Christ's ultimate sacrifice: Primary purpose was to do God's will.
In studying Christ's death on the cross and the resulting salvation of our souls it is no small thing to focus attention and time on such a matter on a regular basis. At least from our perspective the meaning to us personally must be considered with all due reverence for how He took us from death to life. John 17:6-8 makes clear that God was the one who gave Christ all the ones who were to be saved. The following verses ask for unity among them all; and to be in the world but not of it (in general). These verses prayed during His agony in Gethsemane are the summation of much of the earlier chapters in John clearly showing that God was the one who predetermined (predestined) all those who would be saved and hear His voice as His sheep.
However you slice it; there are some who will and will not come to Christ. Also God knows ahead of time who these people are so therefore certainly could have designated ahead of time who would be sheep and who would be a goat; who would be wheat and who a tare; etc. In other words; it wasn't up to Christ to give out any information that could lead someone to the truth in a merely intellectual manner and therefore much of His ministry was spent teaching in parables. Compare Mark 4:12 with Luke 8:12. The lack of insight given so that people can be saved is clear from the first passage; but Satan is used as the agent to blind men's hearts in the second example in Luke of the seed by the wayside.
There are as Deuteronomy 29:29 states some things in the Divine counsel which men are not privy to. Certain things can be searched out; however ( Proverbs 25:2). John 3:16 states that God so loved the world and sent His Son. We should keep in mind here that Christ came first and foremost to do the Father's will. All those called and chosen would be saved EXCEPT for the prophesied son of perdition (see Psalm 69:25; Psalm 41:9; Psalm 109).
In studying Christ's death on the cross and the resulting salvation of our souls it is no small thing to focus attention and time on such a matter on a regular basis. At least from our perspective the meaning to us personally must be considered with all due reverence for how He took us from death to life. John 17:6-8 makes clear that God was the one who gave Christ all the ones who were to be saved. The following verses ask for unity among them all; and to be in the world but not of it (in general). These verses prayed during His agony in Gethsemane are the summation of much of the earlier chapters in John clearly showing that God was the one who predetermined (predestined) all those who would be saved and hear His voice as His sheep.
However you slice it; there are some who will and will not come to Christ. Also God knows ahead of time who these people are so therefore certainly could have designated ahead of time who would be sheep and who would be a goat; who would be wheat and who a tare; etc. In other words; it wasn't up to Christ to give out any information that could lead someone to the truth in a merely intellectual manner and therefore much of His ministry was spent teaching in parables. Compare Mark 4:12 with Luke 8:12. The lack of insight given so that people can be saved is clear from the first passage; but Satan is used as the agent to blind men's hearts in the second example in Luke of the seed by the wayside.
There are as Deuteronomy 29:29 states some things in the Divine counsel which men are not privy to. Certain things can be searched out; however ( Proverbs 25:2). John 3:16 states that God so loved the world and sent His Son. We should keep in mind here that Christ came first and foremost to do the Father's will. All those called and chosen would be saved EXCEPT for the prophesied son of perdition (see Psalm 69:25; Psalm 41:9; Psalm 109).
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