The Glory Beheld
Before we go into the book of John, I want to first take you to Psalm 27:4. I want to take you there because I want us to see this wonderful passage in the Gospel of John in light of this specific verse in the Psalms. I believe if we don't, we won't be able to see the value of what is being mentioned by John. It reads:
Before we go into the book of John, I want to first take you to Psalm 27:4. I want to take you there because I want us to see this wonderful passage in the Gospel of John in light of this specific verse in the Psalms. I believe if we don't, we won't be able to see the value of what is being mentioned by John. It reads:
"One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord and to meditate in His temple." (italics mine)
Now here is David, the man after God's own heart. And in this psalm, we see his greatest desire. The only thing that would satisfy David was to dwell in the hosue of the Lord, behold Him, and treasure Him. If this is not your desire, to see God in His full beauty and glory, then John 1:14-18 is of little or no importance to you. Here is why: These five verses offer us nothing less and nothing more than the grace that sinners can behold the Glory of God. The passage shows that the glory was beheld and describes to us the goodness of this glory.
"And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. John testified about Him and cried out, saying, 'This was He of whom I said, "He who comes after me has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me."' For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace. For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ. No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him." (John 1:14-18)
Glory beheld - Now, look at what the verse tells us, "we saw His glory." That is no small thing for the Jew who would be reading this. Moses, when he asks to see God's glory, only got to see His back because if Moses saw Him in His full splendor, He would have died. Same with Isaiah, He knew the ramifications of coming face to face with God Almighty that he cries out, "Woe is me!" Now, that is interesting isn't it? These men, they all wanted to see the glory of the Lord, they had the same heart as David in Psalm 27:4. yet, they were not able.
But what grace is revealed to us by the Apostle John! "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory." How was it that we were able to see the glory? Grace. Jesus came. The word "dwelt" is the same word for "pitching a tent." The word alludes to the tabernacle of the Old testament. Now, remember, the tabernacle was filled with the glory of the Lord. It was a place where God resided as assurance to the people of Israel that God is with them. What an amazing way to portray Jesus' coming. Jesus came so that the glory might be among us, that the glory might be seen.
Now I think this is further expressed in vs 18. John writes that "No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him." What a statement! This phrase "He has explained Him" has some personal significance to me. The Greek word for "explained" is the same word from which we get exegesis, which means to derive the meaning of the text. I guess you can say in some sense that God the Son "exegeted" the Father. All that God is, the Son of God revealed to us so that we may understand this God whom we had never seen. So we see the glory of God through Jesus Christ. This is more substantiated in the rest of the New Testament, most notably in Hebrews. The author of Hebrews calls Christ the "radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature" (Hebrews 1:3).
Glory Described - So what is this glory that we see? What is so great about this glory? I mean, why should we be so excited that we see the glory of God? Well, this is why I believe John goes on to describe this glory to us. He inserts a phrase by John the Baptist to show that this glory is of one that is Supreme. That should be enough for us to be at wonder of this glory but John goes on to explain that this glory is also "full of grace and truth." Now what does that mean? The phrase "grace and truth," without going into to much depth, could be understood as the sum of all God's goodness. D.A. Carson in his commentary concludes that, "God's glory, then, is supremely His goodness."
Now look at this, "of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace." This glory, this supreme goodness is the channel through which we receive grace. Now what does this mean, "grace upon grace." I believe it means that we have received now the grace of Christ instead of the grace of the Law as is described in vs. 17. You see, the Law was a grace, it truly was. But it was grace only enough to show us that we are sinners. But "grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ." You see then, that we have received this awesome grace, to know the glory of the Father, to have Him "exegeted" for us through Christ Jesus.
Conclusion - Now, let me try to bring this to a close by bringing you back to Psalm 27:4. David's desire was to see and behold the beauty of the Lord; yet, he was not able to see it, no one was. We are in the same boat, we can not approach God in His full glory; yet that is what we eagerly seek. Then, what great news is John 1:14-18! The only begotten God came in the flesh so that we might through Him experience and see and behold the fullness of His glory! This is why we magnify Christ, this is why we preach Christ, this is why we adore Christ. Through Him, we cherish all the goodness of God, His glory. This passage only offers us the supreme joy of knowing and seeing God's glory. This is why if we do not have the mind and desire of David in Psalm 27:4, this passage means nothing to us. But if we do, it is the world to us.
What a blessing this passage offers to those who eagerly seek the Lord. This passage asserts that we can truly "taste and see that the Lord is good" (Psalm 34:8) through Jesus Christ. Now, the Apostle Paul realized this and therefore made the preaching of Christ the focus of His ministry. We'll close with his words.
"For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who said, 'Light shall shine out of darkness,' is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ." (2 Corinthians 4:5,6) Stay strong and God bless!
Glory Described - So what is this glory that we see? What is so great about this glory? I mean, why should we be so excited that we see the glory of God? Well, this is why I believe John goes on to describe this glory to us. He inserts a phrase by John the Baptist to show that this glory is of one that is Supreme. That should be enough for us to be at wonder of this glory but John goes on to explain that this glory is also "full of grace and truth." Now what does that mean? The phrase "grace and truth," without going into to much depth, could be understood as the sum of all God's goodness. D.A. Carson in his commentary concludes that, "God's glory, then, is supremely His goodness."
Now look at this, "of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace." This glory, this supreme goodness is the channel through which we receive grace. Now what does this mean, "grace upon grace." I believe it means that we have received now the grace of Christ instead of the grace of the Law as is described in vs. 17. You see, the Law was a grace, it truly was. But it was grace only enough to show us that we are sinners. But "grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ." You see then, that we have received this awesome grace, to know the glory of the Father, to have Him "exegeted" for us through Christ Jesus.
Conclusion - Now, let me try to bring this to a close by bringing you back to Psalm 27:4. David's desire was to see and behold the beauty of the Lord; yet, he was not able to see it, no one was. We are in the same boat, we can not approach God in His full glory; yet that is what we eagerly seek. Then, what great news is John 1:14-18! The only begotten God came in the flesh so that we might through Him experience and see and behold the fullness of His glory! This is why we magnify Christ, this is why we preach Christ, this is why we adore Christ. Through Him, we cherish all the goodness of God, His glory. This passage only offers us the supreme joy of knowing and seeing God's glory. This is why if we do not have the mind and desire of David in Psalm 27:4, this passage means nothing to us. But if we do, it is the world to us.
What a blessing this passage offers to those who eagerly seek the Lord. This passage asserts that we can truly "taste and see that the Lord is good" (Psalm 34:8) through Jesus Christ. Now, the Apostle Paul realized this and therefore made the preaching of Christ the focus of His ministry. We'll close with his words.
"For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who said, 'Light shall shine out of darkness,' is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ." (2 Corinthians 4:5,6) Stay strong and God bless!
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