Pre- Work

Know: Read John 1:14-17

Note: Mark keywords, including pronouns and phrases. (Jesus, Father, glory, flesh, Word, John, grace, truth, law, Moses. )

Ask questions: (Use tools such as interlinear guides to search the original meaning of words- free tool here)

For example:

• Who is the Word?

• What is truth…grace…the law?

• When was the law given?

• Where did the Word dwell?

• Why did the Word become flesh?

• How did Jesus outrank John?

Observation: Study notes below for context.

What: What does today’s study reveal to me about the nature of God? What truth do I need to apply to my life today?

The Veil

“Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh.” Hebrews 10:19-20

Separating the Holy of Holies from the Holy Place was The Veil, which contained four colors: blue, which represents Heaven; red, which represents Adam; purple, which represents royalty; and white, which represents righteousness. The Veil represents Jesus, whose flesh was torn to give us access to the Father. 

The veil was Jesus’ flesh. Jesus came as a man (veil) to gather His children and bring them into the Holy of Holies by His death on the cross. (His torn flesh.)

The book of John records Jesus’ words defining who God is:

• “He who has seen me has seen the Father.” John 14:9

• “I only do what I see my Father doing.” John 5:19

Jesus defined God as Father. Since the time of Moses, the people of Israel related to God as their Judge. Never would they have thought or related to Him as Father.

Before Pentecost, the Holy Spirit did not “indwell” people either. The Holy Spirit “came upon” certain men, such as prophets, to deliver a word by God to the people (usually a warning or a “pointing toward” the cross).

When Jesus preached the gospel of the kingdom, He preached about the King. He told them “repent,” for the kingdom of God is at hand. (Repent-greek: metanoia- to change your mind, to have understanding). Their perception of God was based on their traditions. For 1400 years, the people related to God based on an agreement their ancestors had asked for. Jesus’ preaching of repentance meant “change your mind about God.” They had no concept of a God who loved them. Their value was based on a “works-based system.” They were kept safe and blessed as long as they kept their end of the bargain. If they misbehaved, they faced the penalties of disobeying the Law. (Deuteronomy 28)

The religious leaders taught a different kind of “repentance.” They taught a turning away from sinning. They spoke of wrath that would befall a sinner because of their disobedience to the Law because it was the Law that brought wrath. (Romans 4:15 “for the Law brings about wrath.)”

Jesus came to restore the value of mankind to their original design (Genesis 1&2). He is the Tree of Life that Adam and Eve should have eaten from. Had they eaten of the Tree of Life in their original state, they would have lived out of a place of “dominion.” God, as King, deputized them to rule and reign, to have dominion over everything on the earth. Eden means “pleasure,” so their reigning on this earth would have been out of a place of right relationship with God. Jesus came to restore that relationship with the Father and put Eden back into us via the Holy Spirit.

In today’s reading, verse 14 said, “And the Word became 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.” If you had an opportunity to look up the word Grace and Truth in an interlinear bible, you would have discovered the definition of those words based on the original Greek.

• Grace: “Charis”- that which affords joy, pleasure, delight, sweetness, charm, loveliness

• Truth: “Alētheia”- what is true in any matter under consideration truly, in Truth, according to Truth

Jesus is Grace and Truth. First, to understand Grace, it may be helpful to define mercy.

• Mercy (hesed- Hebrew: goodness, kindness).

Mercy has been described as God NOT giving you what you deserve, and Grace is giving you what you don’t deserve. That has always been a bit of a mind-bender for me, so perhaps this analogy that popped into my mind after reading Pilgrim’s Progress would help you as it helped me. I like to think of Mercy and Grace as great angels; Mercy is there to pull you from the quicksand pit, and Grace then clothes you with a robe of righteousness. However, Grace is not an angel. Grace is a person- Jesus. The Gospel of John tells us that Jesus is Grace. God’s goodness (mercy and glory are used interchangeably to describe His goodness) was that He so loved YOU that He sent Jesus as Grace to give YOU His righteousness in exchange for your sin.

Jesus is also Truth. Truth is not the “law.” Truth means “the real; what is true about a matter.” Jesus is the “real” of God; He is the Truth of who God is! The Truth about God is seen in the Person of His Son, Jesus Christ. If it is true of Jesus, it is true of God.

John 1:16-17 "And of His fullness, we have all received, Grace for Grace. For the Law was given through Moses, but Grace and Truth came through Jesus Christ." 

This verse means that Jesus came to remove what separated us from the Father and give us what would make us right with Him. And He did not stop there; He gave us more Grace on top of more Grace.

If you didn't already do so, please go back and read the post: "Understanding the Covenants" to get a better understanding of what the Old Covenant of the Law is. The Law today can be defined more like a system. The Old Covenant system of the Law was based on man's ability to keep themselves holy, make sacrifices to atone for sins, cleanse themselves, and live righteously on their own effort. The Law was given to the Jews. However, there were many letters the Apostle Paul wrote to Gentile churches that addressed their turning to the "law" (Romans, Galatians, Ephesians, etc.). The Gentiles were not raised under the system of Jewish Law, so why would Paul so vehemently challenge them to keep from turning to the Law?

"Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ," Romans 5:16

Paul writes here in Romans that man is justified ("just as if you never sinned") by faith and kept by faith. "For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "The just shall live by faith." Romans 1:17

When Paul wrote His letters to the Gentile churches to challenge their turning to the Law, he essentially said, "You have been justified by faith, and you are kept by faith, not kept by your ability to maintain your salvation." This statement may ring true for you, but let's plug in a few words which are equally valid but which may feel uncomfortable:

• You have been justified by faith and kept by faith, not by your ability to maintain your holiness.

• You have been justified by faith and kept by faith, not by your ability to maintain your sanctification.

• You have been justified by faith and kept by faith, not by your ability to maintain righteousness.

If you have been in church for a while, this may make you uncomfortable, and yet these above statements are precisely what Paul was challenging. Our ability does not keep us; Christ's ability keeps us. He hit the mark for us; He ran and won the race we could not; He passed the test for us (as us!). 

A system of "law" runs every facet of life and every institution. If you follow the rules set by an institution, you’re in; fail, and you're out. Even though the Gentile churches were not Jewish and abided by a strict sacrificial system, they did have their version of the Law provided by their pagan gods. After coming to Christ, the Gentiles had the added pressure to conform to the Jewish traditions taught by the Judiazers and Harodians. 

When I was a young mom, the pressure to conform to specific ways of parenting was overwhelming. There was the pressure to homeschool, private school, or public school. I chose to homeschool, which brought its system of Law- if you decided on a particular way of homeschooling, the pressure was on you to perform perfectly. I am not saying it is all a bad thing; I use this example to illustrate how we are driven by performance. 

Christ was the end of perfect performance for salvation, holiness, and righteousness. His sacrifice brought freedom from attaining and maintaining our right standing with the Father based on performance. Our right standing with the Father is now based on our position. Positionally, we are "in Christ," which means that His sanctification is our sanctification; His holiness is our holiness; His righteousness is our righteousness- not because WE performed perfectly (mankind had enough time to prove we could not), but because He did! Praise God! Now, our lives can be a reflection of Christ. Because He lives in us, we can live effortlessly like Him. 

John wrote this Gospel in AD 90. He had lived long enough to see churches birthed and then corrupted by returning to the Law. He had lived long enough to see the Temple's destruction and the state of the remaining churches. I believe He wrote this book with a clearer idea of presenting Christ- not as a biography of Jesus, but of the Person who came to show us the Father and restore our relationship with Him. 

For an in-depth study on Grace, read Unveiling Jesus by Tricia Gunn.