Jesus embodies all the grace God has for you and me. John the Beloved says in the Gospel of John, "Jesus represents the fullness of the Father's grace and truth" (John 1:14).
Jesus is not only a truth-teller but a grace-giver. Most of us struggle to give grace and tell others the truth simultaneously, but not Jesus. He is most known for the phrase, "I tell you the truth..." and He is most seen as one who gives grace.
Every relationship that encountered Jesus was given equal opportunity to experience grace and accept the truth. However, many then, just as today, choose to waste the grace and ignore the truth.
Proverbs 19:3 says, "People ruin their lives by their own foolishness and then are angry at the Lord."
That's a convicting verse. How often have you and I ignored the truth of God, wasted the grace of God, and blamed God for the outcome of a situation or circumstances that were provoked or triggered by our poor choices? And yet, God is still a God of grace.
None of us will arrive at the final destination of our lives having lived a perfect life in the eyes of God. We all fall short of the glory of God.
The Gospel of John tells us in John 1:14 that Jesus is the One who is full of God's grace and truth. All of us are full of something, Jesus is full of grace and truth. He has enough grace to overcome your sins and enough truth to free you from any deception you have chosen to believe about your life.
All of us have a sin that does so easily beset us, maybe more than one, but the Gospel of John wants us to know that regardless of what we are full of, God's grace and truth in Jesus is fuller still. God wants us to experience His grace and His truth for a lifetime.
I have been a follower of Jesus Christ now for almost 45 years and sometimes I wonder if Jesus gets tired of me and my struggles with sin. I have received Jesus as the grace for my sin. I believe Jesus is the truth to free me from the bonds of sin in this life, but the practicality of my life would often say otherwise. My choices look more like Proverbs 19:3 sometimes and less like Romans 8. Even as a pastor, just hours after telling everyone else what God's Word says about living for Him, I find myself falling right back into the familiar battles, false beliefs, and discouragement of my own life, circumstances, and relationships.
Where is one to turn as this Romans 7 battle rages in my heart and the practicality of my day-to-day faith walk with Jesus? Maybe you can relate.
As a pastor, I watch so many give up on their walk with the Lord because they become discouraged by the battle that rages and the victories that seem to remain elusive in their private everyday lives. Where is one to turn in these moments of discouragement? Where is one to turn when you wonder if God is rolling His eyes at you and saying to Himself about you, "Not you again!"
The Gospel of John gives us some hope in the trenches of our discouragement with personal sin. John 1:16 says, "For from his fullness we have all received grace upon grace." The verse is referring to Jesus, the light of the world, the Word of God made flesh. From Jesus' fullness we have all received grace upon grace. The fullness John is referring to here is the fullness of grace and truth mentioned in John 1:14. God's grace is greater than your sin and God's truth is more powerful than the deceptive lies Satan tells every one of us.
There is hope to be found in this for our daily battle with sin. But what does it mean to receive grace upon grace? The Greek construct of this phrase (χάριν ἀντὶ χάριτος) can be translated "grace upon grace" but nowhere else in the New Testament does this phrase occur. It is known in Greek as a hapax legomenon, which simply means, it doesn't occur anywhere else.
One of my favourite things to do is go to the beach, plop down in my chair and read a good book while I listen to the waves. Wave after wave after wave crashes into the beach just a few feet away, and the rhythm of this sound over time brings incredible peace, hope, and joy to my soul.
This is what John was referring to in John 1:16. God's grace with truth just keeps crashing the beach of our lives. He has grace after grace after grace. Like those waves on the beach shore, his grace never stops. Matter of fact, the writer of Lamentations 3:22 says, "The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness."
Each day, each morning is mercy after mercy. The waves of grace are unending and unlimited!
This is the concept in John 1:16. It is like waves at the ocean. One incredible wave of God's mercy and grace comes upon you and before you can process that, here comes another beautiful wave of God's goodness and mercy into your life.
After 45 years of walking with Jesus in faith in Him, I am learning to rest in the sound of the waves of God's grace and accept the truth that washes over me to forgive me of my sin. I hope you find a chair on the beach of your life too and learn to enjoy the sound of God's waves of grace and the hope that comes from them, because just like the waves on a beach, His grace just keeps coming, grace after grace!
