14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
15 John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, "This was He of whom I said, 'He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.'"
16 And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him. John 1:14-18 (NKJV)
Comment:
"And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us", this principle, The Incarnation, is one of the most fundamental doctrines of Christianity. It means that Jesus is God but also made Himself man. He was both man and God at the same time; He did not put off His deity to become man nor did God inhabit a "man-shell" for a brief period while He was here on Earth. He was both man and God at the same time; do not be fooled by false teachers. This fact has been attacked since the beginning of the Church and still is today. Why has it been so vehemently attacked? Because for Jesus' atonement on the cross to be valid He had to be both simultaneously. If Satan can convince us that Jesus is not who He says He is then our belief is misplaced and our salvation is false.
John even quotes John the Baptist to back up the claim. John the Baptist said that Jesus had come after him (so Jesus was dwelling among them) AND Jesus was before him. If you remember, Jesus was born 6 months after John (Luke 1:26) so to say that Jesus came before John implies Jesus' eternal nature and therefore His deity.
This passage ends John's prologue to this book. In these 18 verses he has presented some amazing truth. We seen that Jesus is God, and because He is God he is eternal and the light of the world. We also see that Jesus is with God AND is God, representing the doctrine of the Trinity. Then we come full circle and see the Incarnation and through this Incarnation grace and truth are given to mankind. If you can get these 18 verses down and settled in your heart, then you have developed a strong foundational knowledge of who our savior is.
The discussion questions that are pertinent to this passage are:
- According to vs 18, since we cannot see Him, how can we know what God is like?
- In what way has it been true for you, "from the fullness of His grace, we have all received one blessing after another"? vs 16
1 comment:
I was reading through this passage again this morning in the NIV and verse 16 really struck. The NIV translates like this: "From the fullness of His grace we have all received one blessing after another." I don't know why God spoke so strongly to me through that verse this morning, but it might have to do with the fact that I'm reading Deuteronomy in my personal study time and jut finished ch. 28. Make the time sometime today and read Deuteronomy 28. The chapter is divided into 2 sections: Promise of Blessings and Promise of Curses. Simply, it's God telling the Israelites that if they obey God's commands they will receive great blessings, but if they don't then they receive great curses. You really need to read this. So when I read John 1:16 I see that "we have all received one blessing after another;" well I don't know about you but I certainly don't deserve blessings. Based on my record of obedience I deserve the curses. So why the blessings, look at the verse again: (in the NIV) "From the fullness of His Grace." I'm blessed solely because God is gracious. I can do nothing but praise HIM.
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