Glory Through the Cross: Know Jesus, Fulfill Your Call

Devotional

Day 1: Climbing the Cables, Trusting the Unseen Support

When life feels like scaling a sheer rock face, trust clings to what seems insufficient yet proves unshakable. Just as climbers grip thin cables to ascend impossible heights, Jesus invites reliance on his upside-down glory—the cross that appears weak but holds eternal weight. This trust isn’t absence of fear, but choosing to move forward even when tears blur the path. Eternal life begins here: not in safety, but in surrendering to the support that carries us into God’s story. The cables hold. The cross saves. The climb continues. [02:24]

Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him! (Psalm 34:8, ESV)

Reflection: Where is God asking you to grip his faithfulness instead of retreating to familiar ground? How might embracing the “cables” of Christ’s cross reshape your next step?

Day 2: Glory Redefined by Splinters and Suffering

Glory wears bloodstains, not spotlights. Jesus’ prayer reveals that true glory isn’t the applause after hardship, but the humiliation within it. The cross—a tool of Roman shame—becomes the throne where heaven’s kingdom crashes into earth. To seek this glory means releasing our metrics of success to trust that God writes better endings. It’s here, in surrender to the Father’s definition, that fear loses its grip and eternal life takes root. [08:21]

When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you.” (John 17:1, ESV)

Reflection: What personal definition of “glory” do you need to lay down today? How might the cross’s quiet triumph speak to your current struggle?

Day 3: Eternal Life as a With-Jesus Life

Eternal life isn’t a distant timeline but a present-tense knowing. Jesus defines it not as endless days, but as intimate connection—gnosko—the kind of knowing that comes from shared meals, honest prayers, and walking dusty roads together. This life begins now, not later, in the daily choice to ask, listen, and linger with the One who sent his Son. To know Jesus is to experience the Father; to experience them both is to step into eternity today. [14:26]

And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. (John 17:3, ESV)

Reflection: What practical step could deepen your “with-Jesus” rhythm this week? Where do you sense him inviting you beyond mere facts into friendship?

Day 4: The Freedom of Limited Assignments

Jesus healed lepers but left others unhealed; he preached in Galilee but skipped Athens. His assignment was focused, not frantic—a reminder that our calling isn’t to fix everything, but to faithfully finish specific work. Trying to shoulder unmeted burdens breeds exhaustion; embracing holy limits breeds joy. Like Christ, we’re freed to steward our slice of the kingdom, trusting the Father authors the rest. [21:09]

I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. (John 17:4, ESV)

Reflection: What “unassigned work” have you been carrying? How might releasing it create space to fully engage your God-given mission?

Day 5: Longing Without Lacking at the Foot of the Cross

Longing and lacking are not synonyms. The cross teaches that unmet desires don’t equate to divine neglect. Jesus ached for reunion with the Father yet lacked nothing, because true abundance lies in obedience, not outcomes. To seek God’s glory is to hold our hopes open-handed, trusting that what we need most—His presence—is already ours. The cross fills every empty space with eternal weight. [26:35]

Oh, fear the LORD, you his saints, for those who fear him have no lack! The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing. (Psalm 34:9–10, ESV)

Reflection: Where do you need to exchange the narrative of “lacking” for “longing met in Christ”? How does the cross redefine what “enough” looks like today?

Sermon Summary

The Half Dome cables picture the kind of trust Jesus calls for, small in the hands, scary under the feet, but strong enough to carry a person up the face of the rock. John 17 opens with Jesus lifting his eyes to heaven and saying, “Father,” and that one word changes the room. God is not only almighty, sovereign, and Lord most high. God is also Father, and Jesus is bringing his disciples into a new covenant family.

The hour has come, and John has been waiting for that line the whole way. The hour is the center point of human history, the moment where heaven breaks through. Jesus asks the Father to glorify the Son so that the Son may glorify the Father, and glory does not mean what most people think it means. Glory is not applause, success, the house, the college, the deal, or the happy ending after suffering. Jesus says glory is the cross.

The cross flips every normal definition. Crucifixion was humiliation, shame, and pain under Roman power, but Jesus calls that glory because heaven breaks through right there. God can be trusted with the end of every story because the Savior does not avoid suffering. Jesus walks straight into it and shows that glory is found where a person least expects it.

Jesus also shows what kind of King he is. The Father gives him authority over all flesh, and Jesus uses that authority to give eternal life. Power in human hands often protects comfort, status, and control, but Jesus lays down privilege for the powerless. His glory goes back to the Father, and his authority becomes life for his people.

Eternal life is not only about length. Eternal life is about essence. Jesus defines it as knowing the only true God and Jesus Christ whom he has sent. To know God is not simply to know about God, but to experience him, to live the “with Jesus life.” Knowing Jesus satisfies the searching soul and produces the work God gives.

Jesus’ assignment was motivated by God’s glory, limited by the Father’s call, and necessary to complete. Jesus did not do everything. He did the work given to him. God’s people wear themselves out when they try to do work never assigned to them, or when they run around the cross instead of through it. The cross reorients the aim of life and teaches that longing does not mean lacking. A person can ache for a different story and still lack no good thing, because knowing Jesus makes trust possible, and trusting his glory makes faithfulness possible.

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Key Takeaways

1. Glory looks like the cross. Jesus redefines glory at the very place human beings would least expect to find it. The cross is not glory after suffering, but glory in suffering, where humiliation becomes the place heaven breaks through. A disciple’s fear of that definition reveals how deeply the heart prefers applause, success, and control over the way of Jesus. [07:30]
2. Authority is given away. Jesus receives authority over all flesh, but he does not use power to protect himself. His authority becomes eternal life for others, and his glory returns to the Father. Kingdom power is not proven by self-assertion, but by costly generosity that gives life to the powerless. [10:43]
3. Eternal life means knowing Jesus. Jesus defines eternal life by relationship before duration. The word “know” carries experience, closeness, and life with God, not just correct information about God. The searching soul will keep searching until Jesus is known, because satisfaction is found in communion, not in religious awareness. [13:38]
4. Assignments are holy and limited. Jesus accomplished the work the Father gave him, not every possible work that could be done. That limitation is not failure, but faithfulness. The disciple’s freedom comes from laying down the little messiah complex and receiving the goodness of a bounded assignment. [20:43]
5. Longing does not mean lacking. Psalm 34 says those who seek the Lord lack no good thing, even when real longing remains. Desire, grief, singleness, sickness, and unfulfilled hopes do not automatically mean God has withheld goodness. The cross teaches that a person can carry ache and still be full, because Jesus gives himself as the deepest gift.

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Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[01:14] - Half Dome and Trusting the Cables
[02:55] - Jesus Prays Before the Cross
[04:20] - Father Means a New Family
[05:35] - The Hour Has Come
[07:30] - Glory Is the Cross
[10:26] - Authority for God’s Glory and Good
[12:48] - Eternal Life Is Knowing God
[16:44] - Knowing God Produces the Work
[18:42] - Jesus Had an Assignment
[20:43] - The Work Is Limited
[22:37] - Seeking God’s Glory, Not Control
[23:36] - Life With God Lacks Nothing
[26:04] - Longing Is Not Lacking
[31:12] - Communion and Closing Blessing

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading

John 17:1-5
“When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, ‘Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that 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. I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.’” [00:31] [00:42] [04:14] [05:35] [06:23] [10:35] [13:47] [16:58] [29:08]

Psalm 34:8-10
“Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him! Oh, fear the LORD, you his saints, for those who fear him have no lack! The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.” [24:03] [24:25]

1 John 2:3-4
“And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says ‘I know him’ but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him.” [17:53]

Jeremiah 31:33-34
“For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” [14:36]

Observation questions

In John 17:1-5, what does Jesus ask the Father to do, and what reasons does he give for those requests? [16:58]
According to John 17:3, how does Jesus define eternal life, and what words in the passage show that it is more than just living forever? [13:47]
What does Psalm 34 say about the person who seeks the Lord, and what contrast does it make with the young lions? [24:25]
In John 17:4, what does Jesus say he accomplished, and how is that different from trying to do every possible good work? [20:43]

Interpretation questions

Jesus speaks of the cross as glory. Why might that be hard for people to accept, and what does that reveal about the kind of glory people usually want? [07:30]
Jesus has authority over all flesh, yet he uses that authority to give eternal life. What does that show about the way Jesus understands power, and how is that different from the way power is often used? [10:43]
Jeremiah promises that God’s people will know him, and Jesus says eternal life is knowing God through himself. How does Jesus fulfill that promise in a personal and relational way? [14:36]
1 John says knowing God shows up in obedience, and John 17 says Jesus finished the work the Father gave him. How do relationship with God and faithfulness to God’s work belong together without turning into mere performance? [17:53]

Application questions

Where does glory usually get defined in personal life right now—success, comfort, control, admiration, a happy ending, something else? How might Jesus be challenging that definition? [23:02]
What part of life feels hardest to trust God with right now: family, work, health, singleness, marriage, the future, or something else? What would it look like to believe that God is trustworthy with the end of that story? [09:24]
Eternal life is knowing the Father and the Son. What helps a person actually know Jesus in daily life—not just know about him? What habits or distractions are shaping that right now? [15:23]
Jesus completed the work the Father gave him, not every work that could be done. Where might there be a temptation to carry responsibilities that were never actually assigned? What would receiving a limited assignment change this week? [21:09]
Some people try to go around the cross instead of through it. Is there a hard act of obedience, endurance, or faithfulness that has been avoided because it feels costly? What might it mean to walk straight toward it with Jesus? [22:24]
“Longing does not mean lacking.” Where is there real longing right now, and how could a person honestly name that longing while still receiving the good gifts God has already given? [26:30]
Knowing Jesus leads to faithful work. What is one clear assignment God seems to have placed in front of each person in this season, and what would simple obedience look like before the next group meeting? [27:56]

Sermon Clips

75s

#GloryRedefined

“And now before we talk about glory, we have to admit something that that most of us in this room, we have some definition of glory, some definition of glory. And maybe it's maybe it's crowds cheering. Maybe it's when you close that deal at work. Your boss congratulates Maybe it's when you finally finally buy the house that you've been saving for so long for. Maybe it's when after all their hard work, you get into the college that you've been eyeing for so long. For most of us, glory feels like some semblance of success, feels like something that happens after we suffer. I've suffered a while, and now I've found glory. But Jesus, Jesus redefines glory. Jesus says that glory isn't what happens after suffering. He says, glory, it's the cross.”

40s

#LongingNotLacking

“``I lack nothing. And it doesn't mean that there is not longing in my life. It doesn't mean that there's not suffering, there's not heartache, there's not grief, there's not pain. But I lack nothing because, friends, here's the truth, is that longing doesn't mean lacking. You can long for something and still lack nothing. You can long for your circumstances to change and still lack no good thing because that's the gift of Jesus.”

60s

#GloryThroughTheCross

“When Jesus is asking for glory, he's asking for the cross. He's asking for the picture, the greatest picture of suffering, the greatest picture of humiliation. And he's saying, that's glory. In the ancient Near East, crucifixion was used to humiliate people. The Romans used it to humiliate people who went against the empire. And Jesus is saying that, that's glory, my friends. Jesus, he flips our understanding of what glory is. He says, guess what? I went to the cross. I am on my way there now. And that means that you you can have life. He says this, friends, this is glory. Heaven is breaking through the cross.”

60s

#DoYourCalling

“Jesus was motivated by God's glory. Second thing, Jesus in his assignment, he was limited. Some of you need to hear this this morning. Jesus' assignment was limited. It was limited by his time on earth and by what he was called to do. He says, I accomplished the work you gave me to do. He didn't accomplish all the work. Jesus didn't heal every person. Surprise. Jesus didn't go to every town. Jesus didn't preach every sermon. Jesus did the work that his father called him to. Many of us in this room are trying to do work that was never assigned to us, and you are gonna wear yourself out trying to do work that was never assigned to you. We will drive ourselves crazy trying to do more than Jesus ever did. Some of us have little messiah complexes, but guess what? The position's been filled.”

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