The God full of Grace and Truth | Jul 12, 2026 | Pr Raph

The God full of Grace and Truth

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

God became human in the person of Jesus. God dwelt among us then and now is still living in us, full of grace and truth.

Prostitutes, sinners, tax collectors, and the marginalized were drawn to Jesus. People could touch Him and receive their miracle with no deserving, merit or explanation.

John 1:17 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

The Pharisees, who trusted in their own goodness, could not receive anything from Jesus. Why? Because He is for the unworthy.

If Jesus is full of grace and truth, then He is for those who do not deserve it. 

If you know you are undeserving, you can receive Jesus.

Grace is for your moments of greatest weakness; precisely when you fail, you can achieve your miracle.

Yesterday we had all our foster kids at this big happy pool party. Most of them have been victims of different family situations. Some of them are victims of their own bad decisions. But yesterday, they were being hugged, welcomed and celebrated for who they really are: children, beloved, chosen, as they should always be. That is grace.

Grace, the emulsifier of Joy in affliction

2 Corinthians 8:1-2 1 We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia, 2 for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part.

In chemistry, when you try to mix two unmixable substances, you need a third component called an emulsifier.

Think about oil and water. They can’t mix, unless you put on some soap. Another good example is vinegar and oil; you can’t mix them, but if you add an egg yolk, you will mix them, and the result is mayonnaise.

Well, that is the picture: here are three elements that are unmixable. 

“severe severe test of affliction”

"their abundance of joy"

"extreme poverty”

But if you add “grace of God that has been given,” you can now mix them all. And the result of that mix is different from what some here are experiencing.

have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part.

Let’s break this verse in parts.

“severe test of affliction” results in exhaustion, frustration, despair.

“extreme poverty” results in fear, anxiety, greed, money-grabbing, alm-begging…

But if you try to add joy there, it does not mix. It will be fake, hypocritical and religious.

However, once a person realizes the grace we have, it becomes possible to find real joy in extreme affliction and destitution.

What grace is that?

2 Corinthians 8:9 9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.

With that grace, we do not merely survive; we thrive. We don't just get by—we advance from one level to the next. We do not simply hold the line; we take ground; we go from one degree of glory to another. We do not simply endure; we overcome.

Romans 8:31-32 31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?

Our thought should be:

How does this need compare to the abundance of grace I possess? What importance does this need have when such provision is accessible? 

A father buys his child a fully paid-off, brand-new car. A week later, the child is sitting at home, losing sleep and completely paralyzed by anxiety. Why? Because the car is low on gas, and the child is terrified their father won't be willing to give him $40 to fill the tank.

The father would look at them and say, "I just paid for the entire car. Do you honestly think I’m going to let you be stranded over a tank of gas?"

You finally got married; do you think God lacks the wisdom to teach you how to deal with the disappointments?

You warmly welcome your children, whether born, adopted, or fostered; do you believe that God will not provide you with the love needed to raise them? 

You opened your business; God will also bring the clients.

God gave us a church building; He will also provide the finances to you so we can keep it, improve it and expand it.

Grace to have all sufficiency

Would you like God to make all His favor and grace abound in your life? We all do. God promises that we can always enjoy His grace and have more than enough in everything.

Even after a pandemic, wars in Ukraine, Palestine and Iran. We can still have abundant supply in all things. All we need is the overflowing grace.

2 Corinthians 9:6-8 6 The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 7 Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.

This promise is not just for the future. In the original text, the verb is in the present tense.

God is able to do it today.

Right now, the Lord is making all grace abound in your life. At this very moment.

So why don’t we always see this sufficiency? Because we are too focused on the natural. We tend to live by sight rather than walk by faith.

Right now, the Lord is causing all favor, all grace, to abound upon you. He wants you to have ample sufficiency in all things. At this very moment, as you read this text, God's grace is overflowing in your life.

The key is to believe

Some people teach that if you have enough faith, you can make anything you want happen. That’s not biblical.

True biblical faith is opening your spiritual eyes to see what God is already doing in your life.

Yesterday, during the World Cup match between England and Norway, while a group of brothers was watching in a slow stream service, another brother had the game on his phone in real time. It was interesting to see him shouting when England scored, and everybody was biting their nails thinking that the game was over for the British. However, once the TV finally broadcast the goal, all was clear, and England did win the game.

It is all a matter of perspective. Who is actually with the final truth? God is the God of all grace and all truth. 

It is believing that healing is already yours and thanking God for it.

Hebrews 11:1 1 ESV Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

Hebrews 11:1 says, “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” 

Faith makes the invisible real.

Even if you don’t see God’s abundant favor yet, faith says: “Thank You, Father. I receive it!”

Even if you only have a few dollars in your pocket, you can still thank Him because His grace is overflowing toward you.

Faith doesn’t create something new — it simply takes hold of what is already real in the spiritual realm and brings it into your life.

This promise is connected to financial provision. The Bible says God loves a cheerful giver (2 Corinthians 9:7). For those who give as God leads, His grace abounds toward them, providing more than enough financially. God is continually making His grace overflow so you can have abundant supply.

Gratitude

Jesus lived in the full abundance of the Father. Everywhere He went, there was provision.

Remember the story of the five loaves and two fish that fed over 4,000 people ( Matthew 15:32-38). The disciples saw a huge problem, but Jesus saw abundant grace.

He took the small amount of food, gave thanks to the Father, and multiplied it.

While the disciples said, “What is this among so many?” Jesus gave thanks because He understood the abundance of God’s grace.

Matthew 15:35-37 35 And directing the crowd to sit down on the ground, 36 he took the seven loaves and the fish, and having given thanks he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. 37 And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up seven baskets full of the broken pieces left over.

The people ate as much as they wanted, and twelve baskets were left over—untouched.

That event was so remarkable in the memory of the disciples of Jesus that, later, John, in his gospel (John 6), after telling about the multiplication, about Jesus walking over the water, and calming the storm, says, all that happened in a place. And the landmark moment that most stayed in his memory was when Jesus gave thanks. 

John 6:23 23 Other boats from Tiberias came near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks.

The Lord rejoices when we say: “What is this need compared to the overflowing grace of God?”

Learning with David, I realize that despite this difficult time, I can carefully select my words before my children, family, and church. 

In deep distress, I can always choose to praise Him with gratitude.

Psalms 34:11-13 11 Come, O children, listen to me;

I will teach you the fear of the LORD.

12 What man is there who desires life

and loves many days, that he may see good?

13 Keep your tongue from evil

and your lips from speaking deceit.

The Correct Image of the Father: full of grace and Truth

Consider the story of the prodigal son in Luke 15.

The younger son wasted everything and returned home expecting to be treated as a hired servant. Instead, he received undeserved favor and was welcomed back as a son. All he had to do was receive the father’s abundant grace.

Meanwhile, the older brother — who had never left home — became angry and refused to join the celebration. He complained, 

Luke 15:29 29 but he answered his father, ‘Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends.

The older brother measured his relationship with the father by how well he kept the rules. Because of this, he never enjoyed the abundant blessings of the father’s house. His wrong image of the father — based on law and performance — kept him from experiencing grace.

When we have a distorted view of God, His abundant grace cannot flow freely in our lives.Offering 

2 Corinthians 9:1-4 1 Now it is superfluous for me to write to you about the ministry for the saints, 2 for I know your readiness, of which I boast about you to the people of Macedonia, saying that Achaia has been ready since last year. And your zeal has stirred up most of them. 3 But I am sending the brothers so that our boasting about you may not prove empty in this matter, so that you may be ready, as I said you would be. 4 Otherwise, if some Macedonians come with me and find that you are not ready, we would be humiliated—to say nothing of you—for being so confident.

A couple of days ago, someone told me they would be leaving the church because they needed a place where they felt comfortable with the people in the church they are part of. I was surprised by the person’s honesty, and could not counter the argument because she was right. Right now, I have a growing team of pastors-in-training, developing leaders and a pastor with a Latino accent to provide. However, I tried something like Paul; I asked the person: “Have you ever considered the possibility that discomfort would be God calling you to resolve the problem you were demanding the church to offer it to you? It is the idea that "The problem belongs to someone else.”

A long-time regular attendee may ask what makes me a member here? First, membership doesn’t change one’s spiritual standing but signifies submission to the elders’ care and authority and full commitment to serve the congregation and receive the best capacity to serve them back. 

Secondly, it says, “I want to embrace this congregation as one of them in the fullest sense and serve them. 

It takes you from being a bystander, kind of an onlooker, to saying, “I submit myself to the leadership of this church, and I come in the fullest sense to express my ministry and my service to the family here.

The bottom line in this is, in the New Testament Church there was no such thing as a detached part of the church. They knew who was in the church. They knew who they were responsible for and accountable for, and they knew they were to care for them. They knew who their sheep were, like Jesus said, “I know My sheep, My sheep know Me.” We just want to know who belongs to us and have them come under that care and that oversight.

In the New Testament, they knew how many people were converted. They had records. When somebody moved from city to city, you see this in the New Testament: the church they moved to knew who they were, and they took letters from a previous church.

So it’s about accountability, and it’s about service in the church, so that we know who we are to care for, and so that you take on accountability to the leadership of the church.