FULLNESS OF GRACE AND TRUTH

FULL OF GRACE AND TRUTH

 

 

The image of God becoming incarnate In human flesh constitutes God's perfect, complete, and everlasting revelation of Himself to men. "And the Word was made 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...No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten of the Father, he hath declared him" (John 1:14, 18). The writer of Hebrews states it as follows: "God...hath...spoken in his Son" (Heb. 1:1, 2).

1.      These verses make it clear that the fullness of God resides in the Son (Col. 2:9). The very glory of Christ is the glory of the Father. And that glory is marked by two things: FULLNESS OF GRACE AND TRUTH. Grace characterizes the moral and spiritual nature of God which permeates His entire being. Truth covers the aspects of genuineness. This is John's way of saying that Christ is truly God. In every aspect and detail men may behold Christ and find in Him that which constitutes Him a being who is man, but more than man. He is in absolute verity God.

2.       This FULLNESS qualifies Him for the function of revelation. The hard fact is that no man has seen God at any time. But Christ has declared Him (John 1:18). The word declared means to lead out and unfold like a teacher, the Teacher (John 13:13). Christ is God's word spoken to men (Heb. 1:1, 2). All that Christ is and does is like God, for He is God. For more than 30 years men beheld Him as He lived and moved among them and their conclusion was that His glory was the glory of the only begotten of the Father. Since His return to heaven, men have been contemplating the Christ through the medium of the written word and their conclusion is that He is God (2 Cor. 3:18).

3. The various facets of Christ combine to give the child of God the impression of what God is like. No one was ever able to catch and convict Him of sin (John 8:46), for He always did those things which please the Father (John 8:29). God is like that, for God is light (1 John 1:5). He was moved with deep compassion for men, for He saw them as sheep without a shepherd, wandering, helpless, ignorant (Matt. 9:35-36). God is like that, for God has ever been moved by sin and deeply grieved in His heart (Gen. 6:5-6). He could not restrain Himself from volunteering help to lift the burdens of life and relieve those who were heavy laden (Matt. 11:28-30). God is like that. He hears the cry for help and comes rushing to them who are in trouble (Psa. 34:4, 6, 7, 15). With scorching words of denuncia­tion He could address the wicked (Matt. 23:25-33). God is like that, for He is a consuming fire (Heb. 12:29). And yet with sorrow over His people that moved Him to His very depths, He cries out for them, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that kills the prophets, and stones them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings, and ye would not" (Matt. 23:37-38). God is like that. "In all their affliction he was afflicted" (Isa. 63:9).

He took water and changed it to wine without the necessity of the long pro­cess necessary under normal circumstances (John 2:1-11). He could take bread and fish and increase the quantity sufficient to feed five thousand (John 6:5-13). He could calm the waves of the sea that had been lashed into fury by storm (Mark 4:37-41). He opened blind eyes (John 9:7), cleansed lepers (Luke 17:12-19), healed the sick (Luke 4:38-40), cast out demons (Luke 4:33-36), and raised the dead (John 11:39-44). Details about these miracles put them in a class which could only be accomplished by divine power. This is like God.

There was another thing that characterized the public ministry of Him, He did not hesitate to forgive sins. Even His enemies recognized that He assumed a prerogative and performed a function which belongs only to God (Mark 2:1-12). But what He did is like God, for in the ultimate sense God is the only one who can forgive sins.

To this could be added a thousand other things and more, all of which are the unfolding of the various facets of an infinite being. If you want to see God in complete perspective, then look at Christ and contemplate Him in His FULLNESS.

4. The force of contemplation of Christ will produce a progressive and enduring change in any who will behold Him. "But we all, with open face behold­ing as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord" (2 Cor. 3:18). Christ is not with us today, so we are deprived of that immediate vision of Him who is the image of the invisible God. But we do have access to Him through the word of God. As we behold the reflection of Him in the word of God, a progressive change takes place in us. We move from one state of glory into another as we look with approval upon the face of Him who is mirrored therein. The Spirit of God warms our hearts and presses them gently into the mold of His image. This is growing into the likeness of the God whom we worship.