Seeing His Glory
John 1.14 December 10, 2000
And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us,
(and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth
Long ago, and in a faraway galaxy; So begins the movie Star Wars. Many people have never seriously considered Jesus Christ as anything more important than a fairy tale.
It is ironic how the whole world stops near the end of December to buy gifts, decorate trees and houses with lights, and wear themselves out with parties – but when it comes to the Christ of Christmas, they see precious little that is relevant to their daily lives. The thinking is: Hey, the baby in the manger is cute and all, but real life demands a lot from me. Religion has its place, but what does a child born halfway around the world two thousand years ago mean to me?
Consider this answer….
God looked at the mess which this world had made of the perfect creation. When He saw WHAT He saw, and how messed up we were, God knew it had to be fixed. But He also knew we could not understand. So God drew us a picture with His Word, Jesus…something we could understand.
A lady joined her Navy husband on his tour of duty in Japan. To supplement their income, she got a job as a secretary for the Commanding Officer at the base. She was certain her office skills had gotten her the position. A few weeks later, her boss called her into his office and told her she was much too quiet. He said, The reason I hired you was your Texas accent. I’m homesick for someone who can talk right.
God knew the only talk we would understand would be a living, walking, loving picture – so Jesus came. John says he dwelt among us. The word means he pitched his tent here for a while. That’s the story of Christmas – how Jesus came to stay here for a while, and be the picture of the God we didn’t know.
But, back to the original question – what does that mean to me now?
The answer is found in the way you look at the picture. Look at the perspectives John offers in the text…grace, truth and glory.
Some people only see Grace
The Bible says Jesus was full of grace. By definition, grace is the unmerited favor, or undeserved forgiveness of God. One day many years ago I was late to meet my wife for a luncheon date we’d planned that morning. I forgot! When I realized how late I was I raced to the restaurant. The look on Elizabeth’s face made me realize just exactly how late I really was…Then the look softened, and I was forgiven. (Brother THAT’S GRACE!)
I don’t know how a person could be forgiven…and thankless! But that is human nature. Jesus once healed ten lepers; only one came back to say thank you.
The reality is, grace all by itself will degenerate into thanklessness. You see it all the time. God’s hand has been on Billy Graham’s crusades for decades. People respond to the offer of grace – to be saved. When the crusade team leaves town, the follow-up begins by local churches. Many of those who came for the grace won’t ever get involved in consistent worship and service in the kingdom – thanklessness.
It is like a man who professes faith in Christ…receives grace. He breathes a sigh of relief because his name is written in the Lamb’s book of life. He leaves the church meeting, crosses the parking lot to his Mercedes, lights up a cigar, pops open a brew, guns the accelerator, running-over a nearby homeless person in a hurry to get out of there and cruise the streets looking for a prostitute before going home to beat his wife and kids.
What’s wrong with the picture? Grace received – but no subsequent change of life. Grace alone is degenerative, inadequate. Jesus said it was like a seed planted too shallow in the ground – it comes up weak. But there is no root. The weak plant is scorched and wilts away.
If you have received grace, the forgiveness of God in Christ, that’s good – but it’s not all….
Some people only see Truth
Truth is the righteous side of God. Jesus said he came to bring a sword to divide mankind. Figuratively, that means he came to show us the truth – that we are not basically good, with little splotches of mistakes to clean up in our character.
Jesus came as a picture of what good really is – so that there is no question that we cannot attain goodness. He came to show us we are separated from the goodness of God by our sinfulness.
To the Pharisees (who were a very good bunch) Jesus said, the whores and thieves will get in heaven before you! Whoa! If the most religious people can’t get in heaven, who can? The truth is, nobody can get in heaven on the merits of his own goodness. We get in only on the merits of Jesus’ goodness, and his forgiveness.
Now – that’s the truth….and it is a hard thing for most of us to accept. Like the Pharisees, or the rich young ruler, we want to know what good thing must I DO in order to inherit eternal life. Jesus said it plainly – you cannot DO anything. All you can be is a sinner standing before me – I’ll do what’s necessary then. That’s how grace and truth get together.
Truth without grace is hard. There’s no joy.
Grace without truth is only a warm fuzzy…there’s no gratitude that makes you useful in the kingdom. Jesus was full of grace and truth; that was His glory…some people see it…
Some people see His glory
The glory of Jesus was the perfect tension between grace and truth.
His grace is seen in children gathering round him.
His grace is seen in a heartbroken Jesus, looking out over Jerusalem, sinful Jerusalem, crying, How often would I have gathered you under my wings…but you reject me!
His grace is seen in laughter and weddings
His grace is seen spread-eagle, nailed to crossbeams on the town garbage dump, as he strains to gather enough breath to cry upward, Father, forgive them, they don’t know what they’re doing.
But his grace is not alone. There is truth:
There is a fiery blaze of truth from Jesus’ eyes – a laser devastating the religious leaders of his day: Woe to you scribes and Pharisees…hypocrites! You flim-flam the poor and then bow your head in prayer? You are more the sons of Satan than God.
He told Nicodemus the truth – You can’t be godly unless you’re born again. You’re trying to understand the wind; I’m telling you just feel the wind. Do it God’s way, Nic!
He told the Rich Young Ruler the truth – Give up your hold on things, come follow me.
Jesus…total grace, total truth…that was His glory!
A Question
Have you seen God’s glory anywhere else? Have you seen God in any other way?
Most people try to find God. They look for Him in a variety of ways.
They look for Him in nature. But in nature you can only see the tracks of His glory. That is His work, not His nature.
They look for God in mankind. But you won’t see Him there. Certainly we were created in the image of God – but that image has been so corrupted by sin, you can only see the imitator – the evil one. Look at the news reports of what man does and tell me that’s God (do it with a straight face).
Some look for Him in literature or art. That’s our hopes and dreams.
This evening I stand here and affirm that the only place you will see the glory of God is in His Son, Jesus. He was perfect grace, perfect truth, and he came to Bethlehem for us to behold his glory!
William Barclay put it this way:
In Jesus Christ the distant, unknowable, invisible, unreachable God has come to men; and God can never be a stranger to us again.
The Spielberg classic movie “E.T.” is a storyteller’s way of depicting the Christmas event. The little extra-terrestrial comes to earth, and is hounded until he dies. He is placed in a coffin-like chamber to be transported to the lab; you can see the cold, lifeless body, so pale in death. (I still feel a lump at that point whenever I watch the movie.)
Just when hope is gone, through the chamber’s glass window you see the alien’s heart begin to glow – faint at first, then vibrant. Color returns, the heart beats, he moves, talking, joy – wonder! E.T. will live again!
Such is the story of His glory. We were lost, the world dark and empty in sin. Dead, in a spiritual void. All we are doing is marking time till the autopsy, when in death our bodies will slowly decay. There is no life, no real joy. There is only a coldness and fear about life.
Then a manger, and a cross, and an empty tomb. Suddenly the source of life is no longer an idea, a force, a natural phenomena…God the PERSON has broken-through….in grace and truth
…And there is LIFE! GLORY !!!!
Have you been to the grace? Good.
Have you seen the truth? Very Good.
But, have you been to the glory?
It’s important that you accept Him – in all His grace, in all His truth, so that you see His glory. Because He is going to do it again – he is going to pitch his tent with us again:
Revelation 21.3
And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.
Accept His grace…Live under it.
Accept His truth…Live by it.
Grace and truth – Do you see His glory?
