The Incarnation
The Gospel of John • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 1 viewJesus, the Incarnation of God, the express image of God, brought us grace and truth through His death, burial, and resurrection. This grace and truth will only be truly realized in His 2nd Coming.
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Introduction
Jesus, the Incarnation of God, the express image of God, brought us grace and truth through His death, burial, and resurrection. This grace and truth will only be truly realized in His 2nd Coming.
Focus Passage: John 1:14-18
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 is preferred before me, for He was before me.’ ” 16 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 Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.
Outline
The Incarnation (vv. 14,18)
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.
18 No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.
Before us is possibly the most clear passage of Scripture that we have on the doctrine of the incarnation. It is a key verse to understanding the heart of the Gospel of John. For John, it was of utmost importance that his hearers and readers understood who Jesus was. He was not just another rabbi, another prophet, under great teacher. No, Jesus was far more than this, He was God coming in the flesh. To emphasize this truth, he goes back to the beginning of the prologue of his work. John had already introduced his hearer/reader to the Word in vv. 1-2.
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God.
Within vv.1-2, John writes, the Word was with God, and the Word was God, pointing to the deity of the Word. Within v.14, we find that...
The Word became flesh
God Himself, in human flesh, came in the embodiment of Jesus, the Word became flesh. This is one of the greatest hope that we have as Christians. That we have a God, the God, that knows our pain, our struggles, our temptations. He came to us and took on flesh for us. He stepped out of eternity and became one with us, His creation, so that we could become one with Him, our Creator, our Lord, our Savior.
The Word took residence with His creation, man
We find that not only read, the Word became flesh, but we also read, and dwelt among us. Within the Gk, the word ‘dwelt’ signifies the meaning of ‘encampment’, to ‘occupy’, or to ‘tabernacle’. While we may miss the truth of this with a twenty-first century mindset, but for the Jewish audience hearing/reading John’s Gospel in the 1st Century, this signified an excellent picture for them. For them the tabernacle was the place of worship, of God’s Holy residence. It was the center of the encampment. They would move according to the God’s direction of the tabernacle. If it moved, they moved. If it stayed put, they remained still. What a great picture to see and behold. The God of creation moving in next door and taking up residence and living among His creation.
The Word revealed God’s glory, grace, and truth
When Jesus came, He was just not another man. He was the only beloved of the Father, as of the only begotten of the Father. Jesus was no ordinary being. He was God in the flesh. Through Jesus we were offered a glimpse into God’s glory. Before this time, no one has ever seen the Father, No one has seen God at any time (v.18a). To see the Father was a death sentence within the Law. Even Moses, when He saw God face-to-face in Exodus 33, did not see God face-to-face as we perceive that within our understanding and culture. It meant that God had a personal conversation with Moses. He may have even had a theophany, but not a physical face-to-face encounter with God. Jesus was different though. He had seen God face-to-face, in all His glory. How? Because He was with the Father and was the Father, The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father. When Jesus declared God through His words, He was declaring God from a personal and particularly unique position. He was God in the flesh.
When one saw Jesus and heard His teachings and were in His presence, they were being afforded an opportunity to see God’s glory shine among them, we beheld His glory, the glory as the only begotten of the Father. They were being afforded an opportunity to receive God’s redemptive grace and freeing truth, full of grace and truth.
One would think that grace would be an overwhelming subject of John’s gospel, but it is not. Truth is overarching theme throughout. However, grace is only mentioned three times within John’s work. It is mentioned here in verse fourteen and again in verses sixteen and seventeen. May we realize there is but one source of grace and that is Jesus Christ.
Not only do we find that John testifies of the Incarnation, but he reveals...
The Witness (v.15)
15 John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.’ ”
John the Baptist had already found himself martyred for the faith by the time John was writing his gospel, but this did not negate the witness of John the Baptist. He truly was the one crying out in the wilderness and was sent to prepare the way for Jesus’ public ministry. Isaiah prophesied of him, meaning John the Baptist, seven hundred years before he bore witness.
3 The voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Prepare the way of the Lord; Make straight in the desert A highway for our God.
The witness of John was not up for debate
Within the Gk rendering of the word, ‘witness’ it is a settled fact. There is no room for debate. John was witnesses of the truth and glory of God and it was settled. He would not hear arguments that would say otherwise. This should be the heart of every born again believer. We should have a steadfast witness of how our lives have been changed and those around us have been changed. We should have a steadfast witness of the peace of God that surpasses all understanding. Our relationship with Christ and the evidence of the change of our lives should be undeniable. For the apostle John, the witness of John the Baptist was settled. It was a settled account of who Jesus was, John bore witness of Him and cried out.
The witness of John was about the preincarnate Christ - ‘…This was He of whom I said, He who comes after me…was before me...’
The witness of John the Baptist was about the preeminence of Christ - ‘…is preferred before me...’
Jesus is to be the preeminent figure in our life. We are to have the same heart and testimony of John the Baptist. Later John the Baptist testifies that he must decrease so that Jesus can increase.
30 He must increase, but I must decrease.
Paul writes that Christ should be at center of it all. He is the preeminence.
18 And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.
As a commentary on himself, John is lead through the Holy Spirit to expand on the witness of John the Baptist in the next two Scriptures.
The Fullness of God (vv.16-17)
16 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.
Jesus was the completeness of God
John rights, And of His fullness, meaning the completeness of God through Christ. These two verses can only be seen through the guides of the dead, buried, and resurrected Christ, through jesus Christ. John writes with the end already in sight. He writes knowing full well what is going to transpire for it has already transpired. He writes in view of the glorified Savior. Within this view in sight, he writes, And of His fullness we have all received. Paul would later write of Jesus, He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation (Co. 1:15 NKJV). Jesus was and is the Godhead deity in the flesh.
Through Jesus, we find an abundance of grace for forgiveness - ‘…we have received, and grace for grace...’
Through Jesus, we find God fulfilling the Law that man could not - ‘…For the Law given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ...’
Conclusion
Jesus was God in the flesh not just a mere man. He was the Creator coming down and moving in next door to the created. When the John the Baptist gave a witness of Jesus, he was testifying on behalf of the Father. There is but one truth and one source of grace and that is Jesus Christ. God did what man could not do, fulfill the requirement of the Law. He did through death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We must be as John, and live, say, and do all that we do through the guides of the resurrected and glorified Savior, Jesus Christ.