The Scriptures are so great, it is no wonder that the psalmist says that the unfolding of His Word produces light. We can sit under individual verses, even phrases or single words and the Spirit of Truth can unfold His Word to us so that we understand Him and His ways – the only thing that He says we can boast in. Watch how John 1:14 can unfold from the whole verse in context, the single verse, the specific Name used and then a single word used in that Name.
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth…and from His fullness we have all received, grace upon grace…Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; only God, who is at the Father’s side, He has made Him known.”(John 1:14-18)
This paragraph in the beginning of John’s gospel explains the origins of the benefits we enjoy as recipients of Christ – His glory, grace, truth as well as access and proximity to the Father. The linchpin verse in this paragraph is verse 14, everything else flows from the truth that the Word became flesh, dwelt among us and we saw the glory of the Son. The Incarnation is not enough, we must receive His glory or else the benefits are not imparted to us. So the most important part of the truths in verse 14 for us is that we have seen the glory. Then it becomes apparent that we must see a specific glory, “the glory of the only begotten from the Father”. Many men are sons and have glory that we can see, but it is the specific glory of this one Man that holds the key to the benefits mentioned above. And this Man is special because He is the only son of the Father. So the crux of this whole paragraph comes down to the Father and who He is. What are we told about the Father? This is the nucleus of the power of what we read here.
John is intentional to note that the Father is “full of grace and truth”. Now, in the unfolding of this passage, we have come to find a five word phrase that steer this passage. Truly, the most important parts of this phrase are “grace and truth”. Understanding these two things gives you understanding of the nature of the Father, the origin of the Son and the wellspring of the benefits of having access to Him. And those are certainly worthy of hours of meditation and study. However, the thing that jumps out at me when I see this verse is that the Father is “full” of these two essential qualities. This becomes an even more important word in understanding this passage because this word is used twice, it is tying the whole thought process together in verse 16 where it says “from His fullness we have all received grace upon grace.”
The word that John uses for “full” and “fullness” can be used to describe the furnishings of a home, what makes a house a home – full and complete. It is almost like the inside of the Father is furnished with grace and truth, and from that safe place the Son was birthed. We see and receive the glory of that interior castle of the Father’s mansion of Love, and the Son makes known who He is by going to prepare a place for us inside of the house of the Father. Not the house that the Father lives in, but the house that is the Father. This sheds light on us being in Him, He in us, the Father being in Him, and He being in the Father. We have access to the Father through Christ and begin to furnish our lives with that which He furnishes Himself with – grace and truth.
*Father, paint the walls of our lives with the Grace-filled Blood of the Son and grant that our lives be made full of the furnishings of Truth that we be made complete in Him.
