Title: Jesus Full of Grace and Truth
Contents
Jesus full of grace and truth
In today's text, it says that the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
What was the law given through Moses?
The law is a commandment in the covenant between God and the people of Israel. The law that reveals the attributes of God is holy and righteous. The law is a commandment given for our happiness. If you keep the law, you will be blessed, but if you break the law, you will be cursed.
What happened to Israel, who served God centering on the law?
Israel failed to keep the law and was cursed for its sins and was destroyed.
This is an important lesson the Old Testament teaches us.
A man cannot be justified by doing the law in his own strength.
Nevertheless, many people still lead a legalistic religious life. In other words, they try to enjoy the blessings that God gives them by relying on their own deeds.
But the Bible clearly says. (Galatians 3:10) Under the curse are all who are of the works of the law, for it is written, Cursed is anyone who does not always do all the things that are written in the book of the law
That's right. The law cannot save people. So God sent His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, into this world. He delighted in saving sinners by giving grace and truth through Jesus Christ.
In today's text, we declare that grace and truth come through Jesus Christ.
Let's read John 1:17 together.
(John 1:17) The law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
Then, what is the grace that came through Jesus, and what is the truth?
First, let's talk about grace.
Grace includes everything God gives freely.
Don't think that it's cheap just because it's given without price. Rather, it is given freely because it is so precious that it cannot be paid for.
In fact, the most precious things in this world cannot be bought with money.
No one pays money to buy sunlight, the source of all energy.
No one pays for the air we breathe and breathe every day.
No one pays for a mother's love.
No one pays each other money for the love of a couple.
We received all grace through Jesus freely, but in reality Jesus paid the price. We often receive precious gifts. We must not forget that although we did not pay the price, the gift was paid for by the person who gave it. Jesus paid the price of His blood by dying on the cross as a righteous man to show us grace.
The Bible describes the grace given through Jesus as “grace upon grace”. This is a literary expression that means 'unlimited grace'. But if you think about it deeply, it is also pirate theologically. In other words, since Jesus gave us the grace of forgiveness of sins through His death, and further, He gave us the grace of the Holy Spirit through His resurrection. How could it not be grace upon grace?
In his first sermon after being baptized in the Holy Spirit, Peter clearly proclaimed the grace that God has given through Jesus Christ.
(Acts 2:38) Peter said to him, Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
This grace was given to us by Jesus through the new covenant, and we enjoyed it only by believing in that covenant without any other conditions.
So, what is the grace of the forgiveness of sins?
Forgiveness has two meanings.
First, there is the meaning of 'redemption'.
[Colossians 1:14] In his Son we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Redemption is paying a price and buying something. We were under a curse because of our sins. As a result, the hordes of demons have been given a position to inflict pain upon us justly, and we are the torments under them. But Jesus paid the price for our sins and redeemed us so that we belong to Jesus, freed from the curse and under the blessing of God. Now we are children who enjoy the blessings of God.
Second, it has the meaning of ‘washing away sins’.
Every time we sin, our conscience is defiled and we are tormented by guilt. But when we confess our sins, the blood of Jesus purifies our conscience and brings us peace.
(1 John 1:9) If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
If our conscience is wrong, spiritual fellowship with God becomes difficult. When we have a good conscience, we can enjoy fellowship with God through the communion of the Holy Spirit. That is, the door of prayer will be opened.
(1 John 3:21) Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God (1 John 3:22) And we receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commandments and do what is pleasing in his sight. Ira
In summary, God treats us as sinners in Jesus Christ as if we were sinners, made us children of God, and embraced us even though we knew we had many sins to commit in the future. In that sense, God has forgiven even our future sins in advance and accepted us.
What if someone takes an attitude that takes advantage of God's grace?
"Hey! Now that I have received the grace of the forgiveness of sins that will never be forsaken again, there will be no problem in sinning. All you have to do is confess your sins later!”
The Bible refers to such a person as “a person who has received God’s grace in vain.”
Those who boldly use God's grace as a means of sinning are already condemned because they have forsaken a good conscience. These are people who sin intentionally.
Regarding these people, the Lord says, 'Give no holy things to dogs, and no pearls to pigs'. They are foolish and wicked people who do not value grace.
So, what is the grace of the Holy Spirit?
The Holy Spirit is the third God.
The Holy Spirit comes to those who believe in Jesus and works in their lives.
1) The Holy Spirit assures believers that they are children of God.
(Romans 8:16) The Holy Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.
2) The Holy Spirit helps Christians to live a sanctified life.
(Galatians 5:22) But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
(Galatians 5:23) Gentleness and self-control; against such things there is no law.
3) The Holy Spirit gives us gifts for the church and ministry.
[1 Corinthians 12:11] All these things are done by one and the same Spirit, distributing to each one according to his will.
4) The Holy Spirit gives life to our mortal body.
(Romans 8:11) If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.
5) The Holy Spirit guides us according to the will of God.
(Romans 8:14) All those who are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God.
[Galatians 5:18] If you are led by the Holy Spirit, you are not under the law.
[John 16:13] But when the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own, but will speak what he hears, and will make known to you things to come.
Now, if we want to know whether we are of grace or not, we can answer this question honestly.
“Do you believe that all your sins are forgiven through the blood of Jesus?”
“Do you believe that the Holy Spirit promised by Jesus Christ is with you?”
If you can truly answer “Amen” to this question, you are already enjoying the forgiveness of sins and the grace of the Holy Spirit.
Now let me tell you the truth.
The truths given to us through Jesus are 1) about who God is and 2) about what kind of being human beings are made in His image.
First, let me tell you about the revelation of God.
There is a revelation of God in the Old Testament and in the Law. But, crucially, we can know who God is through Jesus.
(John 1:18) No one has ever seen God, but the only begotten God, who is in the bosom of the Father, has made him known.
The revelation here does not mean that we know all of God, but that we have been given enough knowledge to serve God. To please God, we need to know the secret of pleasing Jesus.
Jesus said that he who has seen me has seen the Father. Knowing about God is clearly different from knowing God. Those who have met Jesus personally see the face of God the Father in the face of Jesus. We meet God the Father through our encounter with Jesus. There is no way to know the Father properly except through Jesus.
I want to speak about the revelation of man.
Jesus showed us the image of a sinless man. Like a ray of light in the darkness where all mankind has fallen and we have no choice but to recognize that we are all sinful beings, Jesus showed us who we are.
The wisdom, power, goodness, righteousness, and purity of Jesus are noble and perfect that cannot be compared with ours. He was in the original form of a human being in the image of a sinless God.
But when we look at the life of Jesus, who lived and had a body like ours, we cannot help but feel discouraged. I'm going to say I can't live like that.
1) The love of Jesus is the love that he gave his life for his enemies.
2) Jesus' wisdom was to break the devil's temptations and tricks.
3) The power of Jesus was the creative ability to raise the dead, calm the wind, and feed 5,000 people with five fish.
4) Jesus' humility was to obey the Father thoroughly and serve everyone.
But these two kinds of revelation put us in a desperate situation.
In the presence of God's holiness, we see our sins and filthiness. In other words, when we see Jesus, we realize how miserable sinners we are.
When Peter met Jesus, he had no choice but to confess, “I am a sinner, leave me.”
So should we despair? no.
Rather, we cannot but rely on the grace of the forgiveness of sins and the grace of the Holy Spirit more thoroughly.
It is impossible to imitate the Lord without having the heart of Christ by the grace of the Holy Spirit.
Without the continual cleansing of our sins, there is no way we can bear the guilt within us.
We must rely on the work of grace that restores the image of God in us.
You must have faith in grace in order to live a life that is lived not by me, but by Christ in me, the Holy Spirit.
Grace works through faith. Only those who understand the truth and believe in grace can follow the Lord. Only you must be filled with the Holy Spirit.
Grace and truth are the two wings of the Christian life of faith.
If we fold either one, we lose our balance and fall.
Just as an eagle spreads its wings and soars in the sky, we pray that we will know God the Father rightly through faith in Jesus Christ, and enjoy abundant grace through faith in Jesus Christ, so that we can live like Christ.
Never give up. Giving up means giving up on faith. No matter where we come from, we must keep moving towards our goal. God has already prepared all the grace. We must be willing to accept God's work of cutting what is to be cut and pasting what is to be pasted so that we may form His image.