Matthew 28:16-20, 2 Corinthians 13:11-14
“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ….be with you all. Amen.”
There’s so much in these verses, we can’t really even begin to scratch the surface of the meaning of it
Verse 11 – the first big idea in this passage - The benediction shows up all through the whole New Testament and is a thing that was always an important part of the worship of God.
Even Moses was commanded to issue benedictions
At the conclusion of a letter to the church in the NT there’s always a blessing.
Verse 14 – the second big idea in this text – the Trinity.
The OT constantly insists that there is only one God. But in the NT there’s 3 distinct entities that are specifically named or shown to us.
Perhaps the most graphic example of this happening is in the Gospel of John.
John 14 is probably the best example of Jesus explaining the coming of the Holy Spirit.
How do we explain that there is only one God but in 3 persons?
The thought of the Trinity is perhaps the most difficult thing a human mind has to try to comprehend
There are 3 people that are co-existent, but only 1 God.
In the Works of Jesus and the reality in the New Testament is summed up in the existence of, and the attempt to understand, the Trinity
Verse 14 - The third big idea – The grace of God
Grace: we must be saved by grace, live by grace, labor by grace
The human heart wants, yearns, tries…to come up with a good reason for why God would save each of us….beyond the grace of God, but that’s the only way of salvation.
Grace is unmerited – there’s nothing I can do to earn it.
Ponder the grace of God in calling me to faith in Jesus Christ
But didn’t I do something in my childhood that makes me eligible to receive the salvation of Jesus?
No, in each of us it was His grace, and only that.
2 Cor 6:1 - not receiving the Grace in vain – Am I living for myself or by the Grace of God?
Am I living trusting God’s grace? Or is it just my human will?
Philippians 1:6 – God will bring the work in you to completion
Our culture encourages us, even in the Christian church, to live by our determination, our human drive. But we don’t hear about walking in Grace.
You can’t serve without God’s grace working in your heart.
2 Corinthians 12:?, 1 Corinthians 15:? – our labor must be by the grace of God, and then you’ll see marvelous results.
Have you ever taken your “to do list” and made it into your prayer list?
What God will ask me to do is way beyond what I am able to do.
Am I saved by my works? Or have I been saved by God’s grace?
Slave of besetting sins? Or trusting in God’s grace to overcome?
Laboring by the grace of God? Or exhausted by sheer self effort?
Don’t live in pride, self will, rebellion….submit to God’s grace.
6 comments:
Hope you don't mind corrections :-)
One thing you should change: "There are 3 people that are co-existent, but only 1 God."
Not three people, but three persons, as you said earlier.
Whatever Nathaniel...it means exactly the same thing.......totally the same thing.....and the fact that it's not perfetcly gramatically correct??? who really cares?
~Kevin
(srry wierd mood)
Ah, but they aren't the same. People refers only to humans, while persons refers to distinct consciousnesses (is that a word?). People could readily be used by a polytheist; it means that there is more than one completely independent being.
And please don't think me critical :-)
Was it really necessary to correct him? I'm sure you understood what he meant.(in other words was it really that big of a deal?)
I'm sorry, Anonymous; I don't normally correct, but this time I thought that the thing was important enough that I needed to mention it.
I have a great idea--lets argue about what i meant....or not.
I will say this though, those notes are un-edited and are just as i took them during the sermon, so there could easily be errors besides the one Nathaniel mentioned.....i'm not a theologian after all. :-)
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