Have You Read Jesus’ Last Will and Testament? (John 17)

More than 16 years ago, I created a study for my ladies’ Bible study based on my favorite chapter in the Bible, John 17.  The study was about reading John 17 as if it were Jesus speaking His Last Will and Testament as He prayed to His Father. 

In His prayer, Jesus bequeathed seven precious gifts to all who are His.  These seven are His riches that are given to us..  In 2021, I included this teaching in my book A Room with a View of Eternity.  That book is an in-depth look at the Upper Room Discourse, culminating with Jesus’ prayer in John 17 — read as His Last Will and Testament.

If Only Christians Would Believe in the Riches of Their Inheritance

Dr. Karl Menninger (July 22, 1893 – July 18, 1990), a notable  20th-century psychiatrist and founder of the Menninger Clinic, later called the Menninger Foundation, once said, “If I could convince the patients in psychiatric hospitals that their sins were forgiven, 75 percent of them could walk out the next day.”

Oh, how true that is.  Guilt is one of the most controlling emotions — affecting our thinking and feelings.  And yet, as Christians, we have a God who has already forgiven all of our sins. Our guilt is gone, replaced by His grace.  Our sins are forgiven, and we are free.

However, we must choose to live in the freedom of forgiveness and the peace of God’s grace. And we can do that by knowing the riches we have been given and believing our victory is in Jesus.

The Bible Tells Us That We Are Rich Because of Christ!

We are rich because of Christ’s…

1. gospel — Col 1:27  …the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
2. grace — Eph 1:7  In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace.
3. goodness — Rom 2:4  … the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering…the goodness of God leads you to repentance.
4. glory — Eph 3:16  that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man,

Paul Tells Us We Are Rich Because of Who We are in Christ!

In Paul’s letter to the Church at Ephesus, he wrote that we are…

1. blessed (Eph 1:3), 
2. chosen (Eph 1:4), 
3. predestined unto adoption (Eph 1:5), 
4. accepted (Eph 1:6),
5. redeemed and forgiven (Eph 1:7), 
6. enlightened (Eph 1:9), 
7. heir of inheritance (Eph 1:11) and 
8. we are sealed unto the day of redemption (Eph 4:30).  

Jesus Tells Us We Are Rich Because of What He Has Given Us!

Watch this video and see how John 17 reveals Jesus’ Last Will and Testament. In this chapter is recorded Jesus’ prayer to the Father in which He tells of what He will give to those who are His — that’s us!  This is a fun way to remember that we are heirs of every good and perfect gift from above!

Living the victorious life in Christ is about knowing who you are in Him and what you have from Him!