Father, we ask that you would gently but deeply pour out your Holy Spirit upon us as we read your word and think upon your word.
Father, it's very easy for us to want to twist your word into the things that we want it to say, to twist your word into the things that we want to believe.
Father, you know as well, Father, how hard it is for us to actually attend to your word, how other thoughts will come into our mind that make it hard for us to actually dwell with your word and have your word dwell within us.
So we ask, Father, that you in your grace and mercy and kindness would help us, Father, to think upon your word, to hear your word, to have your word enter deep into our minds and hearts and wills, our very souls, so that your word will bear much fruit in our lives for your glory.
And this we ask in the name of Jesus, your Son and our Savior. Amen.
Please be seated.
So, I'm actually, we're actually looking at a passage of the Bible that, this morning, that for many years, in the early years of my Christian walk, I was afraid of.
There were certain ideas about the Christian faith that when I started to hear somebody trying to explain them to me, they made me sort of frightened.
I don't know why it was.
It's just maybe because it started to almost like make my mind hurt to try to get my mind around these ideas.
And when I couldn't get my mind around these ideas, it sort of frightened me.
And this is like a true confession, but it did.
And this whole idea that I would hear that, you know, I would think to myself one moment, if Jesus is both God and man, one moment, like, how can he be God and man?
And how, like, how could that work?
Does, like, how could he sort of exist before he was born and then be born?
And then, and like if he was man, who was like keeping the planets in their course?
And it just, it, trying to hear people explain it to me just sort of frightened me.
And, and so I almost wanted to keep turning away from it.
And, and so I, I'm looking, we were going to have a guest preacher this morning.
And, but he, he gave me good notice.
He wasn't able to come.
And I was originally going to finish my sermon series with verse 14.
So I thought, well, I'll just keep going 15 to 18, which is the, sort of the full prologue.
And, and then I looked at the text and it sort of brought back my memories of, of being afraid of these types of ideas.
Like, how is it that Jesus could be in the womb and be God?
And, and it was just, I, I, I was sort of frightened a little bit by it.
And I thought, oh, I'm going to get to just talk about it today.
And, you know, one of the things that helped me to understand this text, it was actually horror movies.
Which sounds very, very odd and bizarre.
And I, I don't watch very many horror movies.
I, I don't know, maybe my imagination's too active.
And I, and I just, I, I have a hard time with it.
And I have other problems with it as well.
But it was actually thinking about horror movies that actually started to give me a little bit of an idea about how to understand texts like this.
And actually a doctrine about Jesus.
So if you have your Bibles, please open them to John chapter 1.
We'll start reading at verse 14.
But today we're looking at verses 15 to 18.
And if by chance you've forgotten your Bibles, we always have a few Bibles up here at the front.
You're welcome to take them.
You can keep them as a gift afterwards or you can return them afterwards.
It's up to you.
And, and we're going to look.
We'll start verse 14.
But it's, it's verse 15 where we start to enter into the, enter into the sermon.
And here's how it goes.
It's the great Christmas text.
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.
Here's our text.
John, that's John the Baptist, bore witness about him and cried out,
So in one level, this is teaching us a very, very simple truth.
It's teaching us that Jesus is both God and man.
That Jesus of Nazareth, in fact, is God and man.
And it's going to be, John is going to try to be burrowing home into us that this historical person that he knew,
that he watched him eat, he watched him get tired, he heard him speak,
he spent three years with him in close proximity,
that this historical person, Jesus of Nazareth,
that if we went back in time in a time machine,
we'd be able to see Jesus.
And maybe after lunch, we'd see that he had a little bit of parsley in his beard from his tabbouleh,
that he'd eaten at lunch,
and we'd see that he maybe had to, after walking for an hour,
that his feet were dirty and his hands maybe were dirty,
and he looked a bit sweaty.
And we'd see him be thirsty, and we'd see this human being.
But John wants us to understand that when we see Jesus of Nazareth,
we're not just seeing a human being,
we're seeing someone who is both God and man.
But he's not, he's not,
and I'll get to it because it's in the language and the text,
he's not like, I can't remember,
who was the heroine in the Shrek movies?
You know in the first Shrek movie,
she's a troll by night,
no, yeah, troll by night and a beautiful princess during the day,
which I can't remember her name.
There you go, Fiona.
So Jesus isn't sort of like Fiona,
sort of cursed by a witch,
and at night he's one thing,
and at day he's another thing.
He's not like Jacqueline Hyde,
sort of two contrasting personalities,
but they're both human personalities in the same person.
And Jesus isn't like the Borg,
which are bits and pieces of human beings,
and bits and pieces of machine,
and bits and pieces of a collective,
and a whole mishmash,
and ultimately sort of ravenous and devouring and evil.
And Jesus isn't like a little bit of God,
and a little bit of human.
The text is actually trying to tell us
in a very, very simple but powerful way,
and even grasping with the fact
that if Jesus actually is both God and man,
then there's sort of a,
before and after are going to mean
very, very radically different things for Jesus
than they do for you and me.
I was born on a particular day,
and before that,
I mean, I would have been in my mother's womb,
but before I was conceived,
I didn't exist at all.
And that's just what human beings are like.
That's what every human being is like.
And if Jesus is both God and man,
then that's going to all be sort of very complicated.
And this text captures it very, very beautifully.
So that when you read creeds
like the Athanasian Creed
that try to articulate it in a different way,
the creeds are just trying to articulate
the witness of the apostles,
the witnesses who actually knew Jesus.
And here we see, look in verse 15,
it's this very, very odd phrase.
John bore witness about him and cried out,
this was he of whom I said,
and here's the funny thing,
he who comes after me ranks before me
because he was before me.
And so what John is saying,
he who comes after me,
like if you read all of the gospels,
and John,
most scholars think that John
was the last of the four gospels to be written.
And so,
and I think,
and many scholars think
that John was aware of the other gospels.
And so John wrote,
decided that he would write his gospel
in a very, very different manner
to capture a different side of Jesus,
in a sense,
the more private side of Jesus
and the way he could privately talk sometimes.
And,
and,
but it's,
it's clear from the witnesses of the gospels
that Jesus began his ministry
after John the Baptist did.
It's not clear from the records how long after,
but John was a well-known public figure
and Jesus was unknown.
And it's well-known from the gospels,
from the historical records,
that Jesus was actually baptized by John,
which could imply that John was greater than him.
But it's very,
very clear that John had disciples,
he had a public ministry,
he had a high public profile,
he was attracting crowds long before Jesus.
And,
and that sort of captures with this one,
when John says,
this was he of whom I said,
he who comes after me.
And then he says,
ranks before me.
And that's a perfectly good English translation.
And the original language,
it's saying that he's vastly superior to me.
He's incomparably greater than me.
And in the context of all of John's gospel,
in the beginning was the word,
and the word was with God,
and the word was God.
He was in the beginning with God.
All things were made through him,
without him was not anything made that was made.
In him was life.
And in earlier sermons,
we said that Jesus doesn't have life.
He is life.
Jesus doesn't have light.
He is light.
That Jesus,
John is saying,
okay,
Jesus came after me,
but he's vastly superior to me.
And then look how it finishes.
This was he of whom I said,
he who comes after me ranks before me,
because he was before me.
And that's,
once again,
a good English translation,
but in the original language,
it's even stronger.
It makes it clear that he's talking about the pre-existence of God,
the Son of God.
And here we get this mystery,
that God,
the Son of God,
who was at the beginning,
was there before the beginning.
In a sense,
if you read right from John 1 to the beginning,
and it's saying that the Father and the Son were together,
and they decided,
let's light this fuse,
which humanity will know is the Big Bang,
and have bang,
and have all of the galaxy sort of spring into existence.
And the God,
the Son of God,
was there,
because he was there from all eternity.
And the God,
the Son of God,
stands completely and utterly outside of time.
But this same God,
the Son of God,
sets aside his glory and splendor and divine prerogatives and appearance as God,
and his majesty.
And he sets all of these things aside,
but God cannot stop being God,
even though he set all of those things aside,
even in a sense that he's made himself,
excuse me,
completely and utterly naked,
so to speak.
He sets all of these things aside.
He can't stop being God.
And then there is a turning point in the entire story of creation,
where God takes into himself not only our human nature,
but our human flesh.
And not in some type of abstract, ethereal, ideal, idea way,
but the only way to be human is to live in space and time and history,
and to be born of the Virgin Mary,
and to walk amongst us.
And this second person of the Trinity,
who was before all people existed,
and caused all things to exist,
takes into himself our human nature,
and is born of the Virgin Mary,
and walks amongst us.
So on one hand,
there's only Jesus.
He's only one person,
but he has these two natures.
How did horror movies help me with this?
You know,
it's a very, very standard thing with horror movies,
of possession,
demonic possession.
And those of you,
not me,
but those of you who like watching those types of movies,
they have no problem.
There's no type of a struggle intellectually
with the idea that some hostile being
will possess another being.
And in some horror movies,
you get an odd mixture,
in the sense of the personality of the original person,
and this new being.
But we don't bat an eye at this idea
that there can be a being
that possesses another being.
And the Bible's not saying
that this is how it worked with Jesus,
but it's just,
it's portraying the same type of idea,
that there can be God,
the Son of God,
who takes into himself our human nature,
and he's still God,
and now he's human,
and he's completely human,
and he's completely God,
but you don't see flickers of him
going from God to man,
or different,
it's just,
he's just Jesus.
And you can't read the Gospels
without just being struck
with the sheer consistency of Jesus,
and his depth.
He never,
those of you who know mentally ill people,
or people who struggle with
different types of personalities,
or hear voices,
there's nothing of that in Jesus.
He seems sane,
and self-contained,
and purposeful,
and always himself.
And John wants to say
that as you're going to read now,
because what's going to happen
after verse 18
is John starts to tell
the actual story of Jesus.
He says,
well here's what John the Baptist
said to the Pharisees,
and Sadducees,
and here's what he said
to his disciples,
and then here's what his disciples
did when they saw Jesus,
and here's what Jesus said
to the disciples,
and here's what the disciples
said to Jesus,
and then here's what he did
when he went to a wedding,
and here's what he did
when he saw a sick person,
and here's,
and it goes on
and tells the story.
And John wants us to understand
that as you're reading the story,
he's making this outrageous claim
before you begin to read it.
That the one
that you're going to read about,
even though he comes after
John the Baptist,
is vastly superior
to John the Baptist,
in fact he's God,
because he actually,
as God,
existed before
the birth,
his birth.
Not in a reincarnation sense.
In fact,
this whole idea completely,
you can see how sort of
maybe through common grace
the idea of reincarnation
came to be,
and it got sort of misunderstood
that it was a type of a prophecy.
It wasn't a type of a curse
of endless existence,
but it was almost like
a type of a glimmer
or an idea
that God would come
amongst us in some way,
but the whole
enfleshedness aspect of it
completely and utterly
refutes,
but actually clarifies
this Eastern India,
Chinese type of
bit of an insight
about reality.
They just don't understand
that it's God
coming and taking on flesh
and walking amongst us.
But here's the big thing.
Andrew,
if you could put up
the next thing.
This is to lead us
to a particular type
of prayer.
And, you know,
one of the things
I can do,
you know,
if you came here
this morning hoping
that I was going to give you
a whole pile of
practical applications
that would mean
that you can get out of debt,
get the promotion,
get the body you want,
you know,
get the kids you want,
get the husband
or wife you want,
I mean,
we're not going to do that today.
In fact,
we don't usually do it.
But I can maybe help you
to learn how to pray.
And whether or not
you say that prayer exactly
or just are influenced by it,
you know,
the Gospel of John
is teaching us
to pray a prayer like this.
And for some of us,
a prayer like this
is how we begin
to be the Christian life.
And for others of us,
it's just how we live
the Christian life
and grow the Christian life.
And so the Bible here
is encouraging us
to say to God
as we hear about Jesus
to turn to the Father
and to cry out
and say,
Dear God,
please grow in me
a humble,
trusting,
walking,
knowing
of the greatness,
glory,
and grace
of Jesus Messiah.
You might notice
I put that odd idea
of walking in there.
and that's because
ultimately
to know Jesus
is to change
the way we live.
We don't change
the way we live
so that Jesus
will pay attention to us
and think that we have
an exemplary life.
That doesn't work.
We're going to see that.
But when you come,
the Bible wants us
to walk with Jesus.
It's an image
of how we do our day.
You know,
you get out of bed,
your feet go on the floor.
You know,
if you're like me,
you go to the bathroom,
then you immediately
go to the kettle,
plug the kettle in
because I'm going to
make a cup of coffee,
go to the toaster,
put the toast bread in
for toast,
go to the fridge
for my yogurt,
and the day proceeds
until at the very,
very end of the day
I take my weary feet
off the floor
as I lay down in bed
and I sleep
and the next morning
I get up,
I walk through my day
and that's what
we want to do.
We want to learn.
We want to learn
by God's grace
to walk with Jesus.
That whether we are
dealing with problems
in our body,
problems in our marriage,
problems in our family,
problems with our kids,
problems with boss,
problems with finances,
any type of problems
or opportunities
and great adventures,
round the world tours,
spectacular promotions,
whatever it is
that we are to pray,
dear God,
please grow in me,
please grow in me today
and every day
a humble, trusting,
walking,
knowing
of the greatness,
glory,
and grace
of Jesus Messiah.
As we deal
with all of these things,
the birth of a child,
the death of a loved one,
that we walk
with Jesus,
knowing Jesus
and walking
and knowing
and humbly trusting
his greatness,
his glory
and his grace
and Jesus Messiah.
and so if you have
an IQ through the roof
and a disciplined mind,
you can meditate
and dwell
and think upon
to great heights
the mystery
of God,
the son of God,
setting the big bang
in motion
and yet
taking on flesh
and walking amongst us
and maybe some of us,
our IQ
is south of a hundred
and our attention span
is like a hummingbird
and meditation
is probably never
going to be our thing.
It's probably never
going to be our thing
but we can pray
that we have
a humble,
trusting,
walking,
knowing
of the greatness,
glory,
and grace
of Jesus Messiah
and that's what we can pray.
So some of you might say,
okay, George,
this sounds really great
but you know,
so he comes
and he's great like this
but George,
the fact of the matter
is that there are
so many Christians
that I meet
that they just look like
they wake up in the morning
and they suck a lemon
and all day long
they suck lemons
and they are just,
they're like that
Peanuts character
that walks around
with a cloud
over their head
and it's pouring rain.
I'm reading a novel
right now
by a fellow
from Mississippi
and the novel
is set
in northern Mississippi
to Pilo
or something,
I don't know,
I can't probably pronounce
with a Mississippi drawl
that I can't master.
Anyway,
and one of the characters,
her father's
an evangelical pastor
and her comment
about part of it
is her dealing
with her father
and her father,
you know,
he just sucks
the joy out of life.
He's a negative view
of everybody
that he meets.
He's always looking down
his noses at people
and she comments
that he just,
all he wants to do
is read the Bible
and die
so he can go to heaven
and drink lemonade
and square dance.
And until he dies
and can drink lemonade
and square dance
in heaven,
it's just,
everything is just,
you know,
you can't enjoy food,
it's just a completely
unenjoyable life.
And so,
you know,
some of us
at a very,
very deep level
have this fear
that if we get close
to Jesus,
that what's going to
have to happen
is that we,
you know,
if I get close to Jesus,
I can't watch football
all Sunday afternoon
because I should be
reading the Bible
and praying
and I should be going
to prayer meetings
and I can't just,
I don't know,
put my feet up
and grab a bowl
of macaroni and cheese
and jalapeno potato chips
and something to drink
and just watch the football game
and enjoy it.
Like,
if I get too close to Jesus,
it's just going to suck
the joy out of life.
And at a deep level,
many of us fear that.
And many in our culture
fear it.
And some of us
give them cause
to fear it.
That that's what's going
to happen
if you give your life
to Jesus.
That, you know,
you don't have to be
a missionary.
You can just have a job.
Like,
that's fine.
Like,
God can call you to that.
In fact,
he calls most Christians
to that.
So,
is that what Jesus
is going to do?
What John sort of
deals with this,
he in a sense
deals with our
religious and spiritual
fears.
That what's going to
happen is that
when we read the
Gospels and read
about Jesus,
that what's going to
happen is it's just
going to be Jesus
imposing religion
upon us.
So,
let's go back
and look again.
We'll read verse 15
again and then we'll
read verse 16
where John sort of
addresses this fear
in advance
so that when we read
about Jesus,
every verse that we
read in the rest
of the Gospel of John,
we're to read it
mindful of these
verses.
So,
verse 15 it says,
John bore witness
about him,
Jesus,
crying out
and cried out,
this was he of whom
I said,
he who comes after me
ranks before me
because he was
before me.
And here's the verse,
and from his fullness
we have all received
grace upon grace.
That's a verse
worth memorizing.
It's a verse
worth memorizing.
And from his fullness
we have all received
grace upon grace.
There's two senses
to this
and the first part
I'm going to talk about
and then the second part
sort of leads into
verse 17,
the second sense.
And this is what
the text is saying.
Excuse me.
Jesus,
out of his fullness,
gives never-ending,
ever-deepening,
pure grace.
grace.
Jesus,
out of his fullness,
gives never-ending,
ever-deepening,
pure grace.
That's an image
that those of you
who are a little bit
familiar with the
writings of C.S. Lewis,
you can see that this
is where C.S. Lewis,
he sort of starts at it
from a literary way,
but it's actually a deeply
embedded idea
in the scriptures.
That it's as if
when you actually start
to taste a little bit
of God's grace,
the grace that comes
from Jesus.
And grace means
God's unmerited favor.
It means his kindly affection.
It means an ability
and power for you
to thrive.
And when you start
to taste a bit
of the goodness
and beauty
and holiness
and love
and mercy
and intimacy
that's completely
offered to us
by God,
that's unmerited,
that as we start
to taste a tiny bit
of that,
two different things
happen.
One is,
it's profoundly satisfying.
And at the same time
within us,
there's a type of
dissatisfaction
and hunger for more.
And even the hunger
of more,
for more,
is a pleasure.
And then,
as you drink more
of the grace of Jesus
and of our loving
Heavenly Father,
it's both satisfying
and creates a desire
for more,
which in and of itself
is a pleasurable desire
and there's more.
That the grace
that is offered
by Jesus
is a grace
that is never-ending.
It's a never-ending grace.
And it's an ever-deepening
grace.
And it's always pure grace.
And it's going to talk
to us in the Gospels
as John is going to
tell us later on
that the story
of Jesus
and the whole story
of Jesus
is to move forward
to his death
upon the cross.
Eventually,
or those of you
who were here
on Christmas morning
and I talked about
the word became flesh
and dwelt among us
full of grace and truth.
And we have seen
his glory.
Glory is the only
Son of the Father.
And if you follow
the idea
through the Gospel,
the time that Jesus
says that you're now
going to see
the glory of God,
in chapter 13
and John 17,
Jesus says
you're now going to see
God's glory
in its fullness.
And he's talking
about his death
upon the cross.
That in Jesus'
death upon the cross,
the full glory
of God
is revealed.
And it's a glory
that is revealed
that the perfect,
holy,
just,
loving,
true God
bears in himself
and the person
of his Son
in himself
that which we
cannot fix
and deal with,
our darkness,
our rebellion,
our sin,
our shame,
our separation
from God,
every single thing
within us
that is in rebellion
against God
and keeps us
from him.
God,
who sees
that we cannot
deal with that,
he crosses
the infinite distance
from himself
and his holiness
to us
in the person
of his Son.
And Jesus
bears in himself
and upon himself
all of the darkness
and sin
of every human being
without exception.
It's done for us.
We have to receive it.
And it's an act
of grace.
It's an act
of unmerited
love
by Jesus
for you and me.
And he bears it
for us.
He tastes it
for us.
He takes its punishment
and all the consequences
for it
and he dies
upon the cross
so that we
come to Jesus
for asking
that the God
would grow within us
a humble, trusting,
walking knowledge
of the greatness,
glory, and grace
of Jesus Messiah.
And if you're at all
like me,
when I gave my life
to Jesus,
it was just a sense
that I needed more.
That there was
a hollowness
and a hole
within me
and I didn't
understand anything
about,
I didn't really
understand about
the cross
and I didn't really
understand all about
what Jesus had done
for me.
All I had
was a sense
that if I was
to come to Jesus,
I was coming
to light
and life
and grace
and that's all
I understood.
And then you
come to Jesus
and the knowledge
of his greatness
and glory
and what he accomplishes
for you on the cross,
there's this opportunity
for it to grow
and the more
it grows,
the more we can
be gripped
by the gospel
and what Jesus
has done for us.
Followers of Jesus
gripped by the gospel
and so able
to start to live
for his glory.
And John says
that as you're
going to hear Jesus,
you're going to hear
Jesus have conflicts
with religious people,
he's going to have
conflicts with
spiritual people,
there's going to be
this terrible thing
that takes several
chapters at the end
where he's accused
of terrible things
and people come up
and say lies about him
and all of his friends
leave him alone
and he dies
upon the cross
and he dies
and you're going to
hear all about this
but what you have
to understand
is it's all grace
that it's grace
upon grace
that out of his fullness
he's going to offer this
and he offers
on the cross
and when we come
to Jesus
not only is it grace
that makes us
the child of God
by adoption
when we put our faith
and trust in him
but becoming more
like Jesus
learning to obey him
and walk with him
that we are dependent
upon God's grace
and when finally
Jesus returns
or we die
and we see Jesus
face to face
and then the new heaven
and the new earth
comes
and we have glorified bodies
that's grace as well
and what will we taste
in all of eternity
in the new heaven
and the new earth
grace upon grace
and then we will know
in fullness
here on this side
of the grave
we taste God's grace
but there's idols
in our heart
and there's rebellion
in our heart
and we're afraid
of God
and we want to try
to cover ourselves
with fig trees
and we don't always
taste that
go from grace
to a hunger
for grace
and it's
you know
even when we're redeemed
and even when we're adopted
and God's child
there's still that struggle
within us
and whatever type
of victory we have
still is due
to the grace
that comes from Jesus
but one day
we will know
face to face
and for all eternity
we will drink
of the grace
and favor
of almighty God
the living God
and his son Jesus
and the Holy Spirit
and every drink
of that grace
and unmerited favor
and love
and intimacy
and power
and goodness
that comes from God
will both satisfy
our souls
and create within us
a longing
and a yearning
for more
which in and of itself
is a great pleasure
and as we yearn
for more of God's grace
in the new heaven
and the new earth
so we will receive
and so we will be satisfied
and so we will be thirsty
and there is a grace
upon grace
that is promised to us
that if we were to even know it
in the tiniest bit
now would unmake us
and John says
this is who you're going to meet
in the pages
of the gospel of John
out of his fullness
his never ending
eternal
outside of time
abundance
one who will give
grace upon grace
and you becoming
God's child
that's grace
you becoming more like Jesus
that will be grace
your final glorification
that will be grace
it's always grace
Andrew if you could put up
the prayer game
you see this is why
John is encouraging us
the Bible is moving us
to pray
dear God
please grow in me
a humble
trusting
walking
knowing
of the greatness
glory
and grace
of Jesus
Messiah
that's what the Bible
is leading us
to talk about
there's a fellow
that I talk to
regularly
in Starbucks
he's sort of
an odd mixture
I can never tell
if he's an atheist
I actually think
he's an atheist
who's also
spiritual
not religious
and
I think
that's a great
contradiction
and I occasionally
try to talk to him
about how I think
that's a great
contradiction
but he both
sort of believes
that no God exists
but on the other hand
that we have to be
spiritual not religious
and
you know
he makes all these
claims about Jesus
but a week or two ago
I come into a Starbucks
and he beckons me over
I take my cord
he beckons me over
he has a loud voice
it's a small Starbucks
and he said
George
I just had somebody
read me a part
of the Bible
and
it's a story
about
people getting
these things
called minas
and at the end of it
people
don't want to
receive the king
and so he tells him
to kill
Jesus
says in this story
to kill the people
who don't want me
to be king
how could Jesus
say stuff like that
how could you
follow somebody
like that
and he goes on
what can you say
about it
and I start to say
a few things
he said what
and then he goes
on and on and on
with a loud voice
and I'm trying
not to be read
you know
because you don't
really want to
have a discussion
about judgment
and hell
and a loud voice
in a Starbucks
in Ottawa
in 2014
with who knows
what people
are thinking
and so partly
and he finally
says
you can say
nothing
you're speechless
and I say to him
no I can say
something
you just won't
stop talking
and then it was
so funny
he burst out
laughing
and said
put up his hand
like that
to give me a high five
he just was trying
to embarrass me
which you know
and he said
go get your coffee
you know
and then we talked
a little bit
about the text
and you know
all of that
type of stuff
at least
I don't know
where he's going
to end up
in all this
but at least
there's
you know
when you meet
him
there's
energy
right
like he's
he's
he's motivated
by this
type of stuff
so
you know
here's the thing
he is right
on one hand
some of you
might say
George
I know you
just within
the last year
or so
you've preached
a sermon
on hell
and I know
you talk
about judgment
and Jesus
talks about
those things
so how does
grace upon
grace
fit with
all that
is it
or sort of
George
is it
sort of
one of those
things
that
you know
maybe you're
going to repent
of what you've
preached
and like
hell and all
is that
like Old Testament
type of stuff
and Jesus
is going to
tell us
just about
great
like what's
going on
George
well let's
go back
and see
because John
actually sets
the stage
to help us
to understand
that
let's go
back
well read
verse 15
16
it's in
verse 17
that he talks
about it
read verse 15
again
John bore witness
about him
that's Jesus
and cried out
this was he
of whom I said
he who comes
after me
ranks before me
because he was
before me
and from his
fullness
we have all
received grace
upon grace
for the law
was given
through Moses
grace and truth
came through
Jesus Christ
and at first glance
it looks like
in fact
sort of what
my friend was
saying was
sort of there
okay oh yeah
oh yeah
yeah there's the
Moses and all that
ten commandment
you know
yucky stuff
and then there's
grace
and in fact
my friend says
that he actually
thinks that I'm
not religious
he thinks I'm
spiritual
not religious
but promise
I still believe
in God
and the Bible
but
and so is that
what
is that what
the Bible
is saying here
that there's
this Moses
stuff that's
not grace
well remember
I said that
there's two
senses of
grace
upon grace
and the other
sense in Greek
is grace
following grace
and
and you can't
sort of translate
upon
I mean nowadays
maybe we put
upon
slash following
and it would
sort of work
but it's very
ungrammatic
if you want
to read it
but there's
the double
sense there
that of
grace
following grace
and you might
notice
in the text
that for the
first time
in the gospel
of John
I've been
just telling
you it's
Jesus
but
if you go
back to read
from verse
one
in the beginning
was the word
and the word
was with God
and the word
was God
he was in the
beginning
with God
all things
were made
through him
and without him
nothing was made
that was made
and the word
became flesh
and all of that
for the first time
we're told
that who John
the Baptist
is talking
who John
the Evangelist
is talking
about is Jesus
and he calls him
Jesus
Messiah
in a few moments
during the
we're going to get
a thank you note
from our ministry
in Uganda
and those Ugandans
they say Messiah
in a wonderful way
I wish I could copy it
and say it the way
they do
but he's
that's the first clue
that so the first thing
is he can't
John here isn't saying
that Jesus is contradicting
the Old Testament
because he uses
when he introduces Jesus
he uses Messiah
in a sense
the long
that the Old Testament
is predicting a Messiah
and Jesus is introduced
as the Messiah
and grace follows grace
here's in fact
Andrew if you could put it up
here's in fact
what John is saying
Jesus does not contradict
the Old Testament
Jesus completes
the Old Testament
Jesus does not contradict
the Old Testament
Jesus completes
the Old Testament
you see even the Old Testament
is grace
one grace
is that even those
laws
even those rules
you know you shouldn't
commit adultery
you shouldn't steal
you shouldn't bear
false witness
you shouldn't have idols
you shouldn't abuse
the name of God
etc. etc.
on one hand
it's the grace
if God in fact
if we have been created
and God creates us
it's a grace
to have the owner
clarify
the owner's manual
for us to live
on Christmas morning
after I came back
from the service
we were going to have
for a Christmas meal
we were going to have
turkey and ham
and so
it was one of those
spiral
sort of pre-cooked hams
that you were
hooking up
and so
you know I said to Louise
I said how do you cook this
and we sort of said
why don't we do it this way
so I said sure
let's put it in
so I put it in that way
and then after about
ten minutes
I thought you know maybe
I think there's instructions
like maybe I should read
the instructions
about how to cook this ham
like they probably know
how to do it right
and I looked it up
and sure enough
I would have led
to a completely dry
unedible ham
if I had just followed
my own inklings
and I looked and said
oh that's what you're
supposed to do
so you know I put the thing
a different way
and did a few different things
and even changed the temperature
and it was delicious
it was delicious
and on one hand
if the Old Testament law
is just God giving us
how to live
then that's a grace
actually
just like it was
actually good
that the makers
the producers
of the ham
told me how to actually
cook the ham
so that it would be delicious
and on one hand
it's a grace
if it's just even
proper instruction manual
but if you go
actually if you have time
let's just do it
look
go to the Ten Commandments
turn with me
to Exodus chapter 20
verse 1
Exodus chapter 20
verse 1
it's towards the beginning
of your Bible
and this is how we have to
like the Ten Commandments
are very central
to the law
to the Torah
to the Old Testament
and here's how it begins
and God spoke
all these words
saying
I am the Lord
your God
who brought you
out of the land
of Egypt
out of the house
of slavery
you shall have
no other gods
before me
now do you notice this
how does it begin
with grace
it begins with God
identifying himself
I am the Lord
your God
and then it talks
about what he's
graciously done
he is God
he is
your God
I am your God
I brought you
out of the land
of Egypt
out of the house
of slavery
I
by grace
delivered you
how shall you
then live
and the encouragement
is to understand
that it begins
with grace
God
identifying himself
in such a way
that he can be
our God
and we can be
his people
and that can only
happen after
he delivers us
and then after
we have received
his deliverance
the question
is asked
how shall
I then
live
how shall
we
then
live
and it's not
just the Exodus
version
look at the
Deuteronomy
version
Exodus is the
beginning of the
Exodus
Deuteronomy
is sort of
summary of the
whole thing
at the end
it's Deuteronomy
chapter 5
Deuteronomy
chapter 5
verse 6
and you'll see
that the exact
same structure
is kept
there
that all
of those
do's and
don'ts
are to be
understand
from the
perspective
that God
desires to
be our
God
he delivers
us so we
can be his
God
and how
shall we
then live
Deuteronomy
chapter 5
verse 6
I am the
Lord your
God
who brought
you out of
the land
of Egypt
out of the
house of
slavery
you shall
have no
other gods
before me
the Old
Testament
is not
teaching us
certain ways
of living
so that we
can become
eligible for
grace
it's not
obey
and then
grace
but receive
God's grace
and then
obedience
receive God's
grace
and then
obedience
Jesus does
not contradict
the Old
Testament
Jesus
completes
the Old
Testament
there's a
grace
in all
of the
Old
Testament
law
and as
we bring
it into
ourselves
as the
Jewish
people brought
it into
ourselves
it was to
prepare us
to meet
Jesus
who is
grace
himself
and truth
himself
God
himself
light
himself
love
himself
who comes
to deliver
us
it's
deeper
grace
the Bible's
teaching
that's why
it's all
leading us
if you could
put up the
prayer again
Andrew
dear God
please grow
in me
a humble
trusting
walking
knowing
of the
greatness
glory
and grace
of Jesus
Messiah
very very
final thing
very briefly
sort of
running out
of time
I don't know
how many of
you have
watched the
television series
Broadchurch
it was a
huge sensation
in England
it's now
on Netflix
it's eight
episodes
and on
one hand
it centers
around the
story
of a
murder
of an
11 year
old boy
in a
small
tightly
knit
coastal
community
in England
a
community
where the
majority
of the
people
have lived
there
for a
long
time
and they
know
each
other
and they're
related
to each
other
and the
question
really
which runs
throughout
the entire
movie
is can
you ever
really
know
another
person
because
when they
ask the
family
and all
and others
well who
could have
done this
murder
they all
say well
nobody
could have
done this
murder
and so
one of the
things that
they play
with
throughout
things
as the
investigation
goes on
over the
eight episodes
is can
you ever
really know
another
person
and it's
very very
hard
and so
the question
is can
we ever
really know
God
and John
wants to
make it
clear to
us
that we
can know
God
because God
desires to
make himself
known
and he
makes himself
known
in the
person of
his son
and there's
no separation
between God
making himself
known
and offering
us grace
look at
verse 18
oops I have
to turn back
to it
John 1
18
no one
has ever
seen God
all mysticism
is undercut
right there
all human
attempts
to attain
to the
divine
John
completely
rejects
he's saying
it's not
going to be
about the
brilliance of
your ideas
the brilliance
of your poetry
the brilliance
of your
spirituality
the brilliance
of your
ethical attainments
the brilliance
of your
it's not going
to be about
anything about
your ability
to see
no one
has ever
seen God
but God
the only God
who is at
the Father's
side
he has
made him
known
God
makes himself
known
God
the Son
of God
who is at
the Father's
side
he makes
God
known
and in the
original language
him known
is emphatic
so that if we
were to in a
sense be trying
to write this
in a way that
brings out the
original language
it would be
bolded
and maybe
underlined
him known
and so now
we're going to
go into the
history of
Jesus
and the story
of Jesus
and everything
about Jesus
is all about
him making
God known
and in the
original language
it's even more
dramatic because
the word which
is here is
basically the
word for
exegesis
Andrew if you
could put the
point up
it's in
basically it's
saying that
Jesus of
Nazareth is
the exegesis
of God
now that's a
big word
and many of
you don't
know what
it means
and it's a
very old
fashioned word
I have a
feeling that
it would be
frowned upon
in the
English faculty
of the
University of
Ottawa
but maybe
I'm wrong
about that
and exegesis
is this idea
that all you
want to do
it's an
attempt to
be a
disciplined
understanding
of a
text
it's in a
sense an
invitation to
on one
hand set
aside your
cultural
presupposition
set aside
what you
think the
text says
set aside
what you
want it
to say
set aside
your
preferences
for what
it should
say
and simply
try to
hear and
understand
truly what
the text
says
and it's
saying that
Jesus is
the one who
simply truly
makes God
known and
who he is
and God
himself does
this because
only God
can make
himself known
because
otherwise how
could the
finite know
the infinite
there is
more in
common between
me
and the
wood in
this cross
there is
more on
one level
in common
between me
and the
wood in
this cross
we're both
created
we're both
finite
we both
have an
environment
we have a
beginning
we have an
end
we have
edges
and there is
more in
common between
me and the
wood that
makes up
this cross
and there
is between
the infinite
God
uncreated
no environment
no needs
outside of
time
seeing and
knowing all
things and
having all
power
above and
beyond
and
intellectually
it makes no
sense that the
finite by our
sight and our
effort can ever
make the
infinite known
we are
completely and
utterly dependent
upon the
infinite
speaking
itself
himself
and John
is saying
that when we
read the
gospel we
see and
hear the
infinite having
taken on
flesh to
speak to us
who are
finite
and it's the
infinite that
speaks to us
and we
are to learn
to humbly
trusting
walkingly
knowingly
listen to
the text
and listen
to Jesus
and watch
Jesus
and be
willing to
set aside
our cultural
assumptions
and what we
wish it says
and what we
don't say
and read it
and listen
to know
that this
is the
one that
makes the
infinite
God
known
and he
is good
we can
trust him
I invite you
to stand
what is it
that John
wants us
to know
he
exegetes
the
infinite
and it's
all
grace
it's
all
grace
and so
John
writes this
hoping
if you go
back and
you read
the end
all the
gospel of
John you
come to
the end
and you
see that
it's
very clear
that John's
hope is that
by the time
you finish
reading his
gospel that
you will
come to
a humble
trusting
knowledge of
the greatness
and glory
of Jesus
that you
will know
him as
your savior
and that
by knowing
him as
your savior
you will
begin to
follow him
as Lord
and it's
the cry
of John's
heart
and we
as Christians
believe that
ultimately
God is
the one
who caused
the gospel
of John
to be
written
and so
it is
the cry
of God's
heart
that our
eyes would
be turned
to Jesus
and that
as we
look at
Jesus
we would
cry out
to God
and say
dear God
please grow
in me
a humble
trusting
walking
knowing
of the
greatness
glory
and grace
of Jesus
Messiah
those
that God
has put it
on your
heart
will have
just a
moment
of silence
and then
why don't
you pray
this prayer
with me
I think
it's up
at the
front
and then
I'll
just have
a closing
prayer
just stand
those
whom the
Holy Spirit
leads
join with
me in
praying
dear God
please
grow
in me
a humble
trusting
walking
knowing
of the
greatness
glory
and grace
of Jesus
Messiah
Father
pour out
your Holy
Spirit
upon us
bring
if there
are any
here
who have
not
come
to a
saving
faith
in Jesus
Father
as they
pray
that
prayer
may
it
be
a
moment
of
saving
faith
for
them
in
Jesus
and
Father
both
for
them
and
for
us
may
you
teach
us
to pray
whether
in these
words
or not
Father
but may
that
be
increasingly
the cry
of our
hearts
that we
would cry
out to
you
whether
in good
times
or bad
when we're
depressed
or lonely
or feeling
very excited
and with a
lot of
people
that the
cry of
our
heart
would be
that you
would grow
within us
a
humble
trusting
walking
knowing
of the
greatness
and the
glory
and the
grace
of
Jesus
Messiah
Father
this we
ask
we ask
that your
Holy Spirit
would bring
this home
to us
and grow
that within
us
and all
this we
ask in
the name
of Jesus
your son
and our
savior
amen