BIBLE STUDY MANUALS: JOHN CHAPTER 1

JOHN CHAPTER ONE, (cont.)

[Jn 1:14 cont.]:

[Jn 1:14a (NIV)]:

"The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory."

"We have seen" - John is saying that he was an eyewitness along with the disciples and others.

"We have seen His glory." - The glory of Jehovah God as seen by John and many men is the unique splendor and honor of Jesus' life, miracles, death and resurrection during His earthly ministry. Note that Peter, James and John were to see His glory manifested on the high mountain as detailed in Mk 9:2-4 previously quoted. Old Testament Scripture predicted that the glory of God would be made manifest, (Isa 35:1-2; 40:3-5; cp Lk 3:4).

[Jn 1:14 cont. K. J. V.]:

"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."

"was made" = The King James translation version is rendered from the Greek word = "egeneto" which the author John wrote as "was made" in King James English. This translation in the King James Bible could possibly be interpreted that our Lord was created in the flesh and therein began His existence. It is not an especially accurate translation of John's chosen word "egeneto". Rather, our Lord Himself chose to become flesh and that is what the Greek says: "egeneto" = "became." So the Word, Who was in the beginning - Who is eternal - Who is God - became, (not "was made" or created in) flesh, and dwelt among us. So just as the omnipresence and the omnipotence of God is present in its entirety at any and every point in the universe, so now all of the attributes of God Almighty became present in a unique way in the GodMan Jesus Christ.

[Jn 1:14 (KJV) continued]:

"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."

"the only begotten of the Father" - In His humanity, our Lord Jesus Christ truly is the only begotten of the Father in the sense that He added humanity to His divine essence; but not in the sense that our Lord was physically begotten as a human father begets a son. His humanity was conceived by God the Holy Spirit and He as a human being was born of the virgin Mary. Truly there is only One like Him!

Incidentally, the term begotten in Scripture does not always mean the physical conception of a human being by a man and a woman. Consider the following passages:

[Job 38:28]:

"Has the rain a father?

Or who has begotten the drops of dew?"

"begotten" = from the Hebrew word "yalad" = to beget

[Dt 32:18]:

"You neglected the Rock who begot you,

And forgot the God Who gave you birth"

[1 Jn 2:29]:

"If you know that He is Righteosus, you know that every one also who practices Righteousness is begotten of Him."

"begotten" = "gegennetai" = "has been begotten"

Compare 1 Jn 3:9; 4:7; 5:1, 4, 18

[1 Cor 4:15 K.J.V.]:

"For though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel."

[Philemon 1:10]:

"I appeal to you for my child, whom I [Paul] have begotten [through the gospel] in my imprisonment, Onesimus,"

"have begotten" = "did beget" (aorist tense)

[2 Tim 2:23 K.J.V.]:

"But refuse foolish and ignorant speculations, knowing that they produce[beget] quarrels."

"produce" = "gennosin" = beget

[Jn 1:14 (KJV) continued]:

"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."

In one of His appearances on the earth before His incarnation, (His becoming flesh as the GodMan Jesus Christ), our Lord indicated that there would be a Savior to redeem mankind when He spoke to Adam, Eve and Satan in the garden:

[Gen 3:15]:

"And I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her Seed;

He shall bruise and tread your head under foot, and you will lie in wait and bruise His heel.".

"And I [Jehovah God the Son] will put enmity [bitter hostility] between you [Satan] and the woman and between your seed [unsaved mankind] and her Seed [Christ the Messiah]; He shall bruise and tread your head under foot [conquer and destroy Satan] and you [Satan] will lie in wait and bruise His heel [wound Him but not fatally]"

So there will be a battle to final destruction between the power behind the serpent who is the devil, Satan (Rev 12:9-11) with his forces (the demons and unsaved mankind - the seed of Satan who are his children Jn 8:42-44)................................... there will be a battle between Satan's forces

AND

the Seed of the woman Who is Christ the Messiah and His own who are believers, His children - Gal 4:28-29. And so our Lord became flesh in order to be the Savior of the world:

[Mt 1:20-21]:

"But after he [Joseph] had considered this

[divorcing Mary because she was pregnant],

an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, 'Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a Son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus because He will save His people from their sins.'"

".....and you are to give Him the name Jesus because He will save His people from their sins.'"

The name "Jesus" comes from the Greek name = "Iesous" which is the Greek translation of the Hebrew "Jehoshua". "Jehoshua" in Hebrew means "Jehovah is salvation" Truly, our Lord came to "save His people from their sins..." as His name indicates.

And, as His name indicates, Jesus Christ is Jehovah.

[Isa 43:11]:

"I, even I, am the Lord;

And there is no savior beside Me."

Recall how important a name was to people 2000 years ago, especially the name for a Son in the family line of King David. Scripture stated long before Jesus was born in Bethlehem that One Who would be a descendant of David would be the Messiah - the Ruler of Israel and the world forever!

[Ps 89:35-36]:

(v. 35) "Once for all, I [God ]have sworn by My holiness - and I will not lie to David -

(v. 36) that his line will continue forever and his throne endure before Me like the sun; it will be established forever like the moon, the faithful witness in the sky."

Cp 2 Samuel 7:12-13, 16; Jer 23:5.

In Hebrew, The Messiah in English letters looks like this: "HaMaschioch". It is pronounced: Ha-me-shi-ah.

Our Lord's name which we say is "Jesus" in English looks like this in the Hebrew transliterated into English letters: "Jehoshua." It is pronounced: "Ye - shu - ah"

HEBREW

Jehoshua = Ye-shu-ah = Jesus

HaMaschioch = Ha-Me-shi-ah = The Messiah

GREEK

Iesous = Jesus

Christos = Christ

Jesus (Ye-shu-ah) refers to God the Son's name in His First Coming to die for sins.

It means "JEHOVAH IS SALVATION."

The Christ (Ha-me-she-ah) refers to God the Son's name in His Second Coming to reign as King of kings and Lord of lords.

THE CHRIST means THE MESSIAH or THE ANOINTED ONE which is what the word Christos, (Christ) means in the Greek. To anoint is to gift or joyously bestow. Christ is the One Who is gifted (joyously bestowed) with the Lordship of heaven and earth - all of creation - by the Father.

Cp Ps 2:1-12, 45:6-7; 8:1-9.

When Messiah passages are examined together, the Messiah is then clearly identified in Scripture as Jesus Christ Who is God and Who is Man:

Old Testament Scripture spoke in ancient times of a Messiah Savior Who would be born as a Child and be God and Man at the same time:

[Isa 9:6-7]:

"For to us a Child is born,

to us a Son is given,

and the government will be on His shoulders.

And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end.

He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing it and upholding it

with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever.

The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this."

The prophet Isaiah also spoke in ancient times of a Savior Who would suffer in order to heal the world of its spiritual sickness - SIN - bearing upon Himself the sins of the whole world:

Refer to Isaiah 52:13-END & 53:1-12 and especially the following passages:

[Isa 53:5]:

"But He was pierced for our transgressions,

He was crushed for our iniquities;

the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him,

and by His wounds we are healed"

Our Lord suffered on the cross for the sins of the whole world. God the Father crushed Him for all the sins committed by all men throughout history (Cp. Isa 53:4, 10-12 & 1 Jn 2:2). The eternal punishment for our sins was brought upon Jesus Christ instead of all men which provided for the only avenue for a man's peace with God, (Cp. Jn 14:6). So by the wounds which Christ received on the cross ALL OF MANKIND is provided with the atonement, (payment of the penalty) for all sins. Provision is also made by what the Savior did on the cross for the healing of our sin natures which produced all those iniquities - all of our sins. All of our sins are paid for regardless of our mental attitude but our spiritual sickness - our sin nature - will only be healed should we decide to receive that spiritual healing by faith alone in Christ as our Savior - our Spiriual Healer. An individual cannot enter heaven without being spiritually healed.

Note that the context in this passage is of a healing of our sin condition, our sin nature - of our spiritual sickness - and does not apply to any physical infirmities which all believers will continue to suffer each in his own individual way until we go home to be with the Lord.

At the moment when believers go to be with the Lord in heaven they will be transformed to be like Him in His glorified body without any physical infirmities and without a sin nature. (1 Cor 15:49).

Incidentally, the prophecy of Isaiah that our Lord "...took up our infirmities and carried our diseases..." [Isa 53:4] was fulfilled when He walked on the earth and literally healed thousands upon thousands of people of all kinds of infirmities and diseases. The word "...our..." refers to the people to whom the prophet Isaiah was writing: the Jews. This "...our..." does not have application to people today because the context of the passage does not indicate that since this prophecy was already fulfilled in ancient times.

As stated before, believers in their lifetime on earth do not receive a healed spiritual condition - they continue to struggle with their sin natures, (Ro 7:14-25). They will receive the gift of a nature of perfect righteousness when they go to be with the Lord in heaven.

Continuing in Isaiah chapter 53:

[Isa 53:5-6]:

(v. 5) "But He was pierced for our transgressions,

He was crushed for our iniquities;

the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him,

and by His wounds we are healed.

(v. 6) "We all, like sheep, have gone astray,

each of us has turned to his own way;

and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all."

In verse 6 above, the prophet Isaiah repeats what he just said in verse 5: how our Lord will have died for the sins of the whole world. Then he adds that all men of Israel have turned to their own sinful ways. By application from the context of this passage and other Scriptural passages, (Ro chapters 1-3) ALL MEN have turned to their own sinful ways. And God the Father has laid on God the Son the penalty for such iniquity - for the sins of all mankind throughout history.

The Apostle Peter also wrote of the doctrine of spiritual healing and refers to Isaiah 53:5-6:

[1 Pet 2:24-25]:

"He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by His wounds you have been healed.

For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls."

So this Child, the Lord Jesus Christ, was to be born of a virgin and He would be called by a name that would signify that God is with us:

[Isa 7:14]:

"Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a Son, and will call Him Immanuel."

"Immanuel" in Hebrew is not referred to in this passage as a specific name by which our Lord is to be called - other passages determine His specific name, (Mt 1:21). Rather, the word "Immanuel" is a characterization which is to describe the nature of our Lord and it means "God with us":

[Mt 1:23b]:

"'...and they will call Him Immanuel'" - which means 'God with us'"

And the name by which our Lord is to be called, Jehoshua, (Jesus) means "Jehovah God is salvation." Such a name fulfills the above prophecy (Isa 7:14, Mt 1:23) for it is a name which characterizes that our Lord truly is 'God with us'

Jesus was a descendant of king David thus authenticating Who He was by fulfilling the prophecy about the Messiah:

[Ps 89:35-36]:

"Once for all I have sworn by My holiness - and I will not lie to David - that his line will continue forever

and his throne endure before Me like the sun;

it will be established forever like the moon,

the faithful witness in the sky."

[Jer 23:5-6]:

" 'The days are coming,' declares the Lord, 'when I will raise up to David a righteous branch, [descendant] a King Who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land.

In His days Judah will be saved

and Israel will live in safety.

This is the name by which He will be called:

The Lord Our Righteousness' "

And our Lord's birth into humanity is in that family line of David:

[Mt 1:1..16-17]:

(v.1): "A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the Son of David, the son of Abraham:........................................................

(v.11): and Josiah the father of Jeconiah and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon.................................................

(v.16): and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom [feminine singular = of Mary] was born Jesus, Who is called Christ.

(v.17): Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David. Fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and Fourteen from the exile to the Christ."

Joseph was our Lord's LEGAL but not biological father whose family line is traced through the royal line, (the line of actual rulers of Israel), of Solomon to David including king Jeconiah (v.11) and thereby our Lord received Joseph's legal and royal family descendency according to Scripture. However, in Jeremiah 22:24-30 God prohibits descendants from the wicked king Jeconiah to "....sit on the throne of David or rule anymore in Judah."

Incidentally, the word which is translated as "son" is not limited to an immediate descendant but often refers to a descendant of several or more generations - as it does here in Matthew's genealogy. Matthew does not include every single descendant in his genealogy, but rather he arranges it so that it highlights important points and is more easily memorized.

In Luke's account of our Lord's genealogy, (Lk 3:23-38), our Lord's human family line is traced through Nathan to David which does not have the prohibition of rulership on it:

[Lk 3:23-38]:

(v. 23) "Now Jesus Himself was about thirty years old when He began His ministry. He was the Son, so it was thought, of Joseph, the son of Heli, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi.............................

(v. 31): ."the son of Melea, the son of Menna, the son of Mattatha, the son of Nathan, the son of David,

C.I. Scofield states, (Oxford NIV Scofield Study Bible, footnote #1 p.1054):

"....since every man has two genealogies - one through his father and another through his mother - so Matthew presents Joseph's genealogy [the Lord's foster or legal father, not His actual father] whereas Luke presents Mary's genealogy. This view is supported by linguistic and historical evidence and is held by many students of the Bible. In addition, appeal may be made to Numbers 27:1-11 and 36:1-12 to give Scriptural precedent for the substitution of Joseph's name in Lk 3:23. At the same time it avoids the judgment spoken of in Jer 22:28-30."

[Jer 22:28-30 prohibits a descendant of Jeconiah's from ruling Israel].

Genealogies are constructed from the male side. Although Matthew's genealogy does mention women, notice that the line of the genealogy is strictly through the male names. So our Lord's descendancy as traced through His human mother would first state that He is the Son of Joseph since Joseph was Mary's husband - the male. Then the genealogy would properly move to Mary's side of the family and begin with the next generation related to our Lord Who is the..........

[Mt 1:23-24]:

"son [son = descendant] of Heli (on Mary's side who is), the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melki, the son of Jannai, the son of (another) Joseph....(etc)].

And when our Lord grew up to be a Man, He fulfilled every single Bible prophecy, some of which follow:

[Zech 9:9]:

"Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!

Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem!

Behold, your King is coming to you;

He is just and endowed with salvation,

Humble, and mounted on a donkey,

Even on a colt, the foal of a donkey."

[Mal 3:1]:

" 'Behold, I [Jehovah God] am going to send My messenger, [John the Baptist, Jn 1:6-8, 15-37] and he will clear the way before Me. And the Lord, Whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming,' says the Lord of hosts."

[Gen 49:10]:

" 'The scepter shall not depart from Judah,

Nor the ruler's staff from between His feet,

Until He comes to Whom it belongs

and the obedience of the nations is His."

[Zech 13:7]:

" 'Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd,

And against the Man, My Associate,'

Declares the Lord of hosts.

'Strike the Shepherd that the sheep may be scattered;

And I will turn My hand against the little ones.' "

So Jehovah God Almighty will raise His 'sword' against His "Shepherd" - a "man" - His "Associate".

"Associate" = "Amith" (Hebrew) = In the context of this passage, Jehovah God refers to a Man Who is His Amith - His Fellow, i.e., His Equal. So this "Shepherd" this "Man" is equal to Almighty Jehovah God. He therefore is God - God the Messiah, Jesus Christ.

Isaiah chapter 53 provides further details of the death of the Messiah which it states was for the purpose of paying for the sins of the whole world. And Isaiah 35:4 describes this Messiah Who is God and Who will come to save the faithful of Israel, (and the whole world for that matter, cp 1 Jn 2:2, Titus 3:4-7):

[Isa 35:4]:

"Say to those with palpitating heart,

'Take courage, fear not.

Behold, your God will come with vengeance;

The recompense of God will come,

But He will save you.' "

And the Messiah is to rule the world with an iron sceptor:

[Ps 2:6-12]:

(v. 6) " 'But as for Me, I [God] have installed My King

Upon Zion, My holy mountain.'

(v. 7) I will surely tell of the decree of the Lord:

He said to Me, 'Thou art My Son,

Today I have begotten Thee.

(v. 8) 'Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Thy inheritance,

And the very ends of the earth as Thy possession.

(v. 9) Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron,

Thou shalt shatter them like earthenware.'

(v. 10) Now therefore, O kings, show discernment;

Take warning, O judges of the earth.

(v. 11) Worship the Lord with reverence,

And rejoice with trembling.

(v. 12) Do homage to the Son, lest He become angry, and you perish in the way,

How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!'"

And our Lord claimed to be the Messiah:

[Jn 4:25-26]:

(v. 25) "The woman [at the well] said to Him, 'I know that Messiah is coming (He Who is called Christ); when that One comes, He will declare all things to us.; "

(v. 26) Jesus said to her, 'I Who speak to you am He.' "

So the Lord Jesus Christ was to be born of a virgin and He would be called by a name that would signify that God is with us:

[Isa 7:14]:

"Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a Son, and will call Him Immanuel."

[Mt 1:23b]:

"'...and they will call Him Immanuel'" - which means 'God with us'"

[Jn 1:14 NIV (cont)]:

"The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, Who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."

"grace" = God's unmerited (undeserved) favor and mercy.

Our Lord's ministry as Savior of the world - a world UNDESERVING to be saved - was an act of grace:

[Ro 5:8]:

"But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

The life of Christ is pure and perfect grace toward mankind...And that grace is the glory of Jehovah God.

Let's compare verse 4 with 14b:

[Jn 1:4]:

"In Him was life, and that life was the light of men."

[Jn 1:14b] (NIV):

"We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, Who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."

Grace is the principle upon which life comes. Truth is that which brings light. Grace, life, truth and light all bring glory to God through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Incidentally, we cannot read too much into "only begotten" as it appears in verse 14 of the King James Version:

[Jn 1:14b, KJV]:

"...(and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten [= "monogenous"] of the Father), full of grace and truth."

The Greek word indicated in brackets: [= "monogenous"] is translated "only begotten" in the KJV. However it should be rendered "only" or "unique" and not "only begotten".

"monogenous" consists of the Greek prefix "mono" = "one"

and the Greek verb "genous" = "One Who is"

So "monogenous" = "the only One Who is:

The Greek verb "genous", which is part of the word "monogenous" is derrived from the main Greek verb, (the infinitive), "ginomai" which means TO CAUSE TO BE.

[Jn 1:14b, KJV]:

"...and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."

["only begotten" is an incorrect translation of the Greek word "monogenous" where "mono" = one; and ""monogenous" should be translated 'and only one who is'. Notice: only one "n" occurs in "monogenous" the form of the verb "ginomai" which is used in this verse. "Monogenous" therefore is NOT derrived from the Greek verb "gennao" = to procreate, to beget which has two "n's". This will help to distinguish between these two different words in the Greek: The verb form which is used, "genous", comes from the verb to cause to be and has one "n". The other verb which is not used in this passage is "gennao" = to procreate, to beget which has two "n's". So the word "monogenous" means "the only One Who is" or "the unique One" and not the only begotten.

Further support for this corrected translation is found in Hebrews 11:17:

[Heb 11:17]:

"By faith Abraham, when God tested Him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his ONE AND ONLY son...."

"MONOGENO"

This is the same verb used in John 1:14. Isaac was not Abraham's only begotten son for Abraham had another son, Ishmael, before Isaac and other sons after Isaac, (Gen 16:15; 25:1-4). What this passage in Hebrews is saying when it uses the same verb that John uses in Jn 1:14 is that Isaac was Abraham's one and only - unique - son of the promise of God that through him the nation of Israel would be born. Through Isaac our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ would become flesh, adding perfect humanity to His diety to become the Savior of the world. So this passage in Hebrews 11:17 and the passage in John 1:14 do not refer to the begetting of human offspring but rather refer to the uniqueness of a particular son of Abraham and of the uniqueness of the Son of God.

[Jn 1:15]:

"John [the Baptist] testifies concerning Him. He cries out, saying, 'This was He of Whom I said, '''He Who comes after me has surpassed me because He was before me.'''

Immediately after the author of the Gospel, the Apostle John, writes of the incarnation of our Lord in verse 14, we go immediately to the witness of another John, John the Baptist in verse 15:

(v.14) "The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, Who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."

(v.15) "John [the Baptist] testifies concerning Him. He cries out, saying, 'This was He of Whom I said, '''He Who comes after me has surpassed me because He was before me.'''

Parallel accounts in the other Gospels cover a bit more detail of our Lord's earlier life, but John's purpose is to move the reader right into the earthly ministry of the Savior of the world which begins with the testimony of John the Baptist and our Lord's unique water baptism.

D.A. Carson writes, (op cit. p.130):

"The present tense ("John testifies concerning Him") followed immediately by the perfect tense (lit. "he has cried out") combine to suggest the Evangelist [John the author] is presenting John the Baptist's witness both vividly, [in the present tense], as if it were in progress, and comprehensively, summing it up, [in the past perfect tense], as a set piece [a completed historical event]."

The testimony of John the Baptist attests to what is stated in verse 14: that God indeed became flesh.

The last phrase in verse 15:

"'''He Who comes after me has surpassed me because He was before me.''' especially testifies that this is the Son of God for it states that although our Lord in His Humanity came after John the Baptist in time on the earth, He was, ("en" = "continually was"), before him, (Cp Jn 1:1). This of course refers to our Lord's eternal existence and His diety. John is a finite being - our Lord is the infinite God the Son. Ancient understanding would place John the Baptist in precedence over our Lord because people from antiquity viewed earlier prophets to be the superior ones. Not so in this case - as surely testified to by John the Baptist himself.

[Jn 1:16 NAS]:

"For of His fullness we have all received and grace upon grace."

"For of His fullness.." = For from all that is Jesus Christ = from all of His boundless attributes as God we believers have all received one grace - the grace of the atoning work and the gift of perfect righteousness unto salvation - replacing another grace - the Law, which also came from Jesus Christ, (when He was preincarnate), which graciously pointed us to the need for a Savior - our Lord's grace provision which replaced the Law.

Morris states, (Op. Cit. p.109):

"V. 15 shows that John thought of Jesus as far surpassing him. The point of the "for" [in verse 16 ] which links that verse [16] and this........................ [verse 15]"......

[(v. 15) "John [the Baptist] testifies concerning Him. He cries out, saying, 'This was He of Whom I said, '''He Who comes after me has surpassed me because He was before me.'''

(v. 16) FOR of His fullness we have all received and grace upon grace.")]

"The point of the "for" [in verse 16] which links that verse [16] and this [verse 15]

is perhaps that Christians in general can support this verdict [that Christ has surpassed all men], "for" [because] they have experienced the good gifts that He gives. "Fullness" will have here [in verse 16] the active meaning, 'that which fills'. Christ is the source of all of our blessings."

[Jn 1:16 NAS cont.]:

"For of His fullness we have all received and grace upon grace."

D. A. Carson states, (Op Cit., p.131):

"Verse 14 described the glory of God manifest in the incarnate Word.......

[(v.14) "The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, Who came from the Father, FULL of grace and truth."]

(Continuing with Carson's statement):

".....Verse 14 described the glory of God manifest in the incarnate Word as "FULL of grace and truth." Picking up on the term ["FULL"], John says [in verse 16] that it is from this "FULLNESS" that we have received grace after grace."

The author John states that he and those with him, (hence the "we") have received one blessing after another. The context of "we" by application today is describing the believer's experience, i.e. those who have trusted alone in Christ alone and thereby receive the right to become children of God (Jn 1:12) - and share in His fullness.

S. Lewis Johnson states it this way, (Believers Bible Bulletin on the Gospel of John, Lesson #4, 12/6/81, Believers Chapel, Dallas, Tx, p.4):

"The apostle claims that he and others with him have drawn on His inexhaustible resources of grace and truth, the grace of perfect redemption and the truth of a perfect revelation (cf. vv. 17, 18). This implies, of course, that the Word, Who became flesh, has also completed a work of redemption, because we [believers] could never enjoy His fullness, if we had not been redeemed. Otherwise, we could only experience His rejection and judgment."

The Apostle Paul expands the teaching of the fullness of our Lord in a letter to the Colossians:

[Col 1:19]:

"For God was pleased to have all His fullness [the complete essences of diety] dwell [katoikesai = permanently reside] in Him [Jesus Christ], ..."

[Eph 1:22-23]:

"And God placed all things under His feet and appointed Him to be head over everything for the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him Who fills everything in every way."

[Col 2:9]:

"For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ."

These verses teach that all of the fullness of God resides in the Lord Jesus Christ. Our Lord Jesus Christ is God Himself, for ALL of the fullness of God resides in Him! The last part of Col 2:9 does not say, however, that the believer receives the fullness of Christ which is the fullness of God, as some maintain. Rather, it plainly states that the believer has been given his own particular and finite capacity to be made full - to be made complete, i.e., to be made mature as a result of being in Christ.

"And you have been given fullness in Christ" = And you believers, by virtue of being in Christ, receive your own unique capacity for fullness - for completeness - with respect to what God made you for and your eternal purpose. And that of God's infinite essence which each believer receives to his own particular, finite and unique fullness is a gracious act on the part of God. The believer in no way himself has done anything to merit the reception of a particular finite part of the essence of God.