Grace And Glory (John 1:14-18)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.640 --> 00:00:04.320 Well, my friends, let's turn to the gospel of John. You can 2 00:00:04.480 --> 00:00:09.509 turn in your bibles or simply turn your attention. At least turn your attention 3 00:00:10.470 --> 00:00:17.829 to John Chapter One. John Chapter One, I'm going to be preaching versus 4 00:00:18.030 --> 00:00:24.780 fourteen through eighteen, but I think I'll go ahead and read from the beginning 5 00:00:24.899 --> 00:00:34.299 again. So let's give our attention to God's word now. John One, 6 00:00:35.060 --> 00:00:40.530 beginning at verse one. In the beginning was the word, and the word 7 00:00:40.649 --> 00:00:44.170 was with God, and the word was God. He was in the beginning 8 00:00:44.250 --> 00:00:48.210 with God. All things were made through him and without him was not anything 9 00:00:48.289 --> 00:00:53.719 made. That was made in him was life, and the life was the 10 00:00:53.759 --> 00:00:57.920 light of men. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not 11 00:00:58.079 --> 00:01:03.439 overcome it. There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 12 00:01:03.549 --> 00:01:07.189 He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light that all might 13 00:01:07.230 --> 00:01:11.269 believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness 14 00:01:11.390 --> 00:01:15.549 about the light, the true light which enlightens everyone, was coming into the 15 00:01:15.670 --> 00:01:19.140 world. He was in the world and the world was made through him. 16 00:01:19.140 --> 00:01:23.099 Yet the world did not know him. He came to his own and his 17 00:01:23.219 --> 00:01:26.939 own people did not receive him, but to all who did receive him, 18 00:01:26.260 --> 00:01:30.140 who believed in his name. He gave the right to become children of God, 19 00:01:30.859 --> 00:01:34.650 who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, 20 00:01:34.170 --> 00:01:38.209 nor of the will of man, but of God. And the word 21 00:01:38.329 --> 00:01:44.450 became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory. Glory 22 00:01:44.609 --> 00:01:48.719 is of the only son from the father, full of grace and truth. 23 00:01:49.560 --> 00:01:53.439 John bore witness about him and cried out. This was he of whom I 24 00:01:53.640 --> 00:01:57.120 said, he who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before 25 00:01:57.159 --> 00:02:05.870 me and from his fullness we have all received grace upon grace, for the 26 00:02:05.909 --> 00:02:12.030 law was given through Moses. Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No 27 00:02:12.150 --> 00:02:16.219 one has ever seen God, the only God, who is at the father's 28 00:02:16.340 --> 00:02:23.900 side. He has made him known. May God bless his word, the 29 00:02:24.020 --> 00:02:35.370 revelation of his son to us. He may be seated. So John Chapter 30 00:02:35.490 --> 00:02:38.330 One, verses fourteen through eighteen, the focus of the sermon this morning. 31 00:02:39.330 --> 00:02:47.199 John begins a new section giving us some kind of background information after introducing a 32 00:02:47.680 --> 00:02:53.400 John The baptist. He's teaching us. He's teaching us about Jesus and who 33 00:02:53.520 --> 00:03:00.710 who he is. But that background information doesn't mean that it's unimportant. In 34 00:03:00.750 --> 00:03:02.750 the other words, John Begins to tell us about John and then he takes 35 00:03:02.789 --> 00:03:09.069 a second to contrast John with Jesus. But that doesn't mean that the focus 36 00:03:09.189 --> 00:03:14.819 of this book is all about John. Indeed, it is the Gospel about 37 00:03:14.939 --> 00:03:22.419 Jesus. This is Jesus's biography, and this is important to understand because the 38 00:03:22.580 --> 00:03:28.169 things that are said here, the things that are impressed upon our hearts, 39 00:03:29.009 --> 00:03:38.409 are very, very important. Even these first few words and the word became 40 00:03:38.689 --> 00:03:49.639 flesh are specifically singled out throughout the Bible and in particular in the writings of 41 00:03:49.719 --> 00:03:57.990 John, as essential, as critical, as even a whole sum summary of 42 00:03:58.069 --> 00:04:02.110 of our faith. And so we want to think about that this morning. 43 00:04:03.069 --> 00:04:08.909 What does it mean that the word became flesh? What is John The evangelist 44 00:04:09.150 --> 00:04:15.139 telling us about Jesus? Why is that so important? Happily, this coincides 45 00:04:15.180 --> 00:04:18.500 nicely with Christmastime, or as we come close to Christmas and we think about 46 00:04:18.540 --> 00:04:24.180 the incarnation. What does it mean that the word, this word that he 47 00:04:24.290 --> 00:04:27.529 introduced at the beginning of the book, as from the beginning, as with 48 00:04:27.850 --> 00:04:32.089 God, as one as as God, this word who has life and light, 49 00:04:32.689 --> 00:04:36.810 this word who is divine? What does it mean that that word, 50 00:04:38.129 --> 00:04:45.879 this son of God, became flesh? That's what we will think about this 51 00:04:46.079 --> 00:04:54.430 morning and hopefully to all our benefit. So first an essential doctrine. Right, 52 00:04:55.189 --> 00:04:58.589 listen to what John says in First John, Chapter Four, verse two. 53 00:04:58.750 --> 00:05:02.629 He says by this you know the spirit of God. Every spirit that 54 00:05:02.790 --> 00:05:10.139 confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God. All right. 55 00:05:10.180 --> 00:05:12.459 So this is the test that John Applies. He says, if you 56 00:05:12.540 --> 00:05:17.060 want to know as somebody's truly of God, if they truly have the spirit 57 00:05:17.100 --> 00:05:23.689 of God or not. He asked this. Do they confess that Jesus Christ 58 00:05:23.810 --> 00:05:27.649 has come in the flesh? Do they confess this thing that we have written 59 00:05:27.689 --> 00:05:31.529 here in our text this morning, that the word became flesh? He says 60 00:05:31.569 --> 00:05:38.800 a similar thing in one seven, for many deceivers have gone out into the 61 00:05:38.879 --> 00:05:44.399 world. This is in second John, one seven, for many deceivers have 62 00:05:44.560 --> 00:05:48.439 gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus 63 00:05:48.480 --> 00:05:55.350 Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the Anti Christ. 64 00:05:57.029 --> 00:06:02.029 Right. So this is a very, very important doctrine to affirm a 65 00:06:02.189 --> 00:06:08.339 to confess the one who confesses this is a Christian, one who has the 66 00:06:08.420 --> 00:06:13.699 spirit of God. The one who refuses to confess this is a deceiver and 67 00:06:13.939 --> 00:06:20.050 an anti Christ. John says the word became flesh. So at this point 68 00:06:20.050 --> 00:06:24.769 you should be saying to yourself, I better make sure I understand this, 69 00:06:25.810 --> 00:06:30.290 I better make sure that I can confess this now. There are so many 70 00:06:30.329 --> 00:06:34.839 ways in which people have gone wrong with this doctrine. Jesus, for example, 71 00:06:34.959 --> 00:06:40.800 did not cease being God or divine when he became flesh, but he 72 00:06:41.360 --> 00:06:47.550 took on flesh, he added it. I'm Jesus didn't change substances in a 73 00:06:47.629 --> 00:06:54.589 way, lose his divinity and become humanity. People have made other errors. 74 00:06:54.670 --> 00:06:59.629 People have said that Jesus was simply pretending to be flesh or seem to be 75 00:06:59.750 --> 00:07:04.819 flesh or taught to be flesh. All of these are not true. I'm 76 00:07:04.899 --> 00:07:10.060 no, Jesus is divine and was divine, as we read in the last 77 00:07:10.139 --> 00:07:14.980 verse of John. Here, he says, the only God. Speaking of 78 00:07:15.100 --> 00:07:19.370 Jesus, who is at the father's side, he has made him known. 79 00:07:20.689 --> 00:07:27.129 This one who was from the beginning, didn't lose his divinity but instead revealed 80 00:07:27.329 --> 00:07:34.120 divinity in his humanity. These that things are important and and worthy of study. 81 00:07:34.360 --> 00:07:39.399 I won't go through all the various heresies and problems, but it is 82 00:07:39.560 --> 00:07:45.990 worth your time to think about the many ways in which we can err but 83 00:07:46.149 --> 00:07:50.509 the truth. My main point here is that this truth is fundamental. It's 84 00:07:50.629 --> 00:07:57.629 sums up our faith, even that the word became flesh. Why? Because 85 00:07:57.750 --> 00:08:03.139 it establishes a very deep connection with the rest of God's self, revelation, 86 00:08:03.339 --> 00:08:07.620 the ways that God has revealed himself in the world. This passage, the 87 00:08:07.699 --> 00:08:13.009 word became flesh connects what is happening here. When she in Jesus is incarnation, 88 00:08:13.050 --> 00:08:18.370 all the way back to all the way back to the way God revealed 89 00:08:18.410 --> 00:08:24.089 himself with Adam, the way that God made himself at in his image. 90 00:08:24.129 --> 00:08:30.920 John also points out that this is connected with Moses. Jesus is incarnation brings 91 00:08:31.040 --> 00:08:35.919 something that teaches us about how we'd are understand God's Cold Covenant with Moses and 92 00:08:35.000 --> 00:08:39.399 those people there. Indeed, later on in John We will learn that this 93 00:08:41.549 --> 00:08:45.990 revelation of Christ in the flesh also has to do with God's covenant with David, 94 00:08:46.470 --> 00:08:50.269 that this likeness of coming one, this one who came as a son 95 00:08:50.350 --> 00:08:54.070 of David, and the likeness of man is important for us understanding as covenant 96 00:08:54.110 --> 00:08:58.059 with David as well. We can go through all the covenants of scripture, 97 00:08:58.419 --> 00:09:01.820 all the various promises that God has made, and in see in each one 98 00:09:03.259 --> 00:09:07.179 how Jesus is coming in the flesh fulfills these things, reveals these things, 99 00:09:07.580 --> 00:09:16.129 makes the promises that God has made a come to life. Jesus is coming 100 00:09:16.169 --> 00:09:20.970 in the flesh is the fulfillment of these promises, fulfillment of expectations and hopes, 101 00:09:22.529 --> 00:09:26.200 things that God has been saying since the very beginning, when he promised 102 00:09:26.320 --> 00:09:33.759 eve even one who would come and crush the head of the serpent, not 103 00:09:33.960 --> 00:09:39.789 to mention Jesus coming into the flesh is how we become sons of God. 104 00:09:39.029 --> 00:09:46.309 The scriptures testify. Our relationship to God is dependent upon Jesus's relationship with our 105 00:09:46.350 --> 00:09:54.019 humanity. Hebrews reminds us he didn't come and become like an angel, he 106 00:09:54.179 --> 00:10:01.580 became like man. That's a very significant a thing to wonder and behold. 107 00:10:03.019 --> 00:10:07.139 So you can see, then, why John says that those who reject this 108 00:10:07.409 --> 00:10:13.529 singular truth that Jesus Christ came in the flesh aren't even Christians. How can 109 00:10:13.570 --> 00:10:16.529 you be a Christian when you reject the thing to which all the scriptures are 110 00:10:16.610 --> 00:10:20.759 pointing to? How can you be a Christian when you reject the one, 111 00:10:22.159 --> 00:10:28.200 the or the are the thing that is essential for our very salvation? To 112 00:10:28.320 --> 00:10:31.919 reject that, to reject that, the word became flesh, rejects all the 113 00:10:33.080 --> 00:10:37.590 things that come with it. It leaves history open, it leaves promises unfilled, 114 00:10:37.629 --> 00:10:45.230 it makes the cross meaningless and it makes God absent, because it's in 115 00:10:45.309 --> 00:10:52.019 Jesus Christ coming in the flesh that we have our Emmanuel, which means God 116 00:10:52.299 --> 00:10:58.220 with us. It's Jesus is coming in the flesh that brings us God's presence. 117 00:11:01.700 --> 00:11:03.529 So I see now that I've already wandered into point two, which is 118 00:11:03.690 --> 00:11:07.129 why is this so important? Right. So my first point was supposed to 119 00:11:07.169 --> 00:11:11.690 be that this is an essential doctrine. Right. Why is it essential? 120 00:11:11.929 --> 00:11:16.409 Why is it so important? Forgive me if I repeat myself a little bit 121 00:11:16.490 --> 00:11:26.879 here. The result of Jesus is incarnation, is his presence. This is 122 00:11:28.000 --> 00:11:31.240 what John gets at. Listen to what he says in verse fourteen. The 123 00:11:31.360 --> 00:11:35.669 word became flesh. Right, there's the doctrine and then he explains that. 124 00:11:35.830 --> 00:11:39.029 He opens that up a little bit, he says, and dwelt among us 125 00:11:41.909 --> 00:11:48.700 and we have seen his glory. So those two things are the ways in 126 00:11:48.779 --> 00:11:52.980 which John helps us understand. What does it mean that the word became flesh? 127 00:11:54.539 --> 00:12:00.059 First, he dwelt among us and second we have seen his glory. 128 00:12:01.220 --> 00:12:05.210 In the next words, John then describes that glory when he says glory is 129 00:12:05.289 --> 00:12:09.049 of the only son from the father, full of grace and truth, and 130 00:12:09.169 --> 00:12:13.370 then, picking up in Verse Sixteen, from this fullness we have all received 131 00:12:13.450 --> 00:12:20.639 grace upon grace, this Jesus. He has made the invisible God known. 132 00:12:22.840 --> 00:12:26.000 You might remember the one of our hymns that we sing, immortal, invisible 133 00:12:26.039 --> 00:12:31.269 God, only wise, immortal, invisible God only wise, in light, 134 00:12:31.870 --> 00:12:39.269 ineccessible, hid from our eyes, most blessed, most glorious, the ancient 135 00:12:39.470 --> 00:12:46.740 of days, Almighty, victorious, thy Great Name. We praise this him 136 00:12:46.019 --> 00:12:50.019 testifies the fact that we are when we praise God, we are praising him 137 00:12:50.019 --> 00:12:56.299 whom we cannot see, him whose light, as he knows it in himself, 138 00:12:56.500 --> 00:13:01.490 is so glorious, so blessed, so wonderful, it's inaccessible, except 139 00:13:01.690 --> 00:13:07.129 for the fact, or rather, we could say, but it's also true, 140 00:13:07.889 --> 00:13:13.720 that this one who no one has seen, has been revealed in the 141 00:13:13.879 --> 00:13:20.840 sun, this lot, this one who dwells in light, inaccessible has revealed 142 00:13:20.879 --> 00:13:24.320 himself, as we say in then I seen creed in Christ, who is 143 00:13:24.679 --> 00:13:31.389 very god of Very God, light of light, as John says here. 144 00:13:31.590 --> 00:13:33.309 He is. He came into the world as the light, and the light 145 00:13:33.470 --> 00:13:37.750 shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it. But what does 146 00:13:37.870 --> 00:13:46.100 this mean? Jesus took on flesh for a lot of important reasons. First, 147 00:13:46.100 --> 00:13:50.500 Timothy tells us, to bring about the further rail revelation of God. 148 00:13:50.860 --> 00:13:56.210 Jesus took on flesh so that God would fulfill the dividict covenant in the Sun. 149 00:13:56.370 --> 00:14:00.809 Romans three, so that the sun could be borne under the law. 150 00:14:00.970 --> 00:14:05.889 Galatians for for so that the Sun could obey the law. Philippians two, 151 00:14:05.289 --> 00:14:09.799 seven through eight and yet be condemned by it. Romans eight three. He 152 00:14:09.960 --> 00:14:13.960 became flesh so that he, in the place of those who were flesh, 153 00:14:13.840 --> 00:14:18.480 he could take on and defeat the power of death and the devil. Hebrews 154 00:14:18.519 --> 00:14:22.919 to fourteen. He became flesh to give us light. John Six hundred and 155 00:14:22.919 --> 00:14:26.070 fifty one. He became flesh to make us holy and blameless. Before God, 156 00:14:26.230 --> 00:14:31.789 Coloshians one hundred and twenty two. These are all the reasons and is, 157 00:14:31.789 --> 00:14:37.389 or rather these are some of the reasons, that Jesus took on flesh 158 00:14:37.940 --> 00:14:43.620 to become like us, to take sin upon himself so that he could remove 159 00:14:43.659 --> 00:14:48.340 sin from us and make us holly and blameless for God. But I want 160 00:14:48.379 --> 00:14:54.450 to point out to you that the reason John Focuses on here is something even 161 00:14:54.529 --> 00:15:00.730 different from that. It's another reason and a reason. I'll say to you, 162 00:15:00.809 --> 00:15:05.129 beloved, we, and I include myself in this, have been, 163 00:15:05.169 --> 00:15:09.960 I think, our forgetting far too much. We need to change this. 164 00:15:11.600 --> 00:15:16.559 What does John say? The reason he gives here, and there are other 165 00:15:16.720 --> 00:15:20.799 reasons which I just read, but the reason he gives here for the importance 166 00:15:20.120 --> 00:15:28.029 of the incarnation is that the dwelt among us and we have seen his glory, 167 00:15:28.110 --> 00:15:31.710 in other words, the presence of God, even the sight of God, 168 00:15:33.909 --> 00:15:41.659 is significant. This word dwelt among US evokes images of pitching one's tent 169 00:15:41.940 --> 00:15:46.899 in a place. Perhaps you've heard this before, that this word, and 170 00:15:46.980 --> 00:15:50.889 it's true, is used in the Old Testament, of God dwelling with his 171 00:15:52.009 --> 00:15:56.929 people in the Tabernacle. It's sort of putting your stakes down of being in 172 00:15:58.090 --> 00:16:02.490 a place. It evokes all that imagery and all those promises of God saying 173 00:16:02.529 --> 00:16:07.600 I will be your God and you will be my people, and not just 174 00:16:07.759 --> 00:16:12.360 those promises but the specific building of the Tabernacle and then the temple after that. 175 00:16:14.960 --> 00:16:18.350 This word dwells is not merely sort of being around, but all that 176 00:16:18.629 --> 00:16:25.590 Old Testament imagery of God leading his people, protecting his people, being present 177 00:16:25.789 --> 00:16:33.419 with them, is contained here in this word references to the Tabernacle. The 178 00:16:33.460 --> 00:16:37.620 Old Testament teach us that the place where God pitched his tent was where he 179 00:16:37.820 --> 00:16:42.419 was to be sought, where he was to be found. It was called, 180 00:16:42.460 --> 00:16:48.370 for example, the tent of meeting. Right. It's where Moses would 181 00:16:48.370 --> 00:16:52.529 go to meet with God. It's where the presence of the Lord was. 182 00:16:52.889 --> 00:16:57.690 Listen to Psalm Twenty six eight. Oh Lord, I love the habitation of 183 00:16:57.769 --> 00:17:04.079 your house and the place where Your glory dwells. Right. There was something 184 00:17:04.119 --> 00:17:11.559 about the presence of God, not simply the things God did, but just 185 00:17:11.960 --> 00:17:18.430 the fact that he was there that made David Long to be in the Lord's 186 00:17:18.509 --> 00:17:22.309 House. Another words. That great list and all those verses I read before 187 00:17:22.470 --> 00:17:26.230 have tell us a lot of things about the things that the Lord does is 188 00:17:26.349 --> 00:17:32.420 for us as part of his presence, and that's true and wonderful and we 189 00:17:32.500 --> 00:17:36.859 give God glorious praise for all of those. But what I want to emphasize 190 00:17:36.900 --> 00:17:41.339 this morning is let us not forget what John Emphasizes here, that simply the 191 00:17:41.539 --> 00:17:48.250 fact that he is with us is wonderful, just his presence. Again, 192 00:17:48.329 --> 00:17:52.849 here's Psalm Twenty six eight. Oh Lord, I love the habitation of your 193 00:17:52.970 --> 00:17:59.400 house and the place where Your glory dwells. Why does he love the place 194 00:17:59.400 --> 00:18:06.279 where his glory dwells? Because that's where the Lord is. Sometimes we forget 195 00:18:06.400 --> 00:18:10.400 this. Right we think so much about the wonderful things of heaven that we 196 00:18:10.519 --> 00:18:15.150 forget that the most important, the most wonderful thing of the Kingdom of God 197 00:18:15.470 --> 00:18:23.789 is God himself. It's not the beauty of the the streets, it's not 198 00:18:25.150 --> 00:18:32.299 the communion of the saints, it's not the magnificence of the angels or peace 199 00:18:32.460 --> 00:18:37.819 from enemies. Are All of those wonderful things, but the most important, 200 00:18:37.859 --> 00:18:45.049 the thing from which all those flows, is simply being with God, knowing 201 00:18:45.210 --> 00:18:52.250 him, intimacy with him, even, as John says here, seeing him, 202 00:18:53.089 --> 00:18:57.799 seeing him and the word became flesh and he dwelt among us, he 203 00:18:59.279 --> 00:19:07.119 tabernacled among us and we have seen his glory. To See the glory of 204 00:19:07.240 --> 00:19:14.509 God is a big thing in theology. This has been sometimes called the visio 205 00:19:14.589 --> 00:19:19.309 day or the beatific vision, the vision of God. It's a truth often 206 00:19:19.430 --> 00:19:25.339 taught in scripture and has been often confessed by the church, but too frequently 207 00:19:25.539 --> 00:19:33.180 neglected today. Let me just ask you this very plainly and very simply. 208 00:19:33.099 --> 00:19:41.170 Be Honest with yourselves. How would you like to see God? Would you 209 00:19:41.250 --> 00:19:53.240 like to see God, to actually see God? I've wondered often. Would 210 00:19:53.240 --> 00:19:57.599 I be less likely to sin against God if I was more aware of his 211 00:19:57.799 --> 00:20:03.200 presence, if I actually saw him? I think they answers probably yes. 212 00:20:06.200 --> 00:20:08.109 What I feel closer to him? What I feel safe to him? I 213 00:20:11.549 --> 00:20:17.390 don't see how these kinds of things can be denied, because it's absolutely true 214 00:20:17.470 --> 00:20:25.099 of common human experience that we are emotionally closer to that which is physically present. 215 00:20:26.259 --> 00:20:32.460 least it's often true to those things which are visibly present. When a 216 00:20:32.619 --> 00:20:37.569 child who is standing right in front of his mother needs consoling, what does 217 00:20:37.609 --> 00:20:42.609 she do? She draws him close, she holds his face and looks at 218 00:20:42.650 --> 00:20:48.250 him, even though he's two feet away, she brings him even closer. 219 00:20:49.200 --> 00:20:53.359 When the Prodigal's father write the story of the Prodigal son, when the father, 220 00:20:53.400 --> 00:20:59.079 or the Prodigal Son's father, saw him at a distance, what did 221 00:20:59.119 --> 00:21:07.910 he do? He ran to greet him, to see him, to be 222 00:21:07.150 --> 00:21:14.589 close to him. Wasn't it a blessing to be able to walk with God 223 00:21:14.829 --> 00:21:18.460 in the presence, in his presence in the Garden of Eden? and wasn't 224 00:21:18.500 --> 00:21:22.460 it a curse to be separated from that and to be banished from the garden? 225 00:21:23.500 --> 00:21:27.819 Throughout the Psalms David is everywhere desiring to be in God's house, to 226 00:21:27.940 --> 00:21:34.130 behold his face. And what does Paul say? Paul speaks of his own 227 00:21:34.170 --> 00:21:37.890 experience in ours as well, and First Corinthians five six, when he says 228 00:21:38.369 --> 00:21:42.970 while we are at home in the body, we are away from the Lord. 229 00:21:45.089 --> 00:21:48.119 It is jot. It is, as John says, a blessed thing 230 00:21:48.279 --> 00:21:52.079 to believe without seeing. He'll say this in John Two Thousand and twenty nine, 231 00:21:52.920 --> 00:21:59.440 to know God without him being near. And this is our course for 232 00:21:59.559 --> 00:22:03.750 life right now. As Paul says in Second Corinthians and eighteen, we look 233 00:22:03.910 --> 00:22:07.430 not to the things that are seen, but to the things that are unseen. 234 00:22:07.950 --> 00:22:11.990 That's where we're looking, to what we can't see, for the things 235 00:22:11.029 --> 00:22:15.109 that are seen are transient, but for the things that but the things that 236 00:22:15.150 --> 00:22:19.259 are unseen, are eternal. Right, we set our faith and our hope 237 00:22:19.339 --> 00:22:26.500 and our our our sight on something that we can't see, but yet we 238 00:22:26.700 --> 00:22:30.569 want to see it. There's still that desire in us, isn't there? 239 00:22:33.130 --> 00:22:37.970 Paul says in First Corinthians three hundred and twelve. For now we see in 240 00:22:37.089 --> 00:22:45.559 a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in 241 00:22:45.799 --> 00:22:51.279 part, then I shall know fully, even as I have already been fully 242 00:22:51.359 --> 00:22:56.519 known. Is that amazing? Paul saying that he has been seen by God 243 00:22:57.319 --> 00:23:03.069 in a way that he hasn't yet realized himself in the other direction, partially 244 00:23:03.910 --> 00:23:10.950 but not fully. But yet Paul holds out hope that one day he will 245 00:23:10.950 --> 00:23:17.019 see God and know God in a new way. Or here John's words and 246 00:23:17.180 --> 00:23:22.859 first John Three two. Beloved, we are God's children now. Don't doubt 247 00:23:22.900 --> 00:23:26.569 that. I added that. And sorry, beloved. We are God's children 248 00:23:26.690 --> 00:23:33.410 now, and what and what we will be has not yet appeared. But 249 00:23:33.650 --> 00:23:38.410 we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall 250 00:23:38.410 --> 00:23:45.359 see him as he is. Do you see? This hope of seeing God 251 00:23:45.720 --> 00:23:52.039 is not some kind of unholy hope in you that needs to be suppressed and 252 00:23:52.279 --> 00:23:56.990 push down and driven away, because faith is good, faith is good, 253 00:23:57.750 --> 00:24:02.390 and God is good and he is preserving us now and he is giving us 254 00:24:02.430 --> 00:24:04.910 what we need now. Don't forget that, though we are away from the 255 00:24:06.069 --> 00:24:11.299 Lord. The Lord spent many chapters in the gospel of John and in his 256 00:24:11.539 --> 00:24:15.900 time in his earthly ministry, telling his disciples don't worry that I'll be away 257 00:24:15.940 --> 00:24:21.940 from you, because you will have my Holy Spirit, who will bless you 258 00:24:22.180 --> 00:24:26.369 and give you and unite you to me. But those, those things are 259 00:24:26.450 --> 00:24:32.970 true. That doesn't deny the fact that there's a longing in us for something 260 00:24:33.009 --> 00:24:41.519 more, a desire in us to see, to see God. If you 261 00:24:41.680 --> 00:24:47.759 are a Christian Chin, then this is your hope, and it's okay, 262 00:24:48.279 --> 00:24:52.910 it's a good thing. Even you might sing, for example, the words 263 00:24:52.950 --> 00:24:57.710 of Psalm Twenty seven, four through six. One thing I have asked of 264 00:24:57.829 --> 00:25:03.630 the Lord that aught that that will I seek after, that I may dwell 265 00:25:03.829 --> 00:25:08.900 in the House of the Lord all the days of my life to gaze upon 266 00:25:10.059 --> 00:25:15.859 the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple, for he will 267 00:25:15.900 --> 00:25:19.420 hide me in his shelter. In the day of trouble, he will conceal 268 00:25:19.619 --> 00:25:26.009 me under the cover of his tent. He will lift me high upon a 269 00:25:26.049 --> 00:25:30.089 rock, and now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around 270 00:25:30.250 --> 00:25:33.690 me, and I will offer, in his tent, sacrifices with shouts of 271 00:25:33.849 --> 00:25:38.880 joy. I will sing and make melody to the Lord. All of these 272 00:25:40.119 --> 00:25:47.559 consequences. Why? Because he is with the Lord, even gazing at his 273 00:25:47.799 --> 00:25:52.309 beauty, the Lord's presence, in other words, the sight of the Lord, 274 00:25:53.390 --> 00:26:02.829 gives us beauty, knowledge, protection, honor, joy and satisfaction. 275 00:26:03.779 --> 00:26:10.259 These things are all anticipated and enjoyed in the old covenant, but something further 276 00:26:10.460 --> 00:26:12.819 is promised in the new, as we read in his Echiel, thirty seven, 277 00:26:14.259 --> 00:26:17.940 twenty seven through twenty eight, my dwelling place shall be with them. 278 00:26:18.460 --> 00:26:22.690 I will be their God and they will be my people. The Nation's will 279 00:26:22.769 --> 00:26:26.730 know that I am the Lord who sanctifies Israel, when my sanctuary is in 280 00:26:26.849 --> 00:26:30.890 their midst forever. So with all of this, do you see, then, 281 00:26:32.009 --> 00:26:37.039 why it's any essential doctrine and the core of our hope that we're that 282 00:26:37.200 --> 00:26:44.160 what John says here, and the word became flesh and he dwelt among us 283 00:26:44.799 --> 00:26:52.630 and we have seen his glory. That's amazing. It's the fulfillment of this 284 00:26:52.789 --> 00:26:56.390 promise of Ezekiel. It's the beginning of the hope of David to dwell or 285 00:26:56.470 --> 00:27:03.460 to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord. This is what it means that 286 00:27:03.539 --> 00:27:08.660 the word became flesh, and this is why it is so important to us, 287 00:27:10.660 --> 00:27:12.539 because it is the beginning of the end. It is the beginning of 288 00:27:12.700 --> 00:27:18.769 this fulfillment that one day we will be with God and we will see him 289 00:27:18.769 --> 00:27:27.809 and he will dwell with us. Now, this word to see can mean 290 00:27:27.970 --> 00:27:36.319 different things. Often it means to gaze intently at something with wonder. Sometimes, 291 00:27:36.440 --> 00:27:38.559 though, it can mean to be a spectator, like at a sport 292 00:27:38.599 --> 00:27:44.509 or something like that. It can also mean to see sort of in ones 293 00:27:44.950 --> 00:27:51.190 in the mind's eye, kind of perceiving something beyond what is seen. And 294 00:27:51.349 --> 00:27:55.509 all of these things are true of Jesus and People's various reactions to him, 295 00:27:55.589 --> 00:28:00.859 isn't it? There are people who see his signs and his miracles and go 296 00:28:00.259 --> 00:28:06.339 wow, and they gaze at them and they behold them. They see Jesus 297 00:28:06.460 --> 00:28:08.420 the Son of God and the flesh, and they say, who is this? 298 00:28:08.460 --> 00:28:15.450 Is that true of you? Do you behold the glory of God in 299 00:28:15.529 --> 00:28:19.690 the signs and the miracles in the words of Jesus, or are you a 300 00:28:19.809 --> 00:28:26.609 mere spectator, standing back or interested, but for you to walk away at 301 00:28:26.650 --> 00:28:33.119 any moment? Or are you one who looks and sees and wonders and beholds 302 00:28:33.200 --> 00:28:38.839 these things and yet also sees beyond them to something greater, not merely marveling 303 00:28:38.880 --> 00:28:44.269 at the miracles in the words of Jesus, but beholding them with faith? 304 00:28:45.990 --> 00:28:49.549 One of the amazing things that the Bible promises is that one day these these 305 00:28:49.630 --> 00:28:56.740 various forms of sight, particularly the first and the third, this beholding the 306 00:28:56.819 --> 00:29:02.460 glories of God but then also hoping in them, trusting them and enjoying them, 307 00:29:03.859 --> 00:29:11.569 will come together. Remember Stephen as he was being a martyred dying for 308 00:29:11.089 --> 00:29:15.849 the faith. We reenacts seven fifty five, and he was full of the 309 00:29:15.930 --> 00:29:22.890 Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus Standing 310 00:29:22.930 --> 00:29:29.880 at the right hand of God. What Stephen saw there's what you will see, 311 00:29:30.400 --> 00:29:36.960 you will enjoy, but the glory of Christ is not always too easy 312 00:29:37.079 --> 00:29:42.470 to see for us disciples, because though the incarnation is beautiful and secure and 313 00:29:42.630 --> 00:29:51.069 splendid, it's manifested in suffering, and so while it's really essential, there's 314 00:29:51.069 --> 00:29:56.819 kind of a paradox, isn't there? Remember when Jesus Talks About Being Glorified 315 00:29:56.980 --> 00:30:02.220 Righte this Word Glory, in John Twelve, for example, or John Thirteen 316 00:30:02.259 --> 00:30:07.450 or John Seventeen, he talks about it in light of his crucifixion. He 317 00:30:07.569 --> 00:30:11.769 says the hour has come for the son of man to be glorified, and 318 00:30:11.930 --> 00:30:17.329 we might expect to see what Stephen saw right this shining radiance of God, 319 00:30:17.609 --> 00:30:21.210 of Jesus standing at the right hand of the father. And yet that's not 320 00:30:21.440 --> 00:30:27.400 what happened, not yet anyway. What did the disciples see at the glorification 321 00:30:27.599 --> 00:30:34.000 of Jesus Christ, the hour of his glory? They saw him in the 322 00:30:34.160 --> 00:30:41.029 flesh, with his arms on a cross and a crown of thorns on his 323 00:30:41.230 --> 00:30:48.829 head, suffering and dying, the wrath of God being poured out on him. 324 00:30:51.700 --> 00:30:56.619 How do we understand this? How we explain it? Well, Jesus 325 00:30:56.660 --> 00:31:02.460 gives a little parable in John Twelve to help us understand one sentence. parable 326 00:31:03.339 --> 00:31:07.730 truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the 327 00:31:07.849 --> 00:31:12.210 earth and dies, it remains alone, but if it dies it bears much 328 00:31:12.289 --> 00:31:22.680 fruit. Once perceived that the Cross is where the glory of God he comes 329 00:31:22.920 --> 00:31:29.480 and how it comes, this message becomes a very powerful one because it is 330 00:31:29.559 --> 00:31:34.390 the message of the Gospel. Peter says in Second Peter One Sixteen. For 331 00:31:34.549 --> 00:31:40.109 we did not follow cleverly devised mythsts when we made too known to you the 332 00:31:40.349 --> 00:31:45.750 power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eye witnesses of 333 00:31:45.910 --> 00:31:51.420 His Majesty, and not just his a majesty, not just His Majesty when 334 00:31:51.460 --> 00:31:55.700 he ascended up into heaven, but is a majesty when he ascended up on 335 00:31:55.779 --> 00:32:00.650 to the cross as well. He was a king there. Kaloshin says that. 336 00:32:01.130 --> 00:32:05.769 Jesus says he was nailed to the Cross, set aside to the record 337 00:32:05.809 --> 00:32:10.609 of legal demands that stood against us, and he put to open shame the 338 00:32:10.769 --> 00:32:15.640 devil and all of his minions, all these rulers and powers and authorities were 339 00:32:15.759 --> 00:32:22.920 put to open shame when he conquered them as he hung there on the cross. 340 00:32:27.039 --> 00:32:30.589 This is very important and brings me to my third and, I think, 341 00:32:30.630 --> 00:32:36.670 final point, which is this glory that is revealed is revealed in a 342 00:32:36.750 --> 00:32:43.470 very particular way. The glory of God can come in the power of the 343 00:32:43.549 --> 00:32:49.140 law, can come in the power of judgment and make us tremble with fear 344 00:32:49.220 --> 00:32:53.019 as the glory of the Lord comes and shines upon us. We would say 345 00:32:53.140 --> 00:32:58.569 with Isaiah, wo is me, I am a man of unclean lips and 346 00:32:58.650 --> 00:33:02.410 a people of Unclean Lips. Curse upon me, destroy me, I'm going 347 00:33:02.529 --> 00:33:10.809 to be annihilated. I am undone. That's not what David was hoping for 348 00:33:12.049 --> 00:33:15.640 when he says pleasures forevermore. I desire a case on the beauty of the 349 00:33:15.759 --> 00:33:21.960 Lord. Isaiah is saying in a sense, but he doesn't say get me 350 00:33:22.000 --> 00:33:25.279 out of here, but because there's no aught necessary, really an option. 351 00:33:27.549 --> 00:33:30.710 But he understood that the consequences of the glory of God was his undoing in 352 00:33:30.910 --> 00:33:37.349 his sin. But that's not how Jesus comes. He doesn't come in the 353 00:33:37.670 --> 00:33:43.420 power of the law. He doesn't come as another Moses, as John says 354 00:33:43.579 --> 00:33:47.420 in seventeen, for the law was given through Moses. Grace and truth came 355 00:33:47.619 --> 00:33:53.539 through Jesus Christ or, as he says in Verse Fourteen, This glory, 356 00:33:54.140 --> 00:34:00.049 this one of a kind son from the father. He is full of grace 357 00:34:00.289 --> 00:34:07.890 and truth, and from this fullness we have all received grace upon grace. 358 00:34:12.039 --> 00:34:17.960 The scriptures testify to us that we cannot see God without holiness. This hope 359 00:34:19.039 --> 00:34:22.960 we have, this desire that we have, requires holiness. That's what Hebrews 360 00:34:23.039 --> 00:34:27.869 says. The Psalms say this too. Who can ascend the Holy Hill of 361 00:34:27.949 --> 00:34:30.989 the Lord? Who can be and dwell in his presence? The one who 362 00:34:30.989 --> 00:34:38.179 has clean hands and a pure heart, or, as Austin preached to us 363 00:34:38.260 --> 00:34:44.300 a few weeks ago, from the beatitudes. We can't enjoy the sight of 364 00:34:44.340 --> 00:34:46.780 the Lord unless we are clean. Blessed are the pure of heart, for 365 00:34:46.900 --> 00:34:52.969 they shall see God. There is a requirement here. There's something contingent that 366 00:34:53.929 --> 00:35:00.530 that gaps are dad, that gaps of this conclusion that we want to be 367 00:35:00.650 --> 00:35:06.570 able to see God and know him and be intimate with him. But the 368 00:35:06.809 --> 00:35:13.039 thing that fills the gap, the thing that makes it glorious and good for 369 00:35:13.079 --> 00:35:20.760 us, is grace. Jesus is come in a new way, in a 370 00:35:20.920 --> 00:35:28.030 better way, in a gracious way. This greatly affects us here and now. 371 00:35:30.269 --> 00:35:35.710 Interestingly, this way that John Speaks grace upon grace is used. This 372 00:35:35.900 --> 00:35:38.739 sort of the construction that he uses is used in other parts of the Old 373 00:35:38.820 --> 00:35:45.260 Testament and New Testament. The sort of the grammatical construction that he uses here 374 00:35:46.139 --> 00:35:50.929 reminds us of the many other places it's found where we read things like this 375 00:35:52.170 --> 00:35:54.050 and I for a too eye, or a tooth for a tooth, an 376 00:35:54.090 --> 00:35:59.289 ox for an ox, a beast for a beast. Throughout the Bible this 377 00:35:59.489 --> 00:36:06.639 construction usually reminds us of the law, these phrases about fairness and justice, 378 00:36:06.679 --> 00:36:12.280 about the penalty for disobedience and righteousness and all of these kind of requirements. 379 00:36:13.440 --> 00:36:16.480 But here, in this place, as he makes this contrast with Moses, 380 00:36:16.519 --> 00:36:21.309 he says it's different. It's no longer an eye for an eye, a 381 00:36:21.550 --> 00:36:25.030 tooth for a tooth, is Jesus says, but it's grace upon grace. 382 00:36:27.230 --> 00:36:32.739 It's not fairness anymore, it's not justice, but something something different, something 383 00:36:32.860 --> 00:36:42.739 we didn't deserve. And that's how the glory of God is revealed. John 384 00:36:42.860 --> 00:36:47.809 will tell us that this truth, of his glory will give us worship, 385 00:36:49.449 --> 00:36:52.650 freedom, the things of God, life, the spirit and many other things. 386 00:36:53.849 --> 00:36:58.570 That's what's attached to the truth, that's what's attached to the glory, 387 00:36:59.809 --> 00:37:02.639 and it's why, my friends, it's so sad at the end of the 388 00:37:02.760 --> 00:37:10.039 story when pilot asks what is truth when it's standing right in front of him, 389 00:37:12.800 --> 00:37:15.710 this truth that is light and life, this truth that is salvation, 390 00:37:16.349 --> 00:37:22.710 this truth that is the graciousness of God that brings the presence of God to 391 00:37:22.869 --> 00:37:27.110 us. It's right in front of him and he says, what is truth? 392 00:37:30.260 --> 00:37:37.139 Don't ask that question. Instead, believe in the truth that is right 393 00:37:37.380 --> 00:37:45.530 in front of you. Don't be mere spectators and gawkers at the glory of 394 00:37:45.650 --> 00:37:52.090 God when he has revealed it and Jesus on the cross, when he promises 395 00:37:52.210 --> 00:38:00.519 to you that in Christ you can see God by faith now, but by 396 00:38:00.719 --> 00:38:12.760 sight when he comes. This affects us here and now, Paul says in 397 00:38:12.869 --> 00:38:19.070 Second Corinthians three eighteen. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the 398 00:38:19.230 --> 00:38:27.340 glory of God. Our being right now are being transformed into the same image, 399 00:38:27.659 --> 00:38:31.380 from one degree of glory to another, for this comes from the Lord 400 00:38:31.380 --> 00:38:37.099 who is the spirit. Can Corresponds to what's John is saying about grace upon 401 00:38:37.260 --> 00:38:43.170 grace. As we behold the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, 402 00:38:44.369 --> 00:38:50.130 we are being transformed. Right here, right now, we experience the 403 00:38:50.210 --> 00:38:53.889 presence of God. The spirit is in us, testifying that we are his 404 00:38:54.050 --> 00:39:00.239 sons and his daughters. It helps us to understand not only the future but 405 00:39:00.320 --> 00:39:09.389 also the present. As Paul says, these sufferings that we face now do 406 00:39:09.590 --> 00:39:16.190 not even begin to compare to the eternal weight of glory that will be revealed 407 00:39:16.230 --> 00:39:23.860 to us. Beloved. We often think about the things of God, his 408 00:39:24.059 --> 00:39:28.980 blessings, the things that he provides for us, and they are many, 409 00:39:30.579 --> 00:39:35.739 but do not forget God himself. When you think about the heavenly city, 410 00:39:35.860 --> 00:39:40.849 don't forget about its chief inhabitant and your hope of being close to him, 411 00:39:42.690 --> 00:39:49.690 drawn into him, present with him, being transformed even to his image, 412 00:39:49.730 --> 00:39:53.840 or even, as Peter says, very strongly, sharing in his divinity. 413 00:39:58.320 --> 00:40:00.559 We often think about the things of God, but forget him and himself. 414 00:40:02.760 --> 00:40:07.630 Do you want to see something beautiful? Do you want to see something powerful? 415 00:40:08.750 --> 00:40:15.150 Do you want to see something glorious and to be known by him in 416 00:40:15.389 --> 00:40:22.539 love, then put your faith in Jesus, whom the apostles saw and gazed 417 00:40:22.659 --> 00:40:29.059 upon the glory of God and the grace that came in him and yet belongs 418 00:40:29.139 --> 00:40:32.619 to us all because, as he says in Verse Sixteen, from his fullness, 419 00:40:34.420 --> 00:40:40.929 not just the apostles but we all have received grace upon grace. Let 420 00:40:40.969 --> 00:40:42.369 us pray