Good morning, all! Father, we will never fully understand the power of Your grace. We thank You this morning for this gift, we pray that you would continue to reveal power of grace in our life so that becomes a reflection of who we are, Amen.
John 1
14 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.
Jesus Christ was the embodiment of everything written in the word of God and we saw His glory, the ONLY begotten of the Father full of Grace and Truth…flawless.
15 John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me.
John the Baptist was witness and said this is He that came after me, but He is preferred before me because He was before me and always was.
16 And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.
And His fulness we have ALL received and it’s grace and grace alone…nothing to do and nothing to measure.
17 For the law was given by Moses, [but] grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
Moses was given the law BUT grace and truth came by Jesus Christ…a better hope.
Bottom line
I hope we can see this passage this morning by the spirit of God and NOT by the letter of the law. The word of God is NOT a rule book, it’s NOT a what, it’s a WHO!
[Heb 4:12 NIV] 12 For the word of God is alive and active…The only way the word of God is ALIVE is when we become it and it’s WHO we are and NOT WHAT you know. You and I have RECEIVED the same fulness of His grace. What is grace anyway? Un-merited favor? Salvation? Redemption? SURE, but what the word means is favor that cannot be measured and the divine influence by which one exhibits goodness. One of the definitions in the Greek says “kindness which bestows upon one what he has not deserved” isn’t that the perfect definition of Jesus? Can you see the difference between Moses and Jesus? Between legalism and destiny? How many of us received the fulness of Jesus Christ? Yeah, ALL is ALL! You and I live our life in and through Grace and because we’ve been given grace we extend grace; this is who we are. The world beheld His glory, it was witness to His grace always there is no substitute for it. I mean is there a better gift than grace? What should we do with this gift? Hide it under a bush? Oh no, I’m gonna let it shine. Ha! Remember that song from Sunday school when you were a kid? How do we let it shine?
[1Pe 4:10 KJV] As every man hath received the gift, [even so] minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. EVERY man can shine according to scripture because we ALL got this precious gift, don’t hide it, don’t save it, and don’t live without it. MINISTER the SAME one to another. What does minister mean? Preach? Hmm…not really, the exact definition will blow your socks off… to wait at a table and offer food and drink to the guests. You remember the first miracle of Jesus? He turned water into wine at the wedding feast, He turned the word into GRACE…that’s a wow moment. And did you notice what kind of grace He called it? MANIFOLD grace, that means it comes in many shapes and sizes…don’t put it in a box. Here’s the power of grace, the first thing it does is WAIT…next it offers…GIVES…food and drink…blessed are they that hunger and thirst for righteousness…to guests. Who was invited to the wedding feast?
[Mat 22:10 KJV] So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests. Jesus calls as many as He can find both BAD and GOOD…hmm, now that’s what I call grace NOT put in a box. Makes sense if we’re the bride of Christ why wouldn’t we be invited and just like the wedding vows say, to have and hold…HE will never let go…for better or worse…He loves us in our worst state…for richer or poorer…money has NO influence on His love…in sickness and health…He’s with us through good and bad…until death do us part…He’ll die before He breaks the marriage vow…it’s WHO He is. So play your favorite song today and don’t forget WHO gets the first dance at the wedding feast…I hope YOU dance!
Point to Ponder
Is your life powered by grace? [Eph 3:7 NIV] I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace given me through the working of his power. The truth is we’re powerless without it…
Let’s all reflect Christ, In Him Phil
Faith – Family – Friends
