Well, good morning and happy Mother's Day. I do hope you have a copy of God's Word with you this morning and that you'll join me in John chapter 1.
! Our text for today will be, again, John chapter 1, verses 14 through 18. And yes, we're doing a part two expositional sermon on Mother's Day.
Because, yep. Last week we began a look at verses 14 through 18, which we didn't quite complete. So today we have the privilege of setting our minds once again on the incarnation of Jesus Christ.
It's not just a thing to be done at Christmas time. The word incarnation originates in Latin and means literally in flesh.
It is most regularly used to speak of the embodiment of a deity. Christians most regularly refer to Jesus' incarnation as the incarnation.
Because it is not understood to be one amongst many, but to be the only time that deity took on humanity.
Last week I hope that I clearly established that the errors concerning the incarnation are plentiful.
Which means that this doctrine is incredibly important to the Christian faith and to understand its nature accurately deserves our careful attention.
We had time last week for the first two of three points.
And they were the reality of the incarnation.
And secondly, the witness to the incarnation.
And considering the first point I read to you, the Chalcedonian Creed, and then issued six summary points from it.
We thought together about the nature of what it means for Christ to indwell flesh.
So quickly those six points.
Jesus Christ is one person with two natures.
And the important phrase here is he is truly God and truly man.
Some people will say fully God and fully man, which is roughly equivalent.
Not half God and half man, but fully both.
This is often referred to as the hypostatic union.
100%, 100%, 100%, dwelling in one.
The divine nature was not diluted by the incarnation, nor was the human nature abstract or incomplete.
Secondly, two natures united without confusion, change, division, or separation.
His divine and human natures are distinct, yet united.
They're not mixed, not divided, not reduced into some kind of third nature.
Thirdly, the human nature was fully assumed.
Jesus had a real human body, mind, soul, will.
Everything essential to true humanity.
He really hungered.
He really thirsted.
He really got tired.
He was really tempted.
Fourth, the divine nature remained fully intact.
In the incarnation, Christ did not in any way lay aside his divine attributes.
Fifth, the person of the Son is the subject of both natures.
Hear me here carefully.
Jesus is not two persons or a split consciousness.
The eternal Son is the acting subject of both divine and human experiences.
So, like I said before, hungered as a man, forgave sins as God, yet always the Son of God.
And then lastly, the incarnation was for our salvation.
It was purposeful.
Jesus became man, not merely to reveal God, but to redeem sinners through his substitutionary death and victorious resurrection.
The unity of his person ensures the efficacy of his work.
It means that the thing he came to do was, in fact, accomplished because of who he is.
And we'll have more on this in today's concluding point.
Then, in considering the second point, we took a brief look at John the Apostle's insertion in verse 15.
Translators put it in parentheses, so it's a parenthetical insertion.
When John the Apostle wrote his gospel, there was still a group that claimed John the Baptist as the Messiah.
John makes clear in verses 7 and 8 that John the Baptist was not the Christ.
And he does so again here in verse 15, but this time in John's own words.
John the Baptist said,
This was he of whom I said,
He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.
John the Baptist acknowledged the supremacy of Jesus Christ and boldly proclaimed so by appealing to his eternal pre-existence.
In some small measure, this catches us up.
So, let's read our text in its entirety and turn our attention to the final point, which is the accomplishment of the Incarnation.
What is it that the Incarnation set about to accomplish?
And John tells us here.
So, this is John chapter 1, verses 14 through 18.
Before I read it, let me remind you, beloved, that this is God's word to us, written for his glory and our good,
that we might believe its promises, obey its commands, have affection for its author.
May we hear it and respond accordingly to it.
John writes,
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.
John bore witness about him and cried out,
This was he of whom I said,
He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.
For from his fullness we have all received grace upon grace.
For the law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
No one has ever seen God, the only God who is at the Father's side.
He has made him known.
So, let's think together about the accomplishment of the Incarnation that we find in verses 16, 17, and 18.
Remember that verse 15, right, is that parenthetical insertion.
So, John at the beginning of verse 16 is continuing his thoughts from the end of verse 14.
There he said that Jesus is full of grace and truth.
In verse 14, John uses the adjective full in describing Jesus.
Full.
That is, he is filled up with grace and truth.
The Greek word translated grace in these verses is the same word that we get charity from.
Grace is undeserved benevolence.
It is kindness shown where kindness cannot be expected.
This word only exists in John's gospel in this paragraph.
Once in verse 14, twice in verse 16, and then once again in verse 17.
Although it is only used in this place, the repetition of it suggests that we should not neglect it as it is an important idea in the framing of John's account.
Right?
Grace comes through Christ.
He is full of it.
He is filled up with grace.
Now, the word truth is used very often in John's gospel.
It brings together the Hebrew and Greek concepts of truth.
The Hebrew word for truth represents firmness, stability, steadfastness, or trustworthiness.
John's Hebrew readers would have understood the Greek word.
John's Hebrew readers would have understood the Greek word he uses, aletheia, in the same way as their Greek translation of what we call the Old Testament would have used this very same word.
So they understood it as firmness, stability, steadfastness, or trustworthiness.
Among Greeks, the word aletheia denotes that which really is eternal reality as revealed to men.
So as John is writing to both audiences, he is pulling those two ideas together.
Don't lose the significance of John stating that Jesus is full of grace and truth.
Jesus is the ultimate reality, the steadfast, the trustworthy, the kindness of God expressed to mankind.
Now, in verse 16, he uses the noun fullness.
So verse 14, he is full of grace and truth.
And then the following idea is that it is from his fullness.
The noun fullness to speak of his previous explanation of the character of Jesus definitively.
He is now giving him, in some sense, a title.
He is the fullness of grace and truth.
That is to say, right?
He is those things.
He cannot be separated from these qualities.
Perhaps you are seeing just a little of why it is proper to get the incarnation right,
to understand the nature of Jesus.
Understanding it correctly is the foundation on which our salvation sits.
And so it is so very important.
John goes on, for from his fullness, we have all received grace upon grace.
Grace upon grace.
What a beautiful term that is.
Grace upon grace.
The idea of this phrase is that as soon as grace is received,
there is a new, a fresh supply of grace to be received.
So it is received and supplied and received and supplied and received and supplied.
This is inexhaustible grace.
Right?
Kindness of God shown to us in Jesus Christ,
overflowing abundantly for all who believe in him.
The grace comes and it comes and it comes.
Right?
Undeserved benevolence.
Kindness shown where kindness cannot be expected.
Again and again and again and again.
Another place that we can see this is in Ephesians chapter 2.
And so I would invite you to join me there.
We'll look at a few verses and then come back to our text.
There Paul writes,
You were dead in the trespasses and sins.
Dead.
Spiritually dead.
In which you once walked,
following the course of this world,
following the prince of the power of the air.
That's Satan.
The spirit that is now in work in the sons of disobedience.
Among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh,
carrying out the desires of the body and the mind,
and were by nature children of wrath,
like the rest of mankind.
Paul is dividing mankind into two categories.
And he's speaking to these Ephesian Christians
about who they once were.
He characterizes them in various ways.
Dead.
Walking in sin.
In the way of the world.
A worshiper of God's enemy.
Living in passions of the flesh.
And by nature children of wrath.
Categorically enemies of God.
And therefore deserving of God's due wrath.
But then,
the beginning of verse 4,
there's a precious,
and I think too often ignored,
conjunction.
But,
even though that is true,
even though it is the case
that before believing in Christ,
you were an enemy of God,
God.
But,
God,
being rich in mercy,
because of the great love with which he loved us,
even when we were dead in our trespasses,
made us alive together with Christ.
Did it.
Brought dead people to life.
The greatest miracle we see happening today,
right?
We were once dead,
we have been made alive with Christ.
By grace,
you have been saved.
Undeserved benevolence.
Kindness being shown,
where kindness cannot be expected.
By that grace,
you have been saved.
And raised us up with him,
and seated us with him in the heavenly places,
in Christ Jesus.
Why?
So that,
in the coming ages,
he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us,
in Christ Jesus.
In the coming ages,
immeasurable riches of his grace.
That he might put on display his graciousness.
Grace upon grace.
If you're in Christ this morning,
this is why you are in Christ.
God is showing himself to the world to be a gracious God.
And he supplies it in plenty.
Now,
the astute watcher of me,
probably notices when I come up with another book.
So here it is.
I read to you from it last week.
This is the Pilgrim's Progress.
Aside from the scripture,
it's my favorite book.
If you don't get it,
spend some time with me.
I'll convince you otherwise.
Or I'll try it very least.
I don't want to read to you just a little excerpt from it.
This is to speak of this term,
grace upon grace in the life of a Christian.
What does it look like?
And there's a little picture
as the main character,
whose name is Christian,
goes to the house of the interpreter.
And the interpreter takes him around the house
and teaches him some things
of what it means to follow Christ.
And so this short little bit.
Then I saw in my dream
that the interpreter took Christian by the hand
and led him into a room
where there was a fireplace.
The flames from the fireplace
grew larger and hotter,
even though there was someone
continually throwing water on it
to try to quench it.
Then said Christian,
what does this mean?
The interpreter answered,
this fire is the work of grace
that God accomplishes in the heart.
He who throws water on the flames
to try to extinguish it
is the devil.
But as you see,
the fire burns higher and hotter
despite his efforts to put it out.
Now, let me show you the reason for that.
So the interpreter took Christian
to the other side of the wall
where he saw a man
with a vessel of oil in his hand
from which he secretly funneled oil
into the fire.
Then Christian asked,
what does this mean?
The interpreter answered,
this is Christ
who continually with the oil of his grace
maintains the work already begun
in the heart.
No matter what the devil tries to do,
the gracious work that Christ is doing
in the souls of his people
only increases.
You saw that the man stood behind the wall
to maintain the fire?
That is to teach you
that it is hard for the one being tempted
to see how this work of grace
is maintained in the soul.
Whether or not we acknowledge it to be true,
if God has begun a good work in you,
he will bring it to completion
at the day of Christ.
That's Philippians 1.6.
Grace upon grace.
Immeasurable, abundant grace
is received from Christ.
The fullness of grace and truth.
John, to further exalt this work of Christ,
underscores it with a comparison
in verse 17.
A comparison to the law of Moses.
For the law was given through Moses,
grace and truth came
through Jesus Christ.
The law was given through Moses.
It's what we often refer to as
the Old Covenant.
That covenant that was
God would be Israel's people
if they would keep his law.
Much of the Old Testament's aim
is to show us that they did not keep his law
and that they were not able
to keep his law.
The law's ultimate
purgifies that law
that is written on our hearts
so that when we are confronted by it,
we cannot flee to frail excuses.
The law is an exposer of our sin.
It is an accuser.
It's meant to serve us in this way.
It's to show us our deadness.
We're walking in the way of the world,
not in the way of God,
that we would flee to Christ
for our salvation.
I read to you last week,
kind of in a sweeping,
hurried summary from Galatians chapter 3.
I'll do so again to make the point.
There Paul writes in verse 23,
Now before faith came,
we were held captive under the law,
imprisoned until the coming faith
would be revealed.
The law was given through Moses.
It does not set us free,
but rather makes us captives.
If you try to justify yourself before God
by the standard of the law,
on your own,
you will miserably fail.
You have failed even probably
in the moments you're sitting here.
Praise God,
grace and truth
came through Jesus Christ.
Paul goes on in Galatians 3,
verse 24,
So then the law
was our guardian
until Christ came.
And the picture here
is of a schoolmaster
or of a person hired
to oversee a young man
while he's being taken to adulthood.
Kind of a tutor,
a guardian,
until Christ came
in order that
we might be justified
by faith.
declared righteous
by faith.
He goes on,
But now that faith has come,
we are no longer under a guardian,
for in Christ Jesus
you are all sons of God
through faith.
Now, let's not lose sight of the fact
that John is still talking about
the incarnation.
incarnation.
I have argued that
it is of vital importance
to get the incarnation
of Jesus right
as a foundation
for our salvation.
I said,
the unity of Jesus' person
ensures the efficacy
of his work.
Maybe you'll remember me
using that word.
But how so?
Why make such a fuss
about all of this?
Why have Christians
throughout the history
of the church
contended for
a proper view
of the incarnation
of Christ?
The nature of the embodied
Son of God
matters
because of the nature
of God the Father
who,
in his simplicity,
is always just
blessed
and always
merciful.
Now,
when we speak of God's
simplicity,
we don't mean simple
in that he's dumb.
It's not at all
what we're referring to
at all.
In another sense,
we could speak of God's
great complexity
not even to be understood.
His ways are above
our ways.
What we mean
when we talk about
God's simplicity
is that he doesn't change.
He is always
who he is
at all times.
We've developed this a lot
even in John chapter 1.
We're becoming
he is not.
He is.
Always what he is
at all times.
He can't set aside
part of who he is
at one time
and then another.
He's always just.
He's always
merciful,
gracious,
kind,
loving.
All at the same
time.
So,
if God,
the Father,
is going to
forgive sin,
he has to be
who he is
all the time
when he does it.
So,
when he forgives
our sin,
beloved,
he doesn't merely
pass over it
and forget about it.
He doesn't cast it
off to the side
because if he does,
then he'd be
betraying his
justice,
part of his
very nature.
He must
punish
sin.
It's right
and proper
that he
does so.
There's a trend
right now
amongst parents.
It's often called
parenting with grace
or you might hear
gentle parenting
is sometimes
the nomenclature.
And the suggestion
is that we can
teach our children
something of
the gospel
by
forgetting about
their infractions
against us,
which is not
a display
of the gospel
at all.
A proper display
of the gospel
if even one of my
sons disobey
and I'm telling
that they disobeyed,
I snatch one
of their brothers
and I give them
the punishment
that is due
them.
I maintain
justice in the home
while also being
merciful.
God cannot
stop being
who he is
at any
given
point.
And frankly,
he would cease
to be God
if this
was the case.
So God
has to
punish
our
sin.
Has to do it.
He has to
maintain his
justice
as he's being
merciful.
So how is this
accomplished?
He sends
his very
own
son.
Jesus Christ.
Fully
God
and
fully
man.
Now,
it matters,
his humanity
matters,
because he
needed to
step into
our place,
be a
propitiation
for us,
bear God's
wrath on
our behalf.
He has to
be a
substitute
for us.
We're going
to read a
text that
speaks about
this in
just a
moment.
Further,
for him
to die
and pay
the penalty
for our
sin
wasn't
quite
enough.
Hear me
out.
Don't
clip that.
Hear me
out.
We also
need to
keep God's
law.
Remember that
Old Testament
covenant that I
quickly mentioned
before?
God will be
our God
if we keep
his law.
The law
has a
function.
It serves
in our
lives as a
guardian to
bring us
to Christ
because we
need
righteousness
to be
before God.
Having our
sin
canceled
brings us
up to
zero.
We now
have
nothing
in the
account,
but we
need
perfection
credited
to us.
A thing
we cannot
do.
We can't
accomplish it.
We've
proven that
we cannot
accomplish it.
And so
Jesus,
in his
humanity,
kept
the law.
It's so
important.
Sacrificial
death,
perfect
life.
He did
it on
our
behalf.
That's
why the
humanity
matters so
much for
the gospel
of Jesus
Christ.
How about
the deity?
Why does
the deity
matter so
much?
It's
because when
God poured
out his
wrath for
our sin,
our sin
was due
infinite
wrath.
It was due
wrath forever.
So how do
you pay that
penalty?
three hours
on a cross.
It's not
something you
and I
could possibly
accomplish.
We don't
have the
ability because
we're not
infinite.
Christ
himself,
fully God,
is
infinite.
And therefore
he could
drink up
all of that
infinite
wrath
on our
behalf.
We couldn't
do it.
He had to
do it
for us.
Christ's
deity and
his humanity
must be
understood for
the gospel
to make
any sense
whatsoever.
Let me
take you to
Romans chapter
three.
You may
appreciate being
there with
me.
I'm jumping
into the
middle of an
argument that
Paul began
back in
chapter one
and verse
sixteen.
So you won't
have it in its
completion.
I'd really
encourage you to
study this
more if it's
foreign to
you.
I'm going to
pick up in
verse twenty-one
of Romans
three.
There Paul
says,
but now
the righteousness
of God
has been
manifested
apart from
the law,
although the
law and the
prophets bear
witness to
it,
the righteousness
of God
through faith
in Jesus
Christ.
What he's
saying is we
become righteous
not through
the law,
although the
law and
prophets
point us to
the way we
do become
righteous.
We become
righteous through
faith,
verse twenty-two,
in Jesus
Christ for
all who
believe.
For there is
no distinction
between Jew
and Gentile.
Verse twenty-three,
for all have
sinned and
fall short
of the glory
of God.
We did not
keep, right?
It's impossible.
Every single
one of us
have sinned
and we fall
short of
that standard,
the righteousness
of God
through the
law.
Praise God,
it's been
manifested
apart from
the law.
And are
justified,
verse twenty-four,
justified,
declared righteous,
this is a
judicial term,
justified
by his
grace.
There it is
again,
grace upon
grace,
grace as
a gift
through the
redemption
that is in
Christ Jesus,
whom God
put forward
as a
propitiation
to be
received
by
faith.
This
was to
show
God's
righteousness
because in
his divine
forbearance
he had
passed over
former sins,
that is he
was dealing
with Israel
patiently,
they were
hoping in
a future
promise.
It was to
show his
righteousness
at the
present time
so that he
might be
just
and the
justifier,
merciful,
just and
merciful,
of the
one who
has faith
in
Jesus.
Right?
So righteousness,
right,
apart from the
law,
in Christ
because he
kept the
law and he
was put
forward as
a sacrifice
on our
behalf.
I think you
can maybe
see why I
gave you a
clearer,
simpler
explanation
before reading
this text.
Verse twenty-seven,
then what
becomes of
our
boasting?
It is
excluded.
By what
kind of
law?
By a
law of
works?
No,
but by
the law
of faith.
For we
hold that
one is
justified
by faith
apart
from works
of the
law.
We bring
nothing to
the equation,
we have
nothing to
boast in.
I can't
boast in
my faith,
God
has
saved
me.
To what
end?
The glory
of God.
The glory
of God.
Back in
our text
and verse
eighteen,
there John
writes,
no one
has ever
seen God,
the only
God,
who is
at the
Father's
side.
He
has made
him
known.
When we
behold
Jesus,
we behold
God.
John's
gospel
records
Jesus
making
this
case
again
and
again.
Do you
want access
to God,
Jesus says?
Come
to
me.
Colossians
one
and verse
fifteen,
there Paul
declares
that Jesus
is the
image
of the
invisible
God.
He
has
made
him
known.
Some
translations
say he
has
explained
him.
That's
because the
Greek word
here is
where we
get our
word
exegesis
from,
which is
the way
we try
to preach,
open a
text,
explain to
you what
the text
means.
So think
of it in
those terms,
right?
Jesus
Christ has
explained
to us
God,
shown to
us
God's
character
in the
saving
of a
people
for
his
praise.
So in
closing
and briefly,
there's
three things
to be
thinking
about
applying
in this
coming
week.
First,
I want to
strongly
encourage you
to behold
God
in the
Bible.
This
book
is where
we get
to take
up and
see
the life
of Christ.
both Old
Testament
and New
is pointing
us to
him,
that we
might
behold
him and
have our
affections
turned
toward him.
Be
regularly
in this
book.
If you
have the
spirit of
Christ,
he is
very pleased
to exalt
Christ as
you take
up this
word and
read.
It's not
enough.
Perhaps
40.
It's not
enough.
This is the
broadest way
that the
church can
be discipled.
It's
extremely
important.
Coming
together and
opening God's
word together
is central,
but it
can't be
it.
You need
to be
regularly in
this word,
taking up
and reading,
beholding
God,
meeting with
him in
the text
on a
regular
basis.
I've told
you before,
most of
the counseling
that I do,
I ask the
question,
how regularly
are you
reading the
Bible?
And the
regular answer
is not
very much.
Not very
much.
Let's
start there.
Take up
and read.
See how
it shapes
you into
the image
of Christ.
Secondly,
behold God
in the
church.
And by
that I
mean the
local assembly
of those
who God
has saved.
If we
will have
the proper
eyes for
it,
when we
come together,
there are
myriad,
lots of
pictures of
God's saving
work.
God's
work all
around us.
So many
people are
seeking for
experience when
they come to
church.
Should church
be lively?
Should it be
compelling?
Sure.
Any of those
things.
But is the
point that we
put on a
show that you
come and
consume?
No.
Who is in
this room
together matters.
Because as you
are members of
our church,
most of you
are your
pictures of
God's grace.
You see the
way that Christ
has worked in
you across
time, in
this past
week.
It matters
that you
come and
participate in
the worship of
God.
It naturally
grows his
people,
day in,
day out,
practicing these
types of
habits.
And then
lastly,
behold God
in your
proclamation
of the
truth.
We need
to be sharing
the good
news of
Jesus Christ.
Our
affection should
be high for
him and we
should want
to talk about
him.
And we're
either going
to experience
seed sown
on good soil
that bears
fruit,
seeing the
spirit of
Christ change
the hearts
of people,
see them turn
away from
their sin,
turn toward,
embrace Christ,
faith in
him, or
we're going
to suffer for
the name.
People are
not going to
want to hear
what we have
to say.
They're going
to want to
go the way
of the world
and they're
going to hate
us because
Jesus has
called us
out of the
world.
And either
way, we
get to see
God as we
go forth and
share this
good news of
Jesus Christ.
So behold
God in the
Bible, behold
God in the
church, behold
God in your
proclamation,
and let's be
sure that we
get the
incarnation right.
Let's pray.
Thank you.