Introducing the Incarnate God - Rivers of Grace

Introduction

Outline

Introducing the Incarnate God so that we might believe and have eternal life – John 1:1-18

Jesus as Pre-existent God

Jesus; the eternal God – John1:1-2

Jesus; the high creator – John1:3

Jesus; life itself – John1:4

Jesus; the truth light – John1:4-5

Self-revelation of a pre-existent God.

A man sent that we might believe – John 1:6-8

Failure to believe; failure to live – John 1:9-11

The right to life – John 1:12-13

Rivers of grace from a pre-existent God – John 1:14-18

A tabernacling God – John 1:14

Glory of the One and Only – John 1:14

Grace and Truth – John 1:14

The High-Ranking God – John 1:15

Fullness of Grace – John 1:16

Law and Christ – John 1:17

Invisible God Revealed – John 1:18

Sermon Body

Introducing the Incarnate God so that we might believe and have eternal life – John 1:1-18

Jesus as Pre-existent God

Jesus; the eternal God – John1:1-2

Jesus; the high creator – John1:3

Jesus; life itself – John1:4

Jesus; the truth light – John 1:4-5.

Rivers of grace from a pre-existent God – John 1:14-18

A tabernacling God – John 1:14

John 1:14 ESV

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.

Word became flesh

This is a theme that pervades scripture.

Rom 1:3, 8:3; Gal 4:4; Phil 2:7-8; Col 1:22; 1 Tim 3:16; Heb 2:14; 1 John 4:2; 2 John 7.

Consider just one - 2 John 7

2 John 7 ESV

7 For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist.

So essential to the gospel is his incarnation that to deny is to be a deceiver and an antichrist.

Became Flesh

Does not imply he somehow JUST NOW came into being. John 1:1-5 well establishes his eternality.

Does not imply he became LESS THAN GOD. Again, John 1:1-5 well establishes his deity.

He became flesh IN ADDITION to his deity.

By becoming flesh, he was adding to his being, not changing or downgrading.

The “Word” is the eternal name for the young Child of Bethlehem. He is so called because He is the revealer of the Father, the exponent of Godhead. He is so now; He was so in the days of his flesh; He has been so from eternity. The names Christ, Immanuel, Jesus, are His earthly ones; His names in time connected with His incarnate condition; but the names “Word” and “Son” are expressive of His eternal standing, His eternal relationship to the Father. What He was in time and on earth, that same He has been in heaven and from eternity. The glory which He had “before the world was” (John 17:5), and of which He “emptied himself” (Phil. 2:7), was the glory of the eternal Word, the everlasting Son. As the eternal revealer of Godhead, the “brightness of Jehovah’s glory, and the express image of His person,” His name ever was THE WORD; as the declarer of the mind of God to man, His name is no less THE WORD, with this addition, “the Word made flesh.” The Word Was Made Flesh – John 1:14, 1887. Horatius Bonar

The eternal God, whose form is Spirit, entered flesh

FOR US

Does this not blow your mind?

Eternal God

Creator God

Life itself

The true light

Condescended himself, limiting himself to the confines of created flesh.

FOR US

He become flesh AND DWELT among us.

Dwelt among us

Literally, tabernacled; Pitched his tent

Imagery from Exodus 25:8.

Exodus 25:8 ESV

8 And let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst.

God, gives his people instructions for the construction of the tabernacle. As he is establishing his covenant with the people, as he gives them the commandments to follow, it is KEY that God established his residence IN THE MIDST OF THEM.

The tabernacle was to be situation at the CENTER of their assembly (Numbers 2).

Full of Eyes, a devotional by Christopher Powers depicts it like this....

Commenting on his art, he states.

Exodus 24:16, “The glory of YHWH dwelt on Mount Sinai…”

Exodus 25:8, “And let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst.”

Exodus 24:16 tells us that the glory of the LORD dwelt on Sinai. Of course, we know—as did Moses—that God is “omnipresent,” but in a unique way, His glory dwelt at the top of Sinai. This is, no doubt intended by both YHWH and Moses as the author to be an echo of the “cosmic mountain” motif that was common in Ancient Near Eastern thought, Sinai representing the exalted throne of the universal deity (this interpretation is enforced by the “throne room” style vision in 24:10). Then, in 25:1-8, and especially 8, we learn that YHWH’s desire is to descend from this heavenly throne, as it were, and dwell among His people in a tent made of wood and leather and cloth.

This much is clear from the Exodus text and seems intended by the dual use of “dwell” in close proximity (24:16, 25:8). It seems to me that John picks up on this specific dynamic and highlights it in his prologue, especially, 1:14 where he says,

“The Word became flesh and dwelt (literally “tented” or “pitched His tent”) among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only begotten Son of the Father, full of grace and truth (echoing “steadfast love and faithfulness” from Ex.34:6-7).”

John understands the descent of YHWH from His Sinaitic throne into the nomadic tabernacle as a foreshadowing of the true descent of YHWH: the incarnation, in which the Son descends from the true throne and dwells with His people in a tent of flesh and bone. An awesome connection and one that I think the Holy Spirit Himself makes for us….Note also that the Tabernacle is not just the tent structure, but it includes within its bounds the “throne” of God, represented by the Ark of the covenant, and the altar of burnt sacrifice. When YHWH dwells with His people, it will be in a structure that combines both exalted glory (the throne / ark) and bloody sacrifice (the altar).

Gloriously, we see these same two realities united in the true dwelling of God with His people, the man Christ Jesus. The Ark and Altar are united at the cross where the King of Israel, in climactic steadfast love and faithfulness, is enthroned on the altar of sacrifice (Matt.26:64, 27:42). And this unity of throne and altar never ends, in fact, John’s final vision of the eternal state has at its very center the Altar-Throne of the Slain and Risen Lamb who is the radiance of the glory of God and lamp of the New Heavens and Earth (Revelation 22:1).

Christopher Powers

God descended, condescended himself to dwell in the midst of his creation.

Why? Why on earth would the eternal God, creator, source of life, and light do this?

Hebrews 2:14-16.

Hebrews 2:14–16 ESV

14 Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. 16 For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham.

He did it so that he could know us better and we could him better.

God is THAT interested in relationship to us.

And don’t ask me to explain why.

Because there are days I can barely stand myself.

I have no idea how God stands to be near me, or why he wants to be near me.

But God became flesh and he dwelt among us because he loved us and wanted us to have life in Him.

His coming exposed to us His glory in a way that was never before seen.

Glory of the One and Only – John 1:14

John 1:14 ESV

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.

We have seen His glory

We - The eyewitnesses

John 2:11; Luke 9:32; 2 Peter 1:16-17; 1 John 1:1; 4:14

And by extension, we all have seen his glory.

His word, written by eyewitnesses, is preserved so that too might see His glory, even if it is second hand.

Glory

What is glory?

The condition of being bright or shining.

State of being magnificent

Honor as enhancement or recognition of status or performance

Transcendent being deserving of honor

The glory of God is the immeasurable beauty of God.

The glory of God is simply this....All of his beauty, worth, and value!

God’s glory is seen in WHO he is.

This is evidenced in WHAT he does.

The glory of God is...

The holiness of God

The love of God

The mercy of God

The grace of God

The justice of God

The wrath of God (In this way, Hell is a manifestation of his glory…his righteous wrath against sin)

The righteousness of God

The wisdom of God

The power of God

The purity of God

The omnipotence of God

The omnipresence of God

The omniscience of God

The faithfulness of God

The patience of God

The kindness of God

The goodness of God

The compassion of God

The selflessness of God

The discipline of God

The presence of God

The judgement of God

Everywhere you see the person or work of God, you behold His glory.

Examples of glory....

“God has no needs. Human love, as Plato teaches us, is the child of Poverty – of want or lack; it is caused by a real or supposed goal in its beloved which the lover needs and desires. But God's love, far from being caused by goodness in the object, causes all the goodness which the object has, loving it first into existence, and then into real, though derivative, lovability. God is Goodness. He can give good, but cannot need or get it. In that sense , His love is, as it were, bottomlessly selfless by very definition; it has everything to give, and nothing to receive.” ― C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain

There has been a wonderful alteration in my mind, in respect to the doctrine of God’s sovereignty, from that day to this… God’s absolute sovereignty… is what my mind seems to rest assured of, as much as of anything that I see with my eyes… The doctrine has very often appeared exceeding pleasant, bright, and sweet. Absolute sovereignty is what I love to ascribe to God… God’s sovereignty has ever appeared to me, [a] great part of His glory. It has often been my delight to approach God, and adore him as a sovereign God. The Works of Jonathan Edwards, Selections, p. 59, 67, Published by the Banner of Truth Trust, Carlisle, PA 17013. Jonathan Edwards

The great, and glorious end for which God decreed the after-being of sin, is His own glory: and the ends subordinate thereunto are not a few. Particularly, God decreed the futurition of sin: 1. That He might have occasion of glorifying His infinite wisdom, love, and grace in the redemption and salvation of a company of lost sinners through the death and sufferings of His own dear Son. 2. That His patience and long suffering in bearing with and forbearing sinners, might be magnified, admired, and adored. 3. That He might be honoured and glorified by the faith and repentance of His people, and their walking humbly with Him. 4. That His justice might be illustriously displayed and glorified in the eternal damnation of reprobate sinners for their own sins and abominations, sin being the cause of their damnation, though not of their reprobation.

Of the Decrees of God, Commentary on the Shorter Catechism. Thomas Boston

These are but a few of the ways that the glory of God, the beauty of God, the worth of God is seen, celebrated, and worshipped!

An important to make....GOD IS GLORIOUS EVEN IF WE FAIL TO ACKNOWLEDGE IT OR REFUSE TO WORSHIP HIM.

A man can no more diminish God’s glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling "darkness" on the walls of his cell. C.S. Lewis

HE IS glorious. Period.

When we have eyes to see and faith to acknowledge it, we are blessed to worship it and enjoy it.

Glory as of the only Son from the Father

The one and only Son....

The one of a kind Son, from the Father

The son possesses the same glory as the Father.

They are the same, Father and Son.

The Son’s glory shows us the Father’s glory.

Grace and Truth – John 1:14

John 1:14 ESV

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.

The Father (and the Son) are full of grace and truth.

Let’s unpack that for a moment.

FULL

Containing all it can hold....

Not able to take any more...

Complete, lacking nothing.

Grace

Unmerited favor

Favor that would send witness on ahead of his coming SO THAT we might believe and have life. (See John 1:7).

Truth is, God did not have to.

He did not have to come at all.

He would have been just and good just destroying us all.

But he didn’t.

Thou Son of the Blessed, what grace was manifest in Thy condescension! Grace brought Thee down from heaven; Grace stripped Thee of Thy glory; Grace made Thee poor and despicable; Grace made Thee bear such burdens of sin, such burdens of sorrow, such burdens of God’s curse as are unspeakable. John Bunyan

Grace, this unmerited favor is what caused God to send a His Son to be our Savior.

Grace moved God to send a herald so that we would recognize and be prepared to receive him.

He is also full of truth.

Truth

An actual event or state; reality.

The reality of HOW SOMETHING IS.

Truth is truth whether it is acknowledged or not.

You and I can discover truth, but we cannot create it. What’s true is true and what’s not is not – for all of us, all the time. Our culture views truth as something inside us, subject to revision according to our growth and enlightenment. Scripture views truth as something outside us, which we can believe or not but can never sway. The Grace and Truth Paradox, 2003, Used by Permission from Eternal Perspective Ministries, www.epm.org, p. 39. Randy Alcorn

Truth is discovered, not created.

John MacArthur notes...

John 1–11: The MacArthur New Testament Commentary The Nature of the Incarnation

The two attributes most closely connected with salvation are grace and truth. Scripture teaches that salvation is wholly by believing God’s truth in the gospel, by which one receives His saving grace.

GOD is FULL of Grace AND TRUTH.

Scripture is clear, it is by accepting, believing and responding to truth by faith that salvation is granted through grace.

Jesus is the FULL expression of grace

Jesus is the FULL expression of truth.

Do not let the wonder and joy of this reality pass you by.

Grace and Truth

A paradox is an apparent contradiction. Grace and truth aren’t really contradictory. Jesus didn’t switch on truth, then turn it off so He could switch on grace. Both are permanently switched on in Jesus. Both should be switched on in us… Truth without grace breeds a self-righteousness legalism that poisons the church and pushes the world from Christ. Grace without truth breeds moral indifference and keeps people from seeing their need for Christ.  Attempts to “soften” the gospel by minimizing truth keep people from Jesus. Attempts to “toughen” the gospel by minimizing grace keep people from Jesus. It’s not enough for us to offer grace or truth. We must offer both. The Grace and Truth Paradox, 2003, Used by Permission from Eternal Perspective Ministries, www.epm.org, p. 17-18. Randy Alcorn

Grace never lowers the standards of holiness. Jesus didn’t lower the bar, He raised it (Mt. 5:27-28)! The Grace and Truth Paradox, 2003, Used by Permission from Eternal Perspective Ministries, www.epm.org, p. 66. Randy Alcorn

The ancient, historical Jesus came full of grace and truth. The modern, mythological Jesus comes full of tolerance and relativism. Even in the church truth is sometimes buried under subjectivism and cowardice, while grace is lost in a sea of permissiveness and indifference. Without truth, we lack courage to speak and convictions to speak about. Without grace, we lack compassion to meet people’s deepest needs. The vast majority of colleges were built with the vision and funding of Christians. Why? To teach truth. Most American hospitals were built with the vision and funding of Christians. Why? To extend grace. We don’t have the luxury of choosing either grace or truth. Yet many believers habitually embrace one instead of the other, according to our temperament, background, church or family. We must learn to say yes to both grace and truth – and say no to whatever keeps us from them. The Grace and Truth Paradox, 2003, Used by Permission from Eternal Perspective Ministries, www.epm.org, p. 72-73. Randy Alcorn

God’s grace faces hell’s reality straight on, offering full deliverance. Denying hell takes the wind out of grace’s sails. If there’s no eternal hell, the stakes of redemption are vastly lowered. What exactly did Jesus die to rescue us from? The Grace and Truth Paradox, 2003, Used by Permission from Eternal Perspective Ministries, www.epm.org, p. 75. Get this book! Randy Alcorn

If we minimize grace the world sees no hope for salvation. If we minimize truth, the world sees no need for salvation. To show the world Jesus, we must offer unabridged grace and truth, emphasizing both, apologizing for neither. The Grace and Truth Paradox, 2003, Used by Permission from Eternal Perspective Ministries, www.epm.org, p. 87. Randy Alcorn

God, Jesus is FULL of Grace AND Truth, in perfect balance.

The High-Ranking God – John 1:15

John 1:15 ESV

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.’ ”)

This statement of John speaks to and affirms Jesus’ eternality.

He who comes after me

Jesus was born 6 months after John

Ranks before me because he was before me

Though his physical birth comes

He ranks HIGHER than John BECAUSE He existed BEFORE John.

He is God.

Eternal, creator God who is life and light

THUS He ranks higher and is greater than John who is mere man.

Fullness of Grace – John 1:16

John 1:16 ESV

16 For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.

God, Jesus is FULL of Grace

I was a sinner, less perfect than God. By conviction of the Holy Spirit I learned that my condition would incur the eternal condemnation of God if I did not submit to His grace. I acknowledged myself a sinner and threw myself on His mercy and grace, recognizing that He had brought salvation to earth through His Son Jesus Christ. After God the Father put God the Son to death on the cross, He could proclaim grace and pardon to all who would submit to Him. I came to the cross, believed His promise about His Son, and God declared me righteous even while I was ungodly and gave me authority to become His child. I ceased to be a child of wrath and became a child of God, justified from all things. Simultaneously, I was declared to be an heir of God, joint-heir with Jesus Christ. I received eternal life, and shall never perish. I was accepted in the Beloved; my body became the temple of the Holy Spirit; I was born of the Spirit into the family of God, baptized by the Holy Spirit into the body of Christ, and sealed by the Holy Spirit unto the day of redemption. I have an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that fades not away, reserved in Heaven for me. Although I know myself to be a sinner, I am not concerned about the penalty for sin, since the Lord Jesus Christ bore the penalty and declared me righteous. The love of Christ becomes the constraining factor in my life, and I seek to glorify Him as Lord. I know Him as my Creator and so have peace of mind. I know Him as Savior and so have peace of conscience. In the measure that I enter into the second rest, I know Him as Lord and find the peace that passes all understanding. Commentary on Romans, eerdmans.com. Donald Grey Barnhouse

This is RIVERS OF GRACE

It flows at us in ceaseless currents.

Listen, if you, if I am not DAILY, moment by moment affected and changed for this fullness of grace, we are not rightly meditating upon or living in the reality of that grace

Law and Christ – John 1:17

John 1:17 ESV

17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

Invisible God Revealed – John 1:18

John 1:18 ESV

18 No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.

Conclusion