John 1:14-18
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. (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.
Jesus is the full embodiment of
grace; “For from his fullness we have all
received, grace upon grace.” It has been said, grace is the unmerited favor
of God. In the Greek language it implies the divine influence upon the heart
and is noted as being a gift, acceptance, and favor.
Colossians 2:9-10 declares this, “For in him
dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him,
which is the head of all principality and power:” It is from this fullness our
text tells us we receive grace upon grace.
This fullness or completeness is
all tied into acceptance and favor flowing out of the relational unity between
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. In other words, His fullness comes
out of His relationship with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Therefore, grace
comes to us out of their relationship with each other.
This relationship between the
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit has been going on before time began, even before
the world as we know it came into being. This relationship is multiplied in us
through grace; grace brings us into this relationship. As a result, we find our
fullness and come into our completeness as we enter into this relationship with
them.
Just as Jesus is complete in the
Father and the Holy Spirit, we are complete in them and grace brings us into
this completeness. Entering into the fullness within Jesus we find our fullness.
Spiritually speaking, this is why He is our brother; this is how we become
children of the Father. We are spiritually born into this relationship.
We all come into this world with
this God size vacuum in our spirit needing to be filled. No matter how much we receive
from life in the way of possessions or even relationships; only what is going
on between the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit can fill this void in us.
Verses 17-18 of our text tell us
this: “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.” What exactly
is this saying?
All the stories we have in the
law establishing boundaries for relationship with God given to us by Moses even
falls short of what grace and truth gives us in Christ Jesus. We can practice
the law till Jesus returns; the Law will never give us this relationship.
The
law is a schoolmaster pointing us to this relationship and teaches us what it
looks like; nonetheless, God’s grace given to us in the fullness of Christ is
the only revelation that can bring us into this relationship with Father God.
This
is why Jesus prayed this prayer, John 17:20-26 (KJV)
20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them
also which shall believe on me through their word;
21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father,
art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may
believe that thou hast sent me.
22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have
given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:
23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be
made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and
hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.
24 Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast
given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast
given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.
25 O righteous Father, the world hath not known
thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me.
26 And I have declared unto them thy name, and
will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and
I in them.
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