The Glory of God Revealed
John 1:14-18 (NASB) 2020 Edition
14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us; and we saw His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
15 John testified about Him and called out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who is coming after me has proved to be my superior, because He existed before me.’”
16 For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace.
17 For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.
18 No one has seen God at any time; God the only Son, who is in the arms of the Father, He has explained Him.
REFLECTION
John witnesses, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made… 14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth... 18 No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, (who is himself God) and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.”
Jesus is usually misunderstood to have been in existence from some 2000 years ago. But, in fact, He has been in existence from the eternity as the Son of God as well as the Word of God (who is the God) came down to this Earth as human flesh (Genesis 1:26, John 1:18, John 8:58, Colossians 1:16, Ephesians 1:4, Revelation 19:13).
It is a wonderful joy that the seemingly distant God (Psalm 115:3) himself incarnates in the human flesh (Jesus) at His own desired time (Galatians 4:4) and comes down with humility to dwell among the humankind (John 1:1, 1:14, Philippians 2:6-8, Colossians 2:9, Hebrew 1:3). He communicated through nature, Torah, fire, direct voice, cloud, signs and miracles, rain, dreams and visions, shadow, man of God and prophets, angels, period of silence and finally through His Son, Jesus Christ (Hebrew 1:1-2).
Jesus Christ (who Himself is God) has made God known to us (John 1:18, 2 Corinthians 4:6). Christ claimed Father and Son are the same, and whoever has seen the Son, has seen Father as well (John 14:8-11). In addition, the death of Christ depicted the perfect combination of God’s justice as well as His grace (John 3:16, 1 Peter 2:24, Isaiah 53:4-6) by sending His Son for the sake of humankind. Jesus revealed that He came to this world to exhibit God’s love (John 3:16, Romans 5:8), fulfill God’s will (John 6:38-39), serve and ransom humankind (Matthew 20:28 1 Timothy 2:6) and mediate between the Earth (us) with the Heaven (God) (John 14:6, Acts 4:12, 1 Timothy 2:5, Hebrew 9:15, 4:14-16).
PRAYER
Lord God, we praise You for revealing God’s love by dwelling among us and giving Yourself for our redemption. Help us to walk in Your truth and live in the light of Your grace. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.
Written by the Milan Rijal is a NAMS Companion from Nepal, living and studying in Canada.
