John 1:14-18. Jesus Christ is Everything

When C.S.Lewis wrote his space trilogy for adults, he wanted people to discover the message behind the stories. In ‘Perelandra’ he fantastically recreates a whole new world on Venus. The sky is a golden canopy, the sea is emerald green. There were ‘bubble trees’ that burst as you walk underneath them, releasing a beautiful and indescribable refreshment. The animals were fascinating, the porpoises could be ridden on, and there were little dragons with red and green scales that could be turned over to have their tummies rubbed. It was all very inviting and entertaining but also very instructive. It is meant to represent the ideal world, the new world, life without sin.

In the Bible, Adam and Eve were the prototype of perfection, a man and a woman who lived in a perfect world in close harmony with God their creator. Everything around them was good, as the beginning of the book of Genesis repeatedly makes clear. There was social perfection. Eve was taken from the Adam’s side, from his flesh, to depict the close intimacy God intends in marriage. The Garden of Eden is meant to be an inviting, ideal scenario that people long to belong to.

However all that was lost when Adam and Eve decided to turn their backs on God and go their own way. Social disharmony then appeared. After they decided to go their own way, God asked Adam,

“Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree from which I commanded you not to eat?”

The reply Adam gave, blaming his wife, was a certain way to produce marital discord,

“The woman you put here with me – she gave me some of the fruit and I ate it.” Genesis 3:12

From then on, man’s relationship with God and other people was damaged. We are never satisfied, we now grow old and will die.

When Alexander Solzhenitsyn gave his Templeton Prize address he said that the tragedy of the modern world was, ‘You have forgotten God’. In a subsequent interview with Bernard Levin, published in the Times, he explained that he now considered that the goal of man is ‘not happiness but spiritual growth’. He had learned this from Jesus.

Solomon understood that this is man’s greatest problem. Near the beginning of the book of Proverbs he said,

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge.” Proverbs 1:7

A little later he explains that everyone has made a decision on this matter,

“Since they hated knowledge and did not choose to fear the LORD.” Proverbs 1:29

The widespread dissatisfaction is a common symptom that comes from this refusal to allow God to hold his proper place in our lives.

The glory of Jesus

This is what John wants everyone to grasp - how magnificent this good news about Jesus is.

“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” John 1:14

Jesus, out of his love for humanity, left his home with his Father and entered his world to be with us and to save us. In the Old testament God’s presence with his people was symbolised by the ark of the covenant that was housed in the Holy of Holies within the tabernacle. The tabernacle was where God was understood to dwell with his people. The word John uses here is significant, literally it reads,

“ . . . the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us.” John 1:14

This is God’s grace reaching down to sinful, rebellious man. God literally came to live amongst us. This verse continues,

“We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:14

Rules and discipline have their place but are certainly not so attractive as a person exemplified by grace and truth. That combination is dynamic. John continues,

“For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” John 1:17

This is why religion in all its guises cannot compete with the person of Jesus. What our creator longs for is that we all enter into a personal relationship with him through Jesus his chosen King.

Full of grace

Grace is God reaching out to us in our sin whereas mercy is God reaching out to us in our misery. We cannot see or comprehend the full glory of God. John partially describes something of this in the book of Revelation, chapters 4 and 5. Here John stresses that what they saw most of God’s glory was the grace and truth seen in Jesus.

Grace is an attribute of God, where he gives himself to help others. It is what makes some people so attractive. It is a major reason why Jesus is so attractive. In Iran today, many people are turning to Christ because they have seen something of this grace of God both in Jesus and in his people. This contrasts with the lack of grace seen in the Islamic rulers. It is this love that lifts us up. John continues,

“From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another.” John 1:16

In the original Greek this is worded ‘grace upon grace’. This grace of God keeps flowing. Jesus is the fountain through which God’s grace pours out upon us. This is only possible because of who he is. Paul wrote,

“For in Christ all the fullness of the deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority.” Colossians 2:9

The glory of God is seen in the grace of Jesus, the embodiment of God. This is why a prime feature of Christ’s people must be the same overflowing grace. God shows this grace to both unbelievers and believers and we must emulate him.

God’s grace gives us everything we need.

In 1725 a ship’s captain had a son but his mother, who taught him the Bible died of tuberculosis when he was just six years old. When eleven he went to sea with his father. However he was later press ganged into service as a midshipman with the Royal Navy. He tried to desert but was caught, publicly flogged with 96 lashes and reduced to the rank of a common seaman. Later he transferred to a slave ship but was unpopular with the crew and was left in West Africa with a slave dealer where he was as badly treated as the slaves. In 1748, after three years of misery, he was rescued by a sea captain who had been asked to search for his son by his retired father. However on the return trip, the ship he was on was caught in a severe storm off the coast of Donegal, Ireland. The young man was terrified, had he been rescued from slavery just to die? He prayed to God for mercy on March 10th 1748 and from then on his life changed. He began to want to live as God wanted him to. He started to study the Bible which confirmed to him that God was indeed a God who is full of grace and would even accept a wretch like him. His life gradually changed, he no longer swore, gambled or drank alcohol and he came to understand how deep the grace of God for him was. For a further six years he continued to sail, trading in slaves and merchandise, but then he gave up the sea and began to study. He was later ordained and eventually became an influential minister for Christ in London. His name was John Newton. In 1772 when he was a curate in Olney, Bedfordshire he wrote the words of his famous hymn,

Amazing grace! How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind but now I see.

Shout, shout for glory,
Shout, shout aloud for glory;
Brother, sister, mourner,
All shout glory hallelujah

John Newton loved to talk about the amazing sufficiency of God’s grace. He knew that there was no-one who was beyond the power of this grace. This grace is only available for those who recognise that they cannot become the people God wants without receiving God’s grace. This is freely available to all who come to God on his terms. The lifebelt has been thrown to the drowning person, all they have to do is to grasp it and hold on. The Bible teaches,

“Christ died for the ungodly . .” Romans 5:6

God’s grace enables us to face every difficulty in life.

Grace is not only sufficient to save us, it also brings beauty and meaning to life. Adam and Eve, before they fell from grace, enjoyed God’s presence. It is this grace that gives us the promise of eternal life.

The prospect of death loses its fear for those who are in Christ. The great 19th century evangelist, D.L.Moody once said, with reference to the promise of eternal life,

“You may read in the paper one day that D.L.Moody is dead. Don’t you believe it.”

One day we will be physically perfect, we won’t tire and we will enjoy God’s creation more than we thought possible. All hang-ups and social inhibitions will be gone. Our future with God will be bliss. John had a vision of this wonderful new world with life in all its richness,

“Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing down form the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. . . . and his servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night.” Revelation 22:1-5

God’s grace changes people.

John Newton, after a life of debauchery, philandering and alcohol, married a lovely lady and they enjoyed a marriage that was a glorious example to people around them. Relationships are transformed by Christ. Even our decaying bodies will be transformed. Our physical bodies are immortal and when we are resurrected we will be transformed gloriously, that will be the work of the grace of God - how immense is the privilege of being united to Christ. Paul wrote,

“For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fulness in Christ . . .” Colossians 2:9

When the grace of God enters our lives and is allowed to take over, everything changes. Our lives become rich and overflowing and we begin to live as we were meant to live. Grace had a remarkable effect on a Levite from Cyprus called Joseph. The apostles gave him the nickname, Barnabus which means ‘Son of Encouragement’. Joseph had become generous and a pleasure to be with (Acts 4:36-37).

The 16th century church reformer, Martin Luther wrote,

“This grace is inexhaustible. It is full of grace and truth from God. It never loses anything, no matter how much we draw, but remains an infinite fountain of all grace and truth. The more you draw from it, the more abundantly it gives of the water that springs up into eternal life. Just as the sun is not darkened by the whole world enjoying its light and could indeed light up ten worlds, just as ten thousand lights can be lit from one light and not detract from it, just as a learned man is able to make a thousand others learn it, the more he gives, the more he has. So it is with our Lord Jesus Christ, an infinite source of grace, so that the whole world can draw on his grace and it wouldn’t be depleted at all”.

The grace of God enables us to see reality

We can see where faults are ours and stop blaming others. A girl got into a fight with her young brother. Her mother heard the noise and, entering the room, said to her daughter,

“Why did you let the devil put it into your mind to pull your brothers hair and kick him in the shins?”

The girl thought for a second and replied,

“Maybe the devil put it into my heart to pull his hair, but kicking his shins was my idea.”

Grace is not just for salvation, it continues to give us purpose and power to become more like Jesus until we eventually meet him face to face. Isaiah understood the glory that is to come and Paul quotes from Isaiah when writing to the troubled church at Corinth that were beset with false leaders and false priorities.

“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him.” Isaiah 64:4 and I Corinthians 2:9

Our eternal destiny is only ours because of God’s grace.

Why do we not experience this grace more? When we become Christians we are shown something of God’s grace in his forgiving us and accepting us into his kingdom. But that is just the beginning. We need to learn to receive ‘grace upon grace’. To be sold out in out devotion to Jesus and longing to please him, is the way to more joy and more outpouring of His Spirit on us.

Full of truth

A little boy had repeatedly been told by his mother that he must always tell the truth. One day they were travelling on a bus and standing next to them was a grossly overweight lady. The little boy blurted out loudly and truthfully,

“You’re fat.”

His embarrassed mother realised that her boy needed to learn another lesson fast, grace must have precedence over expressing the truth.

Grace and truth should not be in opposition but should be two sides of the same coin. Truth is essential. Unfortunately, most decisions that people make are primarily based on our emotions. What sort of car shall we get – oh, a blue one. Career choices are so often based on memories of someone we liked or even on advertisements. In the United Kingdom in 2019 over 22 billion pounds was spent on advertising!

Yet in deciding on the major issues of life, rational decisions are vital. ‘Who should I marry?’ is best decided, not just on looks but on a wide range of features, and in this friends and family can often see more clearly than those whose thinking is clouded by the veneer of being ‘in love’. Similarly when deciding what the basis of my whole life will be, it is vital to look beyond selfish emotions, about what I like, to what is true. Jesus stands at the crossroads of life and points us to God’s way, on the basis of his grace and the fact that his way is true. Jesus said,

“I am the way, the truth and the life, no-one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6

The case for Christ is so strong. Science cannot explain how our world began, how all the constants of the universe are so precisely right for the universe and man to exist, how the language of DNA developed and how the code that defines the resulting organism has been altered in such short times for new species to appear. Science can only give us the laws by which the world works, it cannot create anything. The evidence for Jesus being extraordinary is immense. He convinced his disciples that he was God and they sacrificed their lives on this conviction. Were they all deluded? Did Jesus rise from the dead after being publicly crucified? Over five hundred people later saw him alive on just one occasion and his disciples, who saw the risen Christ on several occasions, were certainly convinced. There are over 330 prophecies in the Old Testament about the coming Messiah – they all point to Jesus. He was a direct descendant of king David, he was born in Bethlehem, he did perform extraordinary miracles. He still reigns. On top of that his teaching is sublime. If anyone has not read through John’s Gospel to think through what Jesus taught it is likely that they really do not want to know the truth.

I was discussing with a group of hospital consultants how ‘truth’ should be defined. They had great difficulty. One suggested that truth must be ‘consensus’ but the others ridiculed this as consensus can so easily change or be manipulated, as many politicians have found. Plato realised that truth has to have an absolute dimension. God alone knows exactly what has happened and how the world works, we are trying to discover the truth by investigation. This is so in the law courts, in medicine and in science. Instinctively we know there is a truth out there and we are trying to discover this by what is called a dialectic process. This simply means holding to one position until a stronger rival overtakes it. Truth must be defined as a concept compatible with God. Jesus puts himself in the centre and says,

“I am the truth!” John 14:6

There is certainly a place for emphasising all the evidence for the claims of Jesus but arguments seldom win people for God if there is no personal need. Too many young Christians think they can argue people into accepting the Christian position. Without God preparing people and without grace in the speaker, convincing people with arguments seems to be relatively ineffective.

‘Grace and truth’, however, are the two main means by which people are drawn back into a relationship with our creator.

John the Baptists’ message

John the Baptist’s message was the same as that of the church today,

“(John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, ‘This is he of whom I said, “He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me”’) John 1:15

John’s message was about Jesus and the church must also tell people about Jesus. How we need to ‘cry out’ to our world and tell people that God has entered this world to save us. Our message must be the same as the apostle John, who when talking about Jesus said,

“No-one has ever seen God, but God, the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known.” John 1:18

What a wonderful message the church has – Paul recognised this,

“All this is from God, who reconciled the world to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation” 1 Corinthians 5:18-19

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