HoHum:
Jeffie was in his playpen and he was crying. Tears were rolling down his little cheeks, his face was red as it could be. He was crying, and he looked pitiful in his little baseball T-shirt and diaper. Then Jeffie’s Grandpa entered the room; Jeffie’s little face lit up when he saw his Grandpa! He immediately reached out his little arms and said, “Out PawPaw out.” What is a Grandpa to do? How can someone resist that? So Grandpa went over to the playpen and bent over. He reached down to lift his little grandchild from captivity and distress. Just then “Law and Order” walked into the room. Mommy said, “Jeffie, you stay right there! I’m punishing you because you have been naughty! Dad, leave Jeffie alone!” What is a Grandpa to do? Grandpa backs off and thinks, “I can’t just pick up a book and read it with Jeffie here. He would think I was uncaring and distant. I can’t leave the room because he would feel like I have abandoned him.” What is a Grandpa to do? But love always finds a way. Since Grandpa couldn’t take Jeffie out of the playpen, Grandpa climbed in with Jeffie! Grandpa said, “If you are in the playpen buddy, I’m in the playpen too.” Having Grandpa join him in his “prison cell” brought Jeffie great comfort and joy. In the midst of his captivity, Jeffie no longer felt so alone. What Jeffie’s Grandpa did is a picture of what Jesus Christ did for us when He came to earth as a baby. God the Father yearned to reach down into our “playpen of captivity” and pull us out. He could not because of our disobedience, because of our sin. What did God do? God climbed into our “playpen” with us! When Jesus Christ entered into our “playpen of captivity” and died for us, He took the consequences of sin and disobedience that should have been ours alone, releasing us from our captivity, allowing us the opportunity to experience the fullness of life God has for us, both here and forever!
Thesis: Let us go up 5 steps that we may receive grace upon grace from Jesus Christ based on John 1:14-18.
For instances:
God is invisible (John 1:18- No one has ever seen God)
“Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.” 1 Timothy 1:17, NIV.
“By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible.” Hebrews 11:27, NIV.
“Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.” And the LORD said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for no-one may see me and live.” Then the LORD said, “There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen.”” Exodus 33:18-23, NIV.
Everyone who has seen God, has not really seen God in all His fullness. Theophany- a visible appearance of God, many times in human form. Some say that even in heaven, we will have a theophany of God because no one can see God in all His fullness. John in Revelation describes many things surrounding the throne of God but does not say much about the one on the throne unless talking about Jesus Christ.
John 1:18 poses a problem. IF we can’t see him, how can we know him?
God revealed himself in the Law of Moses (John 1:17- For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.)
Does this mean that the law of Moses is contrary to grace and truth- the law is not gracious and not truthful? No, this is saying that before the real thing (Jesus Christ), a witness to the real thing came through the Law of Moses.
The Law leads us to Christ. “So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ (our school master to bring us unto Christ- KJV) that we might be justified by faith.” Galatians 3:24, NIV.
“The law was added so that the trespass might increase” Romans 5:20, NIV.
“But in order that sin might be recognised as sin, it produced death in me through what was good, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful.” Romans 7:13, NIV.
“Clearly no-one is justified before God by the law, because, “The righteous will live by faith.”” Galatians 3:11, NIV.
The Law shows us the need for grace. The Law was about “DO”, grace is about “DONE”!
God became human (John 1:14- The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us)
Talked about this a lot last week but one thing to add. The word for “dwelt” is the word for “set up a tent” in the Greek. Those here last week will say that is not new. But this same word is used Revelation 21:3: “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.”
Pitching a tent means that God wants to be on familiar terms with us. Like Adam and Eve in the Garden. He wants to be close. He wants a lot of interaction. If someone comes into a community and builds a big house with a wall around it, it says that they want to live in that community but they definitely don’t want anyone bothering them. But if someone pitches a tent in my backyard, that means they will probably use my bathroom and eat often at my table. This is why God became human. He came to pitch a tent in our human backyard so that we would have a lot of dealings with him now and even greater in heaven.
Speaking of heaven- I am told that in Italy there is a particularly striking cathedral. On the high vaulted ceiling is a beautiful painting depicting the glories of heaven. Thousands come each year just to see the painting. There is one problem. The ceiling is so high in comparison to the size of the room that it is very difficult to gaze at the painting for long. Someone, however, years ago devised a solution. In the center of the floor, they installed a huge mirror. To view the glory above one merely had to look down. The same is true of the real heaven. To see it you must look down—at the Christ!
In Jesus We See God (John 1:18- “No-one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only [the only begotten Son- KJV], who is at the Father’s side, has made him known.”)
Man can see God revealed in nature and in His works in history; but he cannot see God himself. Jesus Christ reveals God to us, for He is “the image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15) and “the exact representation of his being” (Hebrews 1:3). “Has made him known” gives us our English word exegesis, which means “to explain, to unfold, to lead the way.” Jesus Christ explains God to us and interprets Him for us. We simply cannot understand God apart from knowing His Son, Jesus Christ.
The word Son is used for the first time in John’s Gospel here as a title for Jesus Christ. The phrase “only begotten” means “unique, the only one of its kind.” It does not suggest that there was a time when the Son was not, and then the Father brought Him into being. Jesus Christ is eternal God; He has always existed.
At least 9 times in John’s Gospel, Jesus is called “the Son of God.” At least 19 times, Jesus is referred to as “the Son.” He is not only the Son of God, but He is God the Son.
“No-one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father.” John 6:46.
“Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?” John 14:8, 9.
God Came To Give Us Grace; We Must Receive It (John 1:16- “From the fulness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another.”)
“Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God--” John 1:12, NIV. C.S. Lewis said, “The Son of God became man to enable men to become the sons of God.”
God doesn’t want to stock our heads with knowledge about his grace, he wants us to receive it and experience it. This Christmas he wants to treat us with grace- to forgive all our sins- to take away all our guilt, to make our conscience clean, to give us strength for each day, to fill us with hope and joy and peace. Isn’t that the meaning of grace? Isn’t that why he pitched his tent among us?
It says here that we receive one blessing after another. Literally we receive grace upon grace. When we receive God’s grace through Jesus Christ, He doesn’t stop with salvation grace. He gives us gifts of service to bless others. Also, our eyes are opened to the blessings He pours out day after day. We can give back with a cheerful heart because it’s not ours to begin with.
How to receive? Plan of salvation.
Leonardo Da Vinci painted the Last Supper scene on a dining room wall in Milan. As a visitor stood viewing the finished work, he commented on the realism of several goblets on the table, exclaiming that they were so real he felt as though he could reach out and pick them up. Upon hearing those words Da Vinci quickly grabbed a brush and painted out the goblets. Pointing to Jesus he said, “It’s His face! His face that I want you to see!”
