We Have Received of His Fullness

When the Forerunner cried out that the promised Messiah would come and had come, that cry was the annunciation of the arrival of what the people of God had long hoped for and long desired. But what many did not realize or recognize is that the one who was promised would appear in a manner which was unexpected, at a time that was unexpected, and with a message which was unexpected. These factors, combined with a spiritual blindness, caused many to reject the promised Messiah and even persecute Him. But for those who heard and received the message and the Messiah, he gave the "right (power) to become children of God." (1:12) But the inspired apostle further reveals that heaped upon the indescribable blessing of divine adoption is the continuing and overflowing grace which continues to flow to those justified, redeemed, and forgiven. That is, those so blessed are never, ever abandoned or left to flounder. The Lord Jesus Christ truly is a full and complete savior in regards to our justification. But let us never forget that He is also a complete Savior in all of life. The true and biblical Faith is not a limited and truncated faith. It is a faith which reveals both salvation from sins and grace to live each and every day. – Pastor Schlegel