Open your Bibles with me today to the Gospel of John, chapter 1. We are looking at verses 14 through 18, a passage that brings us right to the beating heart of the Good News.
Let’s read what the apostle John writes:
“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. 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.” ‘ And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.”— John 1:14-18
Throughout the prologue to his gospel, John has declared the profound truths of Christ’s deity and Incarnation, reaching a powerful crescendo in these last five verses. They summarize the prologue, which in turn summarizes the entire book. In his characteristically simple language, John expressed the glorious reality of the Incarnation by pointing out its nature, its witnesses, and its eternal impact.
He says the most startling and incredible thing that he could have said. He says quite simply: “This Word which created the world, this reason which controls the order of the world, has become a person, and with our own eyes we saw Him.” The Greek word that John uses for “beheld” is theasthai; it is used in the New Testament more than twenty times and is always used of actual physical sight. This is no spiritual vision seen with the eye of the soul or of the mind. John declares that the Word actually came to earth in the form of a man and was seen by human eyes. He says, in essence: “If you want to see what this creating Word, this controlling reason, is like, look at Jesus of Nazareth.”
The Nature of the Incarnation
John 1:14 is the most concise biblical statement of the Incarnation, and therefore one of Scripture’s most significant verses. This is one of the greatest single verses in the entire Bible; we must spend time upon it so that we may enter more fully into its riches. A lifetime of study and thought could not exhaust the truth of this single verse.
The four words with which it begins—”the Word became flesh”—express the reality that in the Incarnation, God took on humanity. The infinite became finite; eternity entered time; the invisible became visible (Colossians 1:15); the Creator entered His creation.
God revealed Himself to man through creation (Romans 1:18-21), through the Old Testament Scriptures (2 Timothy 3:16), and supremely and most clearly in Jesus Christ (Hebrews 1:1-2). The record of His life and work, and its application and significance for the past, present, and future, is preserved for us in the New Testament.
Remember, the concept of the “Word” (Logos) was rich in meaning for both Greeks and Jews. John here clearly states what he implied earlier in the prologue: Jesus Christ, God’s final Word to mankind (Hebrews 1:1-2), became flesh. The word sarx (“flesh”) does not have here the negative moral connotation that it sometimes carries (Romans 8:3-9; Galatians 5:13; Ephesians 2:3), but refers simply to man’s physical being. That He actually became flesh affirms Jesus’ full humanity.
The word ginomai (“became”) does not mean that Christ ceased being the eternal Word when He became a man. Though God is immutable—pure, eternal “being” and not “becoming” as all His creatures are—in the Incarnation, the unchangeable God (Hebrews 13:8) did become fully man, yet remained fully God. He entered the realm of time and space and experienced life as it is for those He created.
No wonder the apostle Paul wrote of the Incarnation:
“And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, Justified in the Spirit, Seen by angels, Preached among the Gentiles, Believed on in the world, Received up in glory.”— 1 Timothy 3:16
The eternal Son not only became man; He also dwelt among men for thirty-three years. “Dwelt” translates a form of the verb skenoo, which literally means “to pitch a tent.” Jesus Christ’s humanity was not a mere illusion or appearance. He took on all the essential attributes of humanity and was “made in the likeness of men” (Philippians 2:7). As the writer of Hebrews explains:
“Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil.”— Hebrews 2:14
And again:
“Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.”— Hebrews 2:17
He pitched His tent among us. In the Old Testament, God tented with Israel through His glorious presence in the tabernacle (Exodus 40:34-35) and later in the temple (1 Kings 8:10-11), and He revealed Himself in pre-incarnate appearances of Christ (e.g., Genesis 16:7-14; Exodus 3:2; Joshua 5:13-15). Throughout eternity, God will again tent with His redeemed people:
“And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, ‘Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.’”— Revelation 21:3-4
Though Jesus manifested God’s divine glory during His earthly life with a clarity never before seen, it was veiled by His human flesh. Peter, James, and John saw a physical manifestation of Jesus’ heavenly glory at the Transfiguration, when “His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light” (Matthew 17:2). That was a preview of the unveiled glory to be seen at His return (Matthew 24:29-30; Matthew 25:31; Revelation 19:11-16) and the fullness of His glory as the Light of the New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:23). But day to day, the disciples saw Jesus manifest God’s holy nature primarily by displaying divine attributes: truth, wisdom, love, grace, knowledge, power, and holiness.
Jesus manifested the same essential glory as the Father because, as God, they possess the exact same nature (John 10:30). The Greek word monogenes (“only begotten”) does not imply that Jesus was created by God. The term does not refer to origin, but describes Him as unique, the only one of His kind—mónos (“only”) and génos (“kind”). John uses monogenes to distinguish Christ as the unique God the Son from believers, who are God’s children through adoption (1 John 3:2). Scholar B. F. Westcott noted that “Christ is the One and only Son, the One to whom the title belongs in a sense completely unique and singular, as distinguished from that in which there are many children of God.”
Jesus’ divine attributes revealed His essential glory as God’s Son, “for in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily” (Colossians 2:9).
Grace, Truth, and Glory
The two attributes most closely connected with salvation are grace and truth. John highlights three massive themes in this passage: Grace, Truth, and Glory.
1. Grace
This word carries two vital concepts:
- Undeserved Favor: Grace is something we could never earn or achieve. That God came to earth to live and die for humanity is an act of pure love. Grace emphasizes our helpless spiritual poverty and God’s limitless kindness.
- Divine Loveliness: In Jesus, we see the true loveliness of God. People often think of God only in terms of power, majesty, and judgment—power that could crush rebellion. But in Jesus, we are confronted with the sheer beauty of God’s heart.
2. Truth
Jesus is the absolute center of truth in a world full of confusion:
- The Embodiment of Truth: Jesus declared, “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). He did not just talk about God; He showed us what God is like.
- The Communicator of Truth: He promised that if we continue in His Word, we will know the truth (John 8:31), and He told Pilate that He came to bear witness to the truth (John 18:37).
- The Guide into Truth: Through the Holy Spirit—the Spirit of Truth (John 14:17; John 15:26; John 16:13)—we are guided daily.
- The Liberator: Jesus said, “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32). Truth liberates us from fear, guilt, defeat, and spiritual death.
- The Reality to be Acted Upon: Truth is not merely intellectual; it must be believed with the heart and lived out in daily life (John 3:21).
Scripture makes it clear that salvation comes through believing the truth of the gospel. Paul reminded the believers in Ephesus:
“In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise…” — Ephesians 1:13
God desires all people to “come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4). Conversely, those who perish do so “because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved” (2 Thessalonians 2:10; 2 Thessalonians 2:12).
A vague belief in God apart from the truth about Christ will not save. Jesus warned, “For if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins” (John 8:24). To reject the Son is to reject the Father (John 5:23; 1 John 2:23).
3. Glory
To the Jewish mind, glory was intimately tied to the Shechinah—the visible presence of God among His people (e.g., Exodus 16:10; Exodus 24:16; Exodus 40:34; 1 Kings 8:11; Isaiah 6:3; Ezekiel 1:28). In the Old Testament, God’s glory appeared when He drew near.
In Jesus, the glory of God was fully displayed in human form—not as a tyrant driving us away in terror, but in the splendor of love that brings us to our knees in worship.
The Witnesses to the Word
“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.” ‘ And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace.”— John 1:15-16
John the Baptist was the herald, “the voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Make straight the way of the LORD’” (Matthew 3:3). He proclaimed the arrival of the Messiah boldly and publicly. Though Jesus was born six months after John (Luke 1:26) and began His public ministry after him, John joyfully recognized Jesus’ absolute preeminence because Jesus eternally existed before him (John 8:58).
Then John the Apostle adds the testimony of all believers: “And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace.” Because “in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily” (Colossians 2:9), Christ provides for all our needs (Romans 5:2; Ephesians 4:12-13; Colossians 1:28; Colossians 2:10; 2 Peter 1:3). His supply never runs dry; it is an endless stream where grace continuously follows grace (2 Corinthians 12:9; Ephesians 2:7).
Law and Grace
“For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.”— John 1:17-18
Notice the contrast:
- Grace Triumphed Over Law: The Law given through Moses was holy, righteous, and good (Exodus 31:18; Romans 7:7; Romans 7:12). But the Law could never save anyone (Acts 13:38-39; Romans 3:20-22; Galatians 2:16). It acted as a mirror, exposing our sin and acting as a tutor to lead us to Christ (Galatians 3:24). Grace and truth—the power to forgive and transform—came through Jesus Christ.
- God Made Fully Known: God is invisible Spirit (1 Timothy 1:17; 1 Timothy 6:16). But Jesus, who is in the very “bosom of the Father”—expressing the closest possible intimacy—has “declared” Him. The Greek word is exegeomai, from which we get our word exegesis. Jesus came to exegete God to us. He is the complete, perfect explanation of who God is (Matthew 11:27).
Practical Application
Because Jesus took on real flesh and blood, He understands every single trial, pain, and temptation you face today. The writer of Hebrews reminds us that we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses (Hebrews 4:15). He pitched His tent in our world; He knows what it is to be weary, rejected, grieved, and tested.
When you pray, you are not crying out to a distant, unfeeling God. You are talking to God who knows what human life feels like from the inside out, and who promises an endless supply of “grace for grace” for every situation you encounter. Whatever burden you carry today, bring it to Him, knowing that His supply of grace will never run dry.
A Challenge for Believers
Look at verse 14 again: Jesus was “full of grace and truth.”
As followers of Christ, we are called to reflect His character to the world around us. Yet, it is so easy for us to tilt too far in one direction.
- If we preach truth without grace, we become rigid, legalistic, and harsh—pointing out sin without offering the healing power of the Gospel.
- If we preach grace without truth, we slip into compromise—telling people God accepts them while ignoring the holiness that demands a changed life.
My challenge to you this week is to examine your heart, your words, and your witness. At home, at work, and in your community, are you standing firmly on the uncompromised truth of God’s Word, while extending the overwhelming, loving grace of Jesus to those around you? Ask the Holy Spirit to make you a person “full of grace and truth.”
An Invitation to Give Your Life to Jesus
Maybe you are reading this today and realizing that you don’t truly know God. You may have tried religion, moral effort, or human philosophy, but you still feel an emptiness inside, carrying the heavy weight of sin and guilt.
The glorious message of the Gospel is that you don’t have to climb a moral ladder to reach God. God came down to reach you. The eternal Word became flesh, lived a perfect life, and willingly took your place on the cross—paying the full penalty for your sin. Three days later, He rose physically from the dead, defeating sin and death forever.
Salvation is not earned; it is a gift of God’s free grace (Ephesians 2:8-9). Jesus said:
“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”— John 14:6
Right now, Jesus is offering you His grace, His forgiveness, and eternal life. If you will repent (turn from your sin) and place your faith in Him, He will forgive you, transform you, and make you a child of God.
If you are ready to surrender your life to Jesus Christ today, you can pray this prayer right now from your heart:
“Lord Jesus, I acknowledge that I am a sinner and that I cannot save myself. I believe that You are God who came in the flesh, that You died on the cross for my sins, and that You rose again from the dead. Today, I repent of my sin and I place my trust in You alone as my Lord and Savior. Forgive me, wash me clean, and fill me with Your Holy Spirit. Help me to walk in Your truth and live for You all the days of my life. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”
If you prayed that prayer with a sincere heart, God’s Word promises that you have been born again into His kingdom. Begin reading His Word daily, talk to Him in prayer, and gather with other believers who will encourage you in your walk with Christ.
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