God Made Known |06-28-26|

Jun 28, 2026

Devotional

Day 1: Empty Hands at the Ocean of Grace

John the Baptist modeled radical humility, redirecting all attention to Christ’s eternal supremacy. Just as waves endlessly replace one another, God’s grace in Christ overflows without exhaustion. This grace isn’t a shallow trickle but an ocean-depth gift, replacing old covenant shadows with the fullness of Christ’s incarnation. Believers today access this bottomless vault of mercy simply by approaching Jesus—no intermediaries, no rituals, just open hands. The question isn’t whether grace exists but whether we’ll wade into its depths. [42:56]

“For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.” (John 1:16, ESV)

Reflection: Where do you still cling to self-sufficiency instead of holding empty hands before Christ? How might your daily struggles shift if you saw grace as an ocean rather than a ration?

Day 2: The Surfer’s Patience: Grace’s Crescendo in Christ

Grace matured through redemptive history like a surfer waiting for the perfect wave. Old Testament saints glimpsed grace’s ripples, but Christ’s incarnation unleashed its towering crest. Moses’ veiled glory, temporary sacrifices, and distant priests gave way to Jesus—God unveiled, the final sacrifice, our sympathetic High Priest. This grace doesn’t just forgive; it transforms, inviting us to ride its unending power rather than settle for puddles. [49:05]

“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us.” (Ephesians 1:7–8, ESV)

Reflection: What “old covenant mindset” do you harbor—viewing God as distant or transactional? How does Jesus’ intimate understanding of your weaknesses reshape your approach to failure?

Day 3: The Preacher in the Pulpit of Flesh

Jesus didn’t just teach about God—He became God’s living sermon. As the divine exegete, He translated the incomprehensible (an invisible Spirit) into the tangible (flesh and bone). His miracles, tears, and scars didn’t merely point to God’s nature—they were God’s nature in motion. To know Christ is to stand front-row at heaven’s most vivid revelation, where holiness wears a face and eats with sinners. [01:06:42]

“No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.” (John 1:18, ESV)

Reflection: When you pray, do you envision a vague force or the resurrected Carpenter who wept? How might picturing Jesus’ specific actions (touching lepers, rebuking storms) deepen your worship?

Day 4: Lambs, Lava Lamps, and the Better Deal

Ancient believers hauled lambs to temples; we approach Christ directly. Their priests guessed at struggles; ours endured them. The old system flickered like a lava lamp’s blobs—occasionally illuminating but unstable. Christ’s grace burns like the sun, making every prior light obsolete. This “better deal” isn’t about convenience but about God closing the gap—His glory no longer lethal but lifegiving. [57:00]

“Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (Hebrews 4:16, ESV)

Reflection: What modern “temples” (achievements, rituals, platforms) do you still treat as necessary intermediaries to God? How would living in direct-access grace change your next crisis?

Day 5: The Baby Who Drew the Blueprint of God

Infant hands that gripped Mary’s finger once forged galaxies. The Word’s cry in a Bethlehem trough declared God’s final word on His nature—approachable, sacrificial, near. Every diaper change, skinned knee, and dusty sandal preached the sermon: divinity inhabits fragility to rewrite our destiny. To dismiss Christ’s deity isn’t just heresy—it’s refusing the blueprint that makes sense of the universe. [01:10:29]

“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.” (Colossians 1:15, ESV)

Reflection: Where have you reduced Jesus to a “good teacher” rather than the Architect of reality? How might trusting His divinity steady you when life’s blueprints crumble?

Sermon Summary

John’s prologue sets the stakes: the confession that Jesus is God is not optional but the beating heart of the gospel. John declares that the Word was with God and the Word was God, that the Logos is eternal, the Creator of all, the Light and the Life who put on flesh to save sinners. John the Baptist then steps on the scene as a model of humility and a herald of Christ’s supremacy. His life says, less of me and more of Jesus. Though he came first chronologically, he insists that Jesus ranks before him because Jesus was before him. The forerunner’s whole ministry is a finger pointing away from self and straight to the Lamb.

Grace, John says, flows from Christ’s fullness. From him, the church receives grace upon grace. Yet the phrase can rightly be read as grace instead of grace, signaling that with the incarnation grace reaches maturity. Preparatory grace under Moses was real grace, but it was anticipatory and typological. With Jesus, grace grows up. The law came through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. Veiled glory gives way to unveiled glory in the Son. Borrowed access through sinful priests gives way to direct access to a sympathetic High Priest who bids sinners draw near with confidence to the throne of grace. Endless animal sacrifices yield to the once-for-all sacrifice of the spotless Lamb. This is grace brought to its crescendo, a bottomless vault of Christ’s provision into which empty hands may always reach.

Finally, the Son stands forth as the exegete of God. No one has ever seen God in the fullness of his unapproachable light. But the only Son, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known. Jesus does not offer secondhand data about deity; he makes the invisible God visible. He is the image of the invisible God, the radiance of God’s glory and the exact imprint of his nature. Whoever has seen the Son has seen the Father. Therefore, the call is clear: believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and by believing have life in his name. Let self recede. Let Christ increase. Let empty hands come to the vault of his inexhaustible grace.

Key Takeaways

1. Christ’s supremacy demands personal decrease. John the Baptist’s greatness is real, yet his joy is to step aside so Jesus is seen. True ministry turns the spotlight from gifts and crowds to the Lamb who takes away sin. Decrease is not self-loathing but God-honoring clarity about who actually saves. The church flourishes when Jesus is the headline. [32:14]
2. Grace matures in Christ’s incarnation. Grace under Moses was grace, but it was preparatory and patterned. In Jesus, grace reaches fullness, moving from types to the reality that bleeds, rises, and intercedes. This mature grace gives unveiled glory and direct access, not shadows and distance. The better covenant is Christ himself, present and sufficient. [48:00]
3. The better Priest welcomes bold nearness. Before Christ, access was gated, tiered, and rare. Now the High Priest who knows human weakness invites sinners to draw near with confidence to the throne of grace. Sympathy and holiness meet in him, so confession is honest and hope is steady. Nearness is not earned; it is given and guarded by his blood. [59:40]
4. Jesus exegetes the invisible God. Unapproachable light becomes approachable when the Son tabernacles among humanity. Jesus does not just talk about God; he makes God known, seen, and understood. To know the Father’s heart, look at the Son’s words, wounds, and welcome. Whoever has seen him has seen the Father. [66:26]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[25:13] - New baby and opening
[26:03] - Wrapping up John’s prologue
[26:36] - State of Theology wake-up call
[28:30] - No debate on Jesus’ deity
[29:21] - The Word is God
[29:55] - Incarnation and mission
[30:47] - Reading John 1:15-18
[31:42] - Christ’s supremacy introduced
[32:14] - Less of me, more of Jesus
[35:53] - Prophets foretell the forerunner
[38:23] - John’s message: behold the Christ
[39:44] - Application: magnify Christ, not self
[40:42] - The fullness of grace
[45:59] - Grace instead of grace explained
[48:00] - Law through Moses, grace and truth
[55:20] - Veil vs unveiled glory
[56:27] - Direct access to the High Priest
[58:56] - Sympathetic Savior and throne of grace
[61:50] - Bottomless vault of grace
[63:56] - The exegete of God
[66:26] - Jesus makes the Father known
[70:29] - Image and radiance of God
[71:24] - Whoever has seen me
[72:00] - Purpose of John: believe and live
[79:18] - Empty hands and the gospel appeal
[81:02] - Benediction and sending

Bible Study Guide

Bible reading
John 1:15-18 (ESV)
(John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”) 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.

Observation questions

What two key roles does John the Baptist play in this passage, and how does he contrast himself with Jesus?
How does the passage describe the relationship between the law (Moses) and grace/truth (Jesus)?
What does the phrase “grace upon grace” (or “grace instead of grace”) imply about the difference between grace before and after Christ’s incarnation? [45:59]
According to verse 18, how does Jesus uniquely reveal God compared to previous revelations?

Interpretation questions

Why is John the Baptist’s humility (“He must increase, I must decrease”) so critical to his role as a witness? How does this challenge modern attitudes about personal achievement or recognition?
The sermon describes grace under Moses as “preparatory” and grace in Christ as “mature.” What practical differences would this maturity of grace create for believers today compared to Old Testament believers? [48:00]
The passage says Jesus “exegetes” or explains God (v. 18). Why is it significant that Jesus doesn’t just teach about God but actually makes God known through His presence and actions?

Application questions

In what areas of your life (work, relationships, ministry) do you struggle to say, “Less of me, more of Jesus”? What practical step could you take this week to redirect attention to Christ’s supremacy in those areas? [32:14]
The sermon compares grace to a “bottomless vault” available through Christ. When have you felt spiritually empty or unworthy to approach God? How might regularly “reaching into” this vault of grace change your daily habits or prayers? [01:01:50]
Before Christ, access to God’s presence was limited and mediated (e.g., priests, sacrifices). How does the truth that Jesus invites us to approach God “with confidence” (Hebrews 4:16) reshape how you pray or handle guilt/shame? [59:40]
If Jesus is the ultimate “explanation” of God’s character, how could studying His life, words, and actions in the Gospels deepen your understanding of God’s love, holiness, or purposes?
The sermon ends with an image of “empty hands” coming to Christ. What “good deeds” or achievements do you sometimes cling to instead of relying fully on His grace? How can you actively practice coming to Him with empty hands this week? [01:19:18]

Sermon Clips

46s

#NotByWorks

“``Imagine you could stand before God today before you die and ask or he asks you, upon what basis will you be able to enter into my kingdom? And you go first and you say, well, I've done a lot of really good things to other people, they just kinda disappear out of your hands, empty hands. Well well, I've done a lot of good things in the church. I have attended church, and I've been there a lot, and those things just kinda disappear out of your hands. And you go through this list of things I've done, things I've done, things I've done, and they all just disappear. They're nothing.”

56s

#ClothedInChrist

“And all of a sudden, overwhelms you, and you think, well, what hope do I have then? And Jesus were to look at you and to say, well, I've done everything necessary for you to enter my kingdom. Will you simply be clothed in the righteousness of Christ? Will you trust the messiah? Empty hands coming to a gracious god where grace abounds. That is the gospel. Have you done anything that would even get close enough to being good enough to get yourself into his kingdom? The answer is no. Christ has done everything necessary for you to be able to enter into his kingdom forever, and the call of the gospel is trust him.”

35s

#DrawNearWithConfidence

“As you rest in and you trust and you love Jesus saying, I have a high priest who knows my fears. He knows my anxieties. He knows my sin. I can hide nothing from him and he calls me not to stop at a curtain because I can go no further. But he says, draw near with confidence. To what? The throne of grace.”

57s

#BottomlessGrace

“I'd have you picture in your mind bottomless vault. A vault that is continually filled with the grace and provision of almighty God. And when you are weak, when you feel empty, when you fall victim, you fall prey to temptation and sin, when your faith is weak, you go to this bottomless of God's amazing grace and you take your empty and you take your open hands and you place them down into this vault, this treasury of inexhaustible grace that is found in Jesus Christ. That's the picture I think the Apostle John is painting.”

49s

#GodSeenInChrist

“The son of God doesn't come and just give us some information about God's second hand. The son of God doesn't write us a book and just drop it out of heaven to us. The son of God who is God puts on flesh, dwells tabernacles amongst us so that we can look to Christ and we can know God. Listen to these passages. Colossians one verse 15 says of Jesus that he is the image of the invisible God. Would you like to know God? Would you like to draw near to God? Would you like to worship the one true and living God beloved? Beloved? Then you must know Jesus.”

44s

#JesusIsGod

“I'm going to contend with you and and plead with you to agree with me that there is no room for debate within the realm of orthodox Christianity in the areas of theology and doctrine concerning the person of Jesus, the things that he has written. The apostle John has made it very clear that Jesus is God. In the beginning was the word. The word was with God. The word was God. The logos is God. Jesus is God. As God, Jesus is eternal. Jesus has no beginning. Jesus has no end. He is God.”

48s

#CoreOfTheGospel

“Now tell me, do we have a problem in the American church? We have a major problem. Beloved, this is not secondary theology. This is not tertiary theology. This is core theology that Jesus is God in flesh and he died in our place to pay our debt. That is the gospel. And so it it convinces me that maybe I should have moved slower through these first 18 verses. Maybe I should have taken more time to beg God that he would ride upon our hearts with no hesitation that we understand, we confess that Jesus”

59s

#ChristianDivinityCrisis

“If you don't see this, you need to look this up. It's done, I believe again every year and it gives us a sense of the American church. In this year's state of the church survey of again, professing Christians, the question was asked, do you believe, again, as a professing Christian that Jesus is a good teacher and that he is God. of professing Christians that took that survey either said they strongly disagreed with that statement or they somewhat disagreed. of American Christians who deny the fact that Jesus is God.”

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God Made Known |06-28-26|

Devotional

Day 1: Empty Hands at the Ocean of Grace

Day 2: The Surfer’s Patience: Grace’s Crescendo in Christ

Day 3: The Preacher in the Pulpit of Flesh

Day 4: Lambs, Lava Lamps, and the Better Deal

Day 5: The Baby Who Drew the Blueprint of God

Sermon Summary

Key Takeaways

Youtube Chapters

Bible Study Guide

Sermon Clips

God Made Known |06-28-26|

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