I Came but I Am Leaving

Lesson #269

At the end of our last lesson we introduced the verses we would cover today. They are: “In that day you will ask in my name, and I do not say to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf; for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God” (John 16:26 – 27 ESV). In John 16:23, Jesus instructed his disciples, and thus us, to pray to the Father in his name. This is repeated here in the statement: “you will ask in my name”. We don’t necessarily pray to Jesus, but we pray to our Father in the name of Jesus and he will provide. The prayer outline Jesus gave to his disciples, starts out with, “Our Father”.

To decide who we pray to, consider the family of God. First there is God the Father and his only Son, who we know as Jesus. Being born again, we become children of God the Father; we are sons and daughters and in this sense Jesus is our big Brother. When you have a need in the family the point of authority is the Father, but there are times when a big brother might be appropriate. For example, I have learned to ask Jesus for his thoughts and his heart on the verses I write about and that he would communicate it to me by way of the Holy Spirit who dwells within me. I also ask that the Holy Spirit will draw people to read what has been posted and to provide understanding. In this way we work together to bring honor and glory to our Father. However, in most cases I pray to my Father in the name of Jesus. To me these two verses are about family. There are times when Jesus does pray on our behalf. There are times when we sin and then Jesus becomes our Advocate and intercedes on our behalf.

Jesus continues and says: “I came from the Father and have come into the world, and now I am leaving the world and going to the Father” (John 16:28 ESV). God the Father loved the world with such love that he sent his only Son. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. . . And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:1, 2, 14 ESV). There is no question who Jesus is, but why did he come? He came that he might be to us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption (1 Corinthians 1:30).

Once his work of purchasing salvation through his death is accomplished, Jesus will be raised from the dead and will ascend into heaven to allow the Holy Spirit to be sent in his place to reside within each believer. His ability to return to heaven through his ascension is the assurance that his power on earth will be replaced by that of the Holy Spirit.

Prayer

Father, what a beautiful thing it was that Jesus, your only Son, came into the world to purchase our salvation. Thank you that our faith is made valid by his resurrection and ascension into heaven to sit at your right hand to rule over the kingdom of God. Father, thank you for making us part of that kingdom. Father, have mercy on us because of our lack of love and obedience and forgive us for our friendship with the world.