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Deutsche Version | Wiki Start | Topics Collection vii
Grace Upon Grace ...
Friday, Sept 25, 2015. There are days when you doubt that God is on your side. There can be many reasons for that. Perhaps you do not know God, perhaps you see in him the great judge. Perhaps you have done bad things. Perhaps you are just tired, or ill, or under pressure. But let us look a little into this: is God for you? Or is God against you? What is going on?
He is full of mercy …
At the beginning of the gospel of John we are taken into a nearly universal view through history. It goes from the beginning of all what is to our time today. It all starts with God in Father, Son and Holy Spirit, with “the word”, which became flesh (=Jesus, the “son of men”). It is a story which explains that God is good and that God is on your side. He loves everyone, he wants salvation for everyone and offers salvation to everyone. He offers it to you and to me and we are invited to accept it, to be children of God through faith in Christ Jesus.
Let us look into the original gospel of John:
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; the only son, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known. (John 1, 14-18)
No Condemnation in Christ Jesus …
The apostle Paul later summarizes Gods grace into the sentence “there is no condemnation in Christ Jesus”. God is good, and in Christ Jesus he provides salvation for all who believe in him. We might not fully understand what is going on, we might even not fully understand the holiness of God and that judgment is needed and will come. But we can accept God's grace in Jesus even if we do not understand many things.
Faith sometimes can feel like a risk, like a jump, like flying, where you have never done it before. It feels like insecure, since you have to trust, to rely on the Lord. And that is what faith is about: trust him, just move forward, based on his love and trusting that he will do what is necessary.
Let us try this jump of faith. I do not talk about stupid risk, but about trust, about letting go, about a renewal of my life from and towards the eternal source and goal of creation, the eternal God. We receive grace upon grace through Christ Jesus, and he can be the leading and active power and center of my life - that is truely good! Try it, and come in faith. (RWEP) ... more texts