As always, it was a sweet day of worship yesterday.  We prayed, we sang, we studied, and we rested under one central truth:  God is good and generous.  That may seem like an obvious truth, but I will tell you just like I told you yesterday:  Our faith in God’s goodness and generosity is tested in difficult times.

Well, fortunately, we get to see Jesus detail for us God’s generosity.  In John 17, we read this…

John 17:6 “I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. 7 Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. 8 For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me.

And with those verses, we attempted to answer this Big Picture Question:

Big Picture Question:  How is God generous?

We found the answer to that question in those verses in these 3 points.  God is generous because…

You can know the name of God.
You can keep God’s word.
You can know the truth.

Let’s look at the first point.

You can know the name of God.

John 17:6 “I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world

Knowing God’s name is not like knowing your neighbor’s name (and I hope you know your neighbor’s name).  Knowing God’s name is an intimate knowing.  It is knowing in relationship.  And God’s name is not merely knowing a fact.  Knowing God’s name is knowing God’s character, His holiness, and His will.

And who gets to know the name of God?  According to these words of Jesus, the only people who know the name of God are the people who God has given to Jesus.  God generously gives us, the people of faith, to Jesus.  And Jesus manifests (makes clearly known) the name of God to us.  What a gift.  What a giver, God is.  We may think we need so many things, and at times we do.  But what we need more than anything is to recognize God’s generosity and get to know the name, character, holiness, and will of God better.  Because as we do that, our character is transformed.  God gives, Jesus gives, and then, we give God glory as we are transformed.

But another way that God is generous is that now…

You keep God’s word.

John 17:6 b Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. 7 Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you.

Jesus is thanking God in this passage that the disciples kept God’s word – they obeyed.  They believed in Jesus and obeyed.  And the basis of that was that God gave them to Jesus.  When God gives us to Jesus, we are going to be transformed.   We will now be able to obey.  Even better, we will want to obey.  You can ask God to help you obey, and He will answer that prayer with a “yes”.

Listen to the promise explained from your Father in heaven.

Matthew 7:9 Which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? 11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!

Your Father in heaven will gladly give you, His sons and daughters, good gifts, and one of those good gifts is the ability to obey.

And finally, we saw God’s generosity in that you can now know the truth.

You know the truth. 

John 17:8 For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me.

You and I come to know the truth because God is generous.

God has given you the truth, and the truth is everything we know about God from the Scriptures.  He has given them to you, and when you read the scriptures, He is giving them to you again. God is gracious because he doesn’t leave you to just go find out everything on your own.

And I will also tell you this: if you’re in a season where you feel like you can just go find out everything on your own apart from the scriptures, you are running away from the truth.  But God giving you the truth is His grace to you.  God gives you the truth, and He is good and gracious He is a giver.  And because He is generous, you can know and obey that truth.

And we ended our sermon with this wrap up. 

Big Picture Question:  How is God generous?

Truth:  God is generous because you can know the name of God, you can keep God’s word, and you can know the truth.  

Application:  Living knowing that God continually gives you the ability to know Him, keep His word, and know the truth.  God never takes this from you. 

Action:  This week in struggle and crisis, seek knowing God more deeply before seeking for answers of what, when, where, and why.