John 1:14-18 (Part 2)

Well, good morning and happy Mother's Day. I do hope you have a copy of God's Word with you this morning and that you'll join me in John chapter 1.

John 1 · chapter mention

! Our text for today will be, again, John chapter 1, verses 14 through 18. And yes, we're doing a part two expositional sermon on Mother's Day.

John 1:14–18

Because, yep. Last week we began a look at verses 14 through 18, which we didn't quite complete. So today we have the privilege of setting our minds once again on the incarnation of Jesus Christ.

It's not just a thing to be done at Christmas time. The word incarnation originates in Latin and means literally in flesh.

It is most regularly used to speak of the embodiment of a deity. Christians most regularly refer to Jesus' incarnation as the incarnation.

Because it is not understood to be one amongst many, but to be the only time that deity took on humanity.

Last week I hope that I clearly established that the errors concerning the incarnation are plentiful.

Which means that this doctrine is incredibly important to the Christian faith and to understand its nature accurately deserves our careful attention.

We had time last week for the first two of three points.

And they were the reality of the incarnation.

And secondly, the witness to the incarnation.

And considering the first point I read to you, the Chalcedonian Creed, and then issued six summary points from it.

We thought together about the nature of what it means for Christ to indwell flesh.

So quickly those six points.

Jesus Christ is one person with two natures.

And the important phrase here is he is truly God and truly man.

Some people will say fully God and fully man, which is roughly equivalent.

Not half God and half man, but fully both.

This is often referred to as the hypostatic union.

100%, 100%, 100%, dwelling in one.

The divine nature was not diluted by the incarnation, nor was the human nature abstract or incomplete.

Secondly, two natures united without confusion, change, division, or separation.

His divine and human natures are distinct, yet united.

They're not mixed, not divided, not reduced into some kind of third nature.

Thirdly, the human nature was fully assumed.

Jesus had a real human body, mind, soul, will.

Everything essential to true humanity.

He really hungered.

He really thirsted.

He really got tired.

He was really tempted.

Fourth, the divine nature remained fully intact.

In the incarnation, Christ did not in any way lay aside his divine attributes.

Fifth, the person of the Son is the subject of both natures.

Hear me here carefully.

Jesus is not two persons or a split consciousness.

The eternal Son is the acting subject of both divine and human experiences.

So, like I said before, hungered as a man, forgave sins as God, yet always the Son of God.

And then lastly, the incarnation was for our salvation.

It was purposeful.

Jesus became man, not merely to reveal God, but to redeem sinners through his substitutionary death and victorious resurrection.

The unity of his person ensures the efficacy of his work.

It means that the thing he came to do was, in fact, accomplished because of who he is.

And we'll have more on this in today's concluding point.

Then, in considering the second point, we took a brief look at John the Apostle's insertion in verse 15.

Translators put it in parentheses, so it's a parenthetical insertion.

When John the Apostle wrote his gospel, there was still a group that claimed John the Baptist as the Messiah.

John makes clear in verses 7 and 8 that John the Baptist was not the Christ.

And he does so again here in verse 15, but this time in John's own words.

John the Baptist said,

This was he of whom I said,

He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.

John the Baptist acknowledged the supremacy of Jesus Christ and boldly proclaimed so by appealing to his eternal pre-existence.

In some small measure, this catches us up.

So, let's read our text in its entirety and turn our attention to the final point, which is the accomplishment of the Incarnation.

What is it that the Incarnation set about to accomplish?

And John tells us here.

So, this is John chapter 1, verses 14 through 18.

John 1:14–18

Before I read it, let me remind you, beloved, that this is God's word to us, written for his glory and our good,

that we might believe its promises, obey its commands, have affection for its author.

May we hear it and respond accordingly to it.

John writes,

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.

So, let's think together about the accomplishment of the Incarnation that we find in verses 16, 17, and 18.

Remember that verse 15, right, is that parenthetical insertion.

So, John at the beginning of verse 16 is continuing his thoughts from the end of verse 14.

There he said that Jesus is full of grace and truth.

In verse 14, John uses the adjective full in describing Jesus.

Full.

That is, he is filled up with grace and truth.

The Greek word translated grace in these verses is the same word that we get charity from.

Grace is undeserved benevolence.

It is kindness shown where kindness cannot be expected.

This word only exists in John's gospel in this paragraph.

Once in verse 14, twice in verse 16, and then once again in verse 17.

Although it is only used in this place, the repetition of it suggests that we should not neglect it as it is an important idea in the framing of John's account.

Right?

Grace comes through Christ.

He is full of it.

He is filled up with grace.

Now, the word truth is used very often in John's gospel.

It brings together the Hebrew and Greek concepts of truth.

The Hebrew word for truth represents firmness, stability, steadfastness, or trustworthiness.

John's Hebrew readers would have understood the Greek word.

John's Hebrew readers would have understood the Greek word he uses, aletheia, in the same way as their Greek translation of what we call the Old Testament would have used this very same word.

So they understood it as firmness, stability, steadfastness, or trustworthiness.

Among Greeks, the word aletheia denotes that which really is eternal reality as revealed to men.

So as John is writing to both audiences, he is pulling those two ideas together.

Don't lose the significance of John stating that Jesus is full of grace and truth.

Jesus is the ultimate reality, the steadfast, the trustworthy, the kindness of God expressed to mankind.

Now, in verse 16, he uses the noun fullness.

So verse 14, he is full of grace and truth.

And then the following idea is that it is from his fullness.

The noun fullness to speak of his previous explanation of the character of Jesus definitively.

He is now giving him, in some sense, a title.

He is the fullness of grace and truth.

That is to say, right?

He is those things.

He cannot be separated from these qualities.

Perhaps you are seeing just a little of why it is proper to get the incarnation right,

to understand the nature of Jesus.

Understanding it correctly is the foundation on which our salvation sits.

And so it is so very important.

John goes on, for from his fullness, we have all received grace upon grace.

Grace upon grace.

What a beautiful term that is.

Grace upon grace.

Grace upon grace.

The idea of this phrase is that as soon as grace is received,

there is a new, a fresh supply of grace to be received.

So it is received and supplied and received and supplied and received and supplied.

This is inexhaustible grace.

Right?

Kindness of God shown to us in Jesus Christ,

overflowing abundantly for all who believe in him.

The grace comes and it comes and it comes.

Right?

Undeserved benevolence.

Kindness shown where kindness cannot be expected.

Again and again and again and again.

Another place that we can see this is in Ephesians chapter 2.

Ephesians 2 · chapter mention

And so I would invite you to join me there.

We'll look at a few verses and then come back to our text.

There Paul writes,

You were dead in the trespasses and sins.

Dead.

Spiritually dead.

In which you once walked,

following the course of this world,

following the prince of the power of the air.

That's Satan.

The spirit that is now in work in the sons of disobedience.

Among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh,

carrying out the desires of the body and the mind,

and were by nature children of wrath,

like the rest of mankind.

Paul is dividing mankind into two categories.

And he's speaking to these Ephesian Christians

about who they once were.

He characterizes them in various ways.

Dead.

Walking in sin.

In the way of the world.

A worshiper of God's enemy.

Living in passions of the flesh.

And by nature children of wrath.

Categorically enemies of God.

And therefore deserving of God's due wrath.

But then,

the beginning of verse 4,

there's a precious,

and I think too often ignored,

conjunction.

But,

even though that is true,

even though it is the case

that before believing in Christ,

you were an enemy of God,

God.

But,

God,

being rich in mercy,

because of the great love with which he loved us,

even when we were dead in our trespasses,

made us alive together with Christ.

Did it.

Brought dead people to life.

The greatest miracle we see happening today,

right?

We were once dead,

we have been made alive with Christ.

By grace,

you have been saved.

Undeserved benevolence.

Kindness being shown,

where kindness cannot be expected.

By that grace,

you have been saved.

And raised us up with him,

and seated us with him in the heavenly places,

in Christ Jesus.

Why?

So that,

in the coming ages,

he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us,

in Christ Jesus.

In the coming ages,

immeasurable riches of his grace.

That he might put on display his graciousness.

Grace upon grace.

If you're in Christ this morning,

this is why you are in Christ.

God is showing himself to the world to be a gracious God.

And he supplies it in plenty.

Now,

the astute watcher of me,

probably notices when I come up with another book.

So here it is.

I read to you from it last week.

This is the Pilgrim's Progress.

Aside from the scripture,

it's my favorite book.

If you don't get it,

spend some time with me.

I'll convince you otherwise.

Or I'll try it very least.

I don't want to read to you just a little excerpt from it.

This is to speak of this term,

grace upon grace in the life of a Christian.

What does it look like?

And there's a little picture

as the main character,

whose name is Christian,

goes to the house of the interpreter.

And the interpreter takes him around the house

and teaches him some things

of what it means to follow Christ.

And so this short little bit.

Then I saw in my dream

that the interpreter took Christian by the hand

and led him into a room

where there was a fireplace.

The flames from the fireplace

grew larger and hotter,

even though there was someone

continually throwing water on it

to try to quench it.

Then said Christian,

what does this mean?

The interpreter answered,

this fire is the work of grace

that God accomplishes in the heart.

He who throws water on the flames

to try to extinguish it

is the devil.

But as you see,

the fire burns higher and hotter

despite his efforts to put it out.

Now, let me show you the reason for that.

So the interpreter took Christian

to the other side of the wall

where he saw a man

with a vessel of oil in his hand

from which he secretly funneled oil

into the fire.

Then Christian asked,

what does this mean?

The interpreter answered,

this is Christ

who continually with the oil of his grace

maintains the work already begun

in the heart.

No matter what the devil tries to do,

the gracious work that Christ is doing

in the souls of his people

only increases.

You saw that the man stood behind the wall

to maintain the fire?

That is to teach you

that it is hard for the one being tempted

to see how this work of grace

is maintained in the soul.

Whether or not we acknowledge it to be true,

if God has begun a good work in you,

he will bring it to completion

at the day of Christ.

That's Philippians 1.6.

Grace upon grace.

Immeasurable, abundant grace

is received from Christ.

The fullness of grace and truth.

John, to further exalt this work of Christ,

underscores it with a comparison

in verse 17.

A comparison to the law of Moses.

For the law was given through Moses,

grace and truth came

through Jesus Christ.

The law was given through Moses.

It's what we often refer to as

the Old Covenant.

That covenant that was

God would be Israel's people

if they would keep his law.

Much of the Old Testament's aim

is to show us that they did not keep his law

and that they were not able

to keep his law.

The law's ultimate

purgifies that law

that is written on our hearts

so that when we are confronted by it,

we cannot flee to frail excuses.

The law is an exposer of our sin.

It is an accuser.

It's meant to serve us in this way.

It's to show us our deadness.

We're walking in the way of the world,

not in the way of God,

that we would flee to Christ

for our salvation.

I read to you last week,

kind of in a sweeping,

hurried summary from Galatians chapter 3.

Galatians 3 · chapter mention

I'll do so again to make the point.

There Paul writes in verse 23,

Now before faith came,

we were held captive under the law,

imprisoned until the coming faith

would be revealed.

The law was given through Moses.

It does not set us free,

but rather makes us captives.

If you try to justify yourself before God

by the standard of the law,

on your own,

you will miserably fail.

You have failed even probably

in the moments you're sitting here.

Praise God,

grace and truth

came through Jesus Christ.

Paul goes on in Galatians 3,

Galatians 3:24

verse 24,

So then the law

was our guardian

until Christ came.

And the picture here

is of a schoolmaster

or of a person hired

to oversee a young man

while he's being taken to adulthood.

Kind of a tutor,

a guardian,

until Christ came

in order that

we might be justified

by faith.

declared righteous

by faith.

He goes on,

But now that faith has come,

we are no longer under a guardian,

for in Christ Jesus

you are all sons of God

through faith.

Now, let's not lose sight of the fact

that John is still talking about

the incarnation.

incarnation.

I have argued that

it is of vital importance

to get the incarnation

of Jesus right

as a foundation

for our salvation.

I said,

the unity of Jesus' person

ensures the efficacy

of his work.

Maybe you'll remember me

using that word.

But how so?

Why make such a fuss

about all of this?

Why have Christians

throughout the history

of the church

contended for

a proper view

of the incarnation

of Christ?

The nature of the embodied

Son of God

matters

because of the nature

of God the Father

who,

in his simplicity,

is always just

blessed

and always

merciful.

Now,

when we speak of God's

simplicity,

we don't mean simple

in that he's dumb.

It's not at all

what we're referring to

at all.

In another sense,

we could speak of God's

great complexity

not even to be understood.

His ways are above

our ways.

What we mean

when we talk about

God's simplicity

is that he doesn't change.

He is always

who he is

at all times.

We've developed this a lot

even in John chapter 1.

John 1 · chapter mention

We're becoming

he is not.

He is.

Always what he is

at all times.

He can't set aside

part of who he is

at one time

and then another.

He's always just.

He's always

merciful,

gracious,

kind,

loving.

All at the same

time.

So,

if God,

the Father,

is going to

forgive sin,

he has to be

who he is

all the time

when he does it.

So,

when he forgives

our sin,

beloved,

he doesn't merely

pass over it

and forget about it.

He doesn't cast it

off to the side

because if he does,

then he'd be

betraying his

justice,

part of his

very nature.

He must

punish

sin.

It's right

and proper

that he

does so.

There's a trend

right now

amongst parents.

It's often called

parenting with grace

or you might hear

gentle parenting

is sometimes

the nomenclature.

And the suggestion

is that we can

teach our children

something of

the gospel

by

forgetting about

their infractions

against us,

which is not

a display

of the gospel

at all.

A proper display

of the gospel

if even one of my

sons disobey

and I'm telling

that they disobeyed,

I snatch one

of their brothers

and I give them

the punishment

that is due

them.

I maintain

justice in the home

while also being

merciful.

God cannot

stop being

who he is

at any

given

point.

And frankly,

he would cease

to be God

if this

was the case.

So God

has to

punish

our

sin.

Has to do it.

He has to

maintain his

justice

as he's being

merciful.

So how is this

accomplished?

He sends

his very

own

son.

Jesus Christ.

Fully

God

and

fully

man.

Now,

it matters,

his humanity

matters,

because he

needed to

step into

our place,

be a

propitiation

for us,

bear God's

wrath on

our behalf.

He has to

be a

substitute

for us.

We're going

to read a

text that

speaks about

this in

just a

moment.

Further,

for him

to die

and pay

the penalty

for our

sin

wasn't

quite

enough.

Hear me

out.

Don't

clip that.

Hear me

out.

We also

need to

keep God's

law.

Remember that

Old Testament

covenant that I

quickly mentioned

before?

God will be

our God

if we keep

his law.

The law

has a

function.

It serves

in our

lives as a

guardian to

bring us

to Christ

because we

need

righteousness

to be

before God.

Having our

sin

canceled

brings us

up to

zero.

We now

have

nothing

in the

account,

but we

need

perfection

credited

to us.

A thing

we cannot

do.

We can't

accomplish it.

We've

proven that

we cannot

accomplish it.

And so

Jesus,

in his

humanity,

kept

the law.

It's so

important.

Sacrificial

death,

perfect

life.

He did

it on

our

behalf.

That's

why the

humanity

matters so

much for

the gospel

of Jesus

Christ.

How about

the deity?

Why does

the deity

matter so

much?

It's

because when

God poured

out his

wrath for

our sin,

our sin

was due

infinite

wrath.

It was due

wrath forever.

So how do

you pay that

penalty?

three hours

on a cross.

It's not

something you

and I

could possibly

accomplish.

We don't

have the

ability because

we're not

infinite.

Christ

himself,

fully God,

is

infinite.

And therefore

he could

drink up

all of that

infinite

wrath

on our

behalf.

We couldn't

do it.

He had to

do it

for us.

Christ's

deity and

his humanity

must be

understood for

the gospel

to make

any sense

whatsoever.

Let me

take you to

Romans chapter

three.

You may

appreciate being

there with

me.

I'm jumping

into the

middle of an

argument that

Paul began

back in

chapter one

and verse

sixteen.

So you won't

have it in its

completion.

I'd really

encourage you to

study this

more if it's

foreign to

you.

I'm going to

pick up in

verse twenty-one

of Romans

three.

There Paul

says,

but now

the righteousness

of God

has been

manifested

apart from

the law,

although the

law and the

prophets bear

witness to

it,

the righteousness

of God

through faith

in Jesus

Christ.

What he's

saying is we

become righteous

not through

the law,

although the

law and

prophets

point us to

the way we

do become

righteous.

We become

righteous through

faith,

verse twenty-two,

in Jesus

Christ for

all who

believe.

For there is

no distinction

between Jew

and Gentile.

Verse twenty-three,

for all have

sinned and

fall short

of the glory

of God.

We did not

keep, right?

It's impossible.

Every single

one of us

have sinned

and we fall

short of

that standard,

the righteousness

of God

through the

law.

Praise God,

it's been

manifested

apart from

the law.

And are

justified,

verse twenty-four,

justified,

declared righteous,

this is a

judicial term,

justified

by his

grace.

There it is

again,

grace upon

grace,

grace as

a gift

through the

redemption

that is in

Christ Jesus,

whom God

put forward

as a

propitiation

to be

received

by

faith.

This

was to

show

God's

righteousness

because in

his divine

forbearance

he had

passed over

former sins,

that is he

was dealing

with Israel

patiently,

they were

hoping in

a future

promise.

It was to

show his

righteousness

at the

present time

so that he

might be

just

and the

justifier,

merciful,

just and

merciful,

of the

one who

has faith

in

Jesus.

Right?

So righteousness,

right,

apart from the

law,

in Christ

because he

kept the

law and he

was put

forward as

a sacrifice

on our

behalf.

I think you

can maybe

see why I

gave you a

clearer,

simpler

explanation

before reading

this text.

Verse twenty-seven,

then what

becomes of

our

boasting?

It is

excluded.

By what

kind of

law?

By a

law of

works?

No,

but by

the law

of faith.

For we

hold that

one is

justified

by faith

apart

from works

of the

law.

We bring

nothing to

the equation,

we have

nothing to

boast in.

I can't

boast in

my faith,

God

has

saved

me.

To what

end?

The glory

of God.

The glory

of God.

Back in

our text

and verse

eighteen,

there John

writes,

no one

has ever

seen God,

the only

God,

who is

at the

Father's

side.

He

has made

him

known.

When we

behold

Jesus,

we behold

God.

John's

gospel

records

Jesus

making

this

case

again

and

again.

Do you

want access

to God,

Jesus says?

Come

to

me.

Colossians

one

and verse

fifteen,

there Paul

declares

that Jesus

is the

image

of the

invisible

God.

He

has

made

him

known.

Some

translations

say he

has

explained

him.

That's

because the

Greek word

here is

where we

get our

word

exegesis

from,

which is

the way

we try

to preach,

open a

text,

explain to

you what

the text

means.

So think

of it in

those terms,

right?

Jesus

Christ has

explained

to us

God,

shown to

us

God's

character

in the

saving

of a

people

for

his

praise.

So in

closing

and briefly,

there's

three things

to be

thinking

about

applying

in this

coming

week.

First,

I want to

strongly

encourage you

to behold

God

in the

Bible.

This

book

is where

we get

to take

up and

see

the life

of Christ.

both Old

Testament

and New

is pointing

us to

him,

that we

might

behold

him and

have our

affections

turned

toward him.

Be

regularly

in this

book.

If you

have the

spirit of

Christ,

he is

very pleased

to exalt

Christ as

you take

up this

word and

read.

It's not

enough.

Perhaps

40.

It's not

enough.

This is the

broadest way

that the

church can

be discipled.

It's

extremely

important.

Coming

together and

opening God's

word together

is central,

but it

can't be

it.

You need

to be

regularly in

this word,

taking up

and reading,

beholding

God,

meeting with

him in

the text

on a

regular

basis.

I've told

you before,

most of

the counseling

that I do,

I ask the

question,

how regularly

are you

reading the

Bible?

And the

regular answer

is not

very much.

Not very

much.

Let's

start there.

Take up

and read.

See how

it shapes

you into

the image

of Christ.

Secondly,

behold God

in the

church.

And by

that I

mean the

local assembly

of those

who God

has saved.

If we

will have

the proper

eyes for

it,

when we

come together,

there are

myriad,

lots of

pictures of

God's saving

work.

God's

work all

around us.

So many

people are

seeking for

experience when

they come to

church.

Should church

be lively?

Should it be

compelling?

Sure.

Any of those

things.

But is the

point that we

put on a

show that you

come and

consume?

No.

No.

Who is in

this room

together matters.

Because as you

are members of

our church,

most of you

are your

pictures of

God's grace.

You see the

way that Christ

has worked in

you across

time, in

this past

week.

It matters

that you

come and

participate in

the worship of

God.

It naturally

grows his

people,

day in,

day out,

practicing these

types of

habits.

And then

lastly,

behold God

in your

proclamation

of the

truth.

We need

to be sharing

the good

news of

Jesus Christ.

Our

affection should

be high for

him and we

should want

to talk about

him.

And we're

either going

to experience

seed sown

on good soil

that bears

fruit,

seeing the

spirit of

Christ change

the hearts

of people,

see them turn

away from

their sin,

turn toward,

embrace Christ,

faith in

him, or

we're going

to suffer for

the name.

People are

not going to

want to hear

what we have

to say.

They're going

to want to

go the way

of the world

and they're

going to hate

us because

Jesus has

called us

out of the

world.

And either

way, we

get to see

God as we

go forth and

share this

good news of

Jesus Christ.

So behold

God in the

Bible, behold

God in the

church, behold

God in your

proclamation,

and let's be

sure that we

get the

incarnation right.

Let's pray.

Thank you.