The Word Became Flesh

As you read the following passage, contemplate on the truth: God became a human person. He entered the life we live. Eternity appeared in time! The Creator appeared in creation so we could see, hear, and know Him.

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, “This is 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 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 NKJV.

Became Flesh

Try rereading it, this time out loud.

Let the truth grasp your mind and engrave your soul. The Word took on human form and became truly human, truly God. He dwelt with us in intimacy and reality. He made personal the Covenant – the New Covenant of grace and truth.

The Word became flesh, a claim of perfection that can only come from the Father. How could the divine and flesh join in “oneness” unless the Father makes it so? He was not God disguised as a human, but the Eternal Word in the flesh, not just the appearance of a man, but the real thing. He took to Himself a complete and genuine human nature, but without sin.

Think about that term, “to dwell”. This is a choice to stay – His choice to stay with us. It has always been in God’s heart to be with His people. Jesus is the fulfillment and realization of God’s plan for reconciliation — the joy of our salvation.

To dwell is not a temporary stay, but to stay for good.

We behold what beholds us. Soli Deo Gloria! To God alone the glory!

Grace

The Word came full of grace and truth. In the Person of Christ, we see what God has declared true about Himself — abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness (Ex 34:6). The Word, made flesh, fully manifested the grace and truth of our Covenant-Making and Covenant-Keeping God.

Not only did He come in fullness of grace and truth, but we received grace upon grace-unlimited and eternal grace from Him. Salvation is a gift by grace alone — sola gratia.

God gave Moses his word—the law entrusted to the Jewish nation. But now the Word became flesh, bringing grace and truth, so we who believe can entrust ourselves wholeheartedly to Him. Trust me, I know firsthand that we, as a people, are not trustworthy, covenant-keeping people without such grace upon grace.

Grace and truth

Grace and truth — love and faithfulness in the Person of Christ came and dwelt among us. We can now walk daily with Jesus Christ, Emmanuel, through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit. The Son of God, near to the heart of God, is here, as close as the breath we breathe and as near as the beating of our hearts.

Have you ever looked up the definition of the word grace? I have, and it changes everything. Grace: unmerited divine assistance given to humankind, for our regeneration, and sanctification — a state of sanctification enjoyed through divine grace.

Grace upon grace is Christ’s unmerited divine assistance!

Grace Upon Grace

Grace is more than favor or kindness shown without regard to merit or worth. It is an attribute of God — He is merciful, gracious, long-suffering, and abounding in goodness and truth (Ex 34:6). God’s grace freed the Hebrews, allowing them to enter the promised land. By grace alone, we’re given the gift of salvation — the redeemed and “kept” children of God. Grace upon grace brings not only reconciliation and forgiveness, but also newness of life.

It’s true that grace comes, but we can only receive it by faith. We must trust in God’s love, mercy, and favor. God’s will is perfect, for Jesus carries the gospel of grace into the world from the Father to us. On the cross, Jesus cried out, “It is finished!”, and then grace arrived. Active: Grace followed grace; three days later, He rose, the Resurrection and the Life.

Truth

Grace would have been sufficient, but the Word became flesh also in truth!

Let’s take a few minutes to define the truth: the quality or state of being faithful, accurate in detail, exact. Accuracy in detail. Fact. Sincere in action, character, and word. Transcendent, fundamental, or spiritual reality. True: being in accordance with the actual state. Steadfast, loyal, and consistent. Fitted and formed to function accurately without deviation. Reality. Absolute.

Whew! That says a lot.

God performs His works, precepts, and judgments in righteousness and truth.

… He will judge the world with righteousness and the peoples with His truth. Ps 96:13b NRSV.

The works of His hands are faithful and just; all His precepts are trustworthy. They are established forever and ever, to be performed with faithfulness and uprightness. Ps 111:7-8

Grace and truth

Now it is true that we need grace. Most importantly, we need truth — God’s truth. Not our imagined truth.

Truth is a moral and personal character of God—God of truth (Is 65:16). All His laws, commandments, and Word are true. God speaks and acts in truth because of His perfect nature and will. He cannot lie.

Jesus is the Word who became flesh. All that He says is true — He spoke the truth that He heard from God, the Father — His promise to send the Spirit of truth (the Holy Spirit), a Helper to guide us in all truth, is also a reality.

The Truth

The truth of incarnation: Christ entered a new dimension of existence through the gateway of a virgin birth and dwelt among us. He left His usual place and accepted the conditions of human life, place, and time.

The truth: Christ is the pre-existent Son of God, Creator of the World, and Executor of God’s will. He exists with the same power, effectiveness, and character as God.

Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life!

More Truth

The powerful, creative, dynamic Word of God—the Agent of Creation—that guiding, directing, and controlling Word of God became flesh and dwelt among us. The Word that puts order into the universe and intelligence in human beings came to His own.

This is the radical truth — He came, and we saw Him.

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life — the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us — that which we have seen and heard we proclaim to you so that you may have fellowship with us, and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and His Son Jesus Christ. I John 1:1-3 NKJV.

This is a real, actual physical sight. It is not the spiritual vision we see with the eyes of the soul or mind. The Word actually came to earth in the form of a man and was seen by human eyes.

Jesus Christ was not a phantom or a figment of someone’s imagination. His human body was a real body. He felt hunger, weariness, sorrow, and pain.

Anyone who denies this fact or alters its reality is not a Christian, not from God.

By this, you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming and is now in the world. John 4:2-3 NKJV.

As followers of Christ, we’ve heard it repeatedly that Christ came in the flesh, but do we honestly believe it?

In Conclusion

In Jesus, we see God’s loveliness. No more abstract ideas or shadows in a picture book. We can point to Jesus and say, “There’s the Truth.”

Jesus, the Word, communicates the truth. Listen to Him, and you will know the truth and hear God. When Pilot asked Jesus who He was, Jesus told him the truth.

… I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice. John 18:37 NKJV.

I challenge you to think about this. Truth enables us to choose wisely and silence the lies of the enemy. The indwelling Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth, and He graciously leads us into the presence of God through Christ Jesus so we can walk with God in an intimate relationship.

So trust Him to bring you grace upon grace in the fullness of His love and wait for it….truth!

The truth will set you free!