Scripture reading:
(15) John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, “This was he of whom I said ‘he who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’” (16) From the fullness of grace, we have received one blessing after another. (17) For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ (18) No one has ever seen god, but God the One and Only, who is at the father’s side, has made him known.
Observations:
(1) Although I am focusing on the character of Jesus Christ, our savior, I think we can learn a lot about the attitude we should take before god through looking at John the Baptist.
More will be written about this in future posts. But for now, let’s consider John’s testimony about Jesus in verse 15:
“He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.”
John knew and understood his place before Jesus. So should we.
In earthly terms, John was slightly older than Jesus. Attitudes of people toward their ‘seniors’ and ‘juniors’ varies from country to country and from culture to culture. But in most cases, those who are slightly older tend to look down a little on those who are slightly younger. Accordingly, John might feel ever so slightly justified in perhaps looking down at Jesus a little.
But, John the Baptist knew who Jesus really was. In John Chapter 1:1-5, John the gospel writer describes how:
• The existence of Jesus, like that of god, had no beginning;
• Jesus is the source of all life; and
• all things were made through Jesus.
John the Baptist recognized and acknowledged that Jesus was before him. Yes, John’s birth on earth predated that of Jesus, but Jesus existed from the beginning of time. Therefore, Jesus was ‘before’ John. Jesus was not just before John in terms of physical existence. Jesus was before John, and is before all of us, in all aspects of life. Jesus lived a perfect and sinless life – we haven’t. Jesus, by his death and resurrection, saved people from their sins – we can’t. Jesus came from the father, from god – we didn’t. Jesus, being fully god, is the creator and source of all life – we aren’t.
In short, Jesus is before us in every way.
Knowing all of this, we can learn from the attitude of John about humility toward Jesus. John the Baptist showed the appropriate respect before Jesus. He humbled himself and demonstrated appropriate respect and reverence toward Jesus.
That is something which I do not always do. Too often, I focus on my own needs, not upon my savior. Too often, I am too busy running around chasing my dreams and materialistic things instead of using my time and money in ways which honor god.
Don’t get me wrong. I am not saying that it is necessarily a bad thing to work for your dreams or to attain material things. But what I need to do is focus my priorities. I must learn to first seek to give Jesus the appropriate level of respect, be it in spiritual ways such as prayer and my thought life, or in practical ways such as how I use my time and money, or making the effort to care for and love those in need.
(2) “For the law was given through Moses, Grace and Truth came through Jesus Christ”
For those who may not be aware, the ‘law’ being referred to here is ‘mosaic law.’ Essentially, this refers to a set of laws for holy living which god gave to Moses after he (god) had lead the Israelites in an escape from an oppressive regime in Egypt.
The law is detailed throughout the second, third, forth and fifth book in the bible: Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. It contains something like six hundred commandments. These include the famous ten commandments – which outlined the main points of the law.
Both Israel as a nation and each and every Israelite individually were required by god to follow the law, which defined god’s way of living. Living by the law was living god’s way. Breaking the law was a sin against god.
The requirements of the law were extremely burdensome. With the exception of Jesus, no one was able to follow them in full. Accordingly every single Isralite (except Jesus) sinned against god as some stage in their lives, as has every single person that has ever walked this earth.
Whilst the law proved impossible to follow, I feel that it still reveals a large part of the character of god. As far as relevant to this discussion, the law shows us:
• how high god’s standards are;
• the degree of pureness, cleanliness and holiness of god;
• just what it would take to please god (basically, absolute perfection); and
• how far short we fall of god’s standards
God’s requirement was for nothing less than full compliance with his law. God is perfect and he simply cannot tolerate any sin or breaking of any of his holy laws. But we are not perfect and fall well short of his requirements. God simply cannot overlook this and it creates a problem between us and god.
Thankfully, through Christ, we are shown another side of god – his perfect grace, mercy and love. Although we fall well short of god’s requirements, god does not simply abandon us. Instead, through his great mercy, he offered to everyone his own solution to our sin. He sent his one and only son to pay the price for our sin.
So, through the law, we see god’s perfect standards. Through Christ, we see god’s perfect mercy and love.
(3) “No one has ever seen god, but god, the one and only, who is at the father’s side, has made him known.”
Ever heard anyone claim to have seen god? Maybe you have. Next question, what exactly were they taking?
Physically seeing god does not appear to be a common experience. Personally, I’ve never just been driving down to the road and just happened to see god on the side of the road. Nor have a said to my nephews or nieces “I spy with my little eye, something beginning with ‘g’ – god!”
Seeing god was not a common experience for Old Testament characters either. Moses, for instance saw only an angel through flames of fire from within a burning bush.
Come to think of it, the Old Testament does not describe anyone seeing god – no one at all. God the father spoke directly to certain people, but no-one actually saw him.
So, I am highly dubious of any claims to have seen god the father.
But, although we cannot and have not seen god, Jesus, his son, has made him known. Jesus has shown us the full character of god. As we have discussed at length in prior studies, Jesus showed the full power of god through his miracles, the faultlessness and cleanliness of god through the perfect way in which he lived and his amazing justice, love and mercy through the his death and resurrection.
Jesus fully reflected the character of god in every way. If you want to know about the character of god the father, look at Jesus, his son. Through him, the full character of the father is displayed.
Not only that, but Jesus, through his death and resurrection, made relationship with the father possible. Before the act on the cross, the problem of our sin was blocking us from relationship with the father. But, this barrier has been torn and all who truly believe in Jesus can share full relationship with the father.
We will not see god the father until we die. But we can know his full character by looking at the son. And through the death and resurrection of Christ, we are free for full relationship with the father.
Prayer:
Dear heavenly father,
Lord, let us humble our hearts before you. You existed when time commenced. You created everything and are before everything. Let us humble ourselves and look upon you with mass reverence.
Lord, you showed us just how perfect you are through your law. We can never come anywhere near your standards, lord. We’re just not good enough. We’re just sinful man. But thanks also for showing us grace through Christ. Without grace, we would be lost. Without grace, we could have no relationship with you.
Lord, we will never see you until we die. But thank you oh so much for revealing yourself to us through your son, Jesus Christ. Through him, we have the privilege of knowing you. Through him, we can have full relationship with you.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
In the name of Jesus Christ our lord,
Amen.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment