FULLNESS OF GRACE AND TRUTH

For the law was given by Moses, but GRACE and TRUTH came by Jesus Christ – John 1:17

The Lord Jesus Christ embodies both the FULLNESS of GRACE and the FULLNESS of TRUTH: “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 (Jh. 1:14). John 1:1 reveals that the “Word” refers to God the Son – the Son of God. He did not have a beginning. He was there in the beginning. He had always been there as far back beyond time as you can go in the eternal past. He was not made, because, “All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made” (v.3). He is not part of creation in any way. He is uncreated and eternal. “The Word became flesh” means: the Word – the Son – became human without ceasing to be divine.

God became Man, without ceasing to be God. How do we know this to be true? First, is that the Word dwelt among us. He did not cease to be the divine Word when He became human. The angel said in Matthew 1:23, “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.” Second, is that we have seen His glory – and the glory of the incarnate Word is “the glory as of the only Son from the Father” (v.14). In Jesus Christ we see the Glory of God. Praise God, His Glory revealed in Jesus does not consume us in our sin. It is a gracious glory: “full of grace and truth”! Yet, this glory with a gracious disposition to us doesn’t compromise His truthfulness – His faithfulness to Himself. Furthermore, this grace-full is extremely great; it is “full”! The glory of the Son of God is full of graciousness toward sinners without compromising God’s truth.

God could have chosen to become flesh and be a fierce judge or ruthless executioner. All of us would have been found guilty before Him and sentenced to everlasting punishment. But He did not become flesh that way. The Word, the Son, the Second Person of the Triune God, became flesh to reveal a divine glory that is “full of grace and truth.” The Word became flesh to be gracious to us. The Word became flesh so that this graciousness to us would come in harmony with His truthfulness – His Integrity. This was not a sentimental, unprincipled, wishy-washy grace. Rather, it was a just, righteous, and costly grace. It led straight to Jesus’ death on the cross, which was actually why He became flesh. He had to put on flesh in order to die. He had to be human in order to die in our place (Heb.2:14-15). The Word became flesh so that the death of Jesus Christ would be possible and legally justified. The cross was where the fullness of grace shone most brightly. There, redemption was performed and liberty purchased!

The Son of God is full of GRACE and TRUTH! God is gracious to us and true to Himself. God did not cut corners. He did not break His principles of equity and Justice. He punished iniquity and ensured that the full penalty for sin was paid. When Christ died, God was true to Himself, ensuring that sin was punished. And When Christ died, God was gracious to us, because Christ bore the punishment not us. The Glory of God was revealed as never before, in the fullness of grace and the fullness of truth that shines most brightly in the death of Jesus for sinners. That’s why He could introduce Himself as “the Way, the TRUTH, and the Life” (Jh.14:6). It therefore behoves us who believe in Him to “worship the Father in spirit and in TRUTH” and also to “walk in TRUTH (Jh.4:23-24; 3 Jh.1:4). To know Christ is to know the Truth; “and you shall know the TRUTH, and the TRUTH shall make you free” (Jh.8:32)!