I Have Made Known To You

No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you (John 15:15).

It is no secret that friends share information with each other, sometimes very important information. One of the key elements in the friendship between Jesus and His followers is the fact that He has disclosed a great deal of information to them - information about the Father, the Holy Spirit, His Messiahship, salvation, God’s plan for the ages, heaven, hell, etc. Of course, He did not disclose all we would want to know, but He has given to us information that is sufficient for us to live victorious Christian lives in a lost and sinful world.

Going all the way back to the early days of Old Testament history, the Lord began to reveal to mankind His plan for the ages. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel (Genesis 3:15). Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord (Genesis 6:8), therefore God revealed to Noah His plan for destroying sinful humanity with a flood (Genesis 6:13-22). Later on, the Lord said to Abraham (Genesis 18:17), “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing, since Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? For I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the LORD, to do righteousness and justice, that the LORD may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him." And the LORD said, "Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grave, I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry against it that has come to Me; and if not, I will know." 

The Lord spoke to Israel and revealed His plans to them throughout the Old Testament - through the judges, kings, priests, and prophets. Jesus Christ revealed God’s plans to the disciples and to the Apostles. The greatest example of the Lord making known to us His plans for the ages is the Book of Revelation. In it He outlines the rise of the antichrist, beast, and false prophet, the salvation of Israel, the judgments upon the earth and those who reject Jesus Christ, the coming Millennial Kingdom, and the final Great White Throne judgment. Again, He doesn’t disclose everything we would like to know, but He does reveal to us all we need to know to live for Him and to serve Him and others until He comes again.

Because He calls us His friends, Jesus reveals both His confidence and intimate fellowship with us, not necessarily our confidence and intimate fellowship with Him. We fail. We sin. We become worldly from time to time. We disappoint Him. But He never fails us. (2 Timothy 2:11-13) This is a faithful saying: For if we died with Him, We shall also live with Him. If we endure, We shall also reign with Him. If we deny Him, He also will deny us. If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself. Though we strive to always be faithful, we are not always faithful to Him, yet He is always faithful to us. Thank God! Amen.

Pastor Martin