The Word Becomes Flesh

John 1:14 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.

“The Word became flesh” that means the Word became a human being. This is what Christians mean when they speak of the incarnation, literally “the infleshing.”

This Word became something that he wasn’t. Jesus already existed; he was God’s own agent in creation, but now he becomes a human being.

The Word Became Flesh, the Tabernacle & the Temple

“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us” “he tabernacled among us.” The tabernacle at Sinai was the place where sinners met God, the great meeting place that brought together a holy God and rebellious human beings.

Jesus insists that he himself is the ultimate temple of God, the ultimate meeting place between human beings and God. If rebels are going to be reconciled to this holy God, they must come to him by means of the temple, and Jesus is that temple.

John 2:19 Jesus answered and said unto them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up 2:21 But He spoke of the temple of His body.

We Have Seen His Glory

Exodus 33:18 Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.” 19 And the LORD said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you.”

Jesus performs his first miracle, he turns water into wine at a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the disciples saw his glory. They saw that this was a sign that signified something about who Jesus was; they saw his glory. The most spectacular display of God’s glory is on the cross where God displayed his glory in Christ Jesus, who thus became our tabernacle, our temple, the meeting place between God and human beings.

Grace & Truth, Love & Faithfulness

Before Moses, who is hiding in that cave in Exodus 34, God describes himself in a variety of ways. Among them are the words “abounding in or full of love and faithfulness”

Exodus 34:6 And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,

In Hebrew, the pair of nouns translated “love and faithfulness” are equally appropriately rendered “grace and truth,” which is the way John renders them. God displays himself not only as the God who will punish sinners but as the one who is “full of grace and truth” and forgives.

Jesus Gives Grace and Fulfills Law

“For the law was given through Moses, which takes us back to Exodus 32–34, gut grace and truth came through Jesus Christ”

The gift of the law was a gracious thing, a good and wonderful gift from God to show man his real need. This grace was not in the display of glory to Moses in a cave but in the display of Jesus and the bloody sacrifice on the cross. The cross was a fulfillment of the law and provided the way for Jesus to introduce a new covenant, the ultimate grace and truth.

Jesus Shows Us God

“No one has ever seen God,” John 1:18. That is what God said in Exodus 33. “You cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live” Exodus 33:20

Now John adds an exception: “But the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known” John 1:18. If you want to know what God looks like, look at Jesus. Jesus said to Philip, don’t you know me even after I have been among you such a long time? Jesus said, anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9).

No one has ever seen God, and God in all of his transcendent splendor we still cannot see until the last day. But the Word became flesh; God became a human being with the name of Jesus; and we can see him.

Do you want to know what the character of God is like? Study Jesus. Do you want to know what the holiness of God is like? Study Jesus. Do you want to know what the wrath of God is like? Study Jesus. Do you want to know what the forgiveness of God is like? Study Jesus. Do you want to know what the glory of God is like? Study Jesus all the way to that wretched cross. Study Jesus.

God became a human being with the name of Jesus; and we can see him. Do you want to know what the character of God is like? Study Jesus. Do you want to know what the holiness of God is like? Study Jesus. Do you want to know what the wrath of God is like? Study Jesus. Do you want to know what the forgiveness of God is like? Study Jesus. Do you want to know what the glory of God is like? Study Jesus all the way to that wretched cross. Study Jesus.