John Ch 1 v17: For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
Preachers & teachers often like to use this quote as a balancing quote that ‘Yes’ its grace but its not grace alone its grace and truth. It’s almost taking the words of John and reordering the sentence: grace and law came through Jesus Christ.
But that is not what John has penned. John does not pair law and truth together, rather John joins truth and grace together in Jesus Christ. And furthermore John pairs truth and grace together in a fullness of grace upon grace.
Now you cannot be full of grace and law as grace would not be a fullness if mixed with law, or topped up by law.
Why are grace and law incompatible? This is a question that need answering, especially if you can combine grace and truth.
Well it is true that God is against adultery, fornication, murder, stealing, jealousy and all forms of covetousness. We know this to be true as it is declared by Gods laws given through Moses.
Did Jesus go to the Cross on mans behalf to take upon himself the wrath and judgement of God against sin. Well it was the direct sin of man that crucified Jesus, God did not inspire those men who crucified his Son. And why did they crucify him? For the truth that he was the Son of God, that his life and ministry declared and manifested his Fathers true nature and heart unto mankind.
They crucified him as they viewed themselves as being Moses disciples, and they rejected the grace that he was ministering through and in.
So they broke the law when they crucified Jesus Christ.
They broke it as they had failed to love God with all their minds and hearts – crucifying him.
They broke the law in committing Murder.
They broke the law in bearing false witness.
They broke the law by committing blasphemy, their actions diametrically opposed to Gods truth and nature, yet they did it in his name.
They broke the law of covetousness, as they were jealous of him and the impact his ministry was having upon the people.
They broke the law concerning idolatry as they put a man, Moses, before even God.
They broke the law on stealing, taking what was not theirs to own.
They broke the Sabbath.
And no doubt had they obeyed the commandment to honor father and mother they would have learned Gods ways and principles of life, and hence not crucified the author & prince of Life.
And anyone who thinks that a religious veneer and the breaking of so many laws made them pious in their sexual lives is not acquainted with the nature of sin and the veil of its darkness. Yes some may have been faithful as Saul (who became Paul) no doubts was moral in this respect, but across the Sanhedrin their in no doubt that compromise and hypocrisy flourished.
Jesus Christ was crucified through the breaking of the laws given unto man through Moses.
Is there a wrath of God against sin? Yes, there is clearly defined in scripture. That which is contrary to Gods nature, is also opposed to Gods blessings, and God primarily hates sin as it restricts and prohibits the outpouring of his love and grace upon and through are lives.
God loves to bless, God loves to multiply blessings and God loves to exceedingly abundantly above all that we can ask or even think. Sin makes God angry as it restricts the outpouring of love on are lives which he loves to do, which he made us for and which is his very own nature.
So then, the sovereign and providential mercy and grace of God allowed sinful men in their worst & most deprived state to crucify his beloved Son! Why did God allow that to happen?
The root of sin was fully exposed at Calvary, a disconnection from the life of God and from a knowledge of God, and from relationship with God: My God, why has thou forsaken me?
Why was Jesus forsaken at the Cross? Was it because the wrath of God was being showed against sin? Yes, but Jesus had not sinned and he was innocent! Therefore, the wrath of God was being revealed against the nature of sin, the apparent absence of God the Father at Calvary was due to his Son taking upon himself the sins and the breaking of the law of all of humanity.
At the Cross all the acts that broke the laws of God, were allowed to literally cause Jesus to die. To picture this we can only see it as Jesus, being a beacon of purest and brightest light, a white light is helpful for the minds eye. And around him utter darkness, the nature and root of sin fully exposed, and yet that pitch darkness was allowed to be wrapped completely around him, in a manner far more real than when the devil carried Jesus unto the pinnacle of the temple.
But we know that darkness cannot overcome light. So the light was still clearly shinning at Calvary, despite the total darkness, ‘Father, forgive them’ & ‘Father Into thy hands I commit my Spirit.
Was God angry with his Son, the Father spoke that he was well pleased with him.
Through the sacrifice of Jesus, allowing himself to be the sin bearer, God was able to bring to the grave his Judgement against sin, his anger against that which restricted and prevented his love being poured and flowing out of are lives.
God, does not crucify his Son afresh. It was a once and for all time allowed.
Sins are acts and a nature separate from God.
Gods judgement against sin is death, he cannot sustain in life a nature he is against.
How is the wrath of God manifested at Calvary?
A dying thief is promised everlasting life because he feared God in the light of his Sons innocent death.
Why did the dying thief fear God in this moment? Why hadn’t the law of God and respect and fear of breaking it kept this man working an honest days pay. Why did his fear of God only affect his behavior at the Cross?
The dying thief had revelation at the Cross! He knew that Jesus was not going to save himself, nor was he going to save him from dying. The dying thief came into agreement with the judgement of God against his own sin, more than just his act of stealing, this man knew he had the very nature of sin within him. He knew his life was separated from the nature of God through a great divide.
The judgement of God against his sin worked repentance, he acknowledged and owned his crimes and agreed with the law, that sin could not run free and man simultaneously receive all the blessings from God.
But what made him fear God at the Cross, was knowing that Jesus was innocent of the charges against him and that he was not going to save himself.
This dying thief had his eyes opened by revelation from God, that Jesus was actually dying as a sacrifice for his own and others sins. He heard the forsaken cry of Jesus unto his Father, and knew it was a cry of acquittance and deepest heart affection, the forsaken cry of Jesus at the Cross conveyed a kingdom and a world lived in total harmony and fellowship and love and obedience unto his Father. It was a cry of relationship, of a Son unto his Father. This dying thief knew that Jesus knew his Father, the forsaken cry carried the truth of it deeply unto him.
The question Jesus asked his Father, penetrated deep into the heart and mind of this dying thief, and the answer to his forsaken cry was wrapped up in his dying request: ‘Remember me in your Kingdom’.
(Now I am aware that Jesus cried this after making an exceedingly great and most glorious promise unto the thief, but, the essence of it was all contained within his first cry on the Cross, ‘Father, forgive them for they have no knowledge of what they do’).
Full of grace and truth.
Jesus worshipped at the Cross, despite having the sins of the entire world placed upon his shoulders. A perfect sacrifice.
The dying thief feared God, as he realized that their actually was available unto him forgiveness of sins. The dying thief feared God when he saw that Jesus would die as an innocent man. He knew that he had the power to come down off that Cross, but that his obedience unto his Fathers will was total. ‘If you are the Son of God, cast yourself down as it is written he will give his angels charge over you lest you should dash your feet’, Jesus at this juncture is not tempting his Father, yet he is bearing the full weight of evil against his whole body, nails straight through his feet, not just a dash.
The dying thief saw a surrendered vessel unto the will of God & the suffering it brought him.
The dying thief did not see or hear the Father pronouncing his wrath against his son.
The dying thief saw a unity between the Father and the Son, and he knew in his heart that God the Father would raise his beloved Son from the grave.
The dying thief knew that Jesus was innocent and therefore his righteous Father would raise him from the dead.
Therefore, the dying thief saw the whole gospel. He saw the wrath of God against his own sin & he saw that it was laid upon Jesus so that he would have an opportunity to repent and believe.
This dying thief didn’t see salvation as individualistic! He saw it as a great and grand corporate affair. His saw the theatre of tragedy as Gods means of attracting all those opposed to his love.
The dying thief turned to the other thief and stated do you not fear God. He was an evangelist for truth with the light that he had seen and knew that he had not been especially chosen over and above his fellow man.
The wrath of God was revealed at Calvary against sin, through the apparent total absence of the Fathers presence. The Father was in his Son at Calvary, deep calling unto deep.
The ark of Salvation is only ‘in’ Jesus Christ his beloved Son.
The dying thief, understood the nature of sin at Calvary. He realized that eternity is real and forever. The dying thief understood what hell would be like, he saw that hell was a domain where the nature that had crucified an innocent man was present, the nature that mocked him and cried save yourself, that this nasty and hard and vile character of men would collectively be pressed together in a kingdom void of any of the light that is GOD.
This dying thief feared God at the Cross, as knowing their was a way of escape he would not count it as a vein thing. He cried out, ‘Remember me, in your kingdom’ – Jesus replied to him, ‘In truth I say unto you, ‘Today, you will be with me in paradise’.
In truth, it was grace that saved the dying thief. The law had only taught him that he was a sinner, the knowledge that what he had done was contrary to the nature of God.
The dying thief died for taking what did not belong to him. But when he asked Jesus for what belonged to him, Jesus freely gave it to him. He asked Jesus to remember him when he was in his kingdom, when he was in his domain and where his nature ruled and reigned over all.
The dying thief saw the fullness of Grace, he saw that Jesus was the collective sacrifice for all mens sins, and the one through whom we could all be remembered through.
This thief asked for new birth, he asked for a life of light. He asked to be in a kingdom where the Fathers love was fully bestowed and touching all in harmony through his Son.
Salvation through faith in grace made this man fear God, lest he be forgotten in the annuals of the book of life.
The law was given through Moses.
Moses was born a sinner & was impacted in his dna from the fall every bit as much as other men. Therefore, Moses himself could not be the vessel through which grace came through!
Moses had once killed a man, breaking the law of God by taking matters into his own hands! And isn’t that a parable concerning what sin is, separation from union with the Father – Into thy hands I commit my Spirit.
The law came through Moses as Moses himself was a sinner and needed to be kept until the promise of Sonship made to Abraham, until it came to pass. The promise was unto one man and his descendants, but it was collective as it was an extravagant and exceedingly great promise of more than he could ask or even begin to think, as it was an outpouring of Gods blessings, of his love towards every nation and family of the world. It was as innumerable as the stars.
The dying thief saw that the star that had guided the wise men to Bethlehem, was the first born among many brethren, he saw the light of scriptural faith, that God would justify the ungodly sinner through his own provided sacrifice: My son, God shall provide himself a sacrifice. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
The dying thief acquired wisdom when his heart was touched by grace, he did not want to be remembered as just a criminal, but as a man who had died alongside Jesus, him remembering his desire to be with him and akin to him.
The dying thief acquired more wisdom that all the religious crowd collectively gathered at that scene, when he saw the truth of grace in Christ.
Remember me! In truth I say to you, “Today you will be with me in Paradise’.
What a harmony. What a response to his request. Their was no testing of his faith, nor was their any religious programs to be put through. Jesus responded to the sincerity of his request with an immediate affirmation of his faith in Him: THIS IS TRUTH, THIS IS TRUTH TODAY AND EVERYDAY, the law will never make a fallen man righteous, only by grace do we stand.
And so should the Church respond to faith. The Church ought to be an environment where saving faith in the saviour abounds & abounds. It should not be an environment where faith is stifled in the totality of the grace of God unto salvation. This is the truth that moves the needle from nation to nation and family to family, the truth of the crucified one.
Titus Ch 2 v11.
John Ch 3 v16.
Jesus was born a man but without sins and without impact from the fall.
The law was given because of the fall.
John Ch 1 v16: Grace upon grace.
V17: the truth must be a liberator & in true identity a partner of grace. The truth isn’t the law as a condenser.
‘I am the way, the truth & the life’.
V18: he has made him known – Truth!
John Ch 1 v7 – John Ch 2 v25
This seems like a contradiction. When seen in light of Johns ministry. But this has to be seen in the context of that which is about to happen, the narrative of new birth.
John Ch2 v25 This is actually in harmony with John Ch1 v7 in that it ‘elevates’ Jesus as the sovereign messiah, the lamb, as one who must die for are salvation. That faith in the crucified one becomes are confidence.
John Ch 2 v23-25: These verses speak deeply into the light John the Baptist saw: ‘Behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world’.
The witness of John was that we are sin and need a saviour, that salvation does not come through works but through another man preferred before us, because he was before the fall. Jesus here is only magnifying that indeed he must go to the cross so that men and women can see their salvation procured ‘In’ his sacrifice as the lamb of God.
Johns witness was needed as it was in total harmony with what the dying thief saw: An innocent lamb.
Johns witness was needed, as he had honoured his parents, he had obeyed the commandments given by the angle prior to his conception. He had endeavored to keep the whole law & yet he knew that he needed a personal saviour from sin.
The witness that John gave was a witness that Jesus must go to calvary due to what Jesus knew was ‘in’ man. Jesus was baptized despite never having committed sin, it was a precursor to his sacrifice on behalf of sin for all men at calvary.
Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life’.
How do you think Jesus remmbered the thief on the cross? Yes I remembered you, and you believe the covenant promises.
Note:
John Ch 3 – that which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the spirit is spirit. This is a great theme of life, to put of the flesh life and walk in the Spirit.
But Jesus came in the flesh and dwelt amongst us. His flesh was not akin to fallen man.
eternalrays 