Jesus Earned A Return To Glory

What Did Jesus Do?

“I have accomplished the work that you gave me to do, glorifying you on earth.
Now, Father, glorify me in your presence...”
John 17.4-5

There is a credit card that likes to suggest that by using it we can come pretty darn close to a “Priceless” experience by buying “everything else” that's necessary for a priceless moment to happen. Of course, there's a high price that comes with buying the “everything else.” While the world would put a price tag on everything, there are truly some things that money can't buy. Like our salvation. And glory, who can by glory? Well, Jesus paid the price for our salvation, and by doing so earned a return to glory.

Jesus had been sent into the world by his Father in order to complete a mission which had a price tag greater than all of the wealth in the world put together could ever afford. It was a simple mission, yet immense and detailed. There were thirty-some years of tasks that the Father required to be done, including one final, awful work to be wrought on the cross, before the Son could send the signal, “Mission accomplished.” Every step along the long journey to the mission's end, each thought, word, and action of the Son, all accrued to the glory of the Father. By completing all the work the Father had given him on earth, the Son earned the right to request that he might come home, and once again know the glory of being in the Father's presence.

As priceless as our salvation is, I believe the fact that the Son earned a place for us in the presence of his Father's glory may be even more priceless, if there could be such a thing as degrees of pricelessness. For the glory to which the Son returned is a glory Father and Son are pleased to share with all the Father's children. What price could you put on that? How much credit would that take? Since every line of credit has a limit, there is no way anyone could ever afford to buy themselves a little piece of truly priceless glory. The truth is, the Son had to pay the full price for our salvation up front, so to speak. But, here's the awesome thing, the Father give's us all the credit the Son earned, which is how we get to experience the glory!

And we are not talking about just any old glory. This is pure, heavenly glory as it existed in eternity past, before the world was ever created. That's glory you can't hardly begin to describe, much less put a price on. And all whom Christ died for have a personal place in the presence of this glory. Kind of makes you wish you could just go there right now, doesn't it?

I am sure Jesus wished he could have returned to the glory without going all the way to the cross, in fact I know he did (see Mark 14.36). Yet, the Son knew that the mission would not be accomplished until all his work of glorifying the Father on earth was completed. Now, what do you think we should be doing with our time on earth? Not earning our way to heaven certainly, we'd already said that cost more than we could ever pay, and Jesus has already paid the price for us. But we do have the opportunity and the privilege to live in such a way that the Father is still glorified on earth. The only way to do this is to live according to the example of the life of Christ, to ask each day, “What did Jesus do”, and then go and accomplish the work that the Father has given unto us.

S.D.G.

Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4