There’s a question every person asks at some point — whether they admit it or not: What is the meaning and purpose of all this? Why does history unfold the way it does? Is anyone actually in control? Pastor Josh White opened our study in John 17 by pointing us to the prayer Jesus prayed just hours before the cross. And in that prayer, we find the answer.
God’s Plan Is on Schedule
John 17 opens with one of the most remarkable prayers in Scripture. Jesus lifts His eyes to heaven and says:
“Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you… I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.”
— John 17:1, 4–5
What strikes us first is that Jesus isn’t uncertain. He isn’t wondering what comes next. He knows the plan, and He knows it’s right on schedule. That’s the first reassurance God offers us: His plan is always on time — even when we think it’s late.
Point 1: God Is in Control Over Time
After His resurrection, Jesus’ disciples gathered and asked Him a pointed question: “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6). They had grown up studying the Old Testament. They knew the Messiah was supposed to reign on David’s throne. They were ready for it — or so they thought.
Jesus’ answer is instructive:
“It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by His own authority.”
— Acts 1:7
That word fixed is rich. It means set, established, ordained, appointed. The disciples weren’t wrong that God would restore Israel — they were wrong about the timing. God has appointed moments in history for every major act of redemption, and those moments arrive exactly when God planned them.
The most staggering example? The birth of Jesus. Paul writes in Galatians 4:4–5:
“When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.”
— Galatians 4:4–5
God wasn’t guessing. He wasn’t waiting to see how things would unfold. Jesus was born at the exact moment God had ordained.
One of the most remarkable ways God revealed these appointed times was through the Jewish feasts. In Leviticus 23, God gave Israel seven annual feasts — and called them appointed times (mikra — a gathering, a rehearsal). These weren’t just religious holidays. They were divine dress rehearsals for Christ’s work.
The four spring feasts — Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Fruits, and Pentecost — were all fulfilled by Jesus on the exact days, down to the hour, after His resurrection. Passover pointed to Christ as the Lamb whose blood saves. Unleavened Bread pointed to His sinless life and removal of sin. First Fruits pointed to His resurrection as the first raised from the dead. Pentecost pointed to the day the Holy Spirit inaugurated the Church.
“These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.”
— Colossians 2:16–17
The three fall feasts — Trumpets, Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement), and Tabernacles — remain unfulfilled. Daniel 12 speaks of a future time of trouble and deliverance. We believe these will be fulfilled at their appointed times as well.
Right now, we live in what Paul calls the “fullness of the Gentiles” (Romans 11:25) — the Church Age, the time when God is gathering people from every nation. When that season closes, God will resume where He left off. We don’t know when. But we know it will be on time.
Point 2: God Is in Control Over People
If God only controlled the calendar, that would be impressive enough. But Scripture goes further: God governs the hearts and decisions of human rulers.
Consider King Nebuchadnezzar. He was arguably the most powerful man on earth in his day. Babylon’s empire stretched across the ancient world. And yet, God gave this king a dream of a great tree — a dream Daniel interpreted: the tree represented Nebuchadnezzar, and he would be stripped of his throne and driven from society until he learned that “the most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom He will” (Daniel 4:17).
Sure enough, after 12 months of pride, the king was driven from his palace and lived like an animal for seven years — until he lifted his eyes to heaven, his reason returned, and he praised the God of heaven.
“All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and He does according to His will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay His hand or say to Him, ‘What have you done?'”
— Daniel 4:35
This is a sobering reminder. No leader, no matter how powerful, sits outside of God’s sovereign plan. He places kings and removes them. He ordains presidents and prime ministers. He works through believers who serve faithfully — and sometimes through stubborn rulers who don’t — to bring about His redemptive purposes. Nothing escapes His hand.
Point 3: The Purpose of It All — God’s Glory
So if God controls time and controls people, what’s the endgame? What is God ultimately after?
Jesus tells us plainly in John 17: the purpose is glory. Not human comfort. Not political outcomes. Not even the salvation of souls as an end in itself — but the revelation of God’s glory.
That word glory appears five times in John 17:1–5. Jesus asks the Father to glorify Him so that the Son can glorify the Father. He speaks of the glory He had with the Father before the world existed. This is the center of the bullseye.
That raises a fair question: Isn’t it arrogant for God to make His own glory the goal? Here’s the answer: God is perfect. And when we behold a perfect God — His power, His holiness, His grace, His wisdom — we will be simultaneously terrified and filled with awe. There is nothing in all of existence more pure, more complete, more utterly fulfilling than beholding our perfect Creator.
When Moses asked to see God’s glory, God responded: “I will make all My goodness pass before you… but you cannot see My face, for man shall not see Me and live” (Exodus 33:19–20). God placed Moses in the cleft of a rock and covered him with His hand as His glory passed by. Moses saw God’s back — and that was the greatest moment of his life.
Friend, that is the goal of history. Not your comfort. Not your prosperity. Not even your answered prayers — as good as those are. The ultimate purpose is that you would behold Him. That you would know Him. That you would experience His glory in a way that transforms you forever.
“Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, may be with Me where I am, to see My glory that You have given Me because You loved Me before the foundation of the world.”
— John 17:24
So What?
God’s plan is not frustrated. It’s not stalled. It’s not running behind schedule. It is precisely on time — and wiser than we can fathom.
When we come to a point where our personal plans don’t align with God’s bigger picture, we have the wrong plan. Our job is not to inform God of our preferences and hope He cooperates. Our job is to know the Father, hear His schedule, and join Him in what He’s doing in the world.
This means living by faith in a world that doesn’t understand God’s timetable. It means watching and waiting with confidence — not anxiety — because the One who controls time is also the One who loved you enough to send His Son so that you could be adopted into His family and one day behold His glory.
God has a plan. It is glorious. And it is right on schedule.
Scripture References
- John 17:1–5 — Jesus’ high priestly prayer and the glory of God
- Acts 1:6–7 — Times and seasons fixed by the Father
- Galatians 4:4–5 — The fullness of time and the adoption of sons
- Leviticus 23 — God’s appointed feasts as rehearsals for Christ
- Colossians 2:16–17 — The feasts as shadows pointing to Christ
- Daniel 4:17, 35 — God rules the kingdoms of men
- Exodus 33:19–20 — Moses asks to see God’s glory
- Romans 11:25 — The fullness of the Gentiles