John 1:15-17 (NIV)
15 John (the Baptist) testified concerning him… “This is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’”) 16 Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
After John’s detailed description regarding Jesus as being both the ‘life’ and the ‘light’ of the world…John now begins to focus on the mission of John the Baptist …notice how he describes John’s purpose as a man ‘sent from God’ [1:6] as opposed to Jesus who was ‘in the beginning with God’ [1:2].
The importance of identifying who John the Baptist is for two reasons:
FIRST…John is the introducer of a new dispensation…the dispensation of grace…
We now live in the time period known as the dispensation of grace.
History lesson…let me share with you some eschatological theology…eschatology is the science of last things…it is commonly believed that there are seven dispensations.
Dispensationalism is a method of interpreting biblical history…it divides God’s work and purposes into seven different periods of time…most theologians agree that we are living in the next to the last dispensation…the Dispensation of Grace.
The Dispensation of Grace started on the Day of Pentecost with the coming of the Holy Spirit…that is what John is introducing here…we are living in the “Age of Grace” or the “Church Age.”
Here’s what’s unique about the dispensation of grace…John is proclaiming God’s intentions toward men…in this dispensation is the expectation of what had been anticipated in all the preceding dispensations.
In other words, everything that has been happening in the last 5000 years has been leading up to this…the age of grace…so far…this dispensation has lasted over 2,000 years…and no one knows when it will end.
BUT…we do know the event that will bring it to and end…the sixth dispensation ends with the Rapture of the church [1 Thess. 4] …when all born-again believers and all believers who have died will be taken from the earth to heaven to be with Christ.
Getting back to the sixth dispensation…what is special about this dispensation is that the Holy Spirit indwells in believers.
Prior to this the Holy Spirit only indwelt in certain people for a specific purpose …but in this dispensation…the dispensation of grace…the Holy Spirit…as the Comforter lives in the life of every believer. He lives in you until you die.
SECOND point in mentioning John the Baptist was to remind people that John was not the Messiah…the exact nature of John’s work needed clarification…he was only a witness to make known to people that the living ‘Word’ …the ‘Light’ has come into the world.
That is the intent [v. 15] in saying, “He who comes after me has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.” In that statement John is declaring that
In [v14] John says that the Word became flesh and took on human form…the Word was made a man…he then makes an interesting insight into Jesus’ incarnation when he says: ‘the only begotten from the Father.’
Does ‘only begotten Son’ indicate that Jesus is a created being? …that He was born…our English translation of this in Genesis adds to the confusion.
The reason is because the Greek word μονογενοῦς (monogenes) is not referring to the “begetting” or to the idea that Jesus was born.
The words ‘only begotten’ does not mean that Christ was created…John is saying… the ‘Word’ Jesus has always been the source of life…He has always existed…Jesus is uniquely God’s Son.
[Hebrews 1:2] says God created the universe through His “Son”—implying that Christ was the Son of God prior to the Creation…and explicitly to have existed “before all things” [Col. 1:17].
Therefore…the term ‘only begotten’ is not an accurate translation…it is misleading and leads to some misunderstanding because most Bible translations today don’t accurately translate the Greek word μονογενοῦς ‘only begotten’ correctly.
As a result…our Jehovah’s Witnesses friends tell us that Jesus is God’s only begotten Son in the sense that He was directly created by the hand of God.
(Aid to bible Understanding, 1971, 918)
He is therefore a god…but a lesser god than God the Father because He was made…and they will use the word ‘only begotten’ as their source.
CORRECTING THE MISINTERPRETATION…we saw last week that John has clearly shown that ‘Jesus was in the beginning with God’…the word ‘was’in the imperfect tense denotes continuous, ongoing or repeated action in the past.
The ESV Study Bible notes: The Greek word “only begotten” has nothing to do with being born…monogenes, means “one of a kind…unique,” …this is the wording that is reserved for Jesus.
Jesus is unique in every aspect of his being…He is unique in His person…birth… miracles…death…and resurrection…thus “One and Only” or ‘One of a kind’ is a more accurate translation than “only begotten” because it captures the uniqueness of who Jesus is. …the JW’s have made a gross theological error.
Since I’ve mentioned the Jehovah’s Witnesses let me tell you how our Mormon friends interpret the idea that Jesus was “the only begotten from the Father,” or as they view it…that Jesus was God’s first-born Son.
Mike Huckabee was criticized back in 2007 when he made the statement: “Don’t Mormons believe that Jesus and the devil are brothers?”
The Mormon church was quick to condemn that statement…BUT…by their own admittance—[Robert L. Millet a professor of religion at Brigham Young University]] ]—-have stated: “Jesus was God’s first-born son—[error already…Jesus wasn’t born…He’s always been]—and everyone who came after that, including Satan, could be considered the siblings of Jesus.” TWO THINGS:
FIRST…second error…Satan was created…if created…how could Satan be a sibling of Jesus. Terrible theology.
SECONDLY…the definition of sibling is: one of two or more individuals having one common parent…so if they say Satan is a sibling of Jesus wouldn’t that in fact imply Satan is Jesus’s brother? How utterly ridiculous…and even blasphemous.
Let me just mention really quick something about cults…four things all religious cults have in common and how you can identify them:
First…cults will tell you that you can only be “saved” in their organization alone.
Second…they declare they have the Divine authority of the Bible but in reality… they manipulate the scriptures to suit their own purposes.
Thirdly… cults will tell you if you ever leave the “one true church” then you are going to hell.
Fourth…they all have their own translation of the Bible because the Bible has been corrupted.
So to answer the false teaching John is establishing the fact that as God’s Son…Jesus wasn’t created…He’s not God’s offspring…He’s not a sibling of Satan…He’s one-of-a-kind…He’s unique in His relationship with God.
This is the whole purpose of 1, 2, 3 John is to address the lies of the cults that had already sprung up in the first century.
Then John goes on to further describe Jesus as full of grace and truth…here’s what this means.
…Jesus’ GRACE offers love and compassion to guilty sinners (John 4:1-26).
…Jesus’ TRUTH sanctifies us…and warns us of God’s judgment.
Truth is a two-sided coin…people like the sanctification part…but don’t want to hear about God’s judgment… people don’t come to church to feel bad…to have to face the reality of their lifestyle.
BUT the Bible is clear on the fact that not everyone goes to heaven…All dogs (may) go to Heaven…that’s a movie…unfortunately…not all people go to heaven …let me share with you what happens when we ignore truth.
This is the problem in The United Methodist Church…it’s anticipated that in May the nation’s third-largest denomination in America is expected to split because they are blatantly ignoring Scripture.
They are ignoring truth…their split is the result of the contentious fight over same-sex marriage and LGBT clergy.
Nothing in Scripture bars someone who is LGBT from becoming a minister… actually there’s a short list of things that prohibits someone from becoming a pastor.
Fortunately, the Bible doesn’t have a list of the offenses that excludes someone from becoming a Pastor…if it did most of the Pastors in America wouldn’t be in the pulpit…including me.
BUT…there is a prohibition regarding same-sex marriage…and rather than obey the truth regarding this matter the Methodist Church has elected to ignore Scripture …not face the reality of sin…and split the church.
GOING DEEP…Grace and truth reached their culmination at the Cross where God’s propitiation was satisfied…Propitiation is a two-part act…the word propitiation carries the idea of appeasement specifically toward God.
Propitiation involves appeasing the wrath of an offended person…just so you know…God is offended.
BUT besides appeasement…propitiation also includes reconciliation…God’s wrath against sinners was placed on Jesus…Jesus got what I should have gotten.
That’s called mercy…God’s anger was satisfied in the death of the perfect Substitute…the sin that once separated us from God has been removed and we are restored back into perfect harmony with God…that’s called reconciliation.
Because of God’s grace all those who trust in Jesus…are brought back into fellowship with God…BUT…that is only accomplished by believing in the ‘life’ and ‘light’ of the world…that allows you to experience God’s forgiveness.
Since Jesus is full of GRACE you can come to Him for forgiveness…and because He is full of TRUTH you can trust His promise that you are forgiven.
Then John makes a comparison between Old Testament grace and New Testament grace…in [v. 17]…he is in effect presenting a contrast between the Old Testament with all its regulations…sacrifices…ordinances…and ceremonies that was given through Moses…against the new era of salvation by grace through faith that has come through Jesus Christ.
Often times we view the Law in a way that is unfair…we see the law with all its demands and consequences as nothing more than an aggravation of trying to please God by works rather than through belief.
In [v. 17] there is a confusing phrase that seems to cast a division between The Law and grace and it’s not meant to: “For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” as if they are separate…one being replaced by the other.
BUT…that’s not what John is implying… John isn’t suggesting the time before Jesus was a time lacking in grace…rather just the opposite…God’s grace has always been evident.
John’s not painting the law in a negative light…he’s not saying it’s bad…rather the law was a gracious thing …the Law is described as the first grace that was offered.
Here’s what John is saying…especially to the Jewish believers who knew the Law with all of its burdensome demands and consequences that only caused aggravation by trying to please God by works rather than belief.
John is introducing the ultimate grace and truth…Jesus…grace that has been added to the old grace…Jesus is not doing away with the grace the Law brought…the grace that Jesus brings has been added to the grace that the Law brought.
If you want an even more gracious demonstration of God’s covenant love and faithfulness…it’s found in Jesus… “If you thought that God’s gift of the law through Moses was a great thing (and it was), He has given us a greater gift now through His Son Jesus Christ.”
That’s what John is referring to in only three words in the Greek fully captures Old Testament grace with New Testament grace. χάριν ἀντὶ χάριτος·
This phrase has been translated in a number of different ways because of the confusion surrounding the Greek word ἀντὶ
NIV: “grace in place of grace already given.”
ESV: NASB: “grace upon grace.”
KJV: “grace for grace.”
NLT: “one gracious blessing after another.”
So…the phrase can be correctly translated in a number of different ways and all be correct…the idea is that the law was a gracious gift but now God is going to introduce an even better gracious gift …it’s not to be thought of as the Law is outdated…that’s not what is meant. The Old Testament is still in effect.
John is saying that God has added ‘grace to grace’ …grace has been added to grace.
When we have a revelation of who Jesus is…why He came…how God intertwines Old Testament grace with the New Testament grace, then we can better grasp the four words that define who Jesus is and what His ministry is; that He is ‘life’ and ‘light’, He is ‘truth’ and ‘grace.’
Jesus is the life, a life not limited by time nor hindered by death.
Jesus is light, the only exclusive source of spiritual light.
Jesus is the manifestation of God’s grace who brings salvation.
Jesus is the truth incarnate…the Word of God made flesh.