December 31, 2020 (Thursday)
We have been taking a “deep dive” into the prologue of John.
As the old year ends and the new begins, we have hope for change. Yet, change
only occurs at the hand of God. God has done everything possible for the kind
of change that we need to happen.
How did God provide that change? I am so glad you asked. “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his
glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” [John 1:14 ESV] Knowing
that liturgy (the Law) could not save us and self-righteousness could not save
us and self-effort could not save us, God had mercy on us. Something other than
the human effort must enter the world and change the rules.
The Word, Jesus, became flesh. God became one of us. On top
of that God lived among us. This means Jesus experienced the full scope of
human life and frailty; everything except committing sin. This means, Jesus
understands what we are facing. “For we do not have a high priest
who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect
has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.” [Hebrews 4:15 ESV]
Not only is Jesus sympathetic to our life on earth and
everything that means, “For because he himself has
suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.” [Hebrews 2:18 ESV] It is
one thing to be sympathetic, but it is another to be useful. God knew we could
not attain salvation, so He provided it in Jesus… God come in the flesh. So
when sin knocks us down, Jesus is there to help us up, clean us up, and pump us
up to continue our walk with Him.
God is motivated to give us good. John declares, “For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.” [John
1:16 ESV] We do not have a reasonable way to translate this verse. The Message
reads, “We all live off his generous bounty, gift after gift after gift.” There
are two points to be made in this verse.
First, the fullness of God. Sometimes we think God is poor.
Paul declared, “In him we have redemption through his blood, the
forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he
lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight.” [Ephesians 1:7 – 8 ESV]
I like the idea of “lavished.” I think the general force of the verse is God embarrassingly
lavishes His grace on us. God did not lavish His grace, wisdom, and insight grudging.
I think God has done this gleefully, uninhibitedly, and enthusiastically.
Second, the expression “grace upon grace” falls short of the
reality. A paraphrase of this, from the Greek, may correctly read “grace times
infinity.” So just for fun, start saying “grace upon grace” for as long as you
can keep it up. When you have exhausted yourself, understand the number of “grace
upon grace” you just said is much less than a drop of water in the ocean of the
grace God has lavished and poured out on us through Jesus.
We get the foundation of understanding what God wants from
the Law: obedience. From Jesus we get the point: relationship. Or as John said
it better, “For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth
came through Jesus Christ.” [John 1:17 ESV] How do we know of this endless grace? Through
Jesus. How do we acquired endless wisdom and insight into God the father?
Through Jesus. How do we know God the Father? Through Jesus. Or as John stated,
“No one has ever seen God. God the only Son, who is at the Father’s
side, has made God known.” [John 1:18 CEB]
How are we going to live this next year? Through Jesus.
Happy New Year!
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