John 17:23 – “I in them, and you in Me, that they may be perfect in one, that the world may know You sent Me, and have loved them as You've loved Me”.
God will make it clear to everyone, the high value He places on those who follow Him and who serve Him, who give honour to Him. He says: “I will make them come and worship at your feet”, and Jesus will manifest His love, and vindicate us before those who have persecuted, opposed us, and falsely criticised us. If you love someone deeply, you desire to vindicate them, if they're being badly treated. For example, when Saul was persecuting the church, he had an encounter with Jesus, and Jesus said: “Saul, Saul, how come you're persecuting Me”? Jesus identifies so strongly with His people, that when He confronted Saul, He said: you're persecuting Me! “When you do it to the least of My brethren, you're doing it to Me.”
When people persecute you, mistreat you, misunderstand you, whatever, they're doing that to the Christ in you, and Christ Himself will come and stand on your behalf. In this age, it doesn't always look like God has vindicated us, but in the coming age He will do exactly that - He will vindicate us.
Isaiah 45:14 – “They shall come over to you, and they shall be yours; they shall walk behind you; they shall come, they shall bow down to you. They will say: surely God is in you, there is no other. They will bow the knee to Jesus, in the presence of the people they persecuted”.
Isaiah 60:14 – “The sons of those who afflicted you shall come bowing to you; those who despised you shall fall prostrate at the soles of your feet, and call you The City of the Lord, Zion of the Holy One. Whereas you've been forsaken and hated, so no man went through you, I will make you an eternal excellence, a joy of many generations”.
God is promising to bring honour to His people of Israel, and honour to His people who have faithfully served Him.
At the end time, no matter how people have thought, and responded to Jesus, the Bible is very clear: “every person will bow their knee to Jesus”.
Philippians 2:10-11 – “At the name of Jesus every knee shall bow in heaven and earth, every tongue confess that He is Lord”.
To bow the knee means to humble yourself; and admit to His kingly honour and glory. No matter how unbelievers rage, no matter how they abuse and blaspheme, and say all kinds of things; attack Christians; attack the church… at the end, all shall bow before Jesus - because of His authority and His majesty will be irresistible.
Psalm 102:15 – “All the nations shall fear the name of the Lord, and all the kings of the earth Your glory. When the Lord shall build up Zion or His people, He will appear in His glory”.
Psalm 102:22 – “When the peoples are gathered together, and the kingdoms come, to serve the Lord”.
Jesus will be vindicated before all men, and those who have identified with Him in their serving Him will also be vindicated.
In the story today, we've covered a lot of ground…
1) We've seen how Jesus has promised Praise & Honour; that where we're dishonoured, where people have rejected us, and spoken against us… God Himself will bestow honour on us, that will be visible, tangible, recognised by everyone - and there's a pathway to that. The pathway to that honour is: serving, and humility.
2) We saw in the study how God offers Treasures & Riches in Heaven. They are the true treasures, and these are riches that come out of the knowledge and intimacy with Jesus Christ. These are the treasures of Eternal Intimacy, Eternal Honour, and Eternal Authority, that God alone can give.
3) Finally, we saw that God will vindicate us, in every place where our choices have been rejected, mocked, ridiculed. Where our lifestyle has been ridiculed, God will honour us, and point out before people that these were godly decisions, and they brought honour to Him. What an amazing prize! What rewards God has, for those who love Him!
There are a few challenges to think about…