March 28, 2012
Devotion
For of His Fulness we have all received, and grace upon grace
For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ. John 1.16-17
A Grace is God’s favor/kindness given to those who do not deserve and cannot earn grace.
1 Truth is the unveiled/undeniable reality of a fact.
a In New Testament the meaning of “truth” is especially about the validity of a manifestation/appearance/ that clearly happening before our eyes. (What we are seeing, or saw, is/was real.)
aa John is the only Gospel that begins telling us about the eternal truth of Jesus before the manger, star over Bethlehem, Shepherds.
bb In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. 5 The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. John 1:1-5 (NASB)
b
2 We love to talk about grace but without truth grace is deceitful.
a God loves you & has a wonderful plan for you life, He’s a good daddy . . . all true.
aa Truth is God will not receive you/welcome you into heaven/hear your prayers/give angels charge over you if have rejected Jesus Christ.
bb 6 Jesus *said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. John 14:6 (NASB)
cc “through” means on account, because of, by way of.
b Grace without truth is deceitful because not everybody receives grace.
3 Truth without grace isn’t deceitful: it’s condemning.
a 10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: Romans 3:10 (KJV) b For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans 6:23 (KJV) c For the wages of sin - The word translated here "wages" properly denotes what is purchased to be eaten with bread, as fish, flesh, vegetables, etc.
aa “Wages” means the pay of the Roman soldier, because formerly it was the custom to pay the soldier in these things.
bb It means hence, what a man earns or deserves; what is his proper pay, or what he merits.
cc As applied to sin, it means that death is what sin deserves; what will be its proper reward. Death is thus called the wages of sin, not because it is an arbitrary, undeserved appointment, but because it is its proper desert.
4 President Bush said, “Every sinner deserves forgiveness.” Worng!
a Not a pain will be inflicted on the sinner which he does not deserve.
b Not a sinner will die who ought not to die.
c No man can conceive a more dreadful doom than for himself to be treated forever just as he deserves to be.
5 Death is the wages of sin, because, like the pay of the soldier, it is just what was threatened, Ezekiel 18:4, "The soul that sinneth, it shall die."
a God will not inflict anything more than was threatened, and therefore it is just.
b That is the truth about what we deserve but if I don’t tell you there is a way out of what you deserve/way through/ because of Jesus then I’m just preaching condemnation.
c If God dealt with us only on the basis of truth, no one would survive, but He deals with us on the basis of grace and truth through the life, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
aa Jesus met all the demands of the law & paid for all our breaches and breaking of the law.
bb Because the whole of the law has been met in Jesus, God now shows unlimited grace on those who trust Christ.
B We see the Law & Grace in one verse in John 1.17
1 John isn’t suggesting that there was no grace under the Law of Moses.
a Every time a sacrifice was made there was an expression of His grace.
b No one ever was saved, now saved, or ever will be saved except by grace.
aa Before/during/after/ Moses nobody was saved except by grace.
bb Before/after/since the cross nobody was ever saved in any other way other than grace . . . THAT IS THE TRUTH!
2 Grace always come by Jesus Christ.
a The Law was given by Moses, but grace came in its fulness by Jesus Christ.
aa This doesn’t mean before Jesus was born of Mary there was no grace.
bb God has been showing His grace before the world ever existed.
cc 8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Rev 13:8 (KJV)
b God has always dealt with mankind in grace, looking forward to Jesus arrival, Calvary.
c Today, Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father and God still sees the cross.
aa He saw the cross before the first star, planet, galaxy, grain of sand was formed, drop of water was in the ocean. . . it all pointed to the cross.
bb Even in the Garden, Cain & Abel (Cain farmer; Abel was a shepherd)
cc Abel’s sacrifice was looking forward to the cross.
dd Every lamb, goat, bull, dove slain was looking forward to the cross.
d Grace came by Jesus Christ and everybody that’s been saved, now saved, will be saved are saved by looking back at the cross.
3 We are saved not because we’re good people, moral people; don’t continue to be saved because we’re good people, moral people . . . but by grace!
a Ephesians 2.8-9"For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
aa Grace & Faith (Faith in What?)
bb The Truth!
b 1 Cor. 15.18, “But by the grace of God I am what I am . . .”
c I’m not saved for just a moment because He has given “grace upon grace” v.16
d If I really mess up “He giveth more grace.” (James 4.6)
Conclusion:
A In Jesus Christ, Yeshua Meshiah, grace & truth reached their fulness (1.14).
1 There is no greater display of the grace of God than Jesus.
a There is no greater display of the truth of God than Jesus.
b When you doubt His love, commitment, decisions, look at the cross.
c When you doubt your salvation, your calling, your confession of faith look back at the cross.
2 A story from Scotland tells of a mother’s dramatic rescue of her child. Workmen were blasting rock in a quarry. One day after they had attached the fuse and retired to a safe place and gave the alarm they saw a three year old child wandering across the open space where danger threatened. Every passing second meant death was closing in on the child. The workmen called to the child and waved their arms, but he only looked on their strange antics with amusement. No man dared run forward knowing the explosion was only seconds away. The child most certainly would have been killed, had not his mother appeared at this moment of crisis. Taking in the situation at a glance she did what her mother’s heart dictated. She did not run toward her son or yell to frighten him. Instead, she knelt down, opened wide her arms and smiled for him to come. Instantly the child ran towards her. Shortly later the area shook with the force of the explosion, yet the child was safe in his mother’s arms.
a What a picture of the grace of God and of the cross.
b With outstretched arms on the cross Jesus gives his gracious invitation to the world., indicating we are to come to him for eternal safety.
c Will you come to Jesus?
3 Lord, I’m completely dependent on the grace that is mine through Jesus Christ. I look back at the cross and thank You that You loved me enough to provide salvation. Amen.
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