07/05/24
JOEL OSTEEN MINISTRIES
TODAY’S WORD
TODAY’S SCRIPTURE
Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the LORD God called to the man, “Where are you?”
Genesis 3:8–9, NIV
WHERE ARE YOU?
Before Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden, they were happy, confident, and secure. They knew God loved them. They walked with God, talked with God, and enjoyed being in His presence. But when they disobeyed, the condemnation came, the accusing voice that brought fear and intimidation. The first thing they did was run and hide. They had to get out of God’s presence. They believed the lie that they wouldn’t be gladly welcomed anymore. God came and said, “Adam, where are you?” It wasn’t so much about his location; it was about his frame of mind, about the shame and guilt.
Perhaps you have disobeyed what you know God says, you’re not where you want to be, and you don’t feel worthy or deserving of God’s goodness. Now, as with Adam, you’re hiding. God is saying, “Where are you? I long to be with you. I have forgiveness for your wrongs. I have washed away your sins. Come out of hiding, come out of unworthiness, come out of condemnation, and receive My glad welcome.”
A PRAYER FOR TODAY
“Father, thank You that You didn’t create me to hide my sins and weaknesses or hide from You. Thank You that I can come to You and unload all the condemnation and fear and feelings of unworthiness. I believe that You have washed away my sins and are pouring out Your goodness upon me. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”
SECTION TWO
Did you know that God sees grace (unmerited favor) and truth as one and the same thing? Notice in John 1:17 that truth is on the same side as God’s unmerited favor and both grace (unmerited favor) and truth came through Jesus Christ.
When I did a study of this verse in its original Greek, I found out that “grace and truth” are actually referred to as a singular unit, since they are followed by the singular verb translated as “came.” In other words, in God’s eyes, grace and truth are synonymous—unmerited favor is truth and truth is unmerited favor.
Sometimes, people tell me things like, “Well, it’s good that you preach grace, but we also have to tell people about truth.” This makes it seem as though grace and truth are two different things when, in fact, they are one and the same. You cannot separate truth from grace and grace from truth as they are both embodied in the person of Jesus Christ.
In fact, just a few verses before this, John 1:14, referring to the person of Jesus, says, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace [unmerited favor] and truth.”
Grace and truth came together through the person and ministry of Jesus. Grace is not a doctrine or teaching. Grace is a Person.
This is contrasted with the old covenant of law that was given through Moses on Mount Sinai. We can see that God is very precise in dealing with the two covenants and does not mix them together.
Grace is grace and law is law. Grace came by Jesus whereas the law was given through Moses.
Jesus didn’t come to give us more laws. He came to give us His unmerited favor, which is His truth! It would be of immense profit to you to keep in mind that every time you read the word “grace” in the Bible, you translate it mentally as “unmerited favor,” because that is what it is.
My friend, “grace came.” It is one thing to give, but it is another thing to come. You see, I could send a DVD of my sermon to you instead of coming to you. But if I come to you, it’s personal.
The law was given by Moses, but grace came by Jesus Christ. Every system of morality is about man trying to reach God with his discipline and good works, but in Christianity, God came down to where we were to lift us up to where He is!
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