Jn.1:10-17, ‘He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not.2But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.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.15 John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me.16 And of his fullness have all we received, and grace for grace.17 For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
The gospel of John out stands from among the other three gospels in its presentation of Jesus. The writings of this gospel is very much unique and has a unique touch on all who read it. Its less narrative and more discourse. As we meditate on this lovely passage, may His spirit touch us in a unique way and thereby, grow in the knowledge of our Lord through this passage.
Verse 10, ‘He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not’. Jesus was in the world and the world was made by Him. In the book of Genesis, we see God creating the whole earth by the power of His spoken word. The moment He spoke, what He spoke came into being. This Word was with God and in God…….was none other than our Lord Jesus Christ.Jn.1:1-3, ‘ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.2 The same was in the beginning with God.3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.’
This Word was in the world, but was not recognized. As we read this verse 10, we see a time gap between ‘and though the world was made through him,’ and‘and the world knew him not..’
The world, when created, involved Adam and Eve. And in those beginning days, they had fellowship with God. They did know God. They knew His word.Gen.3:1-3, ‘Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”Let’s take note that when the crafty serpent put a misleading question to Eve, she correctly spoke the exact commandment or the Word of God. Eve knew God’s word. She knew His will for her. Knowing God is knowing His will for us. So, the world in the beginning i.e. Adam and Eve knew God…but soon after the fall, they lost the fellowship with God. Thereafter, they knew Him not….’the world knew Him not’ . Sin caused the world to be deprived of the knowledge about God and His will for them.
Verse 11, ‘He came unto his own, and his own received him not.’ Israel was God’s own people, whom He had called, chosen and sanctified for His own purposes. Jesus came for the Jews but due to their rejection, He turned to gentiles. Jesus came unto His own, but they did not receive Him. They could not receive Him for they did not know Him. They lacked the knowledge about Him. They expected their messiah in the form of an earthly King. The four gospels does talk about the multitude who followed Jesus. Most of them were Jews. They followed Jesus because of the miracles. They did receive Jesus as a performer of miracles. They approached Jesus for healing, deliverance etc, but the moment He started teaching them the word of God and proclaimed about His true identity, this multitude drew back. They could not receive His teachings. They could not receive His proclamations about Himself. They could receive only His miracles. The one who receives His teachings is the one who truly receives Jesus. Today, many have received innumerable healings and answers to their problems from Jesus, but yet have not received His teachings in completeness.
We receive Jesus as per our knowledge about Him. Indeed, we received Him as our Lord and our Saviour, but in reality most of us are not able to submit every area of our life in one go. Submission grows with growth in knowledge about our Lord. And the truth is that a life time is not enough to know our Lord completely. Yet the more we seek to know Him, the more we receive the knowledge about Him. The more we know Him, the more we receive Him.
Verse 12, ‘But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:’ We come across the word ‘power’ in various texts of the Bible, which differs in meaning as per it’s context of use. In the process of salvation, a child of God 1st experiences the power of the Holy Spirit, which touches and transforms his heart. This is God’s power that flows into one’s heart, which is the same power that rose Jesus from the dead. This power is the power of the Holy Ghost that opens our blind eyes to see Jesus as our Saviour…….that makes our heart fleshy to respond to God in the right way. Col.2:13, ‘And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;’ Being dead means absence from life, which makes us unable to respond to God and His call. God who is LIFE was separated from us due to our sins. Is.59:1-2, ‘Behold, the Lord‘s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear:But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.’
Now this transformed heart receives the legal right to become the son of God. God, who is rich in grace and mercy, gave Jesus Christ for us. He redeemed, justified, sanctified and reconciled us to Him. This complete work of the Calvary is freely given to all, but God gives the RIGHT to become the children of God to only those who believe in His Son Jesus Christ. ( Romans 3:23-30). The belief in this completed work on the cross in Calvary is the true belief in Christ Jesus. Those who believe in Jesus Christ and His completed work on the cross receives ‘legal right’ to become the son of God. This power and authority or the legal right is what apostle John talks about in verse 12. Satan who was our former master, cannot have any more authority on this believer who believes in Jesus. Satan had legal rights in our life, but now, he has no more power over us because Jesus has conquered the death and grave. Col.2:13, ‘Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.’ Through this power, God gave us the right to partake in divine glory and the right to stand boldly before His mercy seat. This power gave us the right to have fellowship with Him.
Verse 13, ‘Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.’ Every birth in this world involves either the will of flesh or the will of man. But here, we see a birth, where neither of them are involved. It’s entirely under the control and will of Almighty God. Being born of Spirit of God is indeed a birth that involves God alone. All praises to Him alone for giving us this great privilege.
Verse 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.’
Jesus, the Word was made flesh. Romans 8:3 For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh. The Law was weak because of flesh. Yet, God revealed His power by sending His son in the likeness of sinful flesh and condemned the sin. Jesus was only in the likeness of sinful flesh. He did not have the actual sinful flesh. He faced all the temptations of the flesh and yet never sinned.
(and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) In Mathew 17, we see how Jesus took John, Peter and James into a high mountain where He transfigured. His face shone like the sun and His raiment as white as the light. This is the glory which the apostle John is talking about here.
Verse 16, ‘And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.’ This verse talks about His fullness. God, the Father, Jesus, the Son of God and the Holy Spirit forms the trinity….i.e. God in trinity or the trio in one God. Yet, each have a seperate identity. Jn.14:9, ‘Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Show us the Father?’ One who has seen Jesus have seen the Father. But we cannot say the vice-versa i.e One who has seen the Father has seen the Son. The approach road to Father is the Son and not vice-versa. It means the Father is in the Son. Jn. 14:17-18, ‘Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.’ Jesus, referring to the Holy Spirit says,’ I will come to you.’ This shows that the Spirit of God in Jesus. Jn.1:1, ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.’ In short, the completeness or fullness of God is in Jesus.Col.1:19, ‘For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell.’ And we, who are the sons of God have received of this fullness of God through our faith in Jesus.’ In us who believe in Jesus, dwells not only Jesus, but the Father, the Holy Spirit and the very Word Himself. In us dwells the character of God in completeness, thereby making us whole and complete in Him.
Verse 17, ‘For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.’ The law was given by God to Mosses. This law was the word of God. Jesus is also the Word of God who was made flesh. But then, John writes about grace and truth regarding Jesus. Truth is reality or a fact. To know the truth as truth, we need to experience it. Our own experience is the only truth that we can never deny. How much ever, we might have heard about anything from anyone, unless it becomes a part of our experience or life, we can never claim it to be truth with complete assurance. In other words, whether anybody else will believe it or not, we ourselves can never deny our own experiences. This law, though the Word of God, dictated or ruled the lives of many in the Old Testament, but could be experienced as truth in the lives of only few who were anointed to do specific work of God. ……..Mosses, David etc. Most of the people in Old Testament could not experience the law or the word of God in their lives. The only reason behind this was that the Holy Spirit was not made available to them. Most of us who were born in traditional, so called Christian homes, did attend churches, Sunday schools etc…..but experienced the reality or the truth of the Word of God only when the Spirit of God touched our hearts. In other words, presence of Holy Spirit is essential to experience the word of God in our lives. This law to be experienced as truth, Holy Spirit was made available to all who believed in Jesus as their savior and Lord. Hence, prophet Ezekiel wrote about the new heart with a new spirit who alone can walk in the statutes and ordinances of God Almighty. (Ez.11:19-20)
Grace is the unmerited favor. This Holy Spirit ……Holiest of the Holy…..dwelling in an unholy vessel of you and me is a mind blowing grace…..a grace which our human mind cannot comprehend. …..which passeth every human understanding. Hence, apostle John writes about Jesus as being ‘full of grace and truth’. The Word of God without grace and truth is termed as ‘law’ which sounds more of dictator. But when this is combined with grace and truth, it becomes the very life itself……the eternal life…..
Dear friends, blessed are we because we live in the New Testament times…………..the time of experiencing His word and living the same through our daily lives. We have been blessed with this abundant grace to live this life of witnessing and bearing the truth, Jesus Himself, until He comes to take away His church. Let’s no more mistake this grace to allow ourselves to do wrong. It’s too precious and too late to be misunderstood any longer. Rather, let’s use every moment here after, to bear His word. Bearing His word is being disciplined in accordance with His Word ….which is the true witnessing. Every disciplining is allowing the power of God flow into our lives though His Word. And every disciplining is possible only by experiencing or applying the word of God in our lives. Disciplining alone transforms us more and more to be like Him, thus making us His disciples. And the disciples alone form the mystical body of Christ, His magnificent church, whom He will take away any moment.
May God bless you !
