#275 W.I.J.D. Series# 10, A New Narrative – Reimaging GOD

#275 W.I.J.D. Series# 10, A New Narrative – Reimaging GOD
By: Pastor Cheryl Thomas

Magic Eye exercise—once you learn how to see what is really there you can find it all the time.

1 John 4:17 “…because as he is so also are we in this world.”

If I were to boil what I believe Jesus did and continues to do, I would say that Jesus is changing the narrative and he is re imaging who is God.

There is a representing of the overarching aims and values of God
How did Jesus change the narrative?

Hebrews 1:1-3
The Supremacy of God’s Son ESV
“1 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. 3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.”

Laleo–Spoken — to make oneself heard- God made his intentions for mankind, creation and the cosmos heard by one Christ Jesus.

hä-räk-tā’r- exact imprint/express image— it is where we get our English word character—Christ perfectly reflects the majesty of God.

This verse sums it up—perfectly- God is not leaving the telling of his story to the prophets of old any more… he has sent his son to speak on his behalf.

God is done with mans attempt at imagining Him- he sent his son to represent his exact HARAKTAR.

Jesus life and teaching challenge the God narrative of the day…His message and teaching methods created cognitive disequilibrium in his listeners.

As believers our lives and how we live is completely dependent on our God imaging.

Our imaging is what we each appropriate and it becomes the cornerstone that shapes our individual priorities. For each of us, this imaging impacts significantly upon what we think is important, how we think the way the world should be and what we understand of God.

John 1:14-17Amplified Bible (AMP)
14 And the Word (Christ) became flesh, and lived among us; and we [actually] saw His glory, glory as belongs to the [One and] only begotten Son of the Father, [the Son who is truly unique, the only One of His kind, who is] full of grace and truth (absolutely free of deception). 15 John testified [repeatedly] about Him and [a]has cried out [testifying officially for the record, with validity and relevance], “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me [b]has a higher rank than I and has priority over me, for He existed before me.’” 16 For out of His fullness [the superabundance of His grace and truth] we have all received grace upon grace [spiritual blessing upon spiritual blessing, favor upon favor, and gift heaped upon gift]. 17 For the Law was given through Moses, but grace [the unearned, undeserved favor of God] and truth came through Jesus Christ.

John 1:14-20 (MSG)
The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood. We saw the glory with our own eyes, the one-of-a-kind glory, like Father, like Son, Generous inside and out, true from start to finish. 15 John pointed him out and called, “This is the One! The One I told you was coming after me but in fact was ahead of me. He has always been ahead of me, has always had the first word.” We all live off his generous bounty, gift after gift after gift. We got the basics from Moses, and then this exuberant giving and receiving, This endless knowing and understanding— all this came through Jesus, the Messiah. No one has ever seen God, not so much as a glimpse. This one-of-a-kind God- Expression, who exists at the very heart of the Father, has made him plain as day.

How is Jesus Re imaging God? – His life reveals the truth about God and His life reveals the Grace of God.

The Truth of God

Once the Devil was walking along with one of his cohorts. They saw a man ahead of them pick up something shiny. “What did he find?” asked the cohort.
“A piece of the truth,” the Devil replied.
“Doesn’t it bother you that he found a piece of the truth?” asked the cohort.
“No,” said the Devil, “I will see to it that he makes a religion out of it.”
Klyne Snodgrass, Between Two Truths – Living with Biblical Tensions, 1990, Zondervan Publishing House, p. 35.

Truth is a queen who has her eternal throne in heaven, and her seat of empire in the heart of God. —Bossuet

Truth- al/le/thi/a

1 What is true in things appertaining to God and the duties of man, moral and religious truth

2 Signifying “the reality lying at the basis of an appearance; the manifested, veritable essence of a matter” “the truth of God, the truth concerning God

3 In Rom 15:8 “the truth of God” is indicative of His faithfulness in the fulfillment of His promises as exhibited in Christ; the word has an absolute force in John 14:6;

4 The meaning is not merely ethical “truth,” but “truth” in all its fullness and scope, as embodied in Him; He was the perfect expression of the truth;

The Grace of God

Burton Scott Easton (Easton Bible Dictionary) –“Grace” is an attitude on God’s part that proceeds entirely from within Himself, and that is conditioned in no way by anything in the objects of His favor.

A rigid definition is hardly possible, but still a single conception is actually present in almost every case where “grace” is found-the conception that all a Christian has or is, is centered exclusively in God and Christ, and depends utterly on God through Christ.”
Burton Scott Easton

Word uses 156 times in NT

GRACE IS NOT:

Grace is not Works– Paul; said, “and if by grace, then it cannot be based on works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.

All that is good is ours not by right but by the sheer bounty of a gracious God not a reward for our faithfulness, our generous disposition, or our heroic life of prayer. Even our fidelity is a gift.”~ Brennan Manning, The Ragamuffin Gospel, pp.26-7.

Our huffing and puffing to impress God, our scrambling for brownie points, our thrashing about trying to fix ourselves while hiding our pettiness and wallowing in guilt are nauseating to God and are a flat out denial of the gospel of grace. Brennan Manning

Grace is not Law-
The law condemns the best of us; but grace saves the worst of us. Joseph Prince
Read more at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/grace.html

“Grace means that God does something for me; law means that I do something for God…” ~ Watchman Nee, The Normal Christian Life, p.155-6.

Galatians 5:4 If you seek to be justified and declared righteous and to be given a right standing with God through the Law, you are brought to nothing and so separated (severed) from Christ. You have fallen away from grace (from God’s gracious favor and unmerited blessing).

Romans 5:20 the law was brought in so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more.

Purpose of the Law: (Paul Ellis, Gospel in 20 Questions)

1. To provoke sin… so that the trespass increase
2. It reveals our sinful state- Romans 3:20 “through the law we become conscious of our sin
3. The law is meant to help sin overcome you… without law sin is dead.
4. The ultimate purpose of the law is to point us to Christ… Gal 3:24 “the law was a guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith

But where sin increased, grace increased all the more,
– Grace increases all the more
– Grace over abounded
– Grace multiplied
– Grace did abound more exceedingly
– Grace would super abound- Huper-perisseuo (hyper abound.

“But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many.” [Romans 5:15]

• Grace is not merely unmerited favor; it is favor bestowed on sinners who deserve wrath.
• Grace is not a dormant or abstract quality, but a dynamic, active, working principle:
• Grace is not some kind of ethereal blessing that lies idle until we appropriate it.
• Grace is not a one-time event in the Christian experience.
• Grace is not an article of faith
• Grace is not a theology
• Grace is not a subject matter
• Grace is not a doctrine
• “Grace” is the antinomy to “works” or to “law”; Burton Scott Easton

A. W. Tozer expanded on that: “Grace is the good pleasure of God that inclines him to bestow benefits on the undeserving.”

Berkhof is more to the point: grace is “the unmerited operation of God in the heart of man, effected through the agency of the Holy Spirit.”

SO WHAT IS GRACE?

The contrast between law and grace as methods of God’s dealing with humans is expressed here in the Pauline writings (see Ro 5:20-21; Eph 2:8). The law represented God’s standard…Grace represents all that HE IS.

Therefore I dare say Grace is a person, Grace has a purpose, and Grace has a practice!

1. Grace is a Person
God’s grace is not an abstract concept or a thing. God’s grace is a person.
Jesus Christ is God’s grace personified.

John 1:14
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. NIV

Titus 2: 11-14
“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men…” the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men…” is a reference to Jesus whom John describes as God’s only son who left heaven and came to earth, full of grace and truth, and from his grace we have each received grace and God’s blessings.

For it is by grace you have been saved Eph 2:8
There is no such thing as accepting God’s grace or being saved by grace apart from Jesus Christ.

When you accept Jesus, you don’t need to worry about grace because Jesus is the grace of God that saves us. Jesus is God’s grace.

Romans 5:15 of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many.” Again, this emphasizes the fact that Jesus is God’s grace, that grace is God’s gift to us.

2. Grace has a purpose—it saves us, teaches us, preserves us, and parades us!

“Grace is the voice that calls us to change and gives us the power to pull it off.” ~ Max Lucado, Grace, p.8

Grace Saves-

Ephesians 2:8-9 for it is by free grace (God’s unmerited favor) that you are saved (delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ’s salvation) through [your] faith. And this [salvation] is not of yourselves [of your own doing, it came not through your own striving], but it is the gift of God; Not because of works [not the fulfillment of the Law’s demands], lest any man should boast. [It is not the result of what anyone can possibly do, so no one can pride himself in it or take glory to himself.]

Ephesians 2:5 Even when we were dead (slain) by [our own] shortcomings and trespasses, He made us alive together in fellowship and in union with Christ; [He gave us the very life of Christ Himself, the same new life with which He quickened (made us alive) Him, for] it is by grace (His favor and mercy which you did not deserve) that you are saved (delivered from judgment and made partakers of salvation).

“And are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,” [Romans 3:24]
This grace saves me, quickens me and justifies me.

Grace teaches us

TITUS 2:11-13 “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, 12 training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age…”

Matthew 11:28-30“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.

Grace preserves us

“So that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” [Titus 3:7]

“Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace” [2 Thessalonians 2:16]

Grace parades God’s Glory

But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by GRACE ye are saved;) and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his GRACE in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by GRACE are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast. (Ephesians 2:4-9)

3. Grace is practical

Andrew Wommack, in his book The True Nature of God, said this, “If a drunk comes to a service… (it’s) ‘Brother, God loves you.’… But woe to that drunk if he comes back drunk after being saved. God loved him when he was a sinner and drunk, but if he’s born again and he’s still drunk – God forbid! Most Christians would not offer the same kind of unconditional love. Doesn’t something seem inconsistent about that? Grace is not just for the lost Grace is for the Christian too.” ~

“Grace is a system of living whereby God blesses us because we are in Jesus Christ, and for no other reason at all.” ~Steve McVey, Grace Rules, p.147.

“It is grace at the beginning, and grace at the end…The Christian life starts with grace, it must continue with grace, it ends with grace…” ~ D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981)

“Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” [Hebrews 4:16]

“As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace” [1 Peter 4:10]

We stand in grace (Romans 5:2). The entire Christian life is driven and empowered by Grace:

Peter said we should “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18).

Religion masters in marginalization, discrimination, violence, and hatred, dressed up in the sheep’s clothing of legal righteousness and religious zeal….

However grace is Jesus breaking the rules, upsetting the applecart, challenging the status quo, and illustrating God’s priorities.

One has only look to Jesus, the fullness of God’s self-disclosure and the very explication of God, to find example after example of what Divine priority really looks like.

Grace Says:
• God is not judging you
• Grace says Jesus + Nothing
• Grace creates addicts for God
• Grace says God is not mad at you – He is madly in love with you
• Grace doesn’t just tolerate you Grace celebrates you

What does Grace/God Look Like?

Grace is the love of God reaching down and saving humanity
Grace is confident assurance that God is with me and for me
Grace is the end of religion
Grace is the freedom to from the need to prove worthy
Grace is permission to be whom God made me
Grace is heavens cure for our war torn creation
Grace turns sinners into saints and haters into lovers
Grace heals the broken
Grace gives strength to the weary
Grace is Jesus with the Samaritan woman
Grace is Jesus response to the woman caught in Adultery
Grace is Jesus making people not principles his priority
Grace is God dealing in realities not legalities
Grace is Jesus letting women travel with his caravan
Grace is Jesus calling Zacchaeus out of hiding
Grace is Jesus at a tax collectors house with all the wild ones
Grace is Jesus weeping over Jerusalem
Grace is Jesus at his last meal with his friends
Grace is Jesus with Peter… restoring him after his denial
Grace is Jesus with Thomas… see my hands

Grace Is:
• Free
• Undeserved
• Eternal in Purpose
• Controversial for the religious mind
• Grace is Amazing

“By entering through faith into what God has always wanted to do for us – set us right with him, make us fit for him – we have it all together with God because of our Master Jesus. And that’s not all: We throw open our doors to God and discover at the same moment that he has already thrown open his door to us. We find ourselves standing where we always hoped we might stand – out in the wide open spaces of God’s grace and glory, standing tall and shouting our praise.” ~Paul of Tarsus, Romans 5:1-2, MSG

Grace is not a part of the message it is the message… it is the narrative that is reimaging God.

Grace is God’s herald – Calling humanity to himself
Grace is the narrative created in eternity and Grace is the narrative that will echo throughout eternity.
GRACE IS GODS FINAL WORD

John 14:12-14 “From now on, whatever you request along the lines of who I am and what I am doing, I will do it. That is how the Father will be seen for who He is in the Son…”

It’s all about that Grace (put on the t shirt)

What is Jesus doing?

He is exposing us to His glory and creating a garden of his presence

He is separating us unto himself not separating us from the world we live in… so that we can reimage God… who is full of Grace

He is reproducing those who share in his nature and as such they practice generosity, not adding kindness to the world but by their generosity transforming the world

He is challenging us with “who is you neighbor and look around opportunity is everywhere

He is bringing freedom and teaching the church that freedom is both discipleship and deliverance and that the best weapon against the enemy is Love…perfect love casts out all fear…

He is announcing the epoch of the Lord’s favor

He is bringing life john 10:10

He is destroying the works of the devil 1john 3:8

He is testifying to the truth John 18:37

He is saving the world John 3:17 Luke 19:10

He is revealing the father Math 11:27

He is forever interceding

He is healing deaf ears, he is healing anxiety, and he is restoring broken relationships,

Zechariah 4:6-7English Standard Version (ESV)

6 Then he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts. 7 Who are you, O Great Mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain. And he shall bring forward the top stone amid shouts of ‘Grace, grace to it!’

Dads story…
What is Jesus doing he is changing the narrative about the mountains in our lives and we are declaring with him GRACE GRACE GRACE

 

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