God's Gallery of Amazing Grace
Text: John 1: 14-17
Intro: The first chapter of
John's gospel represents a gallery that
is presented to us by God himself.
As is with most galleries
there are various displays and presentations.
God's gallery
is filled with exhibitions, displays, presentations and trophies.
Also common in most galleries are the individual rooms or
areas. The rooms in God's
gallery are;
1) The room of incarnation
("the word became flesh")
2) The room of interest ("we
beheld his glory")
3) The room of inclusion
("have we all received")
As we stroll down the halls, and through the various rooms
of God's gallery, we become amazed at the quality and
quantity of God's display of grace.
That is why we call it
amazing grace. God's grace
amazes, dazzles and electri-
fies the sinner. Christmas is the celebration of the grand
opening of God's Gallery of Amazing Grace upon this earth.
I want you to join me as the Holy Ghost takes us on a guided
tour through the halls and rooms of God's Gallery of Amazing
Grace. On display is:
I. A Portrait of the
Birthday of the Saviour
A)
A Birthday honors a Person
1) He had no reception (v 11
"his own received him not")
2) He had no respect (v10
"the world knew him not")
3) He had no reservations(v12
"but as many as received him")
this is the shouting ground of "whosoever will")
B) A Birthday hallows a Presence
(v14 "we beheld his glory")
1) reflected in the star (Mt
2;2)
2) resounded by the heavenly
choir (Lk 2;13-14)
3) respected by the shepherds
(Lk 2:9)
C) A Birthday holds forth a Present
1) He is the price that
bought the gift
2) He is the person that
brought the gift
3) He is the provision that
bestows the gift
II. A Picture of the
Brilliance of Salvation
Christmas is a time of brilliance and beauty. On that first
Christmas, God lit up the universe as his only begotten son was
incarnated in the flesh of humanity.
The stage that was set that
wonderful night, had never been displayed before and will never
be duplicated again. As Christmas is about brilliant lights, I want
us to take a look at the lights display in God's Gallery of Amazing
Grace.
A) Blue lights represent
the sadness of the sinner
That night this world lay in sin against
God. Even today, men,
women, boys and girls live in the blue haze of sin and iniquity.
No wonder there are more suicides at Christmas than at any
other time of the year.
B) Red lights represent
the sacrifice of the Saviour
This speaks of the blood that was shed on calvary.
That pre-
cious blood was so much God and so powerful, that when
first drop hit the ground, the earth and trembled because it
had never felt anything with that kind of power.
C) White lights represent
the sinlessness of the Saviour
White speaks of the purity of the Saviour.
It also speaks of
the purity of a soul that has been redeemed and washed in
the blood. The only remedy
for removing the blue lights of
the sadness of sin is with the red light of the blood, and that
will turn on the white light of purity!
D) Green lights represent the security of the Saint
Green symbolizes grace. We
are saved by grace, but we
are also kept by grace. The
picture here is one of the ever-
green. Every thing else
around the evergreen will lose it's
color in winter, but it stays bright.
Green is also the color of
"go". "Those who know him, will go for Him"
E) Yellow lights represent
the stop sign about our
Situation
yellow flashing lights are a sign of warning. The offer of grace
is but for a limited time.
The grace period is almost over.
Those shepherds made haste to get to Jesus.
The offer of
grace is not limited in it's content or contract, but it is limited
in it's continuation as free.
III. A Preview of the
Blessings of Salvation
A)
The Law which is good
Law is the school master that brings us to the realization
that we all "have come short of the glory of God".
The law
has no provision for salvation, because no one can live up
to the law. However, our iniability to live up to it, does not
take away from it's perfection.
God's law is good, but it is
not grace.
B) The Grace which is
great
The law is similar to a light that shines on and reveals an
object. We we see the light
of the law of God, it will shine
and reveal the grace of God to us.
The law asks the ques-
tion, and grace gives us the answer.
Our amount of guilt
is taken care of by Amazing Grace.
C) The Life which is given
Because God loves us so much, only He is qualified to know
what we need. He sent us what
we need - a Saviour. If
man had attempted this he would have:
1) thought we needed
information and sent us an educator
2) though we needed an
invention and sent us a scientist
3) thought we need money and
sent us an economist
4) thought we needed a
promise and sent us a politician
5) thought we needed pleasure
and sent us entertainment
Rom 5:8 "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that
while we were yet sinners, Christ died for the ungodly"
John 3: 16 "For God so loved the world, that he gave his
only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should
not perish, but have everlasting life'
Gal 4;4 "but when the fullness of time was come, God sent
forth his son, made of a woman, made under the law, to
redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive
the adoption of sons"