John 1:14-18 | Grace and Truth
The Gospel of John Sermon Series • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Today we are continuing in our John series.
And I want to start with a question to frame w2hat we will be looking at today.
Why is God the way he is?
What makes God who he is?
For us, we can look at many different aspects to determine why someone is the way they are....
Culture
Upbringing
Exposure
Ancestry
But out of everything that makes us who we are, none of them effect God.
He has no ancestry
He is not effected by exposure
He has no upbringing
He is not effected by any culture
So why is God the way he is, and what makes him the way he is.
But first we need to see exactly who God is, what are his characteristics?
Well we get a clear picture of who exactly God is in regards to his characteristics in John 1:14
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.
We have already looked at Jesus being the word, and what his mission was on earth.
We have already clarified that Jesus was with God in the beginning, and he was God, so this isn’t anything inherently new, but we do get a clear expansion on not just who God is but what he is like.
John 1:14 tells us that Jesus became flesh, dwelt among us and we beheld his glory, but then it says that his glory is the same glory as the father...
And what is that glory? What does that glory look like?
It is simply - Full of Grace and Truth
We call God a lot of things.
If you were asked to describe God, you may say He is......
Loving
All knowing
All powerful
Merciful
Giving
But the two words we see used here is grace and truth
Well I think it is important to outline exactly what these words mean.
We just sang the song, Amazing Grace.
What does it mean that God is full of grace.
Grace and Mercy go hand in hand, and you need to understand one to understand the other.
Grace - giving something that is not deserved
Mercy - withholding something that is deserved
Now let me ask, why is God only described as being full of grace and truth, but not mercy?
Well the reason for this is mercy is reactionary, you cant be full of mercy without an offense, without a sinner.
So God isn’t inherently merciful in his character, instead he is merciful in response to our sin.
But Grace is different
Grace is not reactionary, the desire to offer grace is something that must be present before it is offered
So let me ask you a question, which is greater?
If you could choose to have grace or mercy, which would be better to have, or to offer?
EX: Well lets say that you were to commit a crime of theft, you stole something from someone
You are standing before the judge, and he tells you that you have two choices
You can go to prison, and while you are there we will give you the best cell, as much recreation time as you want, you can have whatever you want, but you have to pay the punishment that is deserved.
Or he says you can not go to prison at all.
Which would you choose?
Well lets first look at the character of the judge to try and understand the difference in mercy and grace.
Grace is the Judge making the the criminal pay the price of their crime, they are not withholding anything that is deserved technically, but he is instead offering them blessings that they don’t deserve
Mercy is the judge simply saying, you don’t have to pay the price you owe
So why is grace mentioned here in John and not mercy?
Because the judge in this example can’t have this character of mercy, before he hears the charge against the criminal. Because mercy is reactionary, it can only be in effect when there is a deserved response to justify
But the judge can have a character of grace before he ever even hears the case for the criminal
He can desire to be gracious because that is his character, having no relationship with the crime or the criminal
So lets say you are the criminal, which are you choosing?
Well if you are standing here in front of the judge, your first question would be, why are you offering me anything?
Initially you may be thankful, but what if he did this for every crime.
If you were being charged of theft, do you think the person sitting in the courtroom that you stole from, views this judgement as fair?
That you steal from them and now the judge just says you can walk free, or you can be in jail and have it great while you are there? NO
Though you like the judges response, the person who you stole from isn’t too happy about this?
But here is where it is different with God
God is the judge, but he is also the one who the crime was committed against.
For mankind, in every case that true moral shortcoming is present, that true wrongdoing against another is commited , if mercy and grace is offered in response to wrongdoing, then mercy and grace is inherently being withheld from someone else.
Human grace and mercy, in response to wrongdoing always results in injustice.
and the reason is because something is deserved as a punishment to make right the wrongdoing, but if they are not required to pay it, then the offended is no longer receiving grace or mercy
Does this make sense? In human mercy and grace, in cases of true wrongdoing, the mercy and grace always balances out to nothing.
So how is this different with God?
How can God offer mercy and grace, while still being totally just and fair?
You see this is the predicament that we see in this description of who God is, becasue there is another word here that we haven’t looked at yet that is very important.
It says in John 14:1 that God is full of grace and truth
What is truth, it is what is right, so you see that these two words are actually negating one another
If the judge offers grace to the criminal, then his judgement is not true, it is not right.
Because now the offended, the one the criminal stole from has not been made right, he recieves no grace or mercy, while the offender gets the benefit
Thats not a very fair judge
So you can see here that this description of God being full of grace and truth tells us a lot about him, because it is telling us that somehow God can be just, while providing a sentence that is unjust, at least in our eyes.
So how does this work?
Well lets go back to our example
There is only one way that mercy and grace can be offered without it offending another in the process
And that is that the judge himself must be the one who was offended
The judge has to be the one the criminal stole from
So now lets look at this in our example
The criminal is standing before the judge, the one he stole from, and now the judge has the right to judge this man for crimes committed against himself
I want you to understand that this is exactly where we stand before God.
The penalty for you sin is due to God.
God created mankind and commanded that we obey him, and we choose to reject his command and disobey him, so now we owe a debt for our sin to God.
If you steal from someone else you owe a debt to them for your crime, but overall you owe a debt to God for your sin
If you commit tax evasion then you owe a debt to the government, but overall you owe a debt to God for your sin
So in our case we are the criminals who have committed a crime against the judge personally, and now it is up to him to determine our sentence.
Lets say the judge is full of grace, and he desires to offer mercy
He can do so, the crime was committed against him, but let me ask you this, even if this is the case, does that make his judgement just? NO
A true and just judgement is one that ensures the payment for the crime is equally paid, that is just, that makes right the wrongdoing
And even if the crime is committed against the judge, if he does not prosecute fairly, then he is not just - he may be kind, and he may be loving, and he may be full of grace, but he isn’t just because the payment for the crime was never made
But it says in John 1:14 that God is not just full of grace, but he is full of truth, he is full of what is right, of justice.
Now you may wonder, this seems to be a dramatic variation in the story we have been reading.
So far in John 1 we have sort of jumped around a lot.
We started off with the word, and explanations of who Jesus was and what he came to do, then all of the sudden we jump to this guy named John the baptist.
So why are talking now about the characteristics of God the father now?
Well you see John 1:14-18 is the final piece in understanding the concept of Jesus being the word, and who he is.
John 1:14 tells us that the word became flesh and dwelt among us, and he has the same glory as the father who is full of grace and truth.
Now lets just pin that for a second, and jump to the next verse.
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.’ ”
So here we have the tie in back with John the Baptist.
John the Baptist who we learned last week was the one that would prepare the way for Christ, is elevating Christ, this word in the flesh above himself
This is not just another man, he is God in the flesh, but what does this have to do with grace and truth and the characterstics of the father?
Well verse 16 starts to put it all together
And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace.
So notice how the subject has changed
Before God the father is the one described as being full of Grace and truth, but now it is Jesus, the Word, who is offering grace.
But not just offering, and not just grace
The grace comes from the fullness of who he is, it is his character to give us blessigns that we do not deserve
And its not just one blessing, or a little grace, its grace stacked on top of grace
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
In the United States today, we are heavily divided.
Though we are by no means as divided as ever before, there is a clear separation between two ideals.
We usually call this separation....
republican and democrat
or conservative and liberal
But can I can show you an interesting way that you can boil down the differences between the two in their most extreme forms
In the United States, generally speaking, one side wants to offer grace with little truth, and the other wants to offer truth with little grace.
The immigration issue is one that has taken hold of our country, especially in light of the rapidly intesifying policies by the government.
The truth of this problem is what, laws are being broken. People are coming to this country illegally, and by doing this they are breaking the laws of the united states. That is truth.
Now at the same time, we should have a heart for all mankind, and have a desire to love all people and help where possible and effective. Even for those who are not citizens of our country, and they have broken our laws, we should still care for these people and support them where possible, That is grace
And the liberal democrat side would acknowledge, yes they broke the law, but grace is more important. We should care for them and allow them in even though they may cause disruption to our country, and they have broken the law. They understand the truth of the matter, but they don’t care.
While the conservative republican side, more recently would acknowledge, yes they are still people , however the truth is that they have broken the law and they deserve the fullest extent of punishment. And even more recently, even though they are right, I have seen politicians take a very hateful and unloving nature toward those who have broken our laws, without very little expression for grace.
And the american people are thrown in the middle with these ever revolving argument....
Do you want grace, or do you want truth
Logic says truth, justice, and emotions say grace and love
Our nation desires us to choose one or the other, but John 1:14 and John 1:17 says that God offers both. And its in verse 17 we see how this is possible.
For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
Here it is we have the answer of how the judge can somehow offer grace, and still be just.
The law that is mentioned in verse 17 is a reference to the law system that God gave his people, the Israelites after Moses led them out of slavery in Egypt.
They are on their way to the land God had given to them, and on the way he delivers this law system
Now the point of this law system was to do one thing overall, to expose their sinfulness.
This law held the Israelites to rigid standards, and practices, and rituals that were difficult to keep, and in continuing to break these laws, they had to offer a sacrifice to make the payment for them.
So day after day, innocent animals are killed, reminding the people just how sinful they were
Now the killing of the animal was a picture of that sin debt being paid by the animal instead of them
So while this law system exposed their sin, it also engrained in their minds the fact that sin requires a payment, and it must be paid, and the payment is expensive
The payment is death
Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death
And they were reminded of this day after day after day
And throughout history, God slowly revealed to them this fact that no amount of these animals could actually pay for their sins, because the animals didn’t commit the sin
It would be like the judge in our example telling the thief that instead of him being punished they would instead go put a cow in jail.
It serves as a great picture, a reminder that yes a payment is needed for the sin, but that isn’t just. That doesn’t pay the price.
Hebrews 10:4 “For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins.”
The law was nothing but a placeholder.
A reminder of the payment of sin, but those animals made no payment, they were unable to.
So you put all of this together, and you say how in the world could a judge offer grace, and still be true and just?
Well notice the second part of John 1:17
For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
The means by which the grace and truth is given to man is not through a system, or an animal, or some arrangement, or plea deal, it comes through a person, Jesus Christ.
Can I explain to you in our example how this works.
EX: You have stolen something from the judge.
You have commited this crime of theft from thejudge himself.
Now you are standing in his courtroom, and he has a few options.
1. He could say I am gracious so you are going to be punished and go to jail, but I will make it really nice for you while you are there, but there is no mercy or justice
2. He could say I am merciful so I am just going to let you go free, but here there is no grace or truth
3. Or he could say I am going to punish you to the fullest extent becasue that is what is right, but here there is no grace or mercy
But what if. The judge looks down at you, the one who has committed this crime against him personally, and stands up from his chair, and he comes down and puts the handcuffs on himself.
And he says I am going to go to jail to pay for your crime
And then I am going to build a relationship with you, and I will love you, and I will care for you as my own
That would be crazy right, yeah.
And that is also the only way that the judge can be full of grace, and truth at the same time.
In this case there is justice, there is truth, the crime is paid for.
Now it may not seem fair that someone else takes our punishment, but it is just, it satisfies the debt.
In this case there is mercy. The judge withholds the punishment that is deserved.
And in this case there is grace, because the judge doesn’t just make the payment and forget about you, he loves and cares for you in the process.
And it is only in this case that nobody else is left with a lack of mercy or injustice in the process, because the one who was offended is the one who paid for the debt.
This is how as verse 17 says, we receive grace and truth, how it is possible.
Because of your sin, you owe a debt to God.
And if he was just and true, but not merciful or graceful, he would make you pay that debt in death. In a spiritual death, separated from him forever, in a literal place of fire and torment called hell. THAT WOULD BE JUST AND TRUE.
And if he was just merciful, he would let you off free, say the debt is gone, I am no longer pressing charges, tell you to get out of his courtroom and that he never wants to see you again. But then God wouldn’t be just, and there wouldn’t be any grace.
Or he could say you know you have to pay the debt for you sin, so you are going to have to spend eternity in hell, but I will bless you and make your life really nice while you are here in the meantime.
That wouldn’t be merciful or just.
But what does God do instead.
God steps down from his throne and comes down to where the sinners are.
And Jesus, God in the flesh sits with us, and he teaches us, and he cares for us, and dwells with us here in our sin while never once committing sin himself.
And then Jesus takes our punishment, he pays our sin debt, that we committed against him.
And he faced the full wrath of God, all of mankind's sin in one moment, while hanging on a cross, and he died, paying our sin debt.
But if the story ended here then our debt would be paid, but sin would still be victorious, so through the power of the Holy Spirit, by the work of the father, Jesus conquers sin, and raises from the dead.
And now that same spirit comes to dwell within those who repent of their sins and trust in what Christ did for them to pay for their sins, and they accept that free gift of salvation
And we end here in verse 18 that appears out of place but in reality it is the launching point as to why all of this matters in relation to the rest of the book
No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.
He is transitioning here by answering our very first question.
What is God the way he is?
Well nobody has truly seen him, so you aren’t going to answer this question on your own.
We can’t understand God, or even in our capacity understand the answer to that question if we had it.
So we don’t quite get an answer, but we do get a resolution.
Who God is, is above our understanding.
In fact before Moses led the Israelites out of slavery, God spoke to him out of a burning bush.
He told Moses to go to the Pharaoh and tell him that God has commanded that he let the people go.
And Moses said, what do I call you.
And he said simply the I AM.
Jesus would later when asked who he was also say that is the I AM.
And what this is is the best answer we can get to our question.
Why is God full of grace and truth, becasue that’s who he is, and that is the extend of what our little minds can comprehend.
But in our lack of understanding, we have a bridge that allows us to take a few steps further to understanding who God really is, and that bridge is Jesus.
God coming to live as a man, and teach us, and show us how to live.
And its through him alone, by no other God, no other system, no other judge, but by Jesus, the judge himself, the son of God, God in the flesh, who dwells with the criminals, pays their sin debt, and then loves them as his own for the rest of eternity, that we can truly see and understand who God really is.
