John 1 (3)
God’s Glory
- Read John 1:1-18
Each of the Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John were written by different men, as inspired and directed by the Lord. They were written with different specific audiences in mind, and together, provide 4 accounts of the life of Jesus.
John, the son of Zebedee, is the author of this Gospel. He and his brother James are called the "Sons of Thunder," most likely for their lively, zealous personalities. Of the 12 disciples, John, James, and Peter formed the inner circle, chosen by Jesus to become his closest companions. They had the exclusive privilege of witnessing and testifying about events in the life of Jesus that no others were invited to see. John was present at the resurrection of Jarius' daughter (Luke 8:51), the transfiguration of Jesus (Mark 9:2), and in Gethsemane (Mark 14:33). John is also the only recorded disciple to be present when Jesus was crucified. He is the one Jesus spoke to from the cross about His mother. He is the one Jesus told to take care of His mother after He was gone. They were close.
John tells us a lot about the life and ministry of Jesus the other writers do not tell us. John tells us about the Marriage Feast at Cana of Galilee, of the coming of Nicodemus to Jesus, the woman of Samaria, of the raising of Lazarus, of the way Jesus washed the disciples’ feet and of Jesus’ teaching about the Holy Spirit and the Comforter.
John pays careful attention to everything going on around him, so he gives us little details the other writers leave out. When Jesus feeds the 5,000 with the fish and loaves, only John tells us they were barley loaves. When Jesus walked on water and came to the disciples in the middle of the storm, John is the one how tells us they had rowed between 3 and 4 miles when the storm came. He is the one who tells us there were 6 stone water pots Jesus turned in to wine. Only John tells us about the crown of thorns and how the soldiers gambled for Jesus’ woven robe. He knows the exact weight of the aloes and myrrh, that was used to anoint Jesus’ body to prepare it for burial. John remembers how the perfume of the ointment filled the house when Jesus was anointed.
These are the memories of a man who was there.
In the beginning part of this chapter, John tells about things he did not directly see or know. These are things the Lord showed him that he recorded. IN the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. . . .
These are the words of a man inspired and directed by God to teach us and to help explain to us Who Jesus is and where He came from, and how God prepared the way for His arrival.
There was a man sent from God who’s name was John, is a God-directed passage telling us about the forerunner of Jesus, explaining how God have paved the way for His arrival.
Ah, but in verse 14, John begins to share some of his God-inspired and God-directed memories.
- Read verse 14
Most of us are familiar with the verse John 3:16, explaining why Jesus came into the world, explaining how the love of God caused Him to send His only begotten Son into the world, to pay the price for our sins, so that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish but might have everlasting life.
Some have called verse 14 the 2nd most important verse in the New Testament.
Verse 14 begins, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” Can you imagine the love that drove God to have His only begotten Son, the Creator of all things, leave the glories and majesty of heaven to come and live as a man? To know the pains, and hunger, and thirst, and heat and cold, and heart break and temptations that we know?
But He did it, and John was able to spend 3 1/2 years with Him, and took care of His mother after that. Tell us John, what stood out to you about the time you spent with Jesus? When you saw His glory displayed, you who notice all of the details, what stood out to you about Jesus?
Notice His answer. We observed His glory, the glory of the One and Only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
What stood out my time with Jesus? I noticed His grace and truth.
Years ago, a large international conference was held of religious leaders from around the world. In the midst of the conference, a debate began about what it was that set Christianity apart from other religions.
Some argued that it was God coming in the flesh that set Christianity apart from other religions. They decided that wasn’t it, because other religions claimed that their gods came in human form. Some argued that it was love, or sacrifice, or the resurrection, or one thing or another; each idea being shot down. Finally, C. S. Lewis, having arrived late, walked into the conference and asked what all the noise was about. When told they were discussing what it was that set Christianity apart from all other religions, he said, “That’s easy. It’s grace.”
How true it is. My friends, the thing that sets Christianity apart from every other religion, and every cult in the world is grace, the “unmerited, unearned, undeserved, favor of God.” And I want you to know, my friends, God’s grace is sufficient.
- 2 Corinthians 12:7b-10
In 2 Corinthians 12, we read that Paul was complaining. He had a thorn in the flesh. We don’t know what that was. We don’t know if it was a physical problem he couldn’t overcome. We don’t know if it was a temptation he regularly struggled with. We don’t know if it was an attitude he battled with. We don’t know, because the Bible doesn’t tell us. We do know that this thorn in the flesh was brought about by a messenger of Satan and we do know that Paul prayed several times that God would take it away. But God never did.
There are those who will tell you that if you pray and don’t see a positive answer to your prayer, it’s because you don’t believe enough, or you don’t have enough faith. Horse feathers! Sometimes God doesn’t answer our prayers for the same reason I didn’t give Drew everything he asked for when he was growing up. God knows better.
Paul prayed 3 times to have this thorn removed and God said, NO!” Instead of answering Paul’s prayer, God said, “My grace is sufficient.”
That means God’s grace is enough. Turn to the person beside you and tell him, “God’s grace is enough.” God’s grace is enough. It doesn’t take anything else. God’s grace is enough.
GOD’S GRACE IS ENOUGH
I. GOD’S GRACE IS ENOUGH TO SAVE YOU
> Ephesians 2:8 For by grace you were saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift-
I want you to know this morning, that God’s grace is enough to save you. Do you realize there is nothing you can do to earn your salvation? You cannot be good enough. The Bible says the best you could hope to do, your best works, are like filthy rags compared to God’s holiness.
My friend, you can never be good enough to be saved. You can never go to church enough. You can never give enough to the church. You can never help enough poor people. You can never visit enough prisons, or light enough candles, or pray enough to earn being saved. It is only by God’s grace that you are saved.
So quit trying to be good enough to be saved, and trust Jesus. Jesus says, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come into Him.”
Tell somebody, “God’s grace is enough to save you.”
II. GOD’S GRACE IS ENOUGH TO SEAL YOU
- Romans 5:20-21
Paul says, “The law of God opened my eyes. I saw myself. I saw my sin. I saw who I really was. My sin increased. But God’s grace multiplied even more.”
Dear friend, do you realize that if you are truly born again, if Jesus is truly your Savior, that you are saved, signed and sealed, just waiting to be delivered? You cannot lose your salvation.
When you invite Jesus Christ into your heart to be your Lord and Savior, He comes in to live, to stay, forever. The Holy Spirit lives within you.
- John 10:27-30
Jesus says, “The sheep the Father has given Me are in My hand, and no one can snatch them out of My hand. They are in the Father’s hand, and no one can snatch them out of God’s hand.”
A number of years ago, Gladys, Drew and I took a trip out west. We went and saw the Grand Canyon, some Indian cliff dwellings, the Petrified Forest and all of that stuff. One of the things Drew and I enjoyed the most while we were out there was the climbing. Drew and I climbed mountains, and rocks, and hills. That was 16 years ago, when Drew was only 4.
Often, Drew and I climbed places many adults wouldn’t climb; much less take their children. Any time we climbed some steep or high places, I always held Drew’s hand. Now let me ask you, “When Drew climbed with me, was he depending on his grip on me, or was he counting on his Daddy’s grip being strong enough to hold him?” Right. Drew was counting on His Daddy’s hand being strong enough to hold him, or catch him if he slipped.
Some of you people are still living like your salvation depends on your grip on God. You’re afraid you’ll sin and He’ll quit loving you. You’re afraid you’ll mess up and lose your salvation, so you go from one day to the next, never knowing if you’re still good enough to be saved.
Guess what? You’re not, and neither am I. My salvation doesn’t depend my good works, or my good living. It doesn’t depend on my grip on God. It depends on God’s grip on me, and God grips with grace.
> Ephesians 2:6-7 He also raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavens, in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages He might display the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness to us in Christ Jesus.
“During the building of the Golden Gate Bridge over San Francisco Bay, construction fell badly behind schedule because several workers had accidentally fallen from the scaffolding to their deaths. Engineers and administrators could find no solution to the costly delays. Finally, someone suggested a gigantic net be hung under the bridge to catch any who fell. Finally in spite of the enormous cost, the engineers opted for the net. After it was installed, progress was hardly interrupted. A worker or two fell into the net but were saved. Ultimately, all the time lost to fear was regained by replacing fear with faith in the net.” (Source unknown)
My friend, quit living in fear and trust the grace grip of your heavenly Father.
God’s grace is enough to save you. God’s grace is enough to seal you, and God’s grace is enough to change you.
III. GOD’S GRACE IS ENOUGH TO CHANGE YOU
> 1 Peter 5:10 Now the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ Jesus, will personally restore, establish, strengthen, and support you…
God, because of and through His grace, will change you. Turn to the person beside you and tell them, “God’s grace will change you.” God’s grace will change you.
a. Restore - The Bible says, because of sin, you and I have fallen short of the glory of God. According to this verse, because of grace, God can and will restore you. You, like Paul, may feel like the chief of sinners. You feel that you can never get a grip on life again. You feel that you can never be clean, you can never be forgiven, you can never go back. You say, “Brother Gene, if you only knew what I’ve done. I can never have a close relationship with God again. He’ll never take me back.
My friend, you can’t go back, but you can go on, because God will restore your relationship with Him.
David, after sinning with Bathsheba and after having her husband killed, cried out, “My sins are always before me.” Later, because of the grace of God he was able to write,
> Psalm 51:7 Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me and I will be whiter than snow.
b. Establish and strengthen – Do you remember Peter? Peter was a coward. Peter, the one Jesus promised He was going to use to build the church. Peter, the one who claimed he would never leave Jesus. Peter denied and abandoned Jesus when Christ needed him most. But, because of the grace of God, Peter was changed from a coward to a champion. He was strengthened and established where nothing would shake him.
Dear friend, God changed Peter. He changed Paul, and God will do the same for you if you let Him.
So what shall we do with God’s grace? If God’s grace is enough to save us, if it is enough to seal us, if it is enough to change us, what shall we do with God’s grace?
RESPONDING TO GOD’S GRACE
The correct response to God’s grace is to:
I. ACCEPT HIS GRACE
Take Jesus at His word. Jesus says, come unto Me all ye who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. This morning, accept God’s grace. Tell Him right now, “God, I don’t deserve you forgiveness. I don’t deserve your grace, but I accept it.”
Will you accept His grace right now?
II. TRUST HIS GRACE
Second, trust Him. When He says He has you in the palm of His hand. Trust him. You worrying about it, isn’t going to change a thing. Rest in the grace that He offers. Some of the saddest people I know are Christians who still worry about whether or not they’re saved. They can be some of the most uptight people in the world.
My friend, Jesus said, “My peace I leave with you.” Trust His grace, and accept His peace.
III. SHARE HIS GRACE
When Jesus cast the demons out of the Gadarene demoniac, and the delivered man wanted to follow Jesus, what did Jesus tell Him to do? He said, “Go and tell.” Go tell the people what I have done for you. Go share with them the grace I’ve shown you.
Sharing the grace of God requires that we share the truth.
1. Share the truth - What did John say? We saw His glory full of grace and truth. Truth always accompanies grace. Without truth there is no need for grace.
What did Jesus tell us? He said,
> John 14:6 Jesus answered, “I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father but through me.”
> John 18:37 “ . . . Jesus replied. “I was born for this, and I have come into the world for this: to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to My voice.”
> John 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
Grace requires that we tell people the truth. If I have a problem, I want my doctor to tell me what the problem is. If we need to operate, let’s operate. I don’t want him to tell me to rub a little ointment on it to make it feel better and come back in 2 weeks if I’m not dead.
When I’m dealing with the doctor, I want the truth so we can deal with the situation.
If I’m dealing with my mechanic, I want him to tell me the truth. Tell me what the problem is. Let’s fix it. I don’t want something temporary that’s going to leave me broken down on the side of the road somewhere.
If my drains clog up and Joe has to come clean them out. I don’t just want him to clean them out, I want him to tell me the truth. What’s the problem. Hey dummy, quit dumping grease down the drain. That’s what’s clogging everything up.
We live in a time when people think telling the truth is unloving, or ugly or something. But loving someone and showing them grace requires you to tell them the truth, that you share truth with them.
How loving is it of a person to sell a homeowner a paint job, when they know there is rot going on behind the wall and that if they don’t fix it soon they are going to have a well painted rot that will soon collapse on them?
How loving is it of a doctor to tell a person they have an infection and need to remove a toe, without telling them the whole truth, that the reason is they have diabetes and they need to cut out sweets?
And how loving is it of a counselor to tell a couple they need to work on their arguing, without telling them that Christ needs to be the center of their home, because He designed and built it?
How loving is it of us to embrace people in their sins, without telling them the truth about a Savior who came so they could escape the bondage and consequences of those sins?
Tell people the truth. A truth that John said many don’t recognize. That there are 2 sides in the world. There is light and there is darkness. That’s it. 2 teams. 2 sides. You are on one side or the other. You are a child of God or you are not.
Tell folks the truth. Jesus says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes unto the Father but by Me.”
Tell people the truth and show them the grace.
- Luke 12:48 …Much will be required of everyone who has been given much.
If God has shown you grace, then be willing to show grace to others. I am afraid that too many of us have forgotten how much grace has been shown us by both God and by others. I am afraid that we have forgotten how much grace God has shown us, and so have become unwilling to show grace to others. I know I have sometimes allowed myself to forget about the log in my own eye, and have become preoccupied with the speck in my brother’s eye.
Do you remember that rules for women that went around on the internet some time back. A husband, speaking to his wife said, “If I say something and you can take it 2 ways; one way that will upset you, and another that won’t, I meant it in the good way.”
Gentlemen, if you want your wife do cut you some slack, to show you grace in what you say, then had better show her grace in the things she says. Give her the benefit of the doubt. If you want your children to cut you some slack when you are unable to do something you told them you’d do; then you had better cut them some slack, show some grace when you interpret their hasty promises. If you want your friends to show grace, when you inadvertently stick your foot in your mouth; then you had better show them some grace. If you want your loved one to show grace when you forget to call, then you had better show them some grace and give them the benefit of the doubt. We’ve got to get the chips off our shoulders and start showing one another grace, the same grace God shows us.
Share God’s grace with others. Share what you receive.
God’s grace is enough to save us, to seal us, and to change us. Our responsibility is to accept His grace, trust His grace, and share His grace.
Y'all remember that old childhood rhyme?
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall
All the king’s horses and all the king’s men
Couldn’t put Humpty together again
Here’s another.
Jesus Christ came to our wall,
Jesus Christ died for our fall;
So that regardless of death and in spite of sin,
Through grace, He might put us together again.
(Swindoll’s Ultimate Book of Illustrations and Quotes, 251).
