John 1:15 - Forerunner Commentary

John 1:15

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Articles, Bible studies, and sermons that contain The Gospel According to John 1:15:

John 1:14-18
Excerpted from: Defining Grace

Grace is used there, I believe, four times, and we need to consider this. What John is saying is that the entire life of Jesus, who was God incarnate, was a manifestation of God's grace. He was full of grace and truth. It is the gift of the revealing of the nature of God by means of a life lived.

In verse 17, Moses, Christ, grace, and law are all mentioned. Most people interrupt that as a means of expressing contrast. There is a contrast here, but it is not what most people seem to think it is, because John is not putting down Moses. He is not putting down or doing away with law. He is not putting down either one of them in favor of the others—Christ and grace. He is saying that the law was given through Moses and it is absolutely necessary for right living, because it is the standard of righteousness—right doing, rectitude.

The contrast here is not so much between Moses and Christ or law and grace, but between the words ‘given’ and ‘came’. That is, God gave the law through a man, Moses, but He was still remote, detached, and separated, as all of the ritual of the sacrifices, the furniture, the tabernacle, and the temple show. God gave the way of life, but He was separated from man.

But God came. Do you see the difference? Do you see the contrast? He gave a law, but He was still detached. He came in the form of a man, and He was present with man, living with man in bodily form. The giving of the law, though it was necessary, was merely a step leading to the far more important revelation of God incarnate. The law was given, but grace came in person.

The prospect of any man, at any time, ever seeing God in His glory, is virtually non-existent. But for those who were privileged to live back then, they had a flesh and blood witness—God incarnate. And for those of us who live now, we have His Word that is based upon eyewitnesses of His glory, of His grace. This is why Jesus said what He did, in John 14, when He was asked to show us the Father. In John 14:6, Jesus said:

Articles
Living By Faith and God's Grace (Part Two)
The Four Horsemen (Part Two): The White Horse

Bible Studies
The Miracles of Jesus Christ: Healing Malchus' Ear (Part Two)

Sermons
Pioneers: Our Job Is the Journey
John (Part 4)
Our Awesome Destiny
Defining Logos (Part Two)
Faith and the Christian Fight (Part 10)
Living by Faith: God's Grace (Part 4)
Preternatural, Natural, Unnatural, Supernatural (Part Two)
Hebrews (Part Four): Who Was Jesus?
Hebrews (Part Six): God's Salvation Communication
'What Do You Seek?'

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