JOHN 1
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; God the only Son, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known. – John 1:14-18
JOHN 1 GRACE UPON GRACE
A poem by ILMA inspired by these verses
At the beginning of all creation, God showed his grace to us all
He provided all the needs of Adam and Eve even after the fall
Though God banished them from Eden, he still clothed them when they left
No human can appease God’s wrath, so, Christ was given to redeem us
Then, more grace was showered to undeserving sinners that we are
Grace upon grace is displayed as Jesus paid a high prize for us on the cross
Until Jesus’ return, truth will fill us up with grace from God himself
Let us rejoice and live in fullness from his unending love and grace.
Biblestudytools.com speaks of the origin of grace. It says that it originated in God’s heart and wove its way throughout the Old Testament into the New Testament. Jesus became human as the Son of God, so that we will know God whom we have not seen yet. It was the gift of grace that we are able to see a way out of our sinfulness. It was only through Jesus, who is grace itself that we can be saved. The website continued to explain that “Out of the fullness of God in Jesus, we can now receive the gift of grace. Grace was already given in the beginning, but it was replaced with a new and greater grace! The story of grace goes back to the beginning of time, all the way back to the first few chapters in the book of Genesis.”
How do we continue to receive the grace that overflows from the love of God to his own people? One way we can continually receive grace is by focusing on his truth and living a life that is uncorrupted by the world system. Since he is a holy God and if we are to have a relationship with him, we need to ensure that our lives must be lived for the purpose of giving God all the glory. It is unwise for us to take for granted the gravity of our sins because when we do so, we are being ungrateful to the Lord himself. How can we dismiss or discount the value of the biggest sacrifice ever done on earth by Jesus himself? We can easily miss the value of grace when we are so corrupted and defiled by the systems of the world. Imagine that someone gave you a precious gift that you didn’t expect. It was an undeserved gift that solved all your problems with finances and difficulties. Would you not be forever grateful to that person? It is the same thing with grace. God only wants us to remember the giver and not focus on the gift itself. He wants to be praised for what we have received and be given the glory for it.
REFLECTION
- How can grace be made manifest in a Christian’s life?
