The sermon, titled 'God Among Us' by Jason Dohm, explores John 1:14 and the profound mystery of the Word becoming flesh. It emphasizes the significance of Jesus Christ as both fully God and fully man, a central tenet for Christian salvation. The sermon discusses how Jesus, the eternal Word, became finite and temporary by taking on human flesh, thereby becoming the ultimate revelation of God's grace and truth. Key points include Jesus' unique glory, His incarnation as the fulfillment of Old Testament symbolism, and His role as the mediator between God and humanity. The preacher stresses the importance of understanding Jesus' dual nature in the context of His mission to save sinners, highlighting that without being both God and man, Jesus could not accomplish His saving work. The sermon concludes with applications for Christians to remember the cost of their salvation, pursue fellowship with God, and aspire to be conformed to the image of Christ, characterized by grace and truth.

Our sermon text for today is John chapter 1 verse 14. I'll begin reading in verse 6. There was a man sent from God whose name was John. This man came for a witness to bear witness of the light that all through him might believe. He was not that light, but was sent to bear witness of that light.

That was the true light which gives light to every man coming into the world. He was in the world and the world was made through him and the world did not know him He came to his own and his own did not receive him But as many as received him to them He gave the right to become children of God to those who believe in His name, who are born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. 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. Amen. The sermon title this morning is God Among Us.

I find myself in coming to this text wanting to shake off a familiarity with the gospel that keeps me from just being filled with awe and marveling at this text. This is not run-of-the-mill truth, as if there were any such thing, but even if there were, this wouldn't be it. God lived among us for 33 years. And that should break our minds. Meaning, you spend more than 60 seconds trying to understand what that means you should find that you're at the end you're out of your depth You've let down all the rope that you have Into the water and you haven't hit the bottom yet You have no idea how much more rope would be needed to hit the bottom.

This is the territory where we are now. In last week's text, there were two main points. The first was this, that the world did not recognize the Lord Jesus Christ and His own people did not receive Him. So He came into the created order unrecognized, really unexpected in most of the earth. And even where He was expected, He wasn't recognized.

His own people didn't receive Him, which is a polite way to say that they rejected Him. And the second main point from last week's text was that those who receive Him through belief, those who receive the Lord Jesus Christ through belief in His name, meaning not inventing a version of Him that you are comfortable with, but those who have received Him through believing in Him as He has revealed Himself to be to those He has given a staggering right that you would become the children of God with all of the rights of belonging to that household. All of the privileges belonging to the household that if you believe in His name, you have a rightful claim to be a child of the house. Glorious truths. As we go to the text, let's go to the text in prayer.

Jesus, we thank you for willingly leaving your glory that was rightful, it belonged It was rightful, it belonged to you, in order to take on our flesh, to humble yourself and humiliate yourself by not grasping a hold of your glory but relinquishing it and taking on our frailty for the great mission of saving sinners. Thank you for bringing us to the heart of the Gospel today in this text. I pray it would be like cool water to our souls that we would find ourselves in green pastures. Beside quiet waters today that our souls would be filled and restored as a result of coming to Your Word. We pray in Jesus' name, Amen.

Well we only have one verse so there's not any point in parsing it too finely, but I'd like to just kind of take us part by part through this verse. And I'm going to do that by just drawing out the four main and obvious points. I think you could reconstruct this sermon a year from now with no problem at all. The truths are so plain here. So here's the first plain truth of this text.

One, The word became flesh. It's right there in the words of the text, the first phrase. If you're filling in blanks on the handout, it's flesh. The word became flesh. There are two questions which naturally just come to your mind that have to be answered in understanding this.

The first question is, who is the Word? The second question is, what is flesh? What does it mean to become flesh? So the first question is, who is the Word? Well, John the Gospel writer has been answering this question up to this point.

Who the Word is so clearly declared in verses 1-3. The Word was in the beginning. In other words, before there was a nanosecond of history, before there was any matter, any created order, there was already someone there. Who was there? It was the Word.

He was with God, but He was God. He was distinct within God, but He Himself was God. So we have already learned that the Word was eternal. He predates history. He predates any creation.

He is before the foundations of the world. So he is eternal. And he is with God, distinct within the Godhead, and yet he was God. This is the Word. He is fully God.

Or as the creeds and the confessions say, he was very God. Sort of a strange way to put it, but it's really a good way to put it. He was very God. He was God in every way. There's no way to be God in which the word wasn't.

He's very God. He is fully God. The second question is, what is flesh? What exactly does it mean to be flesh? Well, consider Psalm 78 verse 39.

In Psalm 78 verse 39 we have a use of the term flesh which is really representative of how it is often used in scripture. Listen to this. Psalm 78 verse 39. For he, God, remembered that they, humans, people, were but flesh. For he remembered that they were but flesh, a breath that passes away and does not come again.

This teaches us the sense in which the eternal, distinct, and yet part of God became flesh. Flesh is a breath that passes away and does not come again. Flesh by nature is temporary and finite. It has its limits. In time and in ability, In time and in essence, flesh has its limits.

You have your limits. The mortality rate on planet earth is 100%. You are here, but you are not always going to be here. In the backdrop of eternity, it is going to be like a breath. Just a vapor that's here for a second and then it's gone.

You don't even see it anymore. Or in many places in Scripture, us being flesh is described as grass of the field. It's here today. Tomorrow its place doesn't even remember it. So flesh is by nature temporary and finite, but God is by nature eternal and infinite.

So what's being taught in this text is that the infinite eternal God became finite and temporary. He took on those aspects of us that are temporary and finite. Turn to Philippians chapter 2. It wasn't long ago before we were studying Philippians and we keep going back here Because what is said of the Lord Jesus Christ in Philippians chapter 2 is so central to understanding the incarnation. The Word became flesh.

It is explained to us. It's really unfolded to us by the Apostle Paul in Philippians chapter 2. So hopefully you're there and I'll be reading verses 5-8. Philippians 2, 5-8. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God.

Some translations render that, did not consider equality with God a thing to be grasped, in other words, to be held onto. No, he didn't grasp it. He didn't hold onto it. He willingly relinquished it. Verse 7.

But made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bond-servant and coming in the likeness of men. The Word became flesh. Verse 8, and being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. In Philippians chapter 2, Paul is explaining Jesus relinquishing his rightful place. What was that?

A place of glory within the Godhead, of deserved exaltation in heaven as the one through whom all things were made. He in the beginning was the Word. And the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. All things were made through Him.

And without Him nothing was made that was made." This is the word. But He took on flesh. He didn't grab a hold, grasp that state as if it were something to be maintained at all costs, but He laid that glory aside in order to cloak Himself in flesh. He took on flesh. In order to do what?

In order to go to the cross. This is speaking of Jesus' self-humiliation. The cross, the most shameful death because criminals deserve to die that way. So Jesus came to die that way to take the place of all who would believe in His name. To give them the right to become children of God.

That is what John the Gospel writer is teaching us. The Word was not flesh. The Word became flesh. The Word left heaven to become what He wasn't, to take on flesh. So we see in the Gospel accounts that Jesus was born.

He had a human mother. The Holy Spirit came upon her. The Holy Spirit overshadowed her. This is the words of Luke 1. And So it was the coming together of this human mother being overshadowed by the Holy Spirit and then Jesus, what was born, like you were born, In flesh, of flesh, in flesh.

And he grew in wisdom and stature. This is where we're dropping all the rope we have down to see if it hits the bottom. Nope, not at the bottom. Jesus, the Word, with God, was God, grew in wisdom and stature. His mind grew.

His body grew. He didn't come to earth fully formed as a king recognized as the one who had the right to rule all. He was born. And he grew. He grew into manhood.

And he was hungry, so he ate. We see that in the gospels. He was thirsty, so he drank. We see that in the gospels. He was tired, so he slept.

We see that in the gospels. He was tired, so he slept. We see that in the gospels. He was a man of sorrow so he wept. We see that in the gospels.

He felt pain and he suffered and he really died and so he was really buried. The Word became flesh. The eternal infinite God took on the limitations of our flesh. He was fully man, or as the creeds and the confessions say, he was very man. He was man in all the ways that we are.

We're born, Jesus was born. We grow, Jesus grew. We are hungry, Jesus was hungry. And on and on. And this is so very important because Jesus can only be Christ.

Jesus can only be Savior if He is all of both of these things. Can't you see that? Jesus cannot save you unless He is very God and very man. He cannot save you if he is only very God but not very man. He cannot save you if he is only very man but not very God.

He is still fully God. He didn't cease to become God when when he became flesh. He didn't cease to become God. He didn't begin as God, but then become flesh. He's still fully God.

He didn't cease to become God. But He also became fully man. Not just the appearance of man, but a man who needed to eat and drink and sleep. Who could really feel pain and suffer and really die. Turn to Galatians chapter 4.

Paul again in Galatians chapter 4 speaks so clearly of how essential it is that the Lord Jesus Christ in order to be Savior would be very God and very man. We might have invented those phrases but we didn't invent that theology. It comes from Paul and John and Peter and Jesus before them. Galatians chapter 4, I'll be reading verses 4 and 5. Paul writes, But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.

When it was just the right time for our salvation, God sent his son to be under the law, to become flesh, to live a life of flesh under the law. Why? In order to purchase our adoption, to give us the right to become the children of God. Paul is saying what John is saying in John chapter 1. He is buying our adoption.

He is coming in flesh to make himself the law giver to place himself under the law that we might have the adoptions, we might gain the adoption as sons. This is so essential that again John the Gospel writer, when he becomes John the Letter writer, in 1 John chapter 4 verses 2 and 3 he says that Every spirit that confesses that Jesus has come in the flesh is proving to be of the Spirit of God. And every spirit that does not confess that Jesus has come in the flesh is anti-Christ. This is essential to the Gospel. So essential to the Gospel that if you deny that Jesus came in the flesh, you are anti-Christ.

You are the spirit of the anti-Christ. There is no stripping the Word became flesh out of the Gospel and maintaining the Gospel. It becomes a false Gospel. So this is the central truth, number one, the Word became flesh. The eternal infinite God took on temporary, finite flesh and really lived that way.

A life. Number two. Central truth number two. The Word in flesh dwelt among us. So if you're taking notes on the handout and filling in blanks, it's dwelt.

The Word in flesh dwelt among us. Literally, He pitched His tent among us. Or you might have heard it said, He tabernacled among us. The Lord Jesus Christ was not an apparition that appeared for a few hours or a few days. He dwelt among us for an entire generation.

He lived a life among us. It might have been a shortened life, but he lived for 33 years among us. He dwelt among us. He didn't just appear to say a few things or to do a few things. He lived a life here from infancy through manhood.

Here, from infancy through manhood. And there is rich Old Testament symbolism here in God tabernacling among us, or pitching his tent among us. God tabernacled with the Israelites in the Old Testament. This word, it's the same word. So the Septuagint is the Greek translation of the Old Testament.

So the Old Testament was written in the language of the Israelites. It was written in Hebrews. Well, the dominant language at the time of Jesus was Greek. And so the Greek speaking world rendered the Old Testament into their language just like we translate into English. Most people spoke Greek, it was their first language, and so they brought the Hebrew Old Testament into Greek and that's called the Septuagint.

And in the Septuagint, when you see tabernacle in the Old Testament, it's in the same word family as dwelt here, and dwelt among us. He tabernacled among us. It's the same family of words. It's a different form as a noun would be a different form than a verb, but it's the same base of that word. At Mount Sinai, the giving of the Ten Commandments and more, the giving of the Old Testament law, the Old Testament covenant, precise instructions, very precise instructions, it's sort of frustrating reading, it's so precise, were given about what the tabernacle was to be.

This is not some sloppy, just direct any old thing and come and meet with me here. Very precise instructions. Just like this. And This would be the place for priests and sacrifices. It is actually called in many places in the Old Testament, the Tent of Meeting.

You go to meet with God there. But Moses mediated that presence of God. In other words, Moses is almost always standing between the presence of God and the people. Moses was between. Or the priests that God had said, these are my priests.

Of the Levites, of Aaron's family, these are my priests and they offer the sacrifices. This is God's presence being mediated. Someone between the holy God and unholy man. And in the New Testament, Jesus is all of that and more, right? Jesus is our tent of meeting.

Jesus is our priest. Jesus is our sacrifices. Jesus is our mediator. The one mediator between God and man. The man, Jesus Christ, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.

He pitched His tent among us. He tabernacled among us. That was the shadow. The Old Testament tabernacle was the shadow. Jesus is the substance.

Its greatest value was to point forward to Jesus as being our tent of needing, Our priests, our sacrifices, our mediator. Now listen to Revelation 21 verse 3. Revelation 21 is the second to the last chapter in the Bible. This is the chapter that begins with a new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven. And here's what we read right after that, Revelation 21 verse 3.

And I heard a loud voice from heaven. Now who is this again? This is John, our Gospel writer, and then the letter writer of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John, and now the writer of Revelation. This is John, and I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, And he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.

This is right at the end of the Bible. This is pointing towards heaven and what it will be like. He is going to dwell with us face to face. Like when Jesus walked the earth, only more glorious because we won't have our problems. All of our problems will have been stripped away at that point.

We will be holy in every way then. And so we will be able to behold Him face to face. And so you have a tabernacle in the Old Testament and it's pointing forward to Jesus and then Jesus comes and He dwells with men. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us for 33 years. And that's not the end of it.

A new Jerusalem is going to come out of heaven like a bride adorned for her husband. And John hears this voice, behold the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people. God himself will be with them, and be their God only this time there will be no ends to it. It will go on forever and ever and ever and ever. He will pitch His tent among us forever and ever.

There's no coming and going with this tent of needing. We'll be with Him. Thus we will always be with the Lord. That was central truth number two. The Word in flesh dwelt among us.

He pitched his tent among us. He tabernacled among us. Central Truth Number Three. The glory of the Word in flesh was unique and on display. If you're filling in blanks on the handout, It's unique display.

The glory of the Word in flesh was unique. It's not like any other glory that humankind has seen. And on display. To have the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, these are the words of our text, is to display glory that unmistakably belongs only to the Son of God. Are you with me?

Are my sentences too long here? To have the glory as of the only begotten of the Father is to have an unmistakable glory that can only belong to the Son of God. That's the point of what's being taught here. There's a lot of mischief or worse that has come from a misunderstanding of the two words here, only begotten. In Greek, there is only one word that has been brought into English as two words, the only begotten of the Father.

The mischief is that this often gets used to say, see Jesus was created. He is the only begotten of the Father. And the mischief is that this often gets used to say, see, Jesus was created. He is the only begotten of the Father. Well, first of all, The language of verse 3 already ruled that out.

All things were made through Him. And in case you didn't get it, without Him nothing was made that was made. Created things were made through Jesus Christ without exception, meaning He is not a created thing. He is God. Of course, he had already said he was God.

That he is the only begotten of the Father cannot mean that Jesus is therefore created. But actually, The word itself, many of the modern commentators are not in love, and I'm being gentle here, not in love with the rendering, only begotten, because it lends itself to this misunderstanding. The actual, very literal meaning of this Greek word would be unique. Only of its kind. One of a kind.

So think of this in those terms. This is the glory as of the unique of the Father, the one of a kind of the Father. A really helpful usage of this Greek word is found in Hebrews 11 verse 17. So listen to Hebrews 11 verse 17 which uses this same Greek word. It helps us to understand this rightly.

By faith Abraham when he was tested offered up Isaac he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son. So Hebrews 11 verse 17 says that Isaac is the only begotten, or unique, or the one of a kind son of Abraham. So however you understand that, Jesus, you have to be able to apply it to Isaac in the same way in his relationship with Abraham. Now, was Isaac the only son of Abraham? No!

No, Ishmael was biologically in the same way the son of Abraham. In fact, Ishmael was the firstborn. Isaac was not even the firstborn. And yet, It is Isaac who is the son of promise. He is the son in a unique way, in a one-of-a-kind way.

The point of Hebrews 11 verse 17 isn't that Abraham is the father of Isaac or that Abraham only has one son and it's Isaac. The point of the use of that word is that Isaac has a unique place as the Son of Promise. It's the same with the usage here in John 1. So Jesus displayed the unmistakable glory of the unique one and only of the Father. And this was not a secret glory, this was a displayed glory, this was a beheld glory.

So much so that in Acts chapter 26, in Acts 26 Paul is before Festus, the Roman governor, and he's before King Agrippa. And he's offering a defense. He's been accused and now he's defending himself. And What would Paul use an opportunity to defend himself as an opportunity to do to preach Christ? So Paul is before Festus and Agrippa preaching Jesus.

And Festus hearing these things says, Paul your learning has made you mad, you've gone crazy because of all your learning. And Paul says, I'm not crazy. And he actually calls King Agrippa to witness in this way. Listen to Paul in Acts 26 verse 26. Paul says, For the king, Agrippa, before whom I also speak freely, knows these things.

For I am convinced that none of these things escape his attention, since this thing was not done in a corner. Jesus was not an unknown man. What Jesus was teaching and doing and his glory on display was seen, so that multitudes were gathering to hear his preaching and to see him do what no other man was doing or could do. So that Paul, years later, can call to witness someone who never even met Jesus, or was in the presence of Jesus to say, this thing wasn't done in a corner, you know, you heard. This was no secret glory.

This was a beheld glory. This was a displayed glory. And what was this unmistakable glory for those who had eyes to see? That's an important distinction by the way. It doesn't mean that all acknowledge that this was the glory of God.

You did have to have eyes to see it, but these things were not done in a corner. And they point that Jesus is unmistakably the unique Son of God. Well, this displayed glory, this beheld glory, there are many many things in the Gospel, but it starts with his birth announcement. It was read this morning from Luke chapter 2, right? A host of angels came and the shepherd saw it and the shepherds reported it.

His glory was on display. In our next chapter Jesus is going to turn water to wine. His glory was on display. In fact, listen to how this is described. We'll get there in a few weeks, but this is a preview.

John chapter 2 verse 11. This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee and manifested His glory. So this is the first sign, John chapter 2, water turned to wine at the wedding feast, and then John the Gospel writer says he manifested his glory when he turned the water to wine, and his disciples believed in him. Jesus healed the sick, and they beheld his glory. Jesus made the lame walk, and they beheld his glory.

Jesus made the blind see, and they beheld his glory. Jesus made the storm to cease at a word and they beheld his glory. Jesus raised the dead and they beheld his glory. And then Jesus himself rose from the dead. And Paul writes this in Romans chapter 1.

Romans chapter 1 is really Paul's extended gospel. And he begins it this way in Romans chapter 1 verse 4. He says that Jesus was declared to be the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead. In other words, he's saying that The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is a declaration of something. It's a declaration that Jesus is the Son of God.

It's a declaration in power that Jesus is the Son of God, that He was raised from the dead. We beheld His glory. We beheld his glory. Yes, God performed miracles through men at various points in the Bible. But with Jesus these are of Himself.

This is not God saying, Moses take the rod, put the rod in the water and then the seas are going to part. This is Jesus doing this of Himself. And He is doing it on every page. No man in the Bible, with every other man in the Bible, it was the exception and not the rule. Even Moses.

We have 80 years of the history of Moses' life. These miracles that God did through him were the exception in his life, not the rule. With Jesus, it's the rule. It's on every page and these things are of himself. His glory was on display as of the only begotten of the Father.

The one and only, the unique one of the Father. Finally, listen to what Matthew Henry says. He says, Other men discover their weaknesses to those that are most familiar with them, but it was not so with Christ. Those that were most intimate with him saw most of his glory." What's he getting at here? What he's saying is this, if you lived with me for three and a half years you would become more and more familiar with my sins not my glory." But he's saying the exact opposite was true of the disciples.

Instead of seeing his sins of which they never saw one, They were the ones who saw more and more His glory. They beheld more and more His glory. Jesus' disciples, when they lived with Him day in and day out for three and a half years, they witnessed in a special way his glory. They beheld his glory in a different way than even the people who saw the miracles happening. And John the Gospel writer was on the Mount of Transfiguration when he was glorified.

So there were three disciples that Jesus took up with him on the mountain so they could see him transformed and he shined like the sun before them. Peter was another one of those. It was Peter, James, and John. So turn to 2 Peter. Peter speaks of being there on the Mount of Transfiguration, the Gospel accounts where Jesus was transformed and glorified by his father before Peter, James, and John.

Now Peter speaks of this in 2 Peter chapter 1. Listen to Peter writing about this event. In 2 Peter chapter 1, I'll be reading 16-18. Peter writes, For we did not follow cunningly devised fables, when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eye witnesses of His majesty. For He received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to Him from the excellent glory, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased." And we heard this voice which came down from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain.

He's describing what He saw first person on the Mount of Transfiguration. Jesus receiving glory from His Father. He's saying, hey the things we're preaching to you, these are not made up fables. We saw this with our own eyes. We beheld His glory.

We watched it unfold. We watched it be manifested before our eyes. So that was central truth number three. The glory of the Word and flesh was unique. It's not like anyone else's glory that's ever been seen.

And it was on display. It was not a secret glory. It was a beheld glory. It was a displayed glory. Now central truth number four, The final central truth of this verse.

The overarching characterization of the Word in flesh. Full of grace and truth. If you're filling in blanks on the handout, it's grace and truth. This is the overarching characterization of the Word in flesh. In other words, He came and lived among us for a lifetime, and what is the overarching characterization of that life that was lived before us when he dwelt with us, when he pitched his tent here among us for 33 years.

Grace and truth. He was full of it. He was full of grace. He was full of truth. How can we characterize Jesus' life among us?

Miracles? There are a lot of miracles. Preaching? Yes, there was a lot of preaching. Grace and truth is how the Gospel writer, who was there, who saw it, who was an eyewitness, he characterizes Jesus' life as being a life full of grace and truth.

Our Lord Jesus Christ was and is the ultimate revelation of the grace of God. Yes, God expressed grace before the coming of Jesus. And many times, in many wonderful ways, none of them hold a candle to our view of the life of Jesus Christ, and the death of Jesus Christ, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ that we get in the Gospel accounts. Jesus is the ultimate revelation of the grace of God. Why was He here to give us something that we deserved, no unmerited favor, to withdraw from those He would make His children the penalty that they deserved, to show them mercy, To withhold from them what they did deserve and give to them what they didn't deserve.

Jesus' whole mission is about the grace of God. The Lord Jesus Christ is the ultimate revelation of the grace of God. They understood a little bit about how gracious God was and then Jesus came. We understand The grace of God, the graciousness of God in a different way than any others have in human history up until the time of Jesus' laying down his life and rising again. You could not have understood it until it happened.

Not in its fullness. Not in its richness. Our Lord Jesus Christ was and is the ultimate revelation of the truth of God. Praise God for all the revelation that came before. He doesn't hold a candle to the revelation of God in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Our understanding of who God is took quantum leaps forward by being able to see Jesus and hear Jesus in the gospels. Yes God expressed his truth before Jesus, but Jesus is the perfect expression of truth. Jesus doesn't tell the truth, Jesus is the truth. I mean, he does tell the truth. He didn't sin by not telling the truth, but the point when Jesus says, I am the way, the truth, and the life, he's not saying I tell the truth.

He's saying he is the ultimate revelation of God. He is the ultimate truth of God on display. You can see who God is by looking at Jesus. If you've seen Jesus, you've seen the Father. And this is why It's said that though John the Baptist, of those born of women, there's never been any greater than John the Baptist.

Jesus says that of those in the kingdom, meaning coming in the gospel dispensation under the grace of God poured out through His shed blood, if you're the least in that dispensation, you're greater than John the Baptist, who was the greatest of the former dispensation. How can that be? How can you and I, in that sense, be greater than John the Baptist? Because we are midgets on a mountain top. And so we see further the giant in the valley.

This is obviously Too good of an analogy to be mine. That's Matthew Henry's analogy. We might be midgets, but we're on a mountaintop so we can see forever because we have this. The full revelation. John the Baptist didn't have this.

He was a giant but he was down in the valley So we see further than we're greater than him in that sense Because Jesus was full of grace and truth and we we have it all We see Him on display in a way that John the Baptist never could or did. Even though he saw further than everyone before him, of all the prophets before him who got little glimpses of who Jesus would be to give a revelation to us. John the Baptist saw further than all of them, but we see further still, because Jesus was full of grace and truth and we have it all. We understand the grace of God more than any before because Jesus was full of grace. We understand the truth of God more than any before because Jesus was full of truth.

And we have the privilege of being alive now after Jesus has come and shown us the fullness of God's grace, the fullness of God's truth. I'd like to close with a text that pulls it all together and It's Hebrews chapter 2. So turn to Hebrews chapter 2. The author of Hebrews is talking about just what our verse in John chapter 1 is talking about. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.

He is full of grace and truth. This is His glory on display, not secret Glory, beheld glory, displayed glory. Hebrews chapter 2, I'll be reading verses 10 through 18. Follow along. For it was fitting for Him, For whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings." So Jesus here has been called the captain of our salvation and it's said that he was perfected through his sufferings.

For both he who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason he, the Lord Jesus Christ, is not ashamed to call them brethren." Now it's being said that Jesus isn't afraid to call you sister. He isn't afraid to call me brother. He's not ashamed. Saying, I will declare your name to my brethren. In the midst of the assembly, I will sing praise to you.

In other words, the picture is of Jesus leading the praise of his father Among his brethren and again. I will put my trust in Him. And again, here I am in the children whom God has given me. Inasmuch then, as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, That through death he might destroy him who had the power of death, that is the devil. Here in verse 14, it's being explained again the necessity that Jesus would become flesh.

And how central this is to our being able to be saved inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, mankind, he himself, Jesus Christ, likewise shared in the same. Down to 15. And release those who through fear of death were all their lifetimes subject to bondage. For indeed, He does not give aid to angels, but He does give aid to the seed of Abraham. Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God to make propitiation for the sins of the people For in that he himself has suffered being tempted he is able to aid those who are tempted The word became flesh and He is not ashamed to call us His brethren.

The Word became flesh, that through death, He might destroy the power of Him who had the power of death, the devil. The Word became flesh to release we who were subject to bondage. Your liberty is bound up in the Word becoming flesh. The Word became flesh that He might be a faithful and merciful high priest because He has been hungry and thirsty and sorrowful. He can sympathize.

He has been tempted in every way that we have, yet without sin. He can help you in your temptations. He is a merciful and faithful high priest because the Word became flesh. The Word became flesh to make propitiation for the sins of the people. He is the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world that required him to become flesh.

To leave the glory of heaven which was rightfully his, not to grasp it but to relinquish it and come and live and die to satisfy the anger of God against my sins. I have three applications. Number one, Never forget what the righteousness of God required to save sinners. Never forget what the righteousness of God required to save sinners. To save sinners.

Nothing less than the word becoming flesh would have done to save you. This should humble us. That He would be willing to pay that price to save us. Makes Anything that he asks of us seems so small, like nothing. Number two.

Fellowship with God is both possible and desired by God. This is so clearly taught in this verse. Fellowship with God that we would not just be saved by Him but know Him and experience Him in this life. It's possible and He desires it. He tabernacled with us and He's going to tabernacle with us for all eternity.

He wants to know and be known. He wants to show you himself. He wants communion with you and with me. You can go too far and make God into this impotent someone who is pining away for something he can't quite have. That's not the teaching of the Bible.

But you can under do it as well. And as if God is so self-sufficient that He doesn't care at all whether you have fellowship with Him. Now it's true, he's self-sufficient. He doesn't need anything from you. If he was hungry, he wouldn't tell you.

That's Psalm 50. If he was hungry, he wouldn't tell us, or earth as his. So he is self-sufficient. But what follows from that is not that he doesn't care whether there's fellowship with us or not. He desires it.

He purchased it with his own blood. He tabernacled with us. He's going to tabernacle with us. It is not only possible, but God desires to be in fellowship with us. I hope you feel at least a little ashamed for how little you've capitalized on that.

I do. If you won't be ashamed of you, I'll be ashamed of me. Thirdly, finally, Once God saves us, what is He doing? He is conforming us into the image of Christ. What should that look like?

Fuller of grace and truth. More grace, more truth. Is that all it means? No. Conformity to the image of Christ means many, many things.

But if it characterized His tabernacling among us, as we are conformed to Christ, it must characterize us. To the extent that it doesn't characterize us, we've not been conformed into his image. The marks of him dwelling among us were people who said, there's a man full of grace and truth. That needs to be more and more what people think of us and say of us as we are conformed into his image. Grace and truth.

Not grace at the expense of truth. Grace at the expense of truth is misdefined grace. It's not biblical grace. Grace is never the enemy of truth. Truth is never the enemy of grace.

At whatever point you think they are the enemy of one another, you have misdefined one or the other or both. We need to be full of grace. We need to be full of truth. As we are conformed into the image of the Lord Jesus Christ, people need to say, He is growing in grace. She's growing in truth.

If you want to know what that looks like, Come back for the next two years and we'll study Jesus. Father, thank you for this verse. We've spent many more weeks here. We've only scratched the surface. We've let down all the line that we have.

If we had more line in more weeks to look at it, we wouldn't hit the bottom. We know that. I thank you that week by week we're seeing Jesus on display. We are beholding His glory. A glory that can only be the glory of the Son, the unique Son, the one and only Son.

I pray that He would loom larger and larger and larger in our vision. Let Christ increase and let us shrink into the background. Pray in Jesus' name, Amen.