John 1:15-18
15 John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.’ ”
16 And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.
In Christ we receive one grace after another. Christ brings us His own righteousness, in what Luther calls the “blessed exchange”—He takes our sin upon Himself, and we get His righteousness. As we receive in faith His atoning death for us on the cross, we also get the forgiveness of our sins; salvation from sin, death and the devil; and a new creation of Christ in us through His Word and Spirit. The final grace is that we are taken to a happy heavenly hereafter to be with Him forever.
“17 For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”
Through Moses, God gave the revelation of His holy Law, the Torah. Through Christ, God revealed the fullness of His grace and truth. The former made way for the latter—The Law makes way for the Gospel, in that the Law prepares one to receive the Gospel. Without the Law to tell you that you have sin before God, the Gospel of the forgiveness of your sins makes no sense.
“18 No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.”
In the history of God dealing with His people, there are times when some of His servants did get glimpses of Him but never a full vision of Him in His full glory. Jesus has a special relation with the Father, being the “only begotten” of Him, and He is the only one who has fully beheld His glory. This means that Jesus is in a unique position to declare God’s glory to us. Blessed be the revelation of God through His Son!
Let us pray: Almighty God, grant that the new birth of your only Son in the flesh may set us free from our old slavery under sin; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
