Law or Grace
Notes
Transcript
Law or Grace?
Law or Grace?
14 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.
15 (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’ ”)
16 For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.
17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
18 No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.
I want to start with a question this morning. Have you ever seen the sovereign hand of God at work in your life? Do you know what I mean by sovereign hand of God? The world would call it coincidence. But as believers we don’t believe in coincidence do we? God sovereignly shows up all the time here Sunday mornings and a lot of people aren’t even aware of it. Let me share an excellent example from my evangelism training yesterday. I meet some really exciting believers. They are ministering in the projects of Pittsburgh. There were some many exciting stories I wish I had time to retell them all this morning, but they shared a great example of what I am talking about. One time they were prayer walking the neighborhood, asking God to speak to them on what they wanted them to do next. And the were interrupted by a boy who came running up to them. He told them his name and then he said my mom lives right over there and gave his mom’s name and their address. That was just one simple example.
He works most Sunday’s here and we are completely unaware. Most weeks Josiah and Amber select the music without knowing anything about my sermon and I am amazed at how they complement each other. Or there are times the Sunday school lesson or the children’s story aligns perfectly with my sermon. That is just a subtly reminder that this morning isn’t about us or our creativity. You see to live on mission for God it is far more about trusting in God to work and asking Him through prayer what He wants to do next and then listening for His answer.
Another example of God’s sovereignty is our text this morning. After the sermon last week. Verse 17 really stuck out to me, I though there is so much in this one verse I think I need to look at it closer and not just move on the the next section. It reads
17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
And then Wednesday night came. And for those of you who don’t attend, the story begins 5 weeks ago. I had to go on a trip for work and so in my absence, we decide to show a video called that the World may know. Bible teacher Ray Vanderlaan takes groups of people onsite to the Holy Land and teaches from the Word. There is something unique and powerful about being taught from the Bible onsite where these events took place. So I Josiah picked a new series. I decide when I came back to just finish it. And Wednesday night was about God marring His bride Israel at Mount Sinai. I don’t have time this morning to go through all the different aspects of a Jewish marriage that happened. But I do want to focus on the one that is in our passage this morning. Our text says the law was given through Moses.
So what aspect of a wedding do you think God giving Moses the 10 commandments is? Think about it, if you were paying attention Wednesday night you already know the answer. I will read them and then I will give you the answer.
1. I am Hashem, the Lord, your God.
2. Do not worship other gods, do not make for yourself idols.
3. Do not take the Lord's name in vain.
4. Remember Shabbat, the Sabbath day, and keep it holy.
5. Honor your father and mother.
6. Do not murder.
7. Do not commit adultery.
8. Do not steal.
9. Do not bear false witness.
10. Do not covet.
I am guilty of making the mistake of judging people as being to far gone.
The list of God’s commands they haven't broke is far shorter than the ones they haven’t. I wright people off. But we are reminded this morning that no one is beyond the grace of God.
You can not understand the depth of God’s love until you understand the depth of you wickedness. I was shocked by the concept that at the wedding ceremony, Isreal God’s bride, had an affair. That is jarring isn’t it? But before we judge them to harshly, we have done the same thing. The Lord by His grace saves us out of our rebellion and we have this tendency to turn back to our idols don’t we? Or am I just preaching to myself. But this is where we see the grace of God so strong.