Sermon Notes

   2016.04.24                                      John 1: 14-18

                           Grace and Truth

Good morning everyone… It`s great to see you… I am glad you are here…. I have Good News for you… His name is Jesus… As many of you know… We are studying verse by verse through the Gospel of John… In the coming weeks we will clearly see Jesus through the eyes of John….

John proclaims that Jesus is the Christ… John wants us to believe in Jesus…  so that we can find forgiveness and mercy… He wants everyone who discovers Jesus… To have their sins forgiven…  So that in repenting and believing in Jesus… We may have life… This is what he wrote in John 20: 30,31…

He wants us to Believe the truth and find Grace in the Lord Jesus Christ…

In our text today… He describes Jesus as being full of Grace and Truth… That is Jesus… He is genuine grace and True truth…  In the Word of God we discover that Jesus has revealed Himself to us… And we learn that we are commanded to repent and believe the Gospel… Listen… It is not our wishful thinking about Jesus that will save us… We cannot be fans of Jesus… We must respond to the truth as God has revealed it… That means we must repent and believe the Gospel…

We must Believe the Good News that there is hope…. There is mercy and grace to help us in our darkest deepest times of need… My dear friend and Mentor Vivian Laird often spoke of God´s Grace in his life… When anyone would be blessed or amazed at what he had done in ministry… He would grab them and say…. It´s all Grace…. It´s all God´s Grace… We are going to learn about Grace from our text today…

John´s Gospel is unique… He is writing to make sure that we understand that Jesus is in fact God…  come in the flesh…

In His opening prologue… That is what these first 18 verses are called….  John talks about the nature of Jesus Christ… He introduces Him as the Word… The Memra… the Logos…  This is a metaphor which speaks of Christ as God… revealing Himself to man… and as we saw in

John 1: 1… The Word was with god… And God was the Word… And in Hebrews 1… God has spoken to us through His son…   

Once again as we pick up the text…. John tells us plainly that Jesus is God in the flesh… He is our Savior… redeemer and Messiah…

Is your world falling apart today?… Turn to Jesus… Because He is God…

Jesus… Will restore and repair your broken life… He will pour grace and mercy out on your life today…

look with me at John 1 v14-18…                    

John 1: 14-16               NKJV    slt 2000

14 And the Word became 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.15 John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.’”16 And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace.

14 Und das Wort wurde Fleisch und wohnte unter uns; und wir sahen seine Herrlichkeit, eine Herrlichkeit als des Eingeborenen vom Vater, voller Gnade und Wahrheit.15 Johannes legte Zeugnis ab von ihm, rief und sprach: Dieser war es, von dem ich sagte: Der nach mir kommt, ist vor mir gewesen, denn er war eher als ich.16 Und aus seiner Fülle haben wir alle empfangen Gnade um Gnade.

 Word became flesh… Again, John is focusing on the central truth of Christianity… Jesus is the Logos… the Memra of God… He was present with God in creation… He was with the father from before the foundation of the world… John 17: 5… And He is the Messiah the redeemer… The Savior…

Jesus is God in human flesh…  That is John’s message, that He is God in human flesh… It is the most essential doctrine in the Christian faith…   This truth is what separates Genuine Christianity from the cults and all false world religions…

Today once again  in these early verses… We learn that Jesus is the one… true… eternal God… He  became human… He is Immanuel… God with us…

John spends a lot of time with his great foundational doctrine… Remember… His goal is to testify of the Lord Jesus Christ… He wants us to repent and believe… He starts by declaring that Jesus is truly the GOD MAN…

The Eternal Word became human…  The Eternal God becomes a part of His creation… God and man are joined in one person…  

So this is Jesus the God/Man… The Living Word became flesh… And dwelt among us… Jesus tabernacled among us… The Greek word is (skenoo)  It means to pitch your tent... He settled down with us in our world…

How did we know He was God? John gives us three very important statements about Jesus… and they can be condensed to three words…They provide us with clear evidence that Jesus is God...

More proof that Jesus is God!

1 God´s Glory…

2 God´s Grace…

3 God´s perfect reflection

First… the Lord Jesus  Christ displays divine glory...  Look at v 14…

v14a… we beheld His Glory…  John says … And we saw His glory… It is Jesus Glory….. and it is just like God´s Glory… seen in the Lord Jesus Christ… We see His in the miracles and we see it in His Words of Life…. Of course we will also see it on the Mount of Transfiguration… That´s all coming up… You are allowed… I am begging you… Read ahead!...

Discover the Grace of God for yourself! It´s in this book… His name is Jesus… He is the Glory of God revealed to us in Human Flesh…

What is glory? God’s glory is a necessary part His nature… It is who He is… It is the sum of His attributes… It includes His Majesty… His awesomeness… It is associated with His presence… The Glory of the Lord filled the temple… It is associated with unapproachable light… The root word is heavy…

In the old days when we were blown away by something awesome… We used to say…. Wow! That´s heavy… Well my friends God is heavy…. There is nothing heavier… That is the truth… But there is more... the second proof in our text today is Grace…

When we ask John if Jesus is God…  the God/Man… God in human flesh…

John says Yes… Of course He is…. We saw His Glory…. It was the same as the Father´s Glory…

Look with me at the end of verse 14…

v14b… Full of grace and truth…

in this part we move to our second point…  Jesus the Christ…. The Lord of all creation is the one who is pouring out the Grace of God…

GRACE  

God´s Riches at Christs Expense

Grace is a really big word… It includes so many wonderful truths… It represents the OT word Chesed… The Lord God used it to describe Himself to Moses in Exodus 34: 6-8…  It can be translated as unfailing love and mercy… It is often translated as lovingkindeness… In the New testament the word is Grace…. It appears 156 times…. 4 times in this Gospel… All of them appear in our text today… As we study this Gospel…. We will see Jesus full of Grace and truth on every page… We will see Him demonstrate grace and mercy over and over again… He will show grace to Nicodemus and the Samaritan woman…  the man born blind… The woman taken in Adultery…

Jesus is Showing God´s Chesed… His unfailing love and mercy… in an unlimited unstoppable flood of mercy and forgiveness… To everyone who comes to Him and repents and believes the Gospel…

John says… We have also experienced His glory through His grace and truth…

So Jesus displays God´s glory… And He dispenses God´s grace… This is Proof of His deity…

He is full of grace and truth… look at v15…

v15… in this verse… John the Baptist is again called upon as a witness to the Deity of Christ… He was a great prophet…. He was the last of the Old testament prophets and at the same time… He was the first preacher of the Good news of the Gospel… John was the greatest…. Because he was given the privilege of pointing to the Lord Jesus Christ… The long awaited Messiah…

No other OT prophet had the privilege of seeing Jesus in the flesh… and saying there He is…. The Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the World… look at verse 16…

v16… of His fullness we have all received… in the Greek… You could say… “Grace after grace… grace in the place of grace…. You could say…. Grace on top of grace on top of mercy and lovingkindness…

It is an endless supply of grace and mercy… That is the Grace of God… The Chesed of God… Unfailing love and mercy and forgiveness… All of it freely given to people who do not deserve it… People like me…

I have received Grace that I do not deserve… You see I am a perfect picture and illustration of these verses… I am a trophy of the Grace of god… A damaged and  tarnished one… Thank God… We are not only saved by Grace… But we stand by grace… Our righteousness is the Lord´s not our own… Good thing for us…. None of us has any real righteousness of our own… If you have been coming here for a while… You have heard me say that it is the Word of God that the Holy Spirit uses in our hearts and lives… We see that clearly in  2 Timothy 3:15-17… This book is God´s chosen tool for transforming hearts of stone into genuine living believers… I know this from personal experience… It will soon be 44 years that I have been a Christian… Late one night I was watching TV… In Those days…. There was no Internet or even satellites…. All TV stopped at Midnight. In the USA… at 5 minutes before midnight… the TV station had a short Andacht before shutting down for the night…

On this night there was a young longhaired Hippy dude on the TV… Well He looked like me…. He said the Jesus was real and truly the savoir and redeemer… He said that the bible was true…. He said that anyone could discover the truth by reading the Bible… It is as though the Lord reached out of the TV and touched my heart…. I believed him… The next day… I bought a Bible… I went to my favorite dirty book store and bought a Bible… I knew where they were… They stood in way of going into the dirty book section of the only book store in my small town… This book pointed me to Jesus… I read the Gospel…. And God made it alive… I was transformed… It showed me the grace… mercy and love of God… for a lost sinner… me…

Now at the moment… we are studying the gospel of John…. It would be cool if I told you it was the Gospel of John, but it was not… It was the Gospel of Matthew… I sat down and opened the Bible to the first page of the New Testament… Matt 1: 1… And I read all night… By the time I got to the Sermon on the Mount… I knew that it was all true… I also knew that I would follow Jesus no matter what the cost…

All of this was true even though I had grown up in a Christian home…. I had tried to be a Christian… I had tried to be a good boy… It did not work… I was a faker… So I gave up and pursued the sin that I had tried to hide… I did whatever brought me pleasure… But, in fact… I was not good at sinning… I was a novice… Without even trying…. I was no longer looking for Jesus… But he was looking for me… And Grace exploded into my life… From one day to the next… My whole world was transformed… The Word of God is what the holy Sprit used to point me to Grace and truth…. It showed me Jesus… My Savior and redeemer… That is why I tell you over and over to read your Bibles… Hide the Word of God in your hearts… It what God uses to correct us and equip us too… It can also help to keep us on the Path…

I would love to tell you that I have been walking with Jesus perfectly ever since… But that is not true…

We just looked at verse 16… Grace upon grace…

The Lord has poured Grace upon grace in my life… After years of full time ministry… I slowly began to experiment with sin… I expected the Lord to zap me…. But He didn´t… As time went I the deceitfulness of sin caused me to sin more and more… I grew cold and literally ran from the Lord Just like Jonah… I did not end up in the belly of a great fish… I would up in the belly of a great Mexican Federal Prison… God is His Grace delivered me and sent Genuine believers back into my life… Including one that I had helped to bring to the Lord many years before… On my way back to the Lord…. A man who barely knew me…. Saw how desperately I needed to understand God´s grace…  gave me 2 books…

Why Grace Changes Everything… The personal testimony of Chuck Smith… and the Gospel According to Grace… A Commentary on the Book of Romans by Chuck Smith… The reason that I stand before you today is because of the Grace and Mercy of God for sinners… People like me…

In Romans 5… Paul reminds us that it is in His grace that we stand… God´s grace…. Poured out into our lives by the Lord Jesus for the Glory of God…

 It’s a never ending supply...   Jesus sits in Heaven… He intercedes for us… He is sitting on his Throne at the right hand of the Father… It is called the throne of Grace… Now we can come boldly to the throne of grace… Hebrews 4:16… look at John 1 verse 17,18…

John 1: 17,18                           NKJV

17 For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.

17 Denn das Gesetz wurde durch Mose gegeben; die Gnade und die Wahrheit ist durch Jesus Christus geworden.18 Niemand hat Gott je gesehen; der eingeborene Sohn, der im Schoß des Vaters ist, der hat Aufschluß [über ihn] gegeben.

v17a… For the law was given through Moses… The Law of God is good… It is just and true… The problem with the law is that we cannot keep it… It shows us our sin and rebellion… And even if we manage to keep most of it…. It is only the outward obedience of a proud stubborn… The Law shows us  our pride… as we refuse to repent and cry out for mercy… Because of our sinful hearts… All that we knew under the law was death… And judgment was certain because of our sin and rebellion… but…v17b…

v17b… but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ… Why… How…?

God´s Chesed… His lovingkindness and mercy… God sent a Savior… And We receive grace and mercy and forgiveness… This is the Good News… We recently studied Paul´s letter to the Ephesians… Remember?..

Paul told us about all of the wonderful things we have because we are in Christ… look with me at Ephesians 2:4,5…

Ephesians 2: 4,5                NKJV   slt 2000

4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ by grace you have been saved,

4 Gott aber, der reich ist an Erbarmen, hat um seiner großen Liebe willen, mit der er uns geliebt hat, 5 auch uns, die wir tot waren durch die Übertretungen, mit dem Christus lebendig gemacht — aus Gnade seid ihr errettet! —

Why do we receive Grace? Because we deserve it? No...  Because of the Father…. look at the end of verse 5…

v5b… He has made us alive… And it is all grace…  By grace you have been saved… Later in this same chapter… Eph 2:8-10… Paul reminds us that we are saved by Grace through faith… back to John 1…v18…

John 1: 18                           NKJV

18 No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.

18 Niemand hat Gott je gesehen; der eingeborene Sohn, der im Schoß des Vaters ist, der hat Aufschluß [über ihn] gegeben.

v18… No one has seen God at any time… Why? Because He is by nature invisible... There are times when God has appeared in the Burning bush…. As a cloud by day and pillar of Fire by Night… As He led the Children of Israel in the wilderness… He has shown His Glory to Moses and Joshua and others…  but He has no form…. That´s why The Bible says…  No one has seen God at any time… But the Son of God… the Lord Jesus… he has declared Him… The greek word here is (exēgeomai) to declare….  It means to explain… interpret… give the meaning… To open and make clear… To declare or to reveal… So you want to know about God? Look at The Lord Jesus… He displays God´s Glory… He Pours out God´s grace… and Jesus reveals God perfectly…

And so we see Jesus… full of Grace and truth…  And when Jesus pours out His grace… He is pouring out God´s grace… Jesus said it clearly… I and the Father are one… What about the OT saints…?

Was Grace Promised in the Old Testament? Yes... It was promised and demonstrated over and over again…   Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord… Everybody ever saved in the history of the world has been saved by God’s grace…

But grace was not fully realized until Christ came and paid His penalty on the cross… The Greek word here is egeneto… It’s from the verb ginomai, “to become,” and it means “came into being… We could read the phrase that way… Grace and truth came into being through Jesus Christ…

God the Father…  knowing that the Lamb was slain from the foundation of the world… was applying the grace that Jesus through His death and resurrection… Would provide… Everyone receives grace by faith… Some looking forward to the Lamb of God… And others like us… Looking back at the cross… Where the Lamb of God gave Himself for us…

 Gospel truth tells us that this is the Lord Jesus Christ… the Son of the living God… the God/Man… fully God, fully man… As genuine believers we have all experienced grace in our own lives… 

He poured out His grace upon us in an everlasting stream…. Grace after grace…

Jesus is full of grace and truth… What about us… He has redeemed us and transformed us… But…

Are we full of grace?... Do we show the same patience and grace to others… that we ourselves have received? Are we quick to forgive… Are we showing grace to the people in our lives… Are we pouring grace out on our families? Are we covering our wives and children with grace? Or are we beating them with the law…? Romans 8…v1… says… There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus…

v4… That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us… Who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit…

You see… The Grace of God does not nullify the law… look with me at Titus 2…v11,12…

Titus 2: 11, 12        NKJV    slt 2000

11 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, 12 teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age,

11 Denn die Gnade Gottes ist erschienen, die heilbringend ist für alle Menschen; 12 sie nimmt uns in Zucht5, damit wir die Gottlosigkeit und die weltlichen Begierden verleugnen und besonnen und gerecht und gottesfürchtig6 leben in der jetzigen Weltzeit,

The Grace of God…. Which we see in Christ Jesus… Brings Salvation to us… It transforms us and it teaches us to deny ourselves… It helps us to live righteously… So that we are able to fulfill the law of God form our hearts… Not only that… We realize something very important…. Important for our families and for the Church… We who have been forgiven… We who have experienced the Grace of God… Must demonstrate the Grace of God in our lives… Look with me at 1 last passage… Peter gives everyone who has received Grace a call to action… 1 Peter 4… v7-11…

1 Peter 4: 7-11    NKJV   slt 2000

7 But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers. 8 And above all things have fervent love for one another, for “love will cover a multitude of sins.” 9 Be hospitable to one another without grumbling. 10 As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. 11 If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

1 Peter 4: 7-11    NKJV   slt 2000

7 Es ist aber nahe gekommen das Ende aller Dinge. So seid nun besonnen und nüchtern zum Gebet. 8 Vor allem aber habt innige Liebe untereinander; denn die Liebe wird eine Menge von Sünden zudecken. 9 Seid gegeneinander gastfreundlich ohne Murren! 10 Dient einander, jeder mit der Gnadengabe, die er empfangen hat, als gute Haushalter der mannigfaltigen Gnade Gottes: 11 Wenn jemand redet, so [rede er es] als Aussprüche Gottes; wenn jemand dient, so [tue er es] aus der Kraft, die Gott darreicht, damit in allem Gott verherrlicht wird durch Jesus Christus. Ihm sei die Herrlichkeit und die Macht von Ewigkeit zu Ewigkeit! Amen.

Look at this list…

Grace in Action

1 Serious and Watchful prayer…

2 Fervent love for each other… It covers sin…

3 Be gracious and hospitable…

4 No grumbling and complaining…

5 Minister to one another…

Conclusion

v10… serve and minister as Good Stewards of the manifold Grace of God…

v11… So that God is Glorified…

Grace brings responsibilities… The Lord Jesus who provided our redemption expects us to pass on the grace and love and mercy that we have received… We talk to each other… Not about each other…. We are patient and kind to each other…. We forgive each other from the heart… We are quick to confess our sin and pride… We do the things on this list… We stop pretending to be perfect….

I gave up on trying to be a good boy… I was surprised by the Grace of God even though I knew that I did not deserve it… That was John Newton´s story… He wrote Amazing Grace… He was a godless man… A slave trader… He knew that he did not deserve to be forgiven… But he began to pray and to study… He was surprised by the grace and mercy of God… He not only wrote this song… He became a pastor… He was different from the pastors of his day… He did not pretend to be perfect…. A Saint waiting to fly away… He told the truth about His past… He confessed his sin and pride and selfishness… By doing that… he magnified the Grace of God… Grace and truth fit together perfectly… We tell the truth about ourselves… We experience and reflect the Grace of God in our lives…. We become Channels of Grace to all the people the Lord puts in our lives…. Our own families and friends and co workers…

I know that many of you have similar stories… I have sat in this very building as you have poured out your hearts…  about growing up in very conservative churches…

Broken hearts and lives…  Shamed by sin and pride…

We have received the fullness of God´s grace… Have you… What are you waiting for… Today is the day… Let´s pray…