John 1:16-18-Grace Upon Grace
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This time of year, with shopping for Christmas presents and everything, we find our selves eating out a good bit.
The other day we went to a little local Italian place called Olive Garden.
That is one of Mrs. Lauren’s favorite places to eat.
She loves Olive Garden.
If I’m ever in the doghouse with her, I’ve found that one way to check out of the dog house would be to take Lauren to Olive Garden.
And so… We go to Olive Garden a good bit.
It’s a good thing I love Olive Garden too.
One of the wonderful things about Olive Garden is all the complementary things you get as a part of the Olive Garden experience.
If you order a meal at Olive Garden, there’s a few things that you’re going to get as a result.
You’re going to get as much salad as you want with that wonderful Italian dressing.
They sell that dressing now in Walmart, but everybody knows it’s just not the same at home as it is inside the restaurant.
So you get salad, but you’re also going to get as many breadsticks as you want.
Those buttery sticks of bread with the perfect combination of butter and garlic and salt and carbohydrates.
And then at the end of the meal, to make getting your bill not seem so bad, you’re going to get at least one of those little Andes Mints the peppermint chocolates.
And if you have a gracious server , they will give you a handful of those.
And so think about…I mean free salad, Free breadsticks, Free Chocolate.
It is a wonderful experience.
But I can’t mention Olive Garden without mentioning my favorite thing about Olive Garden.
My favorite thing about Olive Garden is that they come around with that white pencil sharpener looking thing where they shred that freshly grated cheese on top of your salad or your soup or your spaghetti or whatever dish you get.
I’m sure you all have experienced this.
Your server will come to the table and they will say: “Would you like some cheese on top of your salad?”
And of course you say yes and then they will start shredding and they will say just tell me when to stop.
Now, once that happens, there are two types of people in this world.
There are people who like a reasonable amount of cheese and so the server does a few turns on the cheese grater and if you are this type of person after a few turns, you say that’s enough.
But then there are people like me…
People who like it to get awkward with the amount of cheese the server shreds up on your salad or your meal.
I’m the type of person… I want to see whether or not the cheese grater will run out.
In fact, I will not tell them to stop.
Whenever my family goes to Olive Garden, There’s always this stare down between me and Lauren as we watch the person grate the cheese and I’m looking at her with the look that says don’t you dare tell her to stop.
But for Lauren, apparently it’s not classy— its tacky— to just allow the person to continue shredding for a solid minute.
And so she is always the one to look at them and say “That’s enough. Thank you.”
And no matter how long she lets them grate that cheese, I’m always left feeling— I could have had more.
We’ve had this argument multiple times.
Hear my argument out..
She was willing to keep going… It’s a part of the OG experience … why are we telling them to stop? This is the only place in the world they don’t charge you extra for cheese.
When it comes to cheese, I don’t want just enough.
I want cheese upon cheese, upon cheese.
An abundance of cheese.
But once she takes that pencil sharpener away, there’s no more cheese.
You get one opportunity at that cheese.
Now, I bring this up, because this text highlights for us this morning something of much more importance, and that is this..
When it comes to the grace of God, God doesn’t just give us a small amount of grace.
In Jesus Christ, this text this morning is telling us that we receive Grace on top of Grace on top of Grace.
Grace that is over and abounding.
Grace that piles up.
As we finish this series this morning, and as we look toward Christmas day, my hope today is that you see that in Jesus Christ, we have received so much.
You know, in the first fourteen verses of this chapter, John has been giving us what we might call the theology of Christmas.
He has told us that the eternal Word—the eternal Son of God—was with God in the beginning and was God in the beginning.
He is the One through whom the world was created, the One through whom all things hold together.
And this eternal Son, equal in glory, power, and authority with the Father, stepped into the darkness of this world as the Light of the world.
John tells us that the world did not know Him.
His own people did not receive Him.
And yet, by the grace and mercy of God, there were some who did believe—some who received Jesus Christ.
And those who received Him were given the right to be called children of God—not because of their bloodline, not because of human effort, not because of the will of man, but because God, in His grace and mercy, caused them to be born again.
Then in verse 14, John speaks not just as a theologian, but as a witness.
He tells us that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory.… glory as of the only begotten Son from the Father.
You can hear the excitement in John’s voice as he reflects on what it meant to walk with Jesus, to live in close fellowship with the incarnate Son of God.
But John doesn’t stop there.
In our text this week, John turns from the mystery of the incarnation. He turns from the theology of Christmas to the benefits of Christmas.
So this morning, In verses 16-18—
I want us to answer one question:
What are the benefits given to sinners because Christ came into this world?
I’ll go ahead and tell you the answer right off the bat. God does not just give us a single act of grace, but he bestowed upon us abounding grace and he has given that grace in the person and work of Jesus Christ.
Read with me beginning in verse 16-
For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.
Before we talk about the grace we receive in Christ, we must first understand where that grace comes from.
John answers that in the opening words of verse 16:
“For from his fullness…”
The grace we receive flows out of the fullness of who Jesus is.
Grace does not begin with us; it begins with Him.
The source, the foundation, and the fountain of grace is found in the person and work of Jesus Christ.
Grace does not originate in man.
Grace is not something we earn or deserve.
Grace is given freely because of who Christ is, not because of what sinners do.
Grace comes from Jesus.
And the good part about this is he’s full of grace.
Its says here from his fullness.
Theologically speaking, Jesus Christ carries within himself, all the attributes of God.
He lacks nothing.
He is the fullness of deity.
Which means:
He is altogether righteous.
Altogether pure.
He is perfectly loving.
Perfectly merciful.
Perfectly compassionate
Perfectly sovereign.
Perfectly just.
He is Holy;.
You get the point right?
We could go on and on and on and on about all that Jesus is.
But the point is this— its from his fullness that we get this Grace.
It’s not because of us at all.
We don’t receive Grace because of some foreseen merit or even foreseen belief
I reject the notion that God looks through the corridors of time to see if we’re going to be good or bad and then decides in his grace to save us based upon that.
No, God saves underserving sinners. God saves those who have rejected Him.
Grace does not originate with us.
Grace is not even a response to us.
Grace is a Divine prerogative.
It’s not given based upon our meriting of it.
As humans beings— We are undeserving and we are ill deserving.
Which means not only do we not deserve anything, what we do deserve based upon what we have done is wrath.
Anything we receive better than that is grace.
Grace comes from his fullness.
The word fullness means that which is complete, filled to the brim, lacking nothing.
The opposite of full is what? empty.
That word means containing nothing. Lacking.
And we must see this morning that spiritually speaking our lives are empty apart from Jesus.
We are the opposite of full.
I want you to hear what the Bible says about those who are outside of Christ…
John 4 and Isaiah 55 compares our spiritual state to being hungry and thirsty.
Revelation 3 and 2 Corinthians 4 calls us poor and blind.
Ephesians 2 we were dead.
John 8 says enslaved.
Ephesians 4 lost and separated.
Genesis 3 naked and ashamed.
In other words, spiritually speaking, apart from Jesus, we are empty in every way that matters.
Spiritually speaking that’s where we are.
And I truly believe people feel that emptiness. They know it.
But the problem is— Most of the time people don’t go to the right place to be filled.
The other day I was in my truck and I was driving home and I happened to look down to see the dreaded light on my dash that told me I was approaching the point at which my truck will be out of gas.
And my truck has the feature where it will tell you the range.
And so I looked on the dash and the range said 0 miles to empty.
And I thought.. Oh boy.. I’ll be honest I didn’t know how long it had been that way and so I figured I needed to stop very soon at a gas station.
And so I actually turned off the road that I was on to go to a closer gas station that I knew it was nearby.
But when I got there, their gas pumps were out of order.
They’ve got the little yellow bags on all the gas pumps.
And so now I’m super frustrated because they didn’t have what I needed and now I’m further away from another gas station.
I thought I could get what I needed there, it just left me more empty and frustrated.
And this really illustrates well what I see in a lot of people spiritually speaking.
I truly do think people feel this emptiness just by virtue of being in this world apart from Jesus.
I believe there is an inherent emptiness we feel.
The Bible tells us in Ecclesiastes 3:11—God has put eternity into man’s heart…
There is a sense in which all human beings, have what the reformers called a sense of the divine.
In other words, human beings are born with an innate awareness of God—a built-in capacity to recognize that something more than this world exists.
Romans 1 and 2 tells us this.
In simple terms: Humans are wired to know God.
But at the same time, because sin has entered the world, we are born with a sin nature that rejects God.
And so here is what happens— With most people, rather than going to the fullness of Jesus where God has made himself known, most people try and fill their emptiness from sources that just ain’t got what we need.
For example- people look to fill their emptiness with a certain position or a job.
“If I could just get this job… I’d be happy..”
People look to fill their emptiness with more money.
“If I could just make more money… I’d be satisfied…”
People look to fill their emptiness with a substance.
“Just one more drink… One more hit… One more pill…”
People look to fill their emptiness with relationships with other people.
“If I could just find somebody…”
People look to fill their emptiness by presenting a certain image that they believe will impress other people on social media.
“I need to wear this or that or post this or that, because I want people to notice me…”
But really, isn’t that all truly heartbreaking because the reality is you can try and fill your longing heart with those things, but they just leave you more empty and frustrated.
The dash light is on and so they go searching to be filled but every place they go— the pumps are out out of order.
Scripture testifies to this truth.
“Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food.
Isaiah there, is lamenting over the fact that the people are empty, and there is a place that they can truly find food and find water spiritually speaking and it’s in the Lord, but they’re going to all these other different places.
And Isaiah expressing the heart of God toward the people: What are we doing? Those places do not satisfy.
Beloved friend hear this this morning..
You can get the job. You can get the money. You can get the relationship. You can order the drink and get the substances.
You can get the likes and the notoriety.
But those things will not fill the hole inside your heart.
You can have everything this world has to offer, and If you do not have Jesus Christ, then you will still be empty.
This text is telling us there is one place to be filled.
And it’s from his fullness.
The fullness belongs to Jesus, the One who is truly God and truly man.
“From his fullness” establishes Jesus Christ as the fountain of grace.
John, as a believer has experienced the filling and the goodness, and so he tells us where it can be found.
Wednesday night we had our Christmas dinner and Mrs Ellen made a cake.
And I saw several people get a piece of that cake and I heard several conversations that went like this— mmmmm… you need to go get you some of that cake right there.
That’s some good cake.
What was happening there? People found something good and they told others about it.
That’s what is happening here in this text—
John has experienced the fullness of the grace of God.
He’s telling us where it can be found.
It’s found in Jesus.
Now let’s walk through the second part of this verse.
For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.
John says here, from Him we have received.
Certainly, John is speaking about the saving grace he received when he was called to faith in Jesus Christ.
There was a moment in time when he was converted when he turned from his sin, trusted in Christ, and was justified before God.
But John makes it clear this reception of grace does not stop there.
This is not a one-time experience.
It is not merely an initial feeling we get when we say a prayer.
Rather, this is an ongoing reception (an ongoing filling) of grace given to those who are in Christ.
Yes, we are saved by grace in a moment.
But we are also sustained by grace throughout our lives.
This is what Jesus meant when He told the woman at the well.
..Whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
In other words, Our emptiness is filled—and it stays filled.
The grace that saves us is the same grace that continues to supply us, sustain us, and carry us all the way home
Through the good times we are filled with joy and hope and peace and comfort, knowing that Christ is ours.
And then through the bad times, through the times that punch us in the gut, through the times that a very difficult, John is telling us here that there’s Grace for that time too.
I think this is what he means in the rest of the verse from his fullness we all have received grace upon grace.
Grace on top of Grace on top of Grace.
God’s dealings with His people are marked by unceasing grace on top of grace.
And the good news is this.. It doesn’t run out.
And we don’t have to wonder whether His grace is enough.
Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 12:9 after pleading for his thorn to be removed….
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
Paul wasn’t promised relief from suffering.
He was promised that God’s grace would be enough for him in it.
That is what John means by grace upon grace.
Grace that saves us, grace that sustains us, and grace carries us through the moments that are hard.
God’s grace does not run dry when life gets hard… the beauty of grace is it multiplies.
The hymn writer said it this way and I’ve quoted this one before but its so.
He giveth more grace when the burdens grow greater; He sendeth more strength when the labors increase.To added affliction He addeth His mercy; to multiplied trials, His multiplied peace.
When we have exhausted our store of endurance,
when our strength has failed before the day is half done, when we reach the end of our hoarded resources, our Father’s full giving is only begun
His love has no limit; His grace has no measure.
His pow'r has no boundary known unto men.
For out of His infinite riches in Jesus,
He giveth, and giveth, and giveth again!
Grace Upon Grace.
And we need this grace.
We needed Jesus to come, because we couldn’t get to him any other way.
Look in verse 17.
For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
Now, let’s be clear John is not diminishing the Law or the role Moses played in bringing it.
He is simply stating:
God gave the Law through Moses.
The law was a gift from God and it did some very helpful things.
The law revealed God’s holiness.
The law reveals the standard and what God expects of human beings.
But the law never saved one sinner.
The law can diagnose the problem, but it can’t cure it.
The law shows us our sin, but it can’t remove our guilt.
The law commands righteousness, but it cannot create righteousness in us.
The law tells us what God requires, but it gives us no power to meet those requirements.
For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
There are different words here used that I think are helpful to distinguish.
The law was given.
But grace and truth came.
The Law was a set of rules, requirements.
It was given as a to do or not do list.
Grace and truth came in a person.
Jesus Christ.
Grace is God giving us what we do not deserve.
Truth is God telling us things as they really are.
In Jesus we get both.
Grace and Truth.
Now, some in our world today want to just present one side of this..
Some folks will tell you the truth, but they leave out grace. That’s an incomplete gospel.
That’s not what Jesus did.
But then there are others, who want to hold out grace without telling the truth.
That’s also an incomplete gospel.
That’s not what Jesus did either.
Grace AND truth came through Jesus.
Jesus told the truth about sin and judgment but He was also extending grace and forgiveness.
And he does that ultimately by taking that judgment upon Himself.
With Jesus, we get it all.
Grace and truth.
Finally we end with John telling us, God has perfectly made Himself known- he has perfectly made grace and truth known in Jesus.
Look at verse 18
No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.
God is invisible.
God is infinite.
God is beyond our ability to discover on our own.
No one has ever seen God.
But then he says the only God, who is at the Father’s side… Who is he talking about?
Jesus Christ… Jesus has made Him known.
This is why Jesus said what he said to Phillip in John 14:8-9
Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father…..
If you want to know who God is, look at Jesus.
If you want to know God’s heart toward sinners, look to Jesus..
Jesus is the full and final revelation of God.
Jesus coming to us in the manger was not God hiding from us.
That was God coming near.
That was God stepping into our darkness.
That was God making Himself known.
And how did He make Himself known?
Not just through teaching and miracle and that stuff.
But ultimately he shows us the fullness of His character by going to the cross.
At the cross, grace and truth met.
Truth is there because sin is an offense to a Holy God and it must be punished.
Grace is there because Jesus takes that punishment for us.
This is why John can say we have received grace upon grace.
Grace instead of condemnation.
Grace instead of wrath.
Grace instead of judgment.
In closing, let me remind us again what John has been telling us.
From His fullness, we have received grace upon grace.
That means God does not save you and then leave you to fend for yourself.
He does not justify you and then grow impatient with your weakness.
He does not begin a work in you and then run out of resources halfway through.
The same grace that saved you is the grace that sustains you.
The same grace that forgave you is the grace that keeps you.
This time of year we get gift cards to give and we receive gift cards.
I love a gift card.
But one thing that you have to be careful about with a gift card is you have to know the balance.
Because once you use it, its gone.
Unless you refill it, once you have spent it, the card is worthless.
What we see here in this text is that grace is the exact opposite of that.
Grace does not run out.
Some of you need to hear this this morning:
You have not exhausted the grace of God.
From His fullness, there is still grace for today.
Grace for obedience.
Grace for repentance.
Grace for suffering.
Grace for perseverance.
And if you are here this morning and you have never trusted in Jesus Christ, hear me clearly—this grace is offered to you right now.
You do not have to fix yourself.
You do not have to clean yourself up.
You do not have to make yourself worthy.
You come empty, and He fills.
You come broken, and He restores.
You come guilty, and He forgives.
That is why Jesus came.
That is why the Word became flesh.
That is why grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
And for those of us who are believers, this grace should change how we live.
From His fullness, we have received grace upon grace.
Let’s pray.
