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John 1:14 The Word made Flesh.

Introduction: The reason John wrote this book is “that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God and that believing ye might have life through His name”. He has shown us the deity of Jesus and the witness of John the Baptist and that Jesus was in the world in a form which required faith on man’s part that, men, who believed on Jesus would have the right to become the sons of God. In this verse we shall learn about what Jesus endured for us (as seen in his becoming flesh and dwelling among us), what those who believed in Him saw (that being His glory), and the two most important attributes of God (These being grace and truth) which were seen in Jesus.

I. The word was made flesh.

The word, which is the term used for Jesus in the opening verse of this Gospel, was made flesh. John informed us that the Word was with God and the Word was God. This establishes Jesus as one member of the God head. We worship God in trinity and in unity. There is one God and there are three persons in the God head. God the Father, God the Son, And God the Holy Spirit.

Notice first of all that He was made flesh. He did not make himself flesh but someone else made him flesh. I put to you that God the Father made Him flesh. Hebrews 10:5 says “Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou (God the Father) wouldest not, but a body hast thou (God the Father) prepared me”. Jesus had to be flesh in order to be our sacrifice. Not Just any flesh for Paul tells us in 1Co 15:39 “All flesh [is] not the same flesh: but [there is] one [kind of] flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, [and] another of birds.” He had to made human flesh. By becoming human flesh He became our kinsman redeemer. John will later point to Jesus and say “behold the lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world.” John calls Jesus a Lamb but He was human flesh. Jesus did not come in the form of a literal lamb that would live in a flock and one day be offered in sacrifice for our sins. Jesus became a man. All God and All man. He was the “God man”.

Notice next that He was made flesh in the womb of the virgin Mary. Jesus was not made flesh in the form of a fully grown man. He did not just appear one day on the earth as a fully grown man. God appeared to Abraham in the form of a grown man. God appeared to Jacob in the form of a fully grown man. God appeared to Joshua in the form of a fully grown man. God appeared to Manoah and his wife in the form of a fully grown man. But when Jesus was made flesh He came in the form of a new born baby. He thus experienced everything that man must experience in life. He knew would learn by experience what it is like to grow up as a child with sinful parents. He was tempted in all ways like as we are yet without sin. He knew thirst, hunger, pain, sorrow, toil, and joy. Jesus took no short cuts when came to being our kinsman redeemer. God the Father chose the time of Jesus’ birth. He could have waited until man had progressed to a point where he had indoor plumbing but God chose instead to have His Son become flesh during a most primitive time in man’s history. He became flesh to seek and to save that which was lost.

II. The Word dwelt among us.

The word translated “dwelt” means literally to tabernacle. This term is used of one who is a traveler, sojourner, tourist if you will, who comes to a place and lives in temporary housing because his stay will not be long. He lived with men, ate with men, slept with men, walked with men, talked with men, just like a man who is only on earth for a very short time. What would it have been like to leave the environment of heaven were all is sinless and glorious and where the beings shout continually HOLY, HOLY, HOLY and move to a place where there was cursing of God, blaspheme, and sin all around and men shouting CRUCIFY HIM, CRUCIFY HIM, CRUCIFY HIM? Can there be any doubt that the Word, Jesus the Christ, the Son fo God indeed full of grace? He lived in the town of Nazareth. This town has such a bad reputation that later in this chapter Nathanael would remark “can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?” Jesus did not live in the wilderness away from men but chose to dwell with men where they were. The Pharisees will remark of him “this man receiveth sinners and eateth with them.” Jesus indeed dwelt with sinful men. Jesus was full of grace toward sinful men. He told the woman taken in adultery “neither do I condemn thee, go and sin no more”. We like to pick and choose who we dwell with. We choose people like ourselves to dwell with. It is not so difficult to do for we are all sinners. Jesus could not dwell with people like himself for there has never been and will never be one like Jesus.

III. We beheld His glory.

Moses desired to see the glory of God. God told Moses He would hide him in the cleft of a rock and cover him there with His hand and show him the hinder part of his Glory. Moses could not see the full glory of God and live. God’s glory was veiled in human flesh. When they saw His glory what did they see? Peter, James, and John got to see Jesus transfigured. He stood before them on the mountain and His face shown like the Sun and his clothes were white as the light. What they saw was His glory. But His glory was also seen in the miracles He preformed. Jesus told Martha that if she would believe she would see the glory of God. When Lazarus came forth from the dead they saw the Glory of God. When Jesus healed the lepers, the blind, the lame, the deaf, the dumb, the maimed and the diseased His disciples, those who believed in Him saw the glory of God. The Pharisees saw His works they did not see the glory of God but said that Jesus was of the devil. You had to have faith in order to see the glory of God in Jesus. The “we” of this verse refers to those who lived in Jesus day and believed that He was the Christ the Son of God and because they believed they had life through His name.

This verse defines for us which glory he is talking about. It is the glory as of the only begotten of the father. Jesus is one of a kind. Jesus is the only man who is God. We will never be God. The man, Jesus, has always been God. We may be born again and be called the begotten of God and the sons of God but there is only one who was the only begotten Son of God that is Jesus Christ.

IV. The Word is full of grace and truth.

The words grace and truth as used in this verse apply to The Word, Jesus Christ. Jesus is full of grace and truth. The verse could be restated this way “The word, full of grace and truth, was made flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father.” Let us consider grace first. Jesus was full of grace. Grace is un-merited favor. There was no merit in any human being at all. The bible says there is none righteous no not one. We have all gone out of the way. All we like sheep have gone astray. Psa 14:2 The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, [and] seek God. Psa 14:3 They are all gone aside, they are [all] together become filthy: [there is] none that doeth good, no, not one.

There is nothing in any of us who have ever lived that would cause God to come in the flesh and dwell among us and die for our sins. Our Salvation is completely by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ. We do not deserve and will never deserve what God has given to us by His marvelous grace. In John 3:16 we see why He came. He came because He loved us. He came to give to us, by His grace, everlasting life. God has not dealt with us according to our sins and our iniquities. He deals with us by His grace for He is full of grace. I love the words to that old song by Julia Johnston

Marvelous grace of our loving Lord,

Grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt,

Yonder on Calvary’s mount out poured

There were the blood of the lamb was spilt.

Grace, grace, God’s grace

Grace, that will pardon and cleans within.

Grace, grace God’s grace

Grace, that is greater than all our sin.

When I look within myself I see just how full of grace Jesus is. There is no merit in all of my being. I do not the life God has given me. I do not deserve anything good from God. I absolutely do not deserve eternal life and to be a joint heir with Jesus Christ. God has dealt with me by His marvelous grace.

Jesus is full of truth. There is no deceit in Him at all. Men lie and believe lies all the time. I use to believe that if a snapping turtle bit you it would not let go until it thundered. I use to believe you could put a turtle in boiling water and he would come completely out of his shell. I use to believe that a snake called a coach whip would chase you down and whip you to death. There have been many lies I have believed. There may be some that I believe now that one day I will prove to be lies. Everything Jesus has ever said was true. His words are truth. They are the words that men need. Men need the truth of God’s word. There are many different denominations of religions in the United States. They do not all teach the truth. There has been a controversy in the news lately concerning the Episcopal Church. Men have taken God’s word and twisted it to mean what ever they want it to mean. God’s word does not change. It is truth. When look into God’s word we are looking at the truth. The Spirit of God will lead us in all truth. Let us stay true to the one who is full of truth, Jesus Christ the Son of God.

Conclusion: Jesus was made flesh and dwelt among men. Men saw His glory. John described Jesus as being full of grace and truth. Jesus does not bodily dwell among us today but He is present with us none the less. We may not see Him feed five thousand with a few loaves and fishes. But we can still see His Glory today. Every time someone is saved I see the glory of God. Every time I see a prayer answered I see the glory of God. It is a visible to day as it was when Jesus walked among men. Jesus is still full of grace and truth. But grace is powerless without reception. You must receive the truth about your sin and repent before God. You must by faith come to Jesus and receive His marvelous grace. He will not give you everlasting life unless you accept it. Will you come today and avail yourself of God’s marvelous grace?