John 1:14 “And the Word was made 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.”
On a starry night in Bethlehem over 2000 years ago, the Word, Jesus, was made flesh. He came to live as a man. This eternal being was the creator and sustainer, He was also the redeemer of the world. A little baby held the redemption of all mankind within the flesh that enveloped the eternal Spirit, Jesus.
John says that Jesus “dwelt among us.” He walked with them, lived with them, ate, and slept, and they also experienced him as family and friend. They saw him with their eyes and touched him. They experienced his glory on the mount of transfiguration in Matthew 17. This little baby became a man and was transfigured before them.
Matthew 17:1-2 “And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.”
They even heard the voice of God saying, “this is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
Matthew 17:5 “While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.”
Jesus came to bring what the law could not give: grace. The law had been supreme to the Jews for hundreds and hundreds of years, but it could not save them, and it does not save them now. What a refreshing beautiful liberty the first converted Jews must have felt.
John 1:17 “For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.”
The old system of the law was burdensome, and for those who felt they kept the law, it was a source of pride. The law was not bad because Paul says without the law we would not know what sin is. The law exposed to us what was, and is a sin. It was our teacher or schoolmaster.
Galatians 3:24 “Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.”
Romans 7:7 “What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.”
We are justified by faith in Jesus Christ, not by the works of the law.
Romans 3:20 “Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.”
I think by these verses, we all understand that the law could not save us, but it is a good thing to show us our need for the Savior. A Savior, that our beginning verse says, is full of grace and truth. In most of our churches today we are the opposite of the Pharisees. We focus on grace and talk little of the sins that we have in our lives. Grace is essential to our salvation, but the law is profitable to know how to live in right standing with God.
Jesus always revealed the truth to those he dealt with. He used the law to expose the truth. When speaking to the woman at the well, he brought her sin to the forefront of the conversation. When another woman was brought to him in adultery by the Pharisees, he wrote in the dirt. We don’t know what he wrote, but I think it would have been words from the law, which they knew well. This would expose their own sin to them. Jesus always said what was needed to bring people to a point of seeing the truth. He spoke the truth in love to cause people to return to God or to accept him. Sometimes, the truth of the heart must be exposed so we can open our hearts to accept God’s grace. So, we have truth and grace. Truth to expose and grace to be forgiven.
When we are so focused on the grace of God and forget about the truth that exposes our sin, we get a lopsided Christian life. Jesus brought TRUTH and GRACE, and he intends for us to live in the light of what is true for us to appreciate grace. You can’t experience the love of God fully without understanding His holiness.
John 1:14 “And the Word was made 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.”
He was full of grace and truth, not one or the other. He sought the welfare of mankind by great sacrifices and love, but he was also truthful in every aspect of His life. How about you? Are you seeking to be Christ-like in these areas – extending grace where it isn’t deserved, making sacrifices for others, and loving the unlovely? Do you seek the truth and reveal it to help others to be like Christ, or would you rather allow them to think what they are doing is okay, even though you know scripture speaks against it? We need to have both attributes in our lives, examine ourselves, and seek to help others to do the same.
