The Word became flesh, John 1:14-18

There is a lot of sentimentality at Christmas time.  For a multitude of reasons, the holiday season evokes a lot of nostalgia, and it plays upon some of our deepest emotions.  That is why Christmas is sometimes such a stressful time for many of us.  It can seem ironic to wish people a Merry Christmas and yet find yourself almost overcome with sadness. 

The solution, of course, is to remember or be reminded of the real meaning of Christmas.  But unfortunately, even the Christmas story has become so sentimentalized that the real joy to be found in the advent of Christ is kind of lost due to an over familiarity with the scenes of a manger and the baby Jesus.  So as we enter this Christmas season, and consider the incarnation of our Lord, I for one am happy that the Apostle John does not dwell in sentimentalism, but focuses on theology.  Because though most people may think theology and doctrine sound dull and uninteresting, I believe that a proper understanding of the truth is the path to true joy.

The truth is that the Christmas story is not just a sentimental story of a baby born in a manger, but it’s the greatest love story ever told.  In preparing this message, I thought of trying to find an example of a great love story in order to illustrate this passage, but I ended up discarding every possibility because they could not come close to the magnificence of the story of Jesus coming to earth in human form.  Ironically, last night my daughter was watching a modern movie adaptation of Romeo and Juliet.  But even though that story is often called the greatest love story of all time, it pales in comparison to the story we have in front of us.

In addition to being a great love story though, vs. 14 represents one of the greatest theological statements in the Bible.  This entire prologue of John’s gospel is one magnificent presentation  of the doctrine of the divinity of Jesus Christ.  So far in our studies, we have seen that the Word was God, the Word was Light, and now today the Word became Flesh. 

Now let me try to explain why this statement can be called the greatest love story of all time.  But to do that we must go back once again to Genesis, to the creation account.  In chapter 1, God said “let us make man in Our image, in Our likeness.”  So God made man in the image and likeness of God.  He made man spirit, soul and body, a triune being like God Himself.  And then in John chapter 1, we see God making Himself in the image of man.  “The Word, who was God, became flesh and dwelt among us.” 

That in and of itself is a tremendous thought.  That the eternal God who existed in the form of the Word, who was life, and was Light, who made all that was made in the universe, became a man.  The question is why would the eternal, creator God stoop to become one of His creation?

Well, the answer I would suggest is illustrated in chapter 2 of Genesis, that after God had made man, God declared that it was not good for man to be alone.  But after God made that statement, He did something interesting.  God caused all the animals of the creation to parade before Adam so that Adam could name them. And in the process, something else was discovered by Adam.  Gen.2:20 says, “but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him.”  Then once Adam realized that fact, then God put him to sleep and took a rib from his side and made woman for man. 

Now that scene illustrates a great truth, I believe.  I think that it illustrates why God made man to begin with.  God existed before creating the heavens and the earth.  And we don’t know of all that He created in eternity past, other than that He created the angels.  By the way, the Bible doesn’t teach that all angels look alike. We do see that different types of angels were created for many different purposes.  So we could speculate on what God might have created beyond what the Bible tells us, but I’m not sure that it would be profitable.  However, suffice it to say that when God made trees He did not make just one type of tree, but thousands of types.  When God made birds, He made thousands of different types of birds.  And the same with all types of His creation; there is a multitude of diversity in each thing that God made.  Even with people, there is great diversity.  So we can assume that though we call them “angels” there is great diversity in that type of being.  So contrary to popular images of angels, it’s not likely that they all look identical.  However, the Bible does indicate that the number of angels correlates with the number of stars.  Possibly billions of angelic beings. But beyond that we do not know what else God has created. 

But what I think God is illustrating with Adam and the animals is that God viewed all of His creation in eternity past, and there was not found anyone suitable for Him.  And in a manner of speaking, God decided that it was not good for Him to be alone. So God created man in His image, in His likeness.  Another indication of this desire of God for a help mate is that in all of the rest of creation, He merely spoke and they came into being.  But with man God bent down and formed man out of the ground with His hands.  And then God put His mouth on man’s lips and breathed into him, and man became a living soul. 

So creation itself was no less than a great act of love.  The same thing is illustrated when God made woman from man.  He does not just speak woman into existence, but He takes from Adam’s side a rib, and makes or literally the word is builds woman from that rib.  So that woman was a part of man. Now the Bible is resplendent with imagery of the church being the bride of Christ, and Christ being the bridegroom.  In chapter 3 of John, John the Baptist refers to Jesus as the bridegroom and the church as His bride.  Jesus Himself talks about the kingdom of God as the marriage supper of the Lamb.  In Revelation 21 the angel shows John what he calls the bride of Christ, the church, spotless, having no spot or wrinkle, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.  But probably the best passage that illustrates this principle is Ephesians 5, which talks about the way a husband must love his wife, and says in vs. 25-32, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her,  so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word,  that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless.  So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself;  for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church,  because we are members of His body.  FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND SHALL BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH.  This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church.” So Paul is saying that human marriage is a picture of Christ’s marriage to the church, the bride of Christ.  We are made from His body to be united with Him as one flesh, joined together with Him for eternity.

But looking back at Genesis again, we see that Adam and Eve enjoyed walking with the Lord and communing with God, having fellowship with God.  But not long afterwards, they sinned by eating of the forbidden tree.  And as God had promised, their spirit died.  That part of their being that was in communion with God, that divine spark that they were created with was extinguished as the now sinful bride of God was removed from His holy presence.  They were banned from the garden and they no longer were able to be in the light of His glory.  Consequently, as their spirit died, their flesh soon followed after. And every offspring of Adam thereafter not only inherited his sinful nature, but he also inherited his mortality. But thank God for 1Cor. 15:22, “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.”

Now that brings us back to our text.  Because God did still love the world. Specifically, He loved the human race.  And He loves the human race so much that though His holiness and justice requires that man suffers the penalty of his sin by separation from the Life of God, yet His love found a way to satisfy that requirement.  And God satisfies His judgment  by the most incredible means possible.  He becomes one of us.  Man could not come to God, he could not bridge the chasm between God and man.  He could not climb up to God, so God came down to man. Phl. 2:6-8 “[Jesus] who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,  but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.  Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.  As we were first made in the image of God, so God must be made in man’s image in order to be the representative man who would be able to become man’s substitute, savior and high priest. Now that is love.  We cannot imagine a love story to equal that story.  If we were to imagine a king becoming a pauper so he could marry a peasant girl that would not come close to Christ’s love for the church. If we were to imagine a man blinding himself in order to be married to a blind bride that still would not rival this story.  There is no greater story of love than to consider that the eternal God created man to be like Him, to be His mate, His companion, and then that mate rebelled and sinned against Him, and was expelled from His presence, only to have the same Holy God humble himself to take on sinful flesh so that He might die for His bride as her substitute. It’s beyond our comprehension.

So the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Even so He remains fully man and fully God. The deity of Christ is not diminished by His humanity, nor is His humanity overpowered by His deity. Because as John says, even though we beheld Him in human form, He retained His glory, and He was seen in His glory, glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

We need to explain that word glory.  What is glory? When I was a kid growing up in an old country church, I used to hear sometimes one of the old timers yell out “glory!” when the preacher would really get them riled up or some singer would do a number.  Never knew what it meant, but I it usually managed to snap me awake. Well, I’ll tell you what it means.  There is a hint right there in the verse; it’s the word “dwelt”, or skenoo in the Greek.  And it means tabernacled.  You will remember that the tabernacle was the tent that God designed to house His glory when the children of Israel set out for the Promised Land.  God dwelled in the tabernacle, and His shekinah glory indwelled the tent so that it lit up in the nighttime with the light of His presence.

So what John is saying here is that the Word was Light, the Light of the world, and He came into the world, becoming human, one of us, and His shekinah glory tabernacled among us in the human form of Jesus.  Now John says we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.  And one explanation for that statement would be the transfiguration, when Jesus’ glory began to shine out of Him and the Father God rebuked Peter by saying “this is My beloved Son, listen to Him.”

But for even more insight into His glory we need to go back to Exodus 33 and 34, when Moses asked to see God’s glory.  And God told Moses in Exo. 33:19-22 "I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the LORD before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion."  But He said, "You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!"  Then the LORD said, "Behold, there is a place by Me, and you shall stand there on the rock; and it will come about, while My glory is passing by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by.”

Now in the next chapter we see the Lord put Moses in the cleft of the rock as His glory passed by, but listen how God describes that glory.  Not as a blinding light, but with words describing His attributes. Exo. 34:6-7 Then the LORD passed by in front of him and proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth;  who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations."

Now that’s incredible isn’t it?  We know that there was also a great light because Moses came down from the mountain with a veil over his face because it shown so much the reflected glory of God that the people could not look at him.  But when God describes passing His glory by Moses, He doesn’t describe the light, but with words describing His attributes.  And what two attributes do we see on parade above all others?  Grace and truth.  The very same attributes John ascribes here in John 1:14, “and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”

So how did John and the disciples primarily see the glory of God revealed in Jesus?  By His attributes.  He was holy and righteous, full of grace and truth. Though He was fully man, yet He was fully God and manifested the character of God in all that He did. So Christ’s attributes attested to His divinity as clearly as a  blazing light from heaven.

Then in vs.15, the apostle also includes the testimony of John the Baptist as to Christ’s divinity.  Listen to vs.15: 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.’”  You will remember the in the story of Jesus’ birth, Mary His mother visited Elizabeth who was already pregnant with John.  So John was about 6 months older than Jesus.  He was born before Jesus, and yet John is saying that Jesus existed before Him, that means that He was preexistent.  Eternal.  And immortality is another attribute of divinity.  And John the Baptist adds that Christ had a higher rank than him.  Jesus then was more than a great prophet, He was the Son of God.  But the main point that the apostle makes from John’s statement is that Jesus existed before John being eternal in nature. 

John continues this great love story in vs16. The eternal God became human flesh and we beheld His glory.  So that we might receive that same glory. Vs.16, “For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace.”  Now what does this mean?  Well let’s start with the word “fullness.” It is really referring back once again to His attributes, all the attributes of God, epitomized by grace and truth.  John is saying Christ was fully God. 

Paul says the same thing in Col. 2:9, “For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form.”  So Christ is fully God in human form.  But then John says we received that fullness.  We received God’s fullness?  How does that work? It works because Christ died in our place to satisfy the justice of God, effectively purchasing us to become His bride, the church.  That divine spark that was extinguished in the fall of the first Adam, was rekindled in the Light of the second Adam, when we believed on Him and received Him as our Savior, and we were remade in His righteousness, so that now the Spirit of God tabernacles within us.  His Light in us gives us the Light of life so that our divine spark in reignited.  The Word became flesh so that the glory of God might tabernacle in us.  So that we might be like Him.

Eph. 1:22-23 says about the exalted Christ “And He (God) put all things in subjection under His (Christ’s) feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.”  Christ fills us with the fullness of the Spirit of God that we might exhibit the attributes of God to the world and so that we might be conformed to His image, made once more in the likeness of God.  That we might become suitable unto Him as a help mate. That we might become His spotless bride.

So John says not only did we receive His fullness, but we received grace upon grace.  Never ending grace is certainly one interpretation of that.  Grace that never runs out. Grace that is greater than all our sins. But even more to the point, I think it means we not only receive the grace of our salvation, but then we receive the grace of our inheritance; that we shall rule and reign with Christ - as the bride of Christ we will sit on the throne next to Him and share in His glory.  That shekinah glory of God that man could not look on and live, one day we shall share with Him. We will receive glory, glory like the glory that He has. 1John 3:2 “Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.”  That is the epitome of the beatific vision, is it not? When we shall live forever in the light of His glory, so that His glory becomes our glory.  That is the fullness of joy.  And that is our inheritance. That is our future.

Up until that time, John says, “No one has seen God at any time.”  God cannot be seen by any man while he is in sinful flesh. But we have seen Jesus, and if we have seen Jesus, we have seen the Father.  Vs.18, “No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.”  The Greek word is exēgeomai, which means to unfold, or explain.  It’s the word we get exegete from, which is the term we use to explain the style of preaching that I use.  I attempt to unfold the word of God, explain it, expand it, unpack it.  And that is what John says Jesus has done by coming in the flesh.  First in vs.17 John says Jesus manifested God. Then in vs.18, Jesus exegetes God. The Word made flesh and dwelt among us, and then we beheld the glory of God in Him and through Him as He exhibited the attributes of God. And all of that is so that we might become like Him, to be united with Him as the church, the bride of Christ.

Well, that is enough for today.  But let me leave you with this thought.  The beginning of the Christmas season is called advent.  But advent did not always mean the birth of Jesus. It simply means the coming of Jesus.  And in the first centuries of the celebration of advent, they were looking forward to the imminent return of Christ, not looking back at His birth.  I want to leave you this morning looking forward to the coming of Christ for His church, for His bride.  That was the purpose of coming as a baby in a manger.  To become tempted in all points like as we are yet without sin so that we might become the children of God, the body of Christ, even His church.  Jesus is coming again.  This time not in a manger but in the clouds. This time not in secret, but at the sound of trumpets.  In the fullness of His glory. He is coming for His bride.  I hope that He finds you ready to meet Him.