From Foe To Family | John 17 | June 21st, 2026

Eternal life is not a finish line. It’s a relationship. We open John 17 and let Jesus tell us, in his own words, what “true life” actually is: knowing the only true God and Jesus Christ. From there, we follow the thread back to John 8 where Jesus says “I Am,” not as a poetic detail but as a direct claim to divine identity. That changes everything, because the goal is not to be vaguely “good with God,” but to be brought all the way home into the family of God. 

We also get practical about what Jesus prays for us right before the cross: protection from the evil one, sanctification in truth, and a unity that looks so unlike normal human comfort that the world has to ask questions. We talk about spiritual disciplines, staying rooted in the local church when it gets messy, and why growth can feel like surgery. Since it’s Father’s Day, we connect it to parenting with a memorable metaphor: dads carry an invisible paintbrush, and our kids learn what God is like through what we paint over time. 

If you want to learn more about the MidTree story or connect with us, go to our website HERE or text us at 812-MID-TREE.

Transcript

Will Hawk 0:46

All right, I'm looking for it. Yeah, Shane Tuck, come on up. If you guys want to, go ahead and grab your Bibles. We're transitioning from the book of Daniel to the book of John, where you guys are going to be spending about six or seven weeks this summer. So if you want to jump to John chapter 17, Shane, I think I gave him verses 1 to 3. That's correct. All right. Y'all go ahead and take center.

SPEAKER_00 1:06

Good morning, midtree. My name is Shane. This is my son Tucker. We're going to be reading John 17, 1 through 3. If you turn to your Bibles, uh, the Pew Bibles, it should be on page 903. And follow along as we read God's word. When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted his eyes up to heaven and said, Father, the hour has come.

SPEAKER_02 1:30

Glorify your Son that

Scripture Reading And Setup

SPEAKER_02 1:32

the Son may glorify you. Since you have given him authority over all flesh to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. This is the word of the Lord. Amen.

Will Hawk 1:46

Way to go, guys. Tucker, getting you to read is my trick to keep you awake today. We're going to see if it works all the way through the service. Hey guys, if y'all would welcome Tim. Tim, excited to hang out with you.

SPEAKER_01 2:01

Hello, hello.

Will Hawk 2:02

We're going to see how this thing goes. Hey, I did something for you. That's a weird way to take my shirt off. What's happening? All right. So if you are a dad and you are not plugged in to a really good podcast, I'm repping your team here. Look at you. I know. It's also because I like wearing t-shirts. But so this is a ministry team. You've been running M46 for how long now?

SPEAKER_01 2:26

I think it's like 11 years.

Will Hawk 2:28

Right. And so uh men in the room uh who are dads, granddads, expect to be dads. Wish you had a better dad. M46 drive time would be something. You can grab your phones. You guys know phones are welcome here. We'll have a QR code up in a minute if you want to grab the notes from today's time in the word. And I'm going to call it a sermon because we're both just half preaching and then half podcasting.

SPEAKER_01 2:50

I don't really know what's about to happen, but I'm I'm here.

Will Hawk 2:53

I'm so excited to be hanging out with you. So we are going to be in, like I said, John chapter 17. I'm going to take the first half. Tim's going to take the second half. And then my plan, I wrote in for me to land the plane, but if the Holy Spirit says otherwise, you just take it and run it. Yeah, vice versa. Okay. Yeah. I I've had so much fun hanging out with Tim over the past couple of months or so. And those of you who have had the privilege of meeting with him, I just cannot advocate to you enough what a gift he has been to our church, even in such a short period of time. And you're sliding in right off in answer to prayer.

SPEAKER_01 3:28

Man, my wife's going to be here, the wife that some of you think doesn't his alleged wife. She'll be here in the second service, but our house is under contract, man. We get to move down here. And uh so pray for Alicia. That's the girl that's buying our house that she'll finish the course.

Will Hawk 3:45

How do I say this in a non-manipulative way? Yes. All right. So we are diving in. Thomas, did you do this on purpose? This is Thomas's work here, a poorly aligned QR code. Um let me help us mentally transition a little bit from Daniel to the book of John. So in the book of John, y'all are not going to cover the entire Gospel of John in six to seven weeks. That would be unrealistic and non-feasible. However, all of the I am statements of Christ, I am the bread of life. That's what man always first night. I'm the door, I am the light, I am the way, the truth, and the light. All of these things live in the Gospel of John. And we're what we're going to do is move from Daniel, who is hung out with three of the most egotistical men on the planet, Nebuchadnezzar, Darius, and beyond Belshazzar. We're going

Why John Matters This Summer

Will Hawk 4:37

to move from them who he has been pointing to the King of Kings for us to actually see who Jesus is. That's going to be the goal over the summer for you to know Jesus in a deeper and a more profound way. And I will make you this promise, this guarantee, because it has been true for me. I have only scratched the surface because I will be here for the beginning and the end of this series. I am enjoying Jesus in a way that I have not enjoyed him in 15 years because of the work over these six and seven weeks. So we're going to prime the pump for that, and we're going to dig into it a little bit, and we're also going to recognize that it's Father's Day. So here is the passage, the beginning of the passage that was just read to you. So let me do a little bit of orientation. When Jesus had spoken these words in John chapter 17, now there's a reason that when John is writing this before those words that were just read, if you're looking in your Bibles, John chapter 17 is called the high priestly prayer. It's a phenomenal prayer. What is the most well-known prayer in the entire Bible? The Lord's Prayer. That's a horrible thing to call it, in my opinion. It should really be called the disciples' prayer because the Lord's Prayer is an answer to, hey, Jesus, I want to pray. What's the best way for me to do it? What we call the Lord's Prayer should really be the disciples' prayer because Jesus is answering the question, how we should pray. Do you want to know how the Lord prays? John chapter 17. It's called the high priestly prayer. And what was happening when Jesus had spoken these words? He lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, first word in the entire text, Father, this is how he starts his prayers. What was it that led up to this? Well, three things. In John chapter 8, we see Jesus in the midst of confrontation. I'll show you a couple of pieces of this, but this is Jesus in front of his foes. Then we have sort of what you would call the farewell discourse. This is Jesus with his friends. This is when he says, hey guys, I'm not going to be around forever. I'm going to be going. And then when we get to John 17, intercession or prayers for others, we get to Jesus speaking about his family. Now, what we're going to focus on today is how these two things connect, how they bridge. But can I just tell you, there is, we think the thick line is here from foe to friend of Christ. It is not. There are a lot of people who would consider themselves to be friends of Christ,

The High Priestly Prayer Explained

Will Hawk 7:06

but this is actually, I think, where the biggest line is. It is a scarier thing to think you're a friend of Christ, but not in the family of Christ. That's, I grew up in church, I've got a couple of Bible verses memorized. I'm wearing or used to wear a WJWJD bracelet. These are the folks where I worry about, hey, uh, depart from me, I didn't know you. What do you mean you didn't know me? Did I not cast out demons and do all of these wonderful works? Jesus says, Man, I didn't know you. So if you look at the screen and you're like, man, I am so glad I'm not a foe of Jesus. That is a good thing. Don't you dare stop at friend, because you can be on friendly terms with Christ. But if you want to enjoy time in his father's house, you need to have the same last name. So how do we move from foe all the way to family is what we're going to look at this morning. So let me show you the John chapter 8 passage. Here's what it looks like. Jesus is dealing with people who are very much against him. And I'm just going to read to you the words of Christ. I'm sorry, their words to Jesus. Jesus, are you greater than our father Abraham who died? And the prophets who died, all these great claims you make, are you better than everyone who has ever come before you? Who do you make yourself out to be? And Jesus answered, If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It's my father who glorifies me. Get ready for a big burn. Don't miss it. The guy of which you say he is our God, but you haven't known him. I know him. You think you're on a friendly basis with God, but you don't know him. He's not father to you. He's not family to you. If I were to say that I do not know God, I would be a liar like you, Byrne. I'm just saying, you want to you want to get some some religious people riled up? Tell them you have the end to Jesus, uh, the end to God that they don't have. But I do know him. I keep his word. Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and he was glad. So the Jews said to him, Jesus, you're not even 50 years old, and you've seen Abraham. Jesus said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was. Would y'all say this with me together on three? One, two, three, I am. Okay. Let me just pause. If you grew up in the church, you know that those two words have massive significance. Massive. So massive that look at what happens next in verse 59. Jesus says, I am, and they pick up stones to throw at him. That is not it's ah, we don't like you. I want to scrape you up. That is them pronouncing a death sentence by stoning. They're ready to kill the guy for two words. I am. And the reason is there is something big tucked into that. Okay, let's have a little fun with this. Four score and years ago are uh fathers and I. You see the seven, you remember. Fathers brought forth on this continent, new nation, conceived in liberty, dedicated the proposition that all right. Now whose face have I covered up? George White. No, I'm kidding. Abraham Lincoln. When you hear those words, it is not just old English. It opens up a world to you. It opens up eighth-grade social studies. It opens up you standing in the kitchen getting your mom to quiz you because you were about to have to write this on a quiz the next morning. This opens a world of history. When Jesus says I am, this is what opens up to everyone who would have heard it. Moses standing before the burning bush, looking at God, and he says, God, when I go down this mountain, I have a profound tale to tell that I have seen and lived and been with God. Capital G, God, Yahweh. When they tell

Jesus Says I Am In John 8

Will Hawk 11:06

me who is God, when they ask me what is his name, what am I supposed to say to them? And God said, Say this to the people of Israel. I am. What does that mean? I am, always have been, always will be. I am the self-existing one, the only one in all creation, never created. I am immutable and unchangeable. I am who I am: creator, sustainer, unchanging. So when Jesus says I am, he's not giving a description, he is identifying himself. What we do that is wrong as Christians, and we're gonna fix it this morning, is when I say I am the bread of life, we focus on what does it mean that Jesus is bread? I guess it means that he fills me up, that he sustains me. What does it mean that he's the door? It must mean that he's the thing that I must pass through. Before you get to the adjective, you've got to sit and ponder what does it mean for Jesus to say, I am. It's the front that actually carries the majority of the weight. So what I've done in my last little portion here is I've put these two things side by side. Here is people seeing foe in Jesus, and here is Jesus seeing Father in God. Family. Let me change that. Let me change that. These this is how a foe sees Christ, this is how family sees him, and I just want you to watch how this plays out. This has already been read to you. This is eternal life. That they know you, God, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, me, whom you have sent. This is true life knowing me. How did they look at it? Are you greater than our Father Abraham? He died. You greater than the prophets, they died. Who are you saying you are? And Jesus is saying, I am life. Let's fix something about your salvation right now. If you are a Christian, you were saved at one time for all time. That is healthy theology. But if your goal of knowing God is to go down the aisle at uh at church, raise your hand during your youth camp, have a meaningful prayer moment here. And now I've got my get out of jail free card that sits in my back pocket. That is

Eternal Life Means Knowing God

Will Hawk 13:30

not what Jesus is talking about. He doesn't say, Did you know me? He says, Do you know me? This is a relationship. This is a hand holding. This isn't a ticket out of hell. And if we're only going to Christ to get a get out of jail free card so we can run around and live our own lives, we are not clinging to what is truly life. So what is Jesus showing his family? He's saying, I am the way to true life. I am the bread. Yes. That is true. I am the vine. I am the light. I am the good shepherd. All of these things are true, but it is based in him being God, eternally God. The second thing that we see is he will say this, Father, the hour has come. Glorify your son, that the son may glorify you. Notice it on the flip side. Jesus says, Look, if I were to glorify myself, my glory is nothing. My Father God glorifies me, which means he is also the one that God glorifies. He's not just the Lord that calls you to live a life that is full. He is the king over all things. That's what it means when Jesus says, I'm the resurrection. That's what it means when Jesus says, I am the way and the truth and the life. But there's one other thing that he points to. Father, the hour has come. But notice Jesus hid himself. Why? Because in John 8, it wasn't time. He hadn't quite yet built his family. He had made enemies and he had made friends. But it was his desire and the desire of the Father for him to build a family. And now he prays over these people in John chapter 17. In your quiet time, one of the best things you could do for your soul is read through the entirety of the prayer that we don't have time to cover in John chapter 17 and realize what it is. Jesus literally says, I'm not praying for the world. I'm praying for my family. I'm praying for those who have trusted in me. I'm praying for those who will trust in me. This prayer, if you're a Christian, he prayed for you 2,000 years ago. And you can see the moment it happened before you ever came to be. The hour had not come. But here in John 17, Father, the hour has come. I can see up the hill, I can see what's coming, and I am willing to go because I want a family of my own. A family that you intended from the beginning. So when we read that Jesus is the sacrifice for sin, he is the doorway. It's not just pointing to the door, it's pointing to the fact that I am God, is the one who has opened it. And so we have all of these incredible things. He is Lord, He is King, He is Savior. Boom, boom, boom. These are all true. All of the I am statements point to this. But here's what you've got to hear: Jesus is not describing himself, he is identifying himself. And who we see Christ to be moves us not just from foe to friend, but from friend to family. Now, Tim, you have a podcast for fathers. You do. The the Jewish people, they hear Jesus talking, they're like, Abraham's my dad, so I know who I am. Jesus' first words in the prayer, father, that's the connection. A lot of father talk, but that can be pretty tough for folks. It can be.

SPEAKER_01 16:52

First of all, we're gonna miss him while he's gone. So we're about to go from Ferrari to like horse and buggy. All right. So I just love listening to you preach, man. But um, so John 18, as he said, moves right into Jesus' betrayal and arrest. So think about this. When you're on your deathbed, and my my my partner in M46 Dads talks about this a lot. On your last day, what's the most important thing you're gonna be thinking about on your last day? So

The Hour Has Come For Family

SPEAKER_01 17:17

we're when you're on your deathbed and your loved ones are gathered around, and uh you're not gonna want to talk about the braves. You're not gonna want to talk about politics, you're not gonna want to talk about your career or anything like that. And by the way, it's interesting to me that in I was just looking at Deuteronomy 29 not too long ago. In Deuteronomy 29, Moses is about to die, and he says the most important things he can think of. He's reintroducing the covenant back to God's people. That's pretty interesting. So on your deathbed, you're gonna say the most important, meaningful things to the people that you love. All right. So this prayer is Jesus talking to the Father about you and me. I mean, Will just said that. He really is. Those of us who are his, that's important, when he knows his time on earth is about to end. So, what does he pray for you and me? So let's look at some of these verses. And Will's gonna do his fancy circling words thing while I'm doing this. I can't do that over here. But uh, verse 15. He's saying right there, I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but but that you keep them from the evil one. Now, now think about this. This is more than physical safety. All right. Um, I heard a doctor one time say at a conference, he said, I just checked the death rate around the Atlanta area, and it's hovering right around 100%. Like

What Jesus Prays Before The Cross

SPEAKER_01 18:37

none of us are getting out of here like we're all gonna die. There's a book called Fox's Book of Martyrs that talks about that tells us about all the people who have lost their life for the sake of the gospel. So this is more than physical safety that Jesus is praying for. Um God kept Daniel, we just looked at this, physically safe for a time. Now he eventually died, but physically safe from the fiery furnace, from the lion's den, from people conspiring against him. But

Kept From The Evil One

SPEAKER_01 19:01

more importantly to me, God kept Daniel safe from bailing on his faith when it got hard. Kept him safe from the evil one. All right. Um and and so how do we stay faithful and walk with Jesus in this jacked-up fallen world when it gets really hard? I'm not gonna share anything with you today. You probably don't know already. And you can just add jump in anytime you want. How do we stay faithful? We get a hint at the answer in verse 17. Look at verse 17. It says, Sanctify. This is Jesus praying for, sanctify them in the truth. Your word is the truth. So let's explain sanctify. Sanctify. Um, man, we talk about this a lot. It's this process that we begin to experience the moment we get saved, where God molds us and shapes shapes us into the image of his son. And it's a process that's gonna last until they put me in the ground. I'm never gonna be a finished product until Scott just read Hebrews. He who began a good work is faithful and just to complete it. The completion is later, but we're in this process. It's gonna you got anything you want to add to that?

Will Hawk 20:07

Well, no, I want you to. I've heard you say this probably three times in counseling when I've just been sitting with you about the paintbrush. Yeah,

Sanctification Through Truth And Word

Will Hawk 20:15

that's what this makes me think about.

SPEAKER_01 20:17

Yeah, yeah. In our in our dad's ministry, M46 Dads, we're Kenny and I are my my buddy in this ministry, we're trying to figure out a way to come up with a metaphor that would emphasize the importance of fathers. Um, obviously, we've we're not diminishing at all the importance of mothers, but it's Father's Day. Okay, so we're gonna talk about dads. My dad died when I was 16 years old. It took me forever to realize the impact that that made on my life and the impact that he didn't get to make on my life. Um, so I'm a counselor, it's what I do, and I sit in that room over there every week and listen to people, and it what always emerges is what was what was given to them by their dad, their mom too, but their dad. So one of the things we say in M46 Dads is, and and look, this is not shame time. I just want you to think about this. Don't get mad at me. I've only been here two months. Don't get mad at me yet. The moment your child was born, dad, God placed an invisible paintbrush in your hand and you started painting a picture of God for your kids to see. And that's heavy, right? I've got four boys. You get to paint a relatively clear picture of God, an imperfect

Fatherhood And The Invisible Paintbrush

SPEAKER_01 21:23

but relatively clear picture of God for your kids to see, or you can paint a picture that your kids have to go to counseling to unsee later, and anywhere in between there. So um I love to talk about the ways that we can paint a clear picture of God with dads. That's what M46 Dads is about. That's what we try to do, is help dads do that. Um, don't want to hand dead religion to our kids. We want to hand them a clear picture of who Jesus is so that one day they'll love him and follow him. So, anything else on that? No, I just think what a great illustration of sanctification. Yeah, it is. So, so so Jesus in verse 17 prays for us to be sanctified. Here's the thing, and he already said it God doesn't just save us from hell, he wants to save us from ourselves as well. All right, counselor. I sit in my office, have for a long, long time listening to people tell me the ways that their sin has caused chaos, smoke and ruins, destruction and pain in their lives. And he's talking about partnering, you know, with God. That's I've got to, as Jerry Bridges, one of my favorite authors, says, we've got to synergistically cooperate with the Holy Spirit in this process of sanctification. I don't just lay down and wait for him to change me. I cooperate by engaging in some things that we'll talk about in a minute. But he he wants to save me from the chaos that I'm gonna cause in my own life. And I have, by the way, caused some chaos. Chaos in my own life. But I'm telling you, as a counselor, this is big, man. He wants to sanctify us, make us more and more like Jesus. Paul said, now here's the thing. And it I hear this all the time. Paul says in Romans and other places in the New Testament, it says that we are made when we get saved, the righteousness of God. How many of us don't raise your hands? How many of you feel that all the time? Like when I was a kid, I would hear that in church and think, well, you don't know what I did. Maybe one day. Yeah, maybe one day. Yeah, I'll be that man one day. But the truth is, we are made the righteousness of God the moment we get saved. Um, so if you're in Christ, he's made you righteous, and now you'll be sanctified. But how many of you believe that you've been made righteous? Because I'm telling you, Will, the only thing that's really fueled behavioral change in my life, which is what we focus on sometimes, is knowing that I'm Scot free, that I have been made righteous, and now I can go to war with my flesh, and he's not gonna throw me away when I fail. That's beautiful. That's incredible. Um, so over time, he's gonna make us more and more like Jesus, save us from all some of that chaos and pain and the damage that we do. Why? Um ultimately we got to say it's for his glory. I mean, that's that's primarily the thing. To draw others to himself that we see in that in those verses, and just because he loves us, because he doesn't want to see me thrashing around, damaging myself and the people around me and my community um through my sins. So there's no way around this, man. And this is one of the things I want to make sure we hit. No way around the spiritual disciplines. No way around it. If you're a Christian, you've got to engage in spiritual disciplines. Help me, what are they?

Will Hawk 24:31

Uh prayer, scripture, solitude, evangelism, all of the things you feel bad when you do not do. Yeah, yeah. That's what the spiritual disciplines are.

SPEAKER_01 24:39

And all the things that are hard to do.

Will Hawk 24:40

Yeah. The things that it would be easier to just get to get out of jail free card and then not walk with Jesus.

SPEAKER_01 24:45

And I would say community is a spiritual discipline. I really, I really would. Side note, listen, if you're married, all right, your spouse is gonna be one of the primary tools that God used, uses to mold you into the image of his son. I got married thinking this girl's gonna blow my hair back the rest of my life and make me happy. She's not here. She'll be here next service. You better be careful.

Spiritual Disciplines And Painful Growth

SPEAKER_01 25:08

She'll hear me say, that is not what marriage is for. It's to make me holy and I get happiness and I get romance and I get vacation and stuff like that. But don't forget that. When you're, you know, it's sanctification is painful. It's like surgery, it's hard, and you're and your spouse is going to be used by God to sanctify you and mold you into the image of the Son, which means it's gonna be frustrating. I tell people all the time, you're a piece of sandpaper, you married another piece of sandpaper. Have fun. This is what well, and the more you rub off, the softer it gets. Absolutely. Yeah, absolutely. Um, so what about church? Um he will listen, this is one thing I've learned. I've been I I was at one church for 31 years, and what I watched was people just bolt, somebody wouldn't say hello to them, or even something more serious. They'd get hurt somehow, wounded. Um so the confounding, sometimes selfish, aggravating people in church are gonna be used to mold you and shape you into the image of his son. But here's what we do as human beings. Um, God, God wants us to um learn how to forgive, learn how learn how to be long-suffering. And listen, he wants us to stop running from everything that's painful. And and as a counselor, man, I'm begging people sometimes don't leave right now. Don't leave. Wait and see what God can do if you will adopt a posture of humility and let him work.

Will Hawk 26:31

It reminds me of Christ in the garden lake, how easy it would have been for him to just say, Father, I pray that this cup would pass for me. And if it doesn't, I'm gonna pass from it. Like this is too much. Yeah. And Christ Crucify Peter instead. How about that? Yeah, like somebody who deserves it. And yet Christ, legit torment in that moment, sits in the ruin, sits in the ashes, and says, I'm trusting that my father's gonna do good things because he's told me.

SPEAKER_01 26:56

Does that mean we have 14 seconds?

Will Hawk 26:58

I never paid attention to that. So, so um they put it up here every day. All right, here I'm gonna rifle through this real quick. They got cushions now. We got an extra five. Who do you think you are?

SPEAKER_01 27:08

Yes, that's why I've been pushing for cushions. I'm like, they'll sit longer. Some of y'all are sleeping pretty good already. Um so the temptation is to run from painful things. Temptation is to run from painful things. Don't do that. Um, it's a very natural thing to do, by the way, to run from pain. That we feel pain and we know to pull our hand away from the fire, right? But God's calling us to something more, to be chiseled and molded and shaped and all that stuff. So as human beings, we run from the things that God's gonna use to make us like his son. You know, it's a it's wild. Um, and by the way, I'm not talking about abuse or anything. There are there are outliers to all that stuff, but he wants us to be sanctified. Verse 20. Let's get let's get through this. He is praying for us and his children to be one, to be unified, really is the is the word we would use. Um I don't ask for these only, but those who will believe, that's me and you, just like Deuteronomy 29. Moses prayed the same thing, not for just people that are standing here today, but the people that are not standing here today. It's wild. So this is for you and me. Why is unity so emphasized in the New Testament? This is for us as a family, as a mid-tree church. Um, so that the world watching us might believe. That's what it says. But I want you to think about this real quick. What is the opposite of unity? The easy answer is disunity. Really, the opposite of unity is comfort. That's what it is. As human beings,

Unity That Makes The World Notice

SPEAKER_01 28:33

it's really natural for you and I to coalesce around season of life. I want to be around people my own age, or economic status, or education, or listen, ethnicity. I just came from one of the most ethnic, ethnically, racially diverse churches in Atlanta. And and I'm it was beautiful and it was hard because I we like to be around people that are culturally the same as us, that speak the same language. It's just easier. It's it's just easy. That's what I've got in my notes. You read my notes. Easy, comfortable. Good notes. Um, but none of that is gonna attract people to Jesus. So unsaved people do that. Unsaved people do that. What will cause the world to ask, what is up with those people at Mid-Tree? It's gonna be they're gonna see us unified around one thing, and it's a person, really, the gospel, right? You and I, the commonality between us is the gospel. We can be different a million ways. In fact, one of the ways I say it, I've been on mission trips all over the place. Some of you have too, military folks, you've been all over the world. I've been to India. I've got a brother in India. He doesn't like the food that they eat. I'm running like all week from eating the food there. And I shouldn't, but I do. Um you can use that term a couple of different ways. You can use it, you can, yeah. You could use that term. I'm avoiding running, actually, is what I'm what I'm doing. You're running to number one. But the uh that guy, the culture's different, the language is different, the food's different, the way they do church is different. He's more my brother than my unsaved with his Braves flag and his pickup truck, right? That's what the New Testament is teaching. That's my brother. Well, and check this out. Go uh go back, hit the verse.

Will Hawk 30:11

This is what absolutely blows my mind, and I don't know that we even have a category for this. What kind of oneness should we have that they may, bottom underline, that they may become perfectly one the way I, Jesus, am with the Father? As tight as you think of Jesus the Son and God the Father, he's like, Yep, that's what I want it to be like. And I'm like, how on earth is that ever going to possibly happen? I'll tell you how. It's when you see Christ, not as a get out of jail free card, but as somebody who you are arm in arm with. And when I am arm in arm with Christ, and when Tim is arm in arm with Christ, we are one in the same kind of unity, beautiful, otherworldly, spiritual unity. And when you're willing to do it with people who are so radically different than you, when it's you, Jesus, and that guy, that girl, that difficulty, the world can't help but see Jesus. Because nothing else makes sense in between you. Nothing else makes sense. That is the goal of the Christian, that is a goal of the Christian life. Not just make it to the end, not just a well done, good and faithful servant. We want that. But can you live today in a way that you're with someone that is not like you? They don't see the world the way you do, but you are both squeezing husband and wife so tight to Christ that the world is like, nothing about that makes sense except for something that's outside of this world. That's the kind of unity the spirit wants to build.

SPEAKER_01 31:39

Absolutely. And and and the world, the community, you know, this community will look at us and say, Well, this doesn't work anywhere else. What's going on? He already said that. So last thing I want to say. Um Which verse are you going to? I think I'm going to go to just hang with me for a second, so follow my note. Um, verse 23. Uh you know, it said it says, love them even as you have loved me. That's what Jesus prayed. Now that's pretty astonishing because I'm not as lovable as Jesus is. You know, I fail all the time, but Jesus is praying, and and God will love us the way He loves him. So, how hard is that for you to believe? That's that's kind of the last thing I want to end on. There's a phrase that um we use again in our dad's ministry. Um write this down, all right? This this is uh this is Type this down. Type this down, type this down, yeah. Click this down. Um you got it you got a handful of writers. I do. Insecurity is the enemy of intimacy, or it blocks intimacy. So, how many Christians do you think have intimate like

Loved Like Jesus And Real Intimacy

SPEAKER_01 32:45

maybe you're here thinking, what in the world is intimacy with God? I'm I'm plowing through this like I've got mud up to here. I don't know what that means. Well, how many of you have had a boss, spouse, don't this is not time to elbow your spouse, or like a boyfriend, girlfriend, whatever, and you just couldn't figure out what they think about you. Just never can figure out what they think about you. And every time you're around them, you're thinking, if I say the wrong thing or do the wrong thing, he's gonna reject me, she's gonna distance herself from me, whatever it is. You'll never have intimacy with that person. All right. Marriage is I see all the junk and I pick you. That's what marriage is. That's how we get intimacy. But how many people That's also what Jesus did. Yeah, exactly. How many people don't know what happened to them when they got saved? That God obliterated every obstacle between me and him, and I can run to him. He's my Abba Father. I can I can run to him when I fail, not away from him when I fail. That's a beautiful thing. That's what he did for us. That's the way he loves us. So if you're not experiencing intimacy with God, it might be because you don't see him as a father. You might still see him as a foe, or you might see him as a friend who kind of likes you, kind of doesn't. He's mad at you today because you're doing good, he's he's or bad, he's happy with you today because you read your Bible this morning. Man, we've got to understand what happened to us when we got saved. I love what you're saying. It's incredible. It's changed my life. And and and I pray that for all of us that we'll understand that.

Will Hawk 34:13

The the reason I love what you're saying right now is because this is what the Lord's been teaching me as I've been preparing for this. The thing I told you has changed my spiritual walk more than anything in the past 15 years, probably. I know as a believer that Christ is my savior. I know that. I was uh I told you guys last week I was having some back issues, called a few friends, a number of you in the congregation helped so that in about two days I was able to go in, get into MRI, have the MRI read, then go in, get an epidural with uh with energetic. Talk to my sister about it. She said my epidural was worse than hers, so happy Father's Day, ladies. I understand. Um I've been waiting to say that. I'm gonna I'm gonna go ahead and you're good. I'm I'm leaving for five, six weeks anyway, don't worry about it. I'm sitting in an MRI machine, earplugs in, lady hits

Jesus As Savior Model And Brother

Will Hawk 35:05

a button, and I isolate in there. And as I'm in that machine, I'm not a claustrophobic person. In that moment, I am not worried about Jesus my savior. I'm not. That is secure. I'm not worried that the machine's gonna break or some piece of metal is gonna pull through me and I'm gonna go see Jesus that day. I'm not worried about a cancer scan. Okay, I'm there because my back hurts. Jesus as my savior was not who I was going to in that moment. Jesus as my model was also not who I wasn't afraid all of a sudden I'm gonna get scared and just start cussing out the tech. It wasn't, okay, I need a model. How do I be patient for 15 minutes? I was like, 15 minutes with earplugs in? This is a W for me, right? I I sat in that machine and I realized the person before me and the person after me may not have that same experience. So I prayed for the people who are gonna slide in there that are wondering if they have terminal cancer. I prayed for people who didn't know Christ as Savior. I prayed for people who didn't know how to live their life. But I will tell you what I prayed for me in that moment. And that's what John 17 is. It's Jesus praying out loud, Father, and John being allowed to overhear his prayer so he knows what Jesus wants for him, so that he could write it down so that you know what Jesus wants for you. In that moment, I wasn't praying to Christ as my savior, and I wasn't praying to him as my model. A model can be a terrifying thing. I do not want Jesus as a model when it comes to my relationships. He's way better than me. It makes me feel bad. It's not, I've got to go play golf with Tiger Woods now, feel good about it. No, that is not the kind of thing I want. What I need is a brother. What I need is Tiger Woods looking at me and saying, Hey, I'm gonna go play a hole of golf against these guys. Will you be on my team? We can play best ball every time. Yeah. Yeah, I'll go play with you, right? Keller, Moody, Ruth, anybody want to go play? Because my big brother, this is not going into the gym and Arnold being on the other side, being like, This is how you lift. That's not it. It's Arnold going in and saying, You're with me, and my arms are behind your arms. Do you want to go lift now? This is Christ's brother. When I went into that machine, who I was praying to was the one who was with me, not the one who saves me. Done. Not the model who I need to be. I want that. I need to be sanctified. In that moment, it was, I have a brother, I have family. And he's not ashamed. Hit the button. He's not ashamed to call me a brother. He looks at my mess. And if you're in him, your mess, he says, That's not my enemy. It's not my friend. That's my family. That's my little brother. That's my little sister. John 17, what we have just read to you, is Jesus writing a letter before he goes to war to the little brother and the little sister he is leaving behind. It's him saying things like, I'm going and you're staying for now. Father, this is what I want for them. This is what I want you to do for them. This is who I want them to be because of you. I'll see them again soon. If you only know Christ as Savior, and it was a momentary thing, if you only know him as a model that you constantly fall short of and it discourages you rather than encourages you, do you know Christ as your brother? Right now, there is medicine, five uh to ten milliliters of asteroid in my back. It is the only reason I've been able to sit this long. Okay? For four weeks I've not been able to do this. Right now, there is a medicine in my back that is telling me that you are okay. It's telling me right now that you're good, pain's not gonna be a problem anymore. You can be who you are made to be. Run, jump, play, enjoy vacation with your kids. That's what it's telling me. And guess what? I believe it. I absolutely believe it because I feel it. But do you know what else? Hang on. Last week I was preaching on this and it worked out, so whatever. I also have a muscle relaxer

Your Identity In Christ And Response

Will Hawk 39:26

in my pocket. Do you want to know why? Because this may be telling me I'm good enough and I can be who I was created to be. I don't trust it yet. And some of you have been redeemed by a savior, you have been modeled in Christ. You have a big brother who is saying, I'm gonna walk through this life with you, and you're still holding this in your pocket because you don't trust it yet. When Jesus said, I am, he wasn't giving the screen. He wasn't just saying who he was, he's also telling you who you are. I don't know who's playing me out, but go ahead and come on up. Do you know who I am because of Christ? Because of this prayer in John chapter 17? Listen to me, Christian. You are a new creation. You are God's workmanship. You are God's, you're valuable and precious. You are known and chosen and called and saved, forgiven, redeemed, blameless, pause. Do you believe this? Or are you holding on to something else? Are you allowing this truth, which is more true than five to ten milliliters of something that is telling my brain something that is not true? If you're a Christian, this is a hundred percent true of you. This is gonna wear off in a few months. This is true of me for 10,000 times 10,000 years. You are blameless, justified, righteous, and reconciled. You are adopted into a family and a child of God. You are the temple of the Holy Spirit, a citizen of God's kingdom and a member of his household. You are Jesus' bride. Do you believe it? You're his body, you are near to God and alive, free, strong, renewed, a saint in the midst of a broken world. You are a royal priest with a job to do, an ambassador in a broken world, a light in darkness, a living stone, victorious even when you do not see it, accepted. A friend of Christ, but not just a friend of Christ, you are one with God, blessed, healed, holy, secure, and loved. I'm gonna leave this up. Because if you have only known Christ as Savior, there is more for you. If you have only seen him as a model that is too far for you to reach, there is more for you. He is a big brother. And if you don't know Jesus this way, this gift is waiting for you. And it is as simple as you receiving it. This Jesus is who I dare to be. Would you forgive me of my sin and move me from foe to family? Or from friend to family. I'll leave this up for you to reflect on, and then we'll respond in worship.