What kind of relationship did he have that he's able to walk and talk with God in that way? This is what Jesus is saying; He said I call you friends. Now what you have to see is that there was a progression of things happened in John 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17. In John 13 Jesus models what a king behaves like. He said I'm your Lord or I'm the king. But then what He did was He took off His outer garments and He went down and He served the disciples, so He showed them a king actually can engage at the lowest level of class and serve. The kingdom of God, kings in God's kingdom, can serve and minister to the lowest levels of life, the lowest levels of human need. That's what God's kings can do. What a contrast that is to the kings of the world.
In John, Chapter 14, Jesus promised the Holy Spirit. Now you've got to understand what He's doing. He's promising - He said I'm about to leave you. I've modelled for you what a king is like. I've done this for you. Now you can do this for one another. Then the second thing is He promises a kingly seed. The Bible says that we receive the Holy Spirit, we are born again. There is an impregnation of our life with divine DNA, so when you get born again and the spirit of God comes into you, the divine nature of God becomes fused with your spirit. We are one spirit with the Lord, so therefore you are of divine origin. You have divine seed or life inside you, divine DNA. It is natural for you to connect with God. It is natural for you to walk with God. It's natural for you to speak and interact with God. It's natural for you to flow in the things of the spirit. Why? Because you're fused. You are now royal seed.
If you want to know where you come from well you have a look at your background, but when you got born again Jesus broke the connections to your old background and fused you and pulled you into a new family. It's a royal family. So one, He modelled what that kingly family would behave like. It's a family that knows how to serve needs. Two, it's also a family that's got royal DNA. You have royal DNA within you. The third thing is Jesus then raises them to a kingly stature. He raises them to friends. He'll always have pre-eminence. That's why He's called the king of kings. Kings talk with one another. You have a look at the leaders of nations. They meet and they build friendships with one another. They respect one another. They understand the domain over which each one rules and they relate in certain ways.
Jesus said I'm lifting you up out of the status of being a servant and into the status of being a king. I've shown you what a king acts like. I've demonstrated kingly power. Now I'm going to put kingly seed in you. I'm raising you up to become of a kingly family. I want you to live, act, think, talk and advance the kingdom of God. Trouble is we get stuck with a slave mentality.
In John 17 Jesus said He would share His kingly glory with us. So He's very clearly, the whole context of those few chapters is God is wanting to understand I am shifting you from where you were, servants of God, slaves to sin, I'm shifting you now to become kings and I'm going to anoint you and launch you into the world and you're going to have a global mission to advance the kingdom right through until every person, every part, every generation hears the gospel of the kingdom of God! Trouble is we get caught up in church. Actually, you're called to a kingdom. Church is here to help prepare you to do your kingly duties. Think about that.