John 1:15-18

Perhaps you have heard about the poor farm lady who went to see some relatives who lived on the east coast. They took her down to the Atlantic Ocean. She stood there on the shore and looked at the ocean, and she stared and stared and stared; and finally, they got embarrassed and said, “Well, what’s going on?” Then she began to cry. She said, “Oh, it’s good to see something that there’s plenty of.” Well, the ocean is that way. There’s plenty of water there. In Jesus Christ, you have all that you need. There’s plenty of what you need in Jesus Christ. “And of His fullness have all we received, and grace for grace.” That statement is in John 1:16 and it really encourages me.

The thing I need more than anything else in all this world is the grace of God. Now what is grace? Well, grace is God’s provision for my every need. Grace is the attitude God takes toward me. Grace is not law. Law says, “Do this and you will live.” Grace says, “Receive life and you will do it!” Law tells me what God demands but grace tells me what God bestows. God’s grace is God’s supply of all that we need for any emergency of life and for all eternity. Where is this grace? It’s in Jesus Christ. “And of His fullness have all we received, and grace for grace.” He is full of grace. A friend of mine likes to say, “God has cornered the market on grace.” It’s all in Jesus Christ. You don’t get grace from Moses. The law demands and the law condemns.

You get grace from Jesus Christ. How much is there? Fullness of grace, plenty of grace for everybody. There’s saving grace. “For by grace are you saved through faith” (Ephesians 2:8). There’s suffering grace. “My grace is sufficient for thee”