“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:14 (NIV)
Happy Memorial Day Weekend. A weekend to remember those who sacrificed for our freedom, which we enjoy today!
And EVERY day is a day for us to remember Jesus’ love and salvation won for us with His sacrifice on the cross! We not only saw the sacrifice on Golgotha, but we also have witnessed the glory of His victory at the tomb.
Because of Jesus’ great sacrifice we are now free citizens of His Kingdom. Through baptism we have become citizens who enjoy true freedom from sin, death, and the devil. His kingdom is characterized as being one of Grace and Truth. What powerful words…Grace and Truth.
John 1:14 explains (NIV)
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Notice these two words are connected by the word “AND.” It isn’t a Kingdom of grace OR truth.
If we are all about Truth at the expense of grace then God’s kingdom would feel very legalistic to us as sinners.
The reason this is true is that the Bible teaches that we cannot measure up to TRUTH by our own reason or strength. So that is why we all as sinners need to thank Jesus for being full of grace AND truth.
Keep in mind that Grace doesn’t erase truth. If we emphasize GRACE at the expense of TRUTH then we become LETHARGIC and LIFELESS. The truth is that God saves us, not continuing in our sin, but rather He gives us His grace to bring us into the truth of how to live abundant.
As we remember and give thanks for our freedom let us follow Jesus being transformed by His Grace and committing to lives of truth.
Prayer
Jesus, we celebrate that Your kingdom is a kingdom of grace and truth. We celebrate the fact that You have, by Your death and resurrection, welcomed us into Your kingdom and given to us freedom, freedom over sin, freedom over death and freedom from the devil’s persuasion. We thank You and celebrate for this freedom. We thank You for the freedom in our country. And we thank You for those who in a similar way gave up their lives so that we could have freedom. We pray that You would continue to bring freedom to all Your people. And may it start with us as we share of the incredible victory won for us at the cross and the grave. And that that good news is for all people. Help us to do that today as we celebrate this freedom we have. In Jesus’ name, Amen.