Many people claim that the Bible is confusing... that it contradicts itself. I differ with that! Yet, I do agree that for someone who hasn't been around good Biblical teaching, it can be confusing. Today, let's consider Jesus, full of GRACE and TRUTH, and His role as the central theme of the Bible story:
John 1:14-18 "The _______ became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His _______, the glory of the ONE AND ONLY, who came from the Father, full of ________ and TRUTH. _______ 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 ________ me.'"
John 1:14-18 "The WORD became _______ and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the _______ of the ONE AND ONLY, who came from the _______, full of GRACE and ________. John testifies concerning Him. He _____out, saying, "This was He of whom I said, 'He who comes ______ me has surpassed me because He was ________ me.'"
John 1:14-18 "The WORD became flesh and made His _________among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the ______ AND ONLY, who came from the Father, ______ of GRACE and TRUTH. John testifies ________ Him. He cries out, saying, "This was ____ of whom I said, 'He who comes after me has _______me because He was before me.'"
Here are a few basics:
- The Bible is really a library of 66 books.
- At the beginning of the very first book, Genesis, it tells about the creation of the universe - more than just planet earth.
- In the first chapter of Genesis, God says, "Let Us make man in Our image, in Our likeness..." That is the beginning of our understanding of our God, as 3 in One... often referred to as THE TRINITY: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
- God, the Trinity, is good... He is pure and HOLY... always doing the right thing. Sin is the opposite of that. God cannot stand sin!
- When God made man and woman, He gave them choice: good vs. evil... light vs. darkness... life vs. death... It didn't take them long to make some terrible choices. They chose to not trust God... they chose to disobey God's ways... Sin had come into the world!
- Because of God's HOLINESS, He could not tolerate sin. Yet, because of His deep LOVE for His creation, He was patient. He wanted them to change their ways! So, throughout time... throughout 65 of the 66 books of the Bible (and more), the story has played out over and over again: mankind sins against their HOLY God... yet, out of His great LOVE for them He is patient, kind, and longsuffering...
- The first few lines of the 43rd book of the Bible, the book of John, were our memory verses for the month of August. Our memory verses this month are back in that chapter. Both sets of verses remind us that Jesus was around at the beginning of time as our creator! The Bible is the word that tells us about Jesus, THE WORD.
- Our August verses, from John 1:1-5 & 14 say, "In the beginning was the WORD, and the WORD was with God, and the WORD was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made. In Him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it. . . The WORD became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of GRACE AND TRUTH."
- The TRUTH is that our HOLY God desires to have a HOLY people.
- The TRUTH is that out of His great and merciful LOVE for us, He has extended GRACE to His people throughout time.
- The TRUTH is that this GRACE was extended to us by His coming to earth as God, the Son: THE WORD.
- The TRUTH is that on earth He lived a HOLY life (sinless)... full of GRACE and TRUTH.
- The TRUTH is that in dying for us, He extended His LOVE and GRACE to us with outstretched arms.
- The TRUTH is that He sacrificed Himself for our sins and now lives to extend His GRACE to you and me...
Join me as we continue to work on memorizing our scripture for this month. It includes part of our August scripture. Enjoy the practice:
John 1:14-18 "The WORD became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the ONE AND ONLY, who came from the Father, full of GRACE and TRUTH. 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.'"
John 1:14-18 "The _______ became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His _______, the glory of the ONE AND ONLY, who came from the Father, full of ________ and TRUTH. _______ 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 ________ me.'" John 1:14-18 "The WORD became _______ and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the _______ of the ONE AND ONLY, who came from the _______, full of GRACE and ________. John testifies concerning Him. He _____out, saying, "This was He of whom I said, 'He who comes ______ me has surpassed me because He was ________ me.'" John 1:14-18 "The WORD became flesh and made His _________among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the ______ AND ONLY, who came from the Father, ______ of GRACE and TRUTH. John testifies ________ Him. He cries out, saying, "This was ____ of whom I said, 'He who comes after me has _______me because He was before me.'" John 1:14-18 "The ______ became _________ and made His ________ among ____. We have seen _____ _______, the glory of the _____ _____ ________, who came from the ________, ______ ___ ________ ____ _______. John ________ _________ Him. He cries out, saying, "______ ____ ______ of whom I said, 'He who comes ______ ____ has __________ me because He was ________ ____.'"
John 1:14-18 "The WORD became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the ONE AND ONLY, who came from the Father, full of GRACE and TRUTH. 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.'"
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