IN THIS LESSON

Passage: John 15:1-5

Goal: Teach our family, high school students, how to anchor their identity in Jesus.

Intro.

Ask: “Do you know a celebrity?”

No, you just know about them.”

Then: “Do you know your best friend?”

→ “You talk, laugh, trust them.”

“God wants the second kind—with you.”

  • Phone vs. Person:

  • “Reading about someone isn’t the same as talking to them”

  • Light switch:

  • “Knowing God is like turning on a light—it changes everything you see”

Discussion hooks:

What do you rely on to feel ‘enough?

Why do those things stop working after a while?

What would change if your identity came from being known by God?

Observation Questions:

  1. What is Jesus’ supreme goal in His life? cf. John 17:1

  2. What form of glorification did He expect? “When Jesus had spoken these things, He raised His eyes to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, so that Your Son may glorify You.” in John 17:1

cf. John 12:20 Now there were some Greeks among those who were going up to worship at the feast; 21 these peoplef then came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and were making a request of him, saying, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” 22 Philip came and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip came and told Jesus. 23 But Jesus *answered them by saying, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 Truly, truly I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25 The one who loves his life loses it, and the one who hates his life in this world will keep it to eternal life. 26 If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also; if anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.

  1. How did Jesus glorify the Father in return? cf. John 17:4

Interpretation Questions:

Meaning of glory? 

The first way the Father glorified the Son was when the Father “…have given Him power and authority over all mankind" John 17:2

Glory.. In John 17:1–5, “glory” is not mainly fame, applause, or visible splendor. In John’s Gospel, it is the public revelation of God’s own character—His holiness, love, truth, justice, and saving power—supremely displayed in the cross and then confirmed in Christ’s resurrection and exaltation.

The cross is therefore not a tragic interruption to glory; it is the climactic revelation of divine glory.

Application Questions:

For Gen Z, Millennials, professionals, and parents, the diagnostic question is: What kind of glory am I seeking? Is it the glory of being noticed, promoted, admired, wealthier, safer, more correct, or more powerful than others?

Discussion hooks:

  • “What do you do with your best friend?”

  • “How can you spend time with God like that?”

John 17 does not merely tell us to become less ambitious. It offers a better center: because the eternal Son completed the Father’s work and shares the Father’s glory, those united to Christ do not need to manufacture an identity through achievement, popularity, KPI, academic performance, ministry visibility, or family status.

For Gen Alpha, say it simply: “You do not have to be the best, most popular, or most impressive kid to matter. Jesus is the bright and beautiful King, and He loves you. We can use our gifts to help people and show what He is like.”

Notes:

Hebrews 5:8 “Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered”.

Phil 2:5-8 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, as He already existed in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself by taking the form of a bond-servant and being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death: death on a cross..”

What does it mean that “eternal life is knowing God”? (John 17:3)

Jesus isn’t defining eternal life as just “living forever,” but as a real, relational knowledge of God through Him. These passages help fill that out:

Knowing God = Relationship, not just information

  • Jeremiah 9:23–24

  • “Let the one who boasts boast in this: that they have the understanding to know me…”

  • → Knowing God is the highest good, not achievements.

  • Hosea 6:6

  • “I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.”

  • → God values relationship over religious activity.

  • Philippians 3:8–10

  • “I consider everything a loss… that I may gain Christ and know Him…”

  • → Knowing Christ surpasses all other pursuits.

🌱 Knowing God = Shared life with Him (not distant belief)

  • 1 John 5:11–12

  • “God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.”

  • → Eternal life is found in relationship with Jesus.

  • 1 John 1:3

  • “Our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son…”

  • → “Knowing” includes ongoing fellowship.

  • John 15:4–5

  • “Abide in me… apart from me you can do nothing.”

  • → Like a branch connected to a vine—life flows from connection.

Knowing God = Experiencing truth and transformation

Colossians 1:9–10

“Growing in the knowledge of God… bearing fruit in every good work.”

Eternal life = Present reality, not just future hope

John 5:24

“Whoever hears… has eternal life… has crossed over from death to life.”

1 John 5:20

“We are in Him who is true… He is the true God and eternal life.”

For Gen Alpha (simple, relational, concrete)

Core need: Understand through friendship and experience

Reframe the verse:

  • “Eternal life means being friends with God forever.”

One-line takeaway:

👉 “Eternal life = knowing God like your best friend who never leaves”

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