Grace Upon Grace

"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... And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace." - John 1:14-16

This Advent season, I read "The Dawning of Indestructible Joy" devotional book by John Piper. Boy, was it good! The reading for December 25th, Christmas Day, was titled Grace: The Dominant Note of Christmas and it went along so perfectly with the brand new Grace So Amazing January stamp set, I just knew I needed to journal it. Isn't God good like that?! 

Grace is the dominant theme of Christmas. The barn, the manger, the angels, the shepherds, the wise men -- it all comes down to one thing: grace. While the gospel of John does not contain the traditional Christmas story found in the other gospels, the story and purpose of Christmas is weaved throughout the book. After quoting John 1:14-16, John Piper has this to say:

"So the eternal Word of God took on human flesh, and in that way the divine Son of God - who never had an origin, and never came into being, and was God, but was also with God - became man. and in doing this, he made the glory of God visible in a wholly new way. And this divine glory, uniquely manifest in the Son of God, was full of grace and truth. And from that fullness we receive grace upon grace.

That is the meaning of Christmas in John's Gospel. God the Son, who is God, and who is with God, came to reveal God in a way he had never been revealed before. And in that revelation, the dominant note struck is race: from the fullness of that revelation of divine glory, we receive grace upon grace."

Christmas is the human embodiment of grace to a fallen world. Christmas is for salvation. Salvation for you and for me. The birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus provides an inexhaustible supply of grace and truth to the whole world. It never runs out. It's grace upon grace upon grace upon grace - forever. 

  

I used the Grace So Amazing, With Love Alpha, and Folk Art Snowflakes stamp sets to create this page and coordinating journaling card. Just stamps and ink, that's it! Easy peasy, but full of great content and reminders to embrace the grace that has been given to me by the Joy of Christmas. 💙 

  

I pray you cling to the grace that has been provided to you every day this week. 

With love in Christ, 

Janelle

@journalingjoy

The Word is Emmanuel

Hello, creative worship friends!

I'm glad you're in here this morning.  The "Sweet n Sassy Stamps" creative team have been working (or should I say, "playing?") hard to bring you some of the neatest samples of the June release ever! 

I've been so amazed at the different things that I've seen so far, and I'm more excited about seeing what y'all make as this month progresses.  It's awesome to see bits and pieces of God's creative hand in each of us, isn't it?  Just when you think you've seen it all, God reaches down and displays a little more of His glory through a brush, a stencil, a stamp, or just a pencil.  I love it.  I love it a lot.

It's fascinating that such a big, holy, indescribable God could think of and work through someone like you or me.  The first time man "messed up," His righteous right hand stayed in place to allow His most glorious creation to continue to exist; continue to exist, and even multiply and populate the earth with more of the same kind.

In Genesis 3:15, we find the first rendition of the sweet gospel of Grace. 
"I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel."  

This here is something so far beyond what I can understand as far as God's sovereignty and redemption plan.  When the LORD speaks like this, He Himself is testifying of His own goodness and grace for mankind that was (and has been since) actively rebelling against Him.  Though we have an inborn illness of a wicked heart, God saw it as a good and self-glorifying thing to allow man an escape; freedom from this hardened heart, and freedom to a heart like His own.  There is a "Seed" that comes from a woman, and that "Seed" will indeed be in opposition to the state of the wickedness and rebellion set forth by our Adversary - the Satan. 
God speaks so beautifully into His plan of death versus Salvation in Jesus Christ, giving a picture wherein Jesus will be injured by the adversary - a temporary, non-lethal wound - and Jesus would deliver an eternal, completely lethal blow to said adversary!  The swap of battle wounds would render our enemy defeated, and our King on His Throne forever!

Throughout the rest of scripture we're given account after account and type after type of the Plan.
The Way.
Emmanuel.
God with us.
The Word.

True to form, God inspires another prophet to speak the name, "Emmanuel," to encourage and motivate the people to follow the one true God again.  Isaiah's words tie in what God has said before regarding a "Seed," and mingles it with another prophecy of a God-man that would come and dwell among man.  This Messiah would be the hope of the world; the Savior; the Christ that comes through a virgin and saves the people from their sins!

Again, in John 1, we see something called "the Word."  This is no ordinary word, and no ordinary saying.  It's not a psalm, it's not a proverb, it's not a prophecy.  It's THE Word of God - HIS Word that would be spoken across the spans of humanity, calling and curing all who would come.  It says,
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."  Then, in v.14 comes the formula for understanding this God-man in the greatest capacity possible:
"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."
The Word.
God with Us.
Emmanuel.
The Way.

That God sent His only Begotten to save the world, to cleanse us from our unrighteous ick, to replace ick with His beauty and purity, to be the Hope and Light in darkness and confusion, is the very Word we need to hear.  It's the very Word we need to breathe.  The same Word we need to dwell in us, changing us, prepping us for His eternal Kingdom. 
God is so kind. 
His love never ends.
His grace ever enough.
Jesus, we love you.

Much love, my friends.
Deeds