Episode 1281: Grace of Jesus

[00:00:00] Scott Maderer: Thanks for joining me on episode 1,281 of the Inspired Stewardship podcast.

[00:00:08] Joe Schum: I'm Joe Shum from Soul Patch Hippo Success Coaching. I want a surge journey to be the next version of you, to be inspired to become the most authentic you. Listen to this, the Inspired Stewardship Podcast by my friend Scott Mader.

[00:00:22] Every day can help you keep the focus that you.

[00:00:34] Scott Maderer: What really is going on here is beyond our comprehension. It's beyond our ability to categorize him. Once we seem to figure it all out, then we wouldn't need faith anymore. We wouldn't need belief anymore. We wouldn't need Jesus anymore. That's one of the reasons that I believe that I need Jesus is be welcome and thank you for joining us on the [00:01:00] Inspired Stewardship Podcast.

[00:01:02] If you truly desire to become the person who God wants you to be, then you must learn to use your time, your talent, and your treasures. For your true calling and the Inspired Stewardship Podcast, you will learn to invest in yourself, invest in others, and develop your I. So that you can impact the world.

[00:01:29] In today's spiritual foundation episode, I talk with you about John chapter one, verses one through 14. I share how this poetry from John reflects a belief in Jesus, and I talk about using this time of the season to reflect upon grace. John chapter one verses one through 14 says, in the beginning was the word and the word was with God, and the word was God.

[00:01:58] He was in the beginning with [00:02:00] God. All things came into being through him and without him, not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not over. . There was a man sent from God whose name was John.

[00:02:18] He came as a witness to testify to the light so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light, the true light, which enlightens everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world came into being through him. Yet the world did not know.

[00:02:39] He came to what was his own. And his own people did not accept him, but to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God who were born not of blood or of the will of the flesh, or of the will of man, but of God. And the word became flesh and lived among us. And we [00:03:00] have seen His glory.

[00:03:01] The glory is of the father's only son full of grace. And. I will admit that Jesus is one of those things that I have struggled understanding throughout my life, and I've come to resolve myself to the idea that I'm really not ever going to understand it fully. It's something that I have to accept with faith and walk with the discomfort of not really understanding everything that is about.

[00:03:32] Jesus, everything that we put forward in the church and in other places about Jesus. This complex theology that is around that the idea that yes, this is a person a special person, exemplary in many ways, and that is a right belief and yet it's also wrong. At the same time, if you believe what is taught this Jesus thing [00:04:00] is really.

[00:04:02] To comprehend there, there's always a yes, but when it comes to talking about Jesus or maybe yes. And the I'm a firm believer in this both and theology understanding and holding two things in your head at once that often seem contradictory. And I think that happens a lot when we talk about Jesus, this idea of what is.

[00:04:26] If you think about it, even the creeds that we say in the church seem to wrestle with putting a description of Jesus into word. Many of the creeds that we use spend a lot of time trying to describe and explain. Jesus. They're devoted to talking about him, and yet there always seems to be more that could be said.

[00:04:50] The Apostles Creed, for example, says, and in Jesus Christ, his only son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Poncho [00:05:00] Pilate was crucified, dead, and was buried. The third day he rose from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sined at the right hand of God.

[00:05:07] The Father Almighty from then see shall come to judge the quick and. You kinda have to draw a breath here because it's a statement of who Jesus is, who he is in relationship with God, how he has a relationship with us, how he exists for himself, and yet is defined in community with God and with humanity.

[00:05:28] He's his only son. He's our Lord. All of this is piled in there and that this. Terse and relatively short statement tries to fill all of this with both simplicity and a depth of understanding what's going on here. But if you think that's something let's look at the Nicean creed. We believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father.

[00:05:57] God from God. Light from light, [00:06:00] true God from true God. Begotten, not made of one being with the. Through him, all things were made for us and for our salvation. He came down from heaven by the power of the Holy Spirit. He became incarnate from the Virgin Mary and was made man for our sake. He was crucified under Pontius Pilate.

[00:06:18] He suffered death and was buried. On the third day, he rose again in accordance with the scriptures. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end. Again, an even longer section. Some of the same words are used and some of the same ideas are repeated, and yet we're trying to nail down something that probably defies definition.

[00:06:48] What really is going on here is beyond our comprehension. It's beyond our ability to categorize him. Once we seem to figure it all out, then we [00:07:00] wouldn't need faith anymore. We wouldn't need belief anymore. We wouldn't need Jesus anymore. That's one of the reasons that I believe that I need Jesus, is because I don't understand it, not because I.

[00:07:14] This Jesus thing would become one more thing that we've conquered. One more thing that we've put in a box, one more thing that we've figured it out, but we do need some handles, right? We need some ideas or some ways of grasping or clinging to some level, even if we don't have full comprehension, because otherwise it becomes this incomprehensible reality that no.

[00:07:39] Really understands, like quantum physics. Michael Fineman, a quantum physicist, was famous for saying that if you understand quantum physics, it proves that you don't understand quantum physics. What's left instead is poetry. This is why John says don't explain. Explain through [00:08:00] telling a beautiful poetic story for singing a song.

[00:08:05] Thi this is a theological. Sort of doxology or song or belief or explanation or poetry. In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him and without him, not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people.

[00:08:33] The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light, the true light, which enlightens everyone was coming into the world.

[00:08:56] He was in the world, and the world came into being through him. Yet the [00:09:00] world did not know him. He came to what was his own. His own people did not accept him, but to all who Receiv. Who believed in his name. He gave power to become children of God who were born not of blood or of the will of the flesh, or of the will of man, but of God.

[00:09:17] And the word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen His glory. The glory is of a father's only son full of grace and truth. John testified to him and cried out. This was he of whom I said. He who comes after me, ranks ahead of me because he was before. From his fullness, we have all received grace.

[00:09:38] Upon grace. The law indeed was given through Moses. Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. It is God the only son who is close to the father's heart who has made him known. That's even more of this first passage from John, this opening from John, we could analyze and break down the [00:10:00] words and try to ring out every meaning and every understanding, or we can simply bathe in the beauty of those words and recognize the power is not in understanding them, but in feeling.

[00:10:17] there, there's a feeling to this grace thing. There's a feeling to understanding that I don't have to understand at all to be able to believe it with my heart and soul and faith, you can test, you can receive grace, and you can give grace to others, and in this time, I think that is the real understanding of Jesus.

[00:10:45] Thanks for listening.

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[00:11:35] Until next time, invest your. Your talent and your treasures. Develop your influence and impact the world.