Grace Upon Grace

John
Written By Steve Estes

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Speaker: Steve Estes
Scripture: John 1:14, 16-18
January 22, 2023

John 1:14: And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

John 1:16-18: For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; the only God who is at the Father's side, he has made him known.

Sermon Outline

1. We can love Jesus because we've all received "grace upon grace" (Jn 1:16)

  • Literally "grace instead of grace"

  • Two ideas of grace

  • Think of your life

2. We can love Jesus because we've received grace from his fullness

  • Illustration: Engine trouble on the road

  • Jesus has infinite fullness

3. We can love Jesus because what he brought us far exceeds what former believers experienced

  • Nothing wrong with the Law given through Moses

  • What Jesus taught and did is vastly superior

  • "Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ"

4. We should love Jesus because he alone can make the Father known to us

  • Jesus is "at the Father's side" (Jn 1:18)

  • Jesus is called "the only GOD who is at the Father's side"

  • Jesus is called "the only God

Benediction

Now to him who loved us and washed us with his blood be eternal praise, and to you who believe be eternal grace and joy. Amen. — paraphrased from Revelation 1:5-6

Steve Estes

Steve Estes has been senior pastor at Brick Lane Community Church in Elverson, Pennsylvania, for over thirty-five years. 

Steve’s books and other writings began with his longtime friendship with Joni Eareckson Tada. As teenagers, they grappled with why God allowed Joni’s paralysis in a swimming accident in the Chesapeake Bay. Steve left for college . . . they kept in touch . . . she liked the style of his letters. When her 1976 autobiography Joni spawned thousands of reader responses, she asked Steve to join her in crafting a follow-up. The result was A Step Further in 1978.

Later, Wycliffe Bible Translators commissioned Steve to write the biography of former college friend Chet Bitterman, a Wycliffe linguist who was kidnapped and murdered by political terrorists in Colombia in 1981. Other books and articles followed, including When God Weeps (with Joni) and A Better December (a giveaway book for non-Christian friends at Christmas.)

Steve was educated at Westminster Theological Seminary, Columbia Bible College and Jerusalem University College in Israel. He has taught homiletics at Westminster and is a board member of the Christian Counseling & Educational Foundation.

But Steve would say his most significant life achievement was persuading college classmate Verna Stoltzfus to marry him in 1974.  They now have eight children and more grandchildren than can fit in a van.

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