to the cross. He prays, beloved this: that the love with which, he says to the Father, You have loved Me may be in them, and I in them. So let's listen to verse 26 again together. Jesus says to the Father, he says: I have made Your name known to them, and will make it known, we just covered that, so that the love with which You have loved Me may be in them, and I in them.
You know what this means? Father wants you and I to have a conscious, experiential reality in which we know his love in our lives in the same way that Jesus knows the love of the Father in his life. Jesus prayed that, Father, I will keep revealing you to them so that the same love which is in me may be in them. Do you feel it? I feel it in me. I feel the love of God coming deeper, and deeper, and deeper into me, and it happens, beloved, as I focus on his Word in dependence on the Holy Spirit. Remember, Jesus said, the words that I speak are spirit and life. Jesus, Father, makes entrance into our life through his Word that's living, and active and sharper than a two-edged sword.
I want you to hear, the purpose that God has for you, the purpose that Jesus has for you, is that he will keep revealing himself to you. This is what John, 26, says, as you seek him and focus on his Word, that he'll keep revealing himself to you. And that as he does, as you receive more and more of the revelation of who God is, of who Jesus is, of how much the Father loves you, of how protected you are, of the destiny that God has for you, of your identity and destiny in him, as this revelation continues to come into the Church, that is into you and I, what's gonna happen is, the same love that's in Jesus is gonna find deeper and deeper residence in you and I.
The Kavod of God, the weight of his presence, the glory of God will enter into and rest in you, and find a deeper home in you more, and more, and more; that you're gonna eventually, Church, be overwhelmed and overcome with the love of God; that you're gonna be, you're gonna be washed, washed in a wave of the love of God. This is what Jesus prays for, that the love with which you have loved me, he said, would be... Now think about this, do we have any, I mean think about how much does the Father love Jesus? We can't comprehend it, but we can imagine a little bit. The Father's love is all focused on Jesus, and we're in Jesus. And Jesus is praying that this same strength of love that's focused upon him from the Father, it would be in you and I.
In other words, we would get it; that the love of God would have a home in our heart; that it would rest on our soul; that we would embrace it; that we would live in it and move in it, Church, and have our being in it; that we'd be released in it. The Bible says, he that's been perfected in love has no fear; that all fear would be gone from your life; that you would be at rest in the love of God because the more that you know God loves you, the more at rest you'll be. Your worries will go away. Your fears will go away. Your insecurities will go away. Self-defensiveness will go away. You'll be free and at rest in the love of God. And this is the destiny that Jesus prayed for you. And what that means is if Jesus prayed it for you, it will surely come to pass in the life, beloved, of those that are his.
Jesus, I just want to thank you today. I don't even know what to say, Jesus, except thank you. I don't even know what to say except yes to you Jesus. We want this. I know that I speak for your church, Jesus, we want this. We want the fulfillment, Jesus, of every word that you prayed to be fully operative and fully fulfilled in our lives. So we say, Jesus come and have your way. We say, Jesus come and have your way. Jesus, we love you today. We need you today. We say, Jesus, come and have your way. Jesus, we worship you today. Jesus, thank you. Come and rest in our hearts. We live, and move, and have our being in you. We say yes to you, Jesus, fully and forever. And we say thank you to the love of God in Jesus's name, Amen and Amen.