THE GRACE OF GOD

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John 1:14-17  "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, ' This was He of whom I said, He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.' And of His fullness we have all received grace for grace. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ." (NKJV)
 
Recently we spent some time with my wife's family. Her little great niece and nephew love to blow bubbles. We were all out in the yard watching the kids blowing all sizes of bubbles and having so much fun. Of course I had my camera and was taking pictures. I caught a beautiful picture of a bubble and what was so interesting was the fact that the bubble caught the reflection of its surroundings. As the light came through the bubble you could see the outline of the tress just behind us. It was really beautiful. I thought about this as I was preparing my message. When people looked at Jesus they saw the reflection of the Father. And when people see us, they should see the reflection of our Father as well! If we are truly living for Jesus and doing His will, His reflection will shine through us!
 
 Verse 17 in the above scripture states that "grace and truth came through Jesus Christ."  Romans 3:23-24 says: "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." We have been justified FREELY by His grace! Many times we try to add to God's grace. We try to add our own works or our own ideas. But it is by His grace alone! And that is given freely!
 
2 Peter 3:18 tells us to "grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." This is something that we learn to grow in as we walk in His grace. Accepting what He has done for us, that grace works effectively inside of us. And as we do this, we will reflect the One that we follow- Jesus Christ. Just like that bubble- you really only saw the outline of the bubble. But it was reflecting what was on the other side. That is the way it should be with us. People shouldn't see us so much, but they should see the reflection of the grace and glory of our Lord Jesus Christ!
 
 
(Taken from Pastor Keith's message 7/28/2013)

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