John 1:14-18 The Message
14 The Word became flesh and blood,
and moved into the neighborhood.
We saw the glory with our own eyes,
the one-of-a-kind glory,
like Father, like Son,
Generous inside and out,
true from start to finish.
15 John pointed him out and called, “This is the One! The One I told you was coming after me but in fact was ahead of me. He has always been ahead of me, has always had the first word.”
16-18 We all live off his generous abundance,
gift after gift after gift.
We got the basics from Moses,
and then this exuberant giving and receiving,
This endless knowing and understanding—
all this came through Jesus, the Messiah.
No one has ever seen God,
not so much as a glimpse.
This one-of-a-kind God-Expression,
who exists at the very heart of the Father,
has made him plain as day.
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum!
Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.
The apostle John was one who saw the glory of the Word made flesh.
John was one who physically and spiritually gazed on Him in wonder and praised and worshipped at the true feet of Jesus Christ, his Lord and his God.
John lived with Him, walked with Him, talked with Him, and touched Him.
John, a simple fisherman, spent over three years of his life with Jesus, listening intently to His gracious words, astonished by His amazing truth, watching Him attentively as He fulfilled the prophetic Scriptures, and beholding His glory, the indescribable glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
Yes, John, a hard working, skilled and simple fisherman, could proclaim with authority: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God, and the Word became flesh and dwelt amongst us.” (John 1:1)
John, the fisherman, with both eyes, his heart and his soul saw His glory, the glory as of the eternal God shining in the very face of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The sum total of the eternal, omnipotent, infinite glory of God was reflected in Jesus Christ.
The combined attributes of the living God were reflected in the human person of the only begotten of the Father, the God-Man, Jesus Christ the righteous.
Over, and over again, John and the other disciples gazed on the perfection of the sinless Son of Man, and the glory which was seen in Him was a reflection of the exact image of the glory of God, the Father, both full of grace and full of truth.
The eternal Son of God in the person of the sinless Son of Man was full of God’s grace and goodness, which alone qualified Him to become our One, only perfect Savior and sacrifice for sin.
The Incarnate Word of God, made in the likeness of human flesh, was also full of truth which alone qualifies Him to be the One and the Only perfect source of God’s completed revelation.
Revelation (truth) from God, our Father in heaven, came through the eternal Son of God Who became the perfect Son of Man:
Hebrews 1:1-4Amplified Bible
God’s Final Word in His Son
1 God, having spoken to the fathers long ago in [the voices and writings of] the prophets in many separate revelations [each of which set forth a portion of the truth], and in many ways, 2 has in these last days spoken [with finality] to us in [the person of One who is by His character and nature] His Son [namely Jesus], whom He appointed heir and lawful owner of all things, through whom also He created the universe [that is, the universe as a space-time-matter continuum]. 3 The Son is the radiance and only expression of the glory of [our awesome] God [reflecting God’s [a]Shekinah glory, the Light-being, the brilliant light of the divine], and the exact representation and perfect imprint of His [Father’s] essence, and upholding and maintaining and propelling all things [the entire physical and spiritual universe] by His powerful word [carrying the universe along to its predetermined goal]. When He [Himself and no other] had [by offering Himself on the cross as a sacrifice for sin] accomplished purification from sins and established our freedom from guilt, He sat down [revealing His completed work] at the right hand of the Majesty on high [revealing His Divine authority], 4 having become as much superior to angels, since He has inherited a more excellent and glorious [b] name than they [that is, Son—the name above all names].
Salvation (grace) came through the only begotten Son of the Father, the unique God-Man, Christ Jesus the righteous: “For by grace are You saved, through faith in HIM and not of works, lest anyone should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-10)
God was not content just to proclaim his message — his Word — to us!
Jehovah God, Creator God, Pre-Existing God, was not satisfied that only prophets could reveal his coming message — his Living Word — unto us!
God wasn’t willing that his message, his Word, be confined to a book.
No, God’s ultimate message, his Word, is Jesus. God’s message, God’s Word, is Jesus coming in human flesh to live as one of us to reveal God to us.
This incarnation made grace and truth and abundant life accessible, touchable, palpable, and available and very much physically visible unto our human eyes.
Yet, even in an all too confining and limited human skin and burdened with human mortality, God’s glory, God’s grace, God’s truth, could not be hidden.
In all of God’s Neighborhoods ….
In all of those ancient Neighborhoods and Communities ….
And EXACTLY RIGHT NOW ….
In all of our very own Neighborhoods and Communities …..
GUESS WHAT GOD’S GRACE AND TRUTH HATH REVEALED FOR US?
“full and unfailing, undying love, full unyielding, maximum faithfulness”
absolutely, completely, fully, utterly, ultimately, eternally revealed in Immanuel!
God came near.
God became touchable.
God became knowable.
God became visible to our naked eyes.
God became huggable.
God became palpable.
God became relatable.
God became conversational.
God became connectional.
God became genuine.
God became real and fully capable of being experienced.
Grace and Truth came near.
Grace and Truth became touchable.
Grace and Truth became knowable.
Grace and Truth became visible to our naked eyes.
Grace and Truth became huggable.
Grace and Truth became palpable.
Grace and Truth became relatable.
Grace and Truth became conversational.
Grace and Truth became connectional.
Grace and Truth became genuine.
Grace and Truth became real and fully capable of being experienced.
God’s trusted message of Grace and Truth became max real in Jesus, the Word!
John 1:14-18New King James Version
The Word Becomes Flesh
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 [a]is preferred before me, for He was before me.’ ”
16 [b]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 [c]Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.
This is a stunning, breathtaking declaration.
It first announces that a miraculous crossing of the great divide—between heaven and earth, between eternity and time, God and man—took place.
God’s Son came to earth to dwell among us.
As God had walked in the garden in the cool of the day with Adam and Eve (Gen. 3:8), so God’s Son came in the wearying heat of human struggle to live with us.
What is it about God that He loves us so much?
What is it about God that He so strongly desires to live with us?
What is it about God that He so strongly desires to live within us?
What is it about God that He so strongly desires to be connected with us?
What is it about God that He so strongly desires to be relatable with us?
What is it about the availability of God’s Grace and Truth, we want to know why we are even aware of our own irresistible need to be asking God all of these questions?
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Holy and loving God, my Abba Father, thank you for the Scriptures, the prophets, the scribes, and the scholars. Thank you most of all for Jesus, who came as your Word in human skin. Thank you for coming to my neighborhood and showing me how to live and how much you love me. As we journey through the Gospel of John, please make your presence and your will known to me as I get to know your Son better.
Heavenly Father, thank You for sending Your only begotten Son into Your streets, Your neighborhoods and Your communities to become the unique ‘God-Man’ Who alone is full of grace and truth, Who alone was qualified, worthy to become our perfect, Kinsman-Redeemer, to die on the Cross as our heavenly substitute for sin. We gather to Exalt, Glorify and Magnify His holy name, Praise His holy name.
Adeste Fidelis, Venite Adoremus! Dominum!
Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.
Loving God, Living God, Loving Hope, Living Hope, Loving Living Life His Way! "Many things are possible for the person who has hope. Even more is possible for the person who has faith. And still more is possible for the person who knows how to love. But everything is possible for the person who practices all three virtues." - Brother Lawrence (1605-1691), Practicing the Presence of God (1692). 