2.2 Age-Abiding Life
© 2016 Christ Revealed Bible Institute
This is age-abiding life, that they may know You. Know God is the Blood Covenant; the Blood Covenant is knowing God. Know God is age-abiding, eternal life; Life is knowing God. Our ONLY concern is to know God. Out from knowing God all that is Christ is revealed outwardly.
I look across the spectrum of our brethren in this world and I see most everyone busily working inside the paradigm that having our physical bodies ripped away so that we can “go to” heaven is the only way we will experience “eternal life.” There is little thought in their minds about knowing God.
Symmorphy
I just read a line critical of God – “If God is real, why doesn’t He show Himself?” Of truth, that is a valid question. God cannot show Himself; the moment He did so, He would no longer be God, but an idolatrous and created form.
God can be known only through one path. God must share form, symmorphy, with another Person, Christ Jesus, who then, sharing form with the Father, also shares form, symmorphy, with you and me, human beings walking this earth, the visible representation of God. God will show Himself as He is only when He has a Body!
The Impossible
I am attempting to establish the meaning of these two words, “Know God,” as the biggest deal that there is.
“Know God” is a big deal because it is Life and the Covenant and all Salvation.
“Know God” is a big deal because it is impossible for God to be known.
“Know God” is a big deal because it is impossible for any part of creation to know God.
The entirety of these 6000 years of human folly inside of which the story of redemption is told serves one purpose only. To make the impossible become everyone’s normal.
Become Normal
The impossible side of this equation refers directly back to what you learned in the course Symmorphy II: Essence, from what God is to what Symmorphy is. The “become everyone’s normal” side of the equation is what we are concerned with here, that is, the Kingdom. The Kingdom is God becoming known through us.
Verse 3: And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.
I have been using the term “age-abiding” in place of “eternal” because it is a commonly used replacement for Jerome’s deceit, but we want to look more closely at the words John used.
What Is Life?
Aionios Zoe. First zoe (life): life, both of physical and of spiritual existence.
(Even Strong wants to add to this definition that “physical” is life right now and “spiritual” is some time in the future, as if we are not spirit beings walking in the heavens right now.)
Life – what is life?
Our purpose here is to understand the prayer that birthed the Kingdom of God; for that reason, we will call life by its source. Tree of Life – DNA Model – Symmorphy. Humans are designed to operate only by being filled with all of God – Life, and by connecting with Life at every point.
Metaphor of Life
We will never find aionios zoe by studying aionios zoe. We will find aionios zoe only in KNOWING God, in living inside of John 14:20, inside of Covenant.
And thus to discover Life, we turn to God’s fantastic metaphor of life, human DNA. That is, Father and us bound together as one person by every Word that is Christ Jesus – Covenant.
The Kingdom of God, Father made known, age-abiding life, comes out from one place only, from Covenant.
One Person Together
The tree of life, the model of DNA, and the Covenant are all three the exact same thing. All three are pinpointing the source of LIFE for us.
Life, aionios zoe, is our absolute connection with the Person of Father through every Word that is Jesus, His Person inside of our person, sharing the same form. Life is Symmorphy. Life is knowing God. Life is sharing the same Spirit with God that we might know Him. Life is walking every moment as we are one person with the Father, sharing the same form, Father revealed.
Actions
I find that, upon closer look, this prayer of Jesus in John 17 is intricately complex, a weaving together of the web of life. As I look across this prayer, taking apart all the words and topics, all the interlaced connections, I find myself overwhelmed and in awe. We must know this prayer.
First, throughout this prayer there are four actors each of which is doing specific things (my count might be off a bit).
1. The actions of the Father (30 actions).
2. The actions of Jesus (32 actions).
3. The actions of the disciples (including us – 19 actions).
4. The actions of the world (4 actions).
Think of the DNA Strand
Let’s re-state Jesus’ words in the form of actions. We will put all actions into the present tense. God does not live in time; everything that is God is always ALL HERE NOW. God is continuous present progressive tense, all always unfolding all.
More than that, everything taking place in this prayer is a description of the DNA bond of the Covenant, Jesus connecting us as one person together with the Father. Let’s try to state all these things, then, either in the order in which Jesus prays them – or in the order of cause and effect. Again, think of the DNA strand. Everything here is Jesus connecting us with Father right now as one person together.
Verses 1-5
The Father glorifies the Son. The Son glorifies the Father. The Father gives Jesus authority over all flesh. The Father gives us to Jesus. Jesus gives age-abiding life to us. We know the only true God. We know Jesus Sent. Jesus glorifies the Father in the earth. The Father gives Jesus a work to do. Jesus finishes the work. The Father glorifies Jesus together with Himself. Jesus possesses pre-world glory.
[All of the action is in bold. Even the linking verbs we will consider as action, as an ever sustaining Father. The underlined words are all nouns, that is, objects or concepts that Jesus weaves into His prayer. “World” (always cosmos) has been outlined to show how often it appears.]
Verses 6-8
Jesus makes visible the Father’s name. The Father gives us to Jesus. We are taken out of the world. The Father possesses us. The Father gives us to Jesus. We keep the Father’s word. The Father gives all things to Jesus. We know. The Father gives Jesus words to speak. Jesus gives us those words. We receive those words. Jesus comes forth from the Father. We know. The Father sends Jesus. We believe.
[Again, keep the DNA connections ever in your mind. Father coming through Jesus to us as one Pperson together. Jesus connecting us to Father by every Word that He is. Jesus in us exactly the same as Jesus in Father.]
Verses 9-12
Jesus prays for us. Jesus does not pray for the world. The Father gives us to Jesus. Jesus prays for us. The Father possesses us. The Father possesses all that belongs to Jesus. Jesus possesses all that belongs to the Father. Jesus is glorified in us. Jesus does not reside in the world. We reside in the world. Jesus comes to the Father. The Father keeps us through His name. Jesus keeps us in the Father’s name. The Father gives us to Jesus. Jesus dwells with us in the world. Jesus keeps us. Only the son of perdition is lost. The Scripture is fulfilled.
Verses 13-19
Jesus comes to the Father. Jesus speaks things in the world. Jesus’ joy is fulfilled in us. Jesus gives us the Father’s word. The world hates us. We are not of the world. Jesus is not of the world. Jesus does not pray that the Father take us out of the world (contrast this with verse 6 – we are taken out of the world). Jesus prays. The Father keeps us from the evil one. We are not of the world. Jesus is not of the world. The Father sanctifies us by His truth. The Father’s word is truth. The Father sends Jesus into the world. Jesus sends us into the world. Jesus sanctifies Himself for our sakes. We are sanctified by the truth.
Verses 20-23
Jesus prays for all who believe in Him. We believe in Jesus. The Father dwells inside of Jesus. Jesus dwells inside of the Father. We are one in the same way. The Father dwells inside of Jesus. Jesus dwells inside of us. We are one in Father and Son. The Father sends Jesus. The world believes. The Father gives glory to Jesus. Jesus gives His glory to us. The Father and the Son are one. We are one. The Father dwells inside of Jesus. Jesus dwells inside of us. We are made perfect in one. The Father sends Jesus. The Father loves Jesus. The Father loves us. The world knows.
Verses 24-26
Jesus desires. The Father gives us to Jesus. We are with Jesus inside of Father. The Father gives glory to Jesus. We behold Jesus’ glory. The Father loves Jesus pre-world. The world has not known the Father. Jesus knows the Father. The Father sends Jesus. We know. Jesus declares to us the Father’s name. Jesus continues to declare the Father’s name. The Father loves Jesus. That love dwells inside of us. Jesus dwells inside of us.
There is so much in this prayer. Rather than taking each section as a unit, let’s begin by separating the strands repeated throughout, the differing strands all woven together.
But first let’s look at the word “that,” when it is used for cause and effect.
“That” as Cause and Effect I
There are 14 causes that result in 16 different effects. Most of the causes are absolutes (except one); most of the effects are our present substance, our reality by faith.
| Cause | Effect |
| The Father glorifies the Son. | The Son glorifies the Father. |
| Jesus possesses authority over all flesh. | Jesus gives us age-abiding life. |
| The Father keeps us through His name. | We are one just as Father and Son are one. |
| The son of perdition is lost. | The Scripture is fulfilled. |
| Jesus comes to the Father AND speaks things into the world. | Jesus joy is fulfilled in us. |
| Jesus sanctifies Himself for our sakes. | We are sanctified by the truth. |
| Jesus prays for us. | We are one just as the Father dwells in Jesus and Jesus dwells in the Father. |
| Cause | Effect |
| Jesus prays for us. | We are one inside of Father and Son. |
| We are one in Father and Son. | The world believes the Father sent Jesus. |
| Jesus gives us the glory which the Father gave Him. | We are one just as Father and Son are one. |
| Jesus is inside of us and Father is inside of Jesus. | We are made perfect in one. |
| We are made perfect in one. | The world know that the Father sent Jesus. |
| We are made perfect in one. | The world knows that the Father loves us. |
| We are with Jesus inside of the Father. | We behold His glory. |
| Jesus declares and continues to declare the Father’s name. | The love of the Father for Jesus dwells inside of us. |
| Jesus declares and continues to declare the Father’s name. | Jesus dwells inside of us. |
Strands of Thought
Let’s list some of the strands of thought in this prayer.
1. The relationship between Jesus and the Father centered on glory and including Jesus’ doing the Father’s work.
2. The pattern of Jesus’ coming out of Father, giving to us and returning to Father – think of this in terms of present DNA, that is, present Life, sustaining all things by the word.
3. Excluding the world first; convincing the world, second.
4. The strand of keep and sanctify in which Father, Jesus, and us are all involved.
5. The powerful core of the Kingdom, oneness as proof.
6. The Desire and Love of Jesus with us and in us.
The Larger Picture
Let’s step back now, to look again at the larger picture. In John 17:1, Jesus is preparing to speak the Kingdom of God, the New Creation into existence. He begins by establishing three very critical things.
First, He establishes His authority to create everything all over again brand new. Second, He establishes the source of this brand new creation, Covenant, our symmorphy with Father, Person inside of persons, Father revealed. And third, He separates the old creation, making it very clear to us that nothing of the old passes into the new.
Establishing Symmorphy
Then Jesus establishes you and me utterly inside of keeping and sanctifying, commanding the Father to keep us, commanding the Father to sanctify us. Look back at the power of the cause “Jesus prays for us” and its immediate and absolute effect on our lives.
The core of the prayer birthing the Kingdom, however, is the incredible, explicit, and overwhelmingly powerful establishment of Symmorphy, in verses 20-23, as the proof of God that causes the entire universe to know Him.
But Jesus finalizes the prayer and the Kingdom by placing you and me utterly into His Desire, and then placing Father’s love for Jesus utterly inside of us.
Our Focus
Here, however, is where we find the value of specifying the guiding ideas, the various focuses and limitations we apply as we study the Kingdom of God.
If we were studying Covenant, we would go in the direction of our relationship with the Father through this prayer. But since we are studying Kingdom, we will go in the direction of the outworking of our bond with the Father through Christ, specifically, its impact on the world.
You can see how often Jesus mentions the world in this prayer. This is important, then. We will take the entire next lesson to attempt to position Jesus’ concern regarding the world. After that, we will see how the remaining lessons fall into place.