Love Full of Grace and Truth

John 1:14-17

Key Concept: Real love is hard. We find an example of what real love looks like in Christ and the description John gives: Jesus came in grace and truth.

Introduction: What is love?

So, Pastor Daniel put together a schedule for the advent season and asked if I would take the final Sunday of advent. I agreed and asked what the topic of that Sunday would be. He said the topic would be love, and I thought, ‘Great, that really narrows it down.’

Love is an enormous topic, and if I asked some of you, ‘What is love?’ I know that you’d likely be able to give me an answer. You’d give me some description about what love feels like, or how you’ve experienced love, or perhaps you’d use a story, either personal or from a book or movie about what love looks like. But we can all agree that love is difficult to define. Though those of us in the church, who would argue have access to real love such as only God can provide, should be able to define love better than those outside of the church.

In the adult Sunday school class we’ve been going through the C.S. Lewis classic, Mere Christianity. The description of love that Lewis describes in this book is very much a Biblical understanding of love and flies in the face of our society’s understanding of love. He says that our society’s understanding of love is based on or focuses on feeling. One falls in love. It is something that can’t be helped. In the books that we read and the movies that we watch, the characters are drawn to one another - they are meant to be together. The stories we hear are often about forbidden love; of which Romeo and Juliet is the most famous example, but we have many contemporary equivalents. Lewis says that this ‘falling in love’ is something irresistible, like catching the measles. Now, I haven’t heard this analogy in many marriage vows, but I think it points out the ridiculousness of this concept.

Disney movies, especially the classic tales that many of us grew up with, are as guilty as any Shakespearian tragedy or Hallmark Christmas movie. Sleeping Beauty ends with the narrator reading from a book which slowly closes as the movie fades to black. The book ends with this phrase, ‘...and they lived happily ever after.” A popular line of which we’re all familiar, which describes that once you’ve fallen in love, and destroyed those that oppose your love, that this love is a feeling that lasts forever. The story teaches us that love, true love, that is, is something that does not fade. It’s a feeling that lasts forever. Which of us would turn to our spouse and argue with them that what you have together is not true love? To be clear, if Disney was being honest, the last line in Sleeping Beauty should be, “...and they felt for the next 50 years exactly as they felt the day they were married.” But of course that’s not what love looks like, and it’s not what love should look like.

There are many ways that we can describe love, but we know that love is not simply a feeling. God does not simply feel something toward us. God does not change. Feelings change. God is guided by his very nature, and God is love. God is not who He is because love, some abstract concept, demands it. Love is who God is. They can’t be separated. It was through His love that God created the world. It was through love that God provided a covenant with His people, it was through love that He created the law, it was through love that He continued to call His people back to Himself over and over again, and it was through love, that God sent His son Jesus to earth to provide redemption for us.

In examining the birth of Jesus this morning, we are going to turn to the Gospel of John. John does not provide a narrative of Jesus’s birth as other Gospel writers do, instead, John begins his Gospel with a description of who Jesus is, as someone who is both fully God and fully man. Someone who by His very nature is love, and as described by John, someone who is both full of grace and full of truth. This is a unique description because we often see these two concepts at odds with one another, but in Christ we see that together, and only when they are together do we get an accurate and complete picture of what love looks like. It is not a love characterized by feelings that come and go, a feeling that can’t be resisted or simply happens to us. No, it is a picture of love that costs. For real love should have a cost. And this love does, because it is this love, characterized by grace and truth that leads directly to the cross.

Pray

Read John 1:14-17

Part 1: John 1:14 - the Word became flesh

In the previous verses, as outlined in our advent reading, John was focusing on Jesus’s divinity. ‘He was in the beginning’, ‘In Him was life, and the life, that is Jesus, was the light of men’, ‘He is the true light’. In verse 14 there is a transition as John begins to focus on Jesus’s humanity.

Read John 1:14

‘He is the Word become flesh.” It is during this season that we remember Jesus’s humanity. This remarkable gift of love that God would become man. I said earlier that true love can often be recognized because there is a cost:

What was the cost? God sent His son, Jesus, to earth as a man. To grow and experience what we experience. To live a blameless life, to be free of sin, and then as the only human man to ever find themselves outside of sin’s curse, He willingly and voluntarily put himself under that curse as He went to the cross and bore the sins of the world.

I watched a video about a year ago where a pastor went to a public university and did a Q & A. It was a large group that came and nearly all of them were quite hostile. And I’ll never forget what one of them said: they said, ‘So, Jesus was on the cross for a day and died. And then He came back to life, so what’s the big deal, it was one day and then He came back to life.”

Essentially this student was arguing that this was not the great act of love we declare that it is because the cost was small. Sacrificing your life for another is a noble act, but there are many examples. We might be able to call it uncommon, but we certainly can all think of examples, and those that make the sacrifice are honoured. But what’s different about Jesus’s sacrifice? Everything! Jesus is God. God humbled himself and took on the weight of the world’s sin, and bore it on the cross in the most excruciating death.

Verse 10 of John 1 says, “He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, yet the world did not know Him.” Until we know Him and recognize our own sinfulness, we will not understand the magnitude of the love that was offered to us in the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus.

John goes on to describe how this God who became man ‘dwelt’ among us.

The word John uses here ‘dwelt’ is better translated that He ‘tabernacled’ with us. In Exodus chapter 40 we get a description of the construction of the tabernacle. That is where God would dwell amongst His people, the Israelites. At the end of chapter 40, when the construction of the tabernacle is completed for the first time, it is written in verse 34, “Then a cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.” The tabernacle is where we find the glory of God. When Jesus came to dwell amongst the people, the glory of God shone through Him.

Jesus, God’s gift to humanity brought with Him God’s glory.

V. 14 “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.” This is the gift, this is what we celebrate in this season. That God became man and tabernacled amongst us. We no longer need to construct a physical building to meet the glory of God, the glory of God is found in Jesus and He dwells amongst us still today. We get to experience his love and glory in relationship with Him.

At the end of this verse we see the first time that John uses this description of grace and truth, and he’s going to pick this theme for us again, so we will look at it when we get to verse 17.

Part 2: John 1:16 - from His fullness we receive grace

Read verses 15-16.

Now in verse 15, when John refers to the John that bore witness to Him, that is Jesus, he is not referring to himself but John the baptist. He is pointing out for his readers that it was not John the baptist that was the Christ, the Messiah, he was the messenger.

‘For from His fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.’ So, God became man in Jesus. Jesus tabernacled with us, that is, He came with the glory of God. What is the implication for us? What does this mean for us? It means that from his fullness we receive grace upon grace, or abundant grace. And to whom is it available? ‘All’ of us. It is grace from the fullness of God. It is unending grace, it is a grace that doesn’t run out.

Now you may have heard about the coming of Jesus, at Christmas, as a gift, and it was. God’s abundant grace toward us, sinners, is available to anyone. That is anyone who receives His grace. He will not put His grace on you if you decide to turn your face from Him. A gift must be received. He is offering it, but it must be received.

Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death, but the GIFT of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

When John says, “we have all received grace upon grace.” He means those who have received the gift. The gift of His grace. How do we receive the gift?

Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

It is not obtained by doing what is ‘good’. No one is good compared to the glory and holiness of God. It is obtained through faith. It is a surrender of your own life, to Him. It is a humbling of heart to acknowledge your own sin and recognize that it is only the grace of God that has the power to grant us salvation. We can’t find salvation through good deeds, success, or the kind of love our society teaches us. That is why the pursuit of these things fills us only with emptiness. Salvation is through Christ alone, by His free gift.

Part 3: John 1:17 - grace and truth

Read verse 17.

In this verse John contrasts the law of the Old Testament with Jesus.

John is reminding us that the law remains. The law brings knowledge of our sin:

Romans 3:20, “For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.”

We can’t be saved by the law, the law brings knowledge of our sinfulness. And this is just it: God could have sent a judge! “I’ve been working with these people for thousands of years and what do I get?! No fruit!”

Isaiah 43:24, “You have not bought me sweet cane with money, or satisfied me with the fat of your sacrifices. But you have burdened me with your sins; you have wearied me with your iniquities.”

God could have sent a judge, but He didn’t. God showed us love. The greatest act of love, real love, Biblical love, a love full of grace and truth. That is grace shaped by truth.

John is telling us that grace and truth stand together. This is not sentimental grace, not compromised truth.

There is alot of sentimental grace in the world. We no longer have a Biblical understanding of grace. Grace on its own is not love. How might we describe love as characterized only by grace? Most commonly we see this in our society as tolerance. We might argue that we show love to our fellow man because we allow or tolerate their opinions and recognize their right to live a life freely as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone else. And while this may be a fine sentiment, and tolerance may serve us well as a larger community, don’t mistake this for love.

Many of us in the coming days will sit down to a large Christmas meal with family. I know that if my Grandma, after the meal is over, will ask me if I liked the turkey, and there is only one appropriate response, and it’s not that the turkey was tolerable. A family that tolerates one another, is not a family that loves. A church that tolerates one another, is not a church that loves. We are called to such a deeper love than this. A love full of grace and shaped by truth.

Grace, when removed from truth costs nothing, but when they stand together, and only when they stand together, do we see the perfect picture of love. And no where do we see a better picture of grace and truth standing together than in the birth of Jesus. John describes Jesus as grace and truth, and ultimately it is at the cross where grace and truth stand together.

God can’t simply take grace and wash aways our sins. There is a cost.

Romans 5:10, “For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.”

There is power in love, and that is what Jesus reveals to us. A deep love, no deeper love can be found. Despite our sin, God provides his grace to us, This grace is not shallow - it runs deep, it’s powerful. It doesn’t whitewash our sin, it has the power to change lives.

Conclusion: Love is hard. (tie to Christmas)

Christ modelled a love for us that was characterized by grace and truth and we can follow His example. These are our guiding principles. To be clear, only Jesus can perfectly show us a love that is both full of grace and full of truth, but these are still principles we should examine in our own lives as well. For just as Jesus was the perfect picture of love, He wants us, His church to practice love in all that we do.

Having guiding principles is important, especially now. I read a great illustration about just this the other day, and I’m going to share it with you.

In 1971, a plane carrying 90 passengers was flying over Peru when it was struck by lightning. The plan suffered massive structural damage and began to rapidly descend. There was a young teenage girl on that plane, and as the plane made contact with the ground, she was flung from the airplane. She landed in the jungle still strapped to her chair, disoriented, with a broken collarbone, and all she had was the dress and high heel shoes that she was wearing. She spent the next day under the jungle canopy hiding from the rain but soon realized that another airplane, who may be looking for survivors, would never find her. Now she didn’t really know what to do, but she had remembered her dad telling her one time: downhill leads to water, and water leads to people. So, with that she set out. She began making her way downhill and it was tough, remember she is completely on her own, trekking through the jungle in her high heel shoes. But, soon enough, she finds water, and she follows the water and eventually she comes to a village and she’s saved. There was another group of people that landed together. They stayed in the same spot for days and weeks waiting to be rescued, but the rescuers never found them, and tragically they died.

In the midst of the disorienting and traumatic situation, this young girl was guided by just two principles: downhill leads to water, and water leads to people and she was saved.

We could probably argue that we today find ourselves in the midst of a disorienting experience. We could use some guiding principles. John lays them out for us, for as he looked at Jesus and the ministry that He led, he characterized Jesus as grace and truth. And so we should be guided by these principles.

What does this look like? There are those of us that are naturally gracious. Often these types of people are fun to be around, they cut you alot of slack, they are patient. Most of you are probably thinking about someone like this in your life. Perhaps a parent, or a teacher or a friend, a boss. This is the parent you go to when you want to hang out with your friends but your chores aren’t done yet. But gracious people can at times act cowardly, find it difficult to make tough decisions. Gracious people often ask for nothing from others and get nothing in return.

Then there are the truth people. They are easy to admire. They have convictions and principles. They stand up for what they believe in. They set standards and they fight against injustice. This may be the parent you go to when you’re being bullied, or when you need advice about a big life decision. But truth people without grace are quick to cast judgement on others. They make difficult decisions, but they are also make life difficult for others and themselves. They can be slow to forgive. They inspire us with their courage, but turn us off with their intimidation.

If you’re a grace person you are concerned about being loved. If you are a truth person you are most concerned about being right even if it means being unloved. Both have dangers. Something is wrong if everyone hates you, and something is probably just as wrong if everyone loves you.

These two guiding principles for each of us must stand together. I’m guessing that as I was going through these traits, many of you very quickly understood which side you most often find yourself on. So let us practice bringing these two guiding principles together. If you find yourself naturally quick to offer grace, be sure to seek the truth. Ask more of those around you, and in turn expect more of yourself. Often responding to someone with grace, is right and good, but truth can’t be neglected. Too often we respond with grace because it’s easy. Love isn’t meant to be easy. To those who focus on truth, commit to providing more grace. Show more patience. Seek to put yourself in another’s shoes so that you can broaden your perspective and not be so quick to cast judgement.

When I was in Bible college, we had a men’s dean and an assistant men’s dean. The dean was one of those people that was very quick to show grace. I remember one time a bunch of us, in the middle of the night were attempting to break into the main college building to play a prank of some kind of someone. As we’re jiggling the lock on the door trying to get it open, the dean walked up behind us and said, ‘what are you doing.’ One of us responded, ‘Oh, just playing a little practical joke.’ And the dean says, ‘Ok, well make it quick and get back to bed.’

The assistant dean was a truth guy. We would get in trouble for everything. I think he may have made up new rules just so that we would break them and find ourselves facing discipline. This assistant dean made very few meaningful relationships with the guys at the school because he was so unwilling to provide grace. He didn’t recognize that we were still teenagers and needed some patience and guidance.

Now the dean, who was show quick to extend grace, we might think that he would build many relationships, great relationships, and he did. But that means nothing if those relationships lack truth. As teenagers in Bible college, we didn’t need the dean to be just another friend. We needed the dean to be a mentor. And he did:

When I was in school there was a rule that you couldn’t watch movies in the dorm rooms during exam week. We didn’t think this rule made much sense at the time, so one night we threw a movie on in my room. Not 10 minutes into the movie my door opens and it’s the dean and he sees like 20 guys stuffed into this little room watching a movie during exam week. All he said was, ‘I want two of you in my office right now.’ Well it was my room, so I figured I better go, and then one of my friends said he’d go with me. Our punishment was to go into the cellar of the school where they stored all of the donated potatoes. Our job was to sort the potatoes. The ones that were good to eat went on one side, and the ones that were rotten, went to the other side. So here we were sorting rotten potatoes for what felt like hours in this dirt walled cellar as punishment for breaking the rules.

After a couple of hours the dean showed up and presented us with some Pepsi’s and fresh cookies he’d found in the kitchen. He sat with us for at least an hour, talking about life and rethinking some of our life choices. It was great. As he got up to leave, my friend and I began collecting our stuff to follow him, and he turned around, looked us straight in the the eye and said, ‘Ah, you’re not done yet.’ And he walked out.

Looking back, I see evidence of these principles of grace and truth guiding what my dean did at that time.

Looking at the life and ministry of Jesus we can also find many examples of Jesus expressing His love to those around him through grace and truth, and I think one of my favorites is the story of Zacchaeus:

The story is found in Luke chapter 19 and we will pick the story up at verse 5: Read Luke 19:5-10.

I think many of us are quick to pick up how Jesus offered grace in this story. He picked out Zaccheaus from the crowd. A sinner that was well known to the people. Not only a sinner, but a sinner and a traitor to his people, for that’s what a tax collector was. Picking Zaccheaus and meeting him in his house was an act of grace. But where is the truth? While Jesus is there Zaccheaus promises to give half his goods to the poor and restore fourfold any fraud that he’s committed - he’s confessing his sin and seeking restoration, but we get no description of what Jesus said before he does this.

That might be the point. Jesus freely offers grace to Zaccheaus and Zaccheaus accepts this offer of grace. But Jesus didn’t have to declare a truth for Zaccheus to repent, Zaccheaus knew by Jesus’s very character the truth that he stood for. He didn’t need to say anything. The grace that Jesus offered convicted Zaccheaus, and he knew because of who Jesus proved to be that repentance was necessary.

May we be quick to show grace. May our motivations in declaring truth be right, pure, and characterized by love. And may we cultivate in ourselves, through the work of the Spirit of God, a character that lets others know what we stand for so that when we express love to those around us, a love characterized by grace and truth, that we may be able to do this without saying anything at all.

So, let us remember these two guiding principles: grace and truth. That the birth of Jesus and the promises that He provided were the ultimate act of love. It was a love that came with costs, but it was also a love that is true, powerful, and carries with it the fullness of the glory of God. May we remember the example of Jesus and how He provides love to us, and may we seek to show this same love to those around us.