More Gifts

For the law was given through Moses, but God's unfailing love and faithfulness came through Jesus Christ... John 1:17 NLT

I began this journey contemplating the gift of faith. It didn't take long to find mention of other gifts bestowed by God. The first chapter of the book John records a list of gifts.

John tells us that God gives life to everything that He creates (John 1:4), and that He gives light to every person (John 1:9).

Every person receives enlightenment -- a chance to choose between the light of God and the darkness of this world. A chance to see the Light of the world -- Jesus Christ -- and accept Him or reject Him.

To those who choose to accept the Light, God then gives the right to become children of God (John 1:12).

The pool gets smaller as these gifts of God are dispersed. Life goes to all creation. Light to all humanity. The right of adoption to those who choose to become His children.

And then there are more gifts. Gifts given specifically to the children of God.

John tells us that God gives one gracious blessing after another (John 1:16). That He gives the Law and the gift of unfailing love and faithfulness OR grace and truth (John 1:17).

It was the final gifts -- specifically the Law and Grace -- that caught my attention as I read through this passage. After all they encompass the whole of scripture -- both testaments. I thought it was kind of funny that in a journey through the New Testament I so quickly encountered the Old Testament.

It was no accident.

The Old Testament holds a certain appeal for me. I am a rule-keeper. I like rules. It's so easy for me to live a good life. To live by the Law as I see it -- a set of rules and regulations, a religion -- and to imagine that I'm living by faith.

There is a great danger in that.

It's a danger I've seen in my own life as I've measured myself against a standard of religion and measured others against myself.

When we put too much emphasis on rules and regulations, on discipline and religion, we begin to think that we must live up to a religious standard. But the standard is impossible to achieve.

We can never live up to our ideal of what a good Christian is supposed to be.

We fail. And to ease the pain of our own failure, we turn our attention to those around us. And judge them according to our standard.

We overlook the Grace of God.

There is a reason that God instituted the age of Grace. No one besides Jesus Christ could possibly live up to the Law. No one can live up to the standards of religion that we, rule-keepers, try so hard to follow.

We all fail.

We need Grace, desperately.

And God gives it. That is the message of the New Testament -- the gift of Grace.

God gives Grace.

But, while too much emphasis on the Law and religion instigates judgement and self-condemnation, too much emphasis on Grace can be just as dangerous to our walk of faith.

The abundance of God's Grace combined with the weakness of our humanity, can cause us to take Grace for granted.

Because we cannot possibly live up to the standards set, we reason that there is no need to strive against our inherently sinful nature at all.

We begin to overlook sins that could be overcome if we would only take them to Calvary. To the foot of the cross. To Jesus.

The abundance of Grace in our lives can tempt us to give a false hope to those who have no hope because they've never met Jesus Christ at Calvary.

God gives the gift of Grace only to His children.

But He gives the gift of light to everyone.

Grace will not cover the sins of those who fail to accept the gift of Light that God offers to all humanity.

I cannot force God's Law -- or my religion -- on anyone else.

And I cannot pour Grace over anyone else's sin no matter how badly I may want to.

But I can shine a light -- the Light.

In the scriptures above, before he ever mentioned the gifts of Law and Grace, John wrote that God gives the gift of light to every person (John 1:9). God reveals Himself  -- the true Light -- to every person.

Sometimes He even uses me and you -- the Church -- to do it. 

We can BE the gift of light.

We can live in such a way that those around us see sin overcome and grace exemplified. We can live in such a way that the world sees the light of Christ -- the true Light -- in us.

We can become a living, breathing gift of God to those around us.

A light.

That is the gift of faith in us.

(Journey: Mark 1:1, Luke 1:1-4, John 1:1-18)