The Soul Anchor [Hebrews 6:19] - April 1, 2024
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, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
John 1:17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
Twice in the introduction to his Gospel John ties two words together that that quite honestly seem pretty contradictory - grace and truth. John says that Jesus didn’t just come with grace and truth. He says that Jesus came full of grace and truth. Grace and truth do seem to be on opposite ends of the spectrum. Truth convicts me of my faults while grace gives me hope despite them.
In his book, “The Grace and Truth Paradox,” Randy Alcorn, uses the story of Eric Liddell as a beautiful example of grace and truth. Most of us know Liddell as the hero of the classic movie, “Chariots of Fire” In the movie, Liddell is a world class runner and likely winner of the gold medal in the 100-meter dash in the 1924 Olympics in Paris. However, Liddell forfeits the gold medal when he refuses to run on Sunday because it is his day for worship. He does win gold in the 400 meters race which was not on a Sunday. Alcorn recounts a story later in Liddell’s life when as a missionary he was detained in an internment camp in Northern China and refereed children while they played basketball, rounders, and hockey. Not surprisingly he refused to referee games on Sundays. But in his absence, the children fought, and Eric struggled over this. He believed he shouldn’t stop the children from playing because it was a necessary diversion for them, and it was obvious they needed him. Ultimately, Liddell decided to referee on Sundays. The athlete who gained worldwide recognition for sacrificing success for principle showed that he was not a legalist.
When there was a question about healing on the Sabbath Jesus emphasized grace. “One Sabbath, when Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee, he was being carefully watched. There in front of him was a man suffering from dropsy. Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in the law,
Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?
But they remained silent. So, taking hold of the man, he healed him and sent him away. Then he asked them,
If one of you has a son or an ox that falls into a well on the Sabbath day, will you not immediately pull him out? And they had nothing to say. (Luke 14:1-6)
The criminal who hung on the cross next to Jesus asked Jesus to save him. Though every spoken word was agony, Jesus answered him,
I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise. (Luke 23:42-43).
This criminal would never be baptized, make restitution, attend church, take communion, sing a hymn or give an offering. He had nothing to offer Christ, no way to pay him back. Neither do we. “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners (Truth), Christ died for us.” (Grace) Romans 5:8
God bless,
Pastor Frank