4 I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do.
Jesus now asked the Father that He would return to His eternal pristine glory that He had before the incarnation.
4 I [emphatic] have glorified You on the earth.
The cross, although future, would certainly take place in a few hours. Jesus spoke about the cross as if it had already happened. He would complete His assigned work by the Father (Jn 12:23-24). The work of Christ centered on glorifying the Father by the substitutionary death of His Son.
I have finished the work which You have given Me to do.
Jesus’ based His prayer to glorify Himself on the completion of His work of glorifying the Father. The work that Jesus did on the cross was the work that the Father gave Him to do. The initiative came from the Father. Salvation rests on the “finished work” of Christ.
PRINCIPLE:
The finished work of Christ means that we have no work to do for salvation.
APPLICATION:
Our Lord was now handing in His final report of His work on earth. He had done everything necessary for our salvation. Jesus glorified the Father by accomplishing His mission on earth to save sinners. He would say on the cross, “It is finished” (Jn 19:30). He finished all that was necessary to save a soul (He 7:27; 9:7, 12, 26-28; 10:2, 10). No one can add anything to His completed work of salvation. God does not ask us to do something for salvation but informs us about what was already done for us.
No one can add anything to the finished work of Christ on the cross for our salvation. It is not what we do but what He had done to provide for eternal life.
It is at the cross where we truly know God, the place where we see the glory of God. The cross unveils God’s glory; He is glorified in the death, burial, resurrection of Jesus.
