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Scripture Reading: John 1:16; Col. 2:9-11
John 1:14 says, “The Word became flesh and tabernacled among us...full of grace and reality.” Being full of grace and reality refers to obtaining and enjoying the Lord Jesus, who is the fullness of God (v. 16). When we obtain grace and touch reality, God’s glory is manifested through the Lord. This is the reason that John says, “We beheld His glory, glory as of the only Begotten from the Father” (v. 14).
In this chapter we will consider the phrase of His fullness we have all received in verse 16. According to the sentence structure in the Greek text, this phrase is connected to the phrase full of grace and reality in verse 14 because verse 15 is an inserted word. Hence, the fullness spoken of in verse 16 is actually the grace and reality mentioned in verse 14. Of His fullness, that is, of His grace and reality, we have all received.
Although we say that fullness is equal to grace and reality, we may not be fully clear about the significance of this matter. John used a special term fullness to show that the fullness we have received from the Lord is just the content of God. Colossians 2:9 says, “In Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.” The fullness of Christ is equal to the content of God.
Many Christians associate fullness and grace with material things on earth. For example, a person may testify, “Formerly, I had a hard life because what I earned could not cover my rent. But God is blessing me now, and my financial situation has changed completely. I have a nice house for myself and two other houses to rent. Furthermore, I am building another house. I have truly received of His fullness, even grace upon grace.” Many of us have heard such testimonies.
More than ten years ago, I was living in Tsingtao. One day a brother came to see me. I asked him about his business, and he responded, “Oh, I have received of the Lord’s fullness with grace upon grace. Although business is somewhat slow, my inventory in Tsingtao and Shanghai is quite good, and I have a branch office in Tsinan. Furthermore, there is sufficient revenue. This is truly grace upon grace.”
On another occasion I was invited to a brother’s home for a meal. I had met this brother when his children were young. When I went to his house to eat, his children were adults. I asked about his children, and he said, “Praise the Lord! We have all received of His fullness and grace upon grace. My oldest son has graduated from a university, and my younger son has graduated from another university. Not only so, they are both married.” When his daughters-in-law came into the room, he introduced them to me, telling me from which college they had graduated. Then he called his grandchildren over and said, “These are my grandchildren. See how gracious God has been to me these years. This is truly grace upon grace.” After listening to him, I did not know whether to be upset because this brother was blind to the true meaning of grace or amused because the earthly fullness that this brother had was not the fullness spoken of by the apostle John. In Paul’s eyes this brother’s “fullness” was refuse (Phil. 3:8). It was not grace upon grace but refuse upon refuse. This is the pitiful situation of many Christians today.
Grace in John 1:16 does not refer to material things, and His fullness does not refer to having a family with good children and grandchildren, a storehouse filled with goods, or a handful of houses. His fullness is not any of these things. The Lord’s fullness is the rich content of all that God is, and this fullness dwells in Christ bodily. Fullness does not refer to material things.
The fullness is nothing other than the element of God Himself, the content of what God is. The entire Gospel of John is needed in order to explain the introductory word in 1:1-18. Because verse 16 says, “Of His fullness we have all received,” we should be able to find references to the content of this fullness throughout the entire Gospel of John. Of all the four Gospels, only the Gospel of John describes the Lord Jesus in relation to so many items.
This Gospel speaks of the Lord Jesus in reference to life, grace, reality, the way, and light (1:4, 14; 14:6; 8:12). In fact, there are at least thirty-one items related to the Lord Jesus; sixteen of these items are in chapter 1 alone. He is the Word (v. 1); God (v. 1); life (v. 4); light (v. 4); flesh (v. 14); the tabernacle (v. 14); grace (v. 14); reality (v. 14); the only Begotten from the Father (vv. 14, 18); the Son of God (vv. 34, 49); the Lamb (v. 29); the One who baptizes in the Holy Spirit (v. 33); Christ, the Messiah (v. 41); a man, a Nazarene (v. 45); a king, the King of Israel (v. 49); and the Son of Man (v. 51).
In addition to these items, there are at least another fifteen items. The Lord Jesus is the temple (2:21), the Bridegroom (3:29), the One who comes from above (v. 31), the One who is above all (v. 31), the One who gives the Spirit not by measure (v. 34), the One who inherits all things (v. 35), the living fountain (4:14), the Savior of the world (v. 42), the bread of life (6:35), the door of the sheep (10:9), the good Shepherd (v. 11), the resurrection (11:25), a grain of wheat (12:24), the way (14:6), and the vine (15:1). These items and the items in chapter 1 add up to thirty-one items. If we want to know the fullness in the Lord Jesus, we need to know these thirty-one items. Every item speaks of His content, and this content is related to His fullness, which we cannot exhaust in our experience.
Our initial salvation is the first step in our receiving of His fullness; we experience that the Lord Jesus is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world, who was judged by God, and who suffered the penalty of death on the cross. When we heard the gospel and realized that we were sinners, we did not feel peaceful within and our conscience condemned us. At that time the Holy Spirit declared to us that the Lord is the Lamb of God (16:13), who bore our sins on the cross and received God’s judgment on our behalf, shedding His redeeming blood so that our sins could be forgiven. Quite spontaneously, we thanked the Lord for bearing our sins, suffering judgment on our behalf, and shedding His blood. Thus, we received of His fullness, which includes His bearing of our sins, His redeeming us from sins, and His suffering judgment on our behalf. We escaped judgment and received the forgiveness of sins through grace according to His fullness.
When we received Him, thanked Him, and worshipped Him, our inner being became bright and full of light. Furthermore, we became clear concerning our relationship with God, our origin and destiny, and the meaning of human life, which were previously confusing and incomprehensible to us. At the time of our salvation, even though we could not explain the light in our inner being nor speak of Him being light in us, this was our true condition. Thus, in addition to receiving Him as the Lamb, we received of His fullness as light.
When we received the Lord and there was the shining of light in us, we had a sense to no longer speak as we once did and even to no longer go to the places we once enjoyed. Spontaneously, we stopped doing many things. Even the things that we once looked at no longer appealed to us. Without any conscious decision our taste for things changed. The only explanation was that the Lord as life was living in us. When we received Him as life, our taste spontaneously changed. We no longer liked the things that we formerly liked, and we no longer loved the things that we formerly loved. Spontaneously, our taste for our hobbies fell away. This was an issue of receiving of His fullness.
After we believed in the Lord Jesus, we felt that we were close to God and more transcendent than before, but we also were more willing to be lowly. Formerly, the further we were from God, the more we felt that we were great and noble, but after we were saved and closer to God, there was more of a willingness in us to be lowly. On one hand, we fellowshipped with God and were transcendent, but on the other hand, we were very lowly before others. This is an experience related to incarnation. When the Lord came to the earth, He was God, but He was also a lowly man from Nazareth. This shows that we received the content of incarnation according to His fullness.
As we follow Him and fellowship with Him, we will have many experiences related to His fullness. We will sense the Lord’s kingship, realizing that the Lord Jesus is not only the Savior but also the King. When we began to meet in northern China over thirty years ago, I came across a portion in the Psalms that says, “O Jehovah of hosts, my King and my God” (84:3). This verse was so powerful that it caused me to prostrate myself before God and say, “O God, I have never acknowledged You as my King. Thank You and praise You! Today I have a deep feeling that You are not only my Savior, my Lord, my God, and my Father but also my King. I want to submit to Your authority.” At that time I began to understand the meaning of being prostrate before the Lord. After following the Lord for a period of time, many of His children come to the realization that our Lord is the glorious King. This is an experience of receiving of His fullness.
When we receive grace according to His fullness, we also will experience His sweet and balanced humanity. The more we love God, look like God, and are filled with God inwardly, the more we will express such a humanity outwardly. When I began to serve the Lord, I was rather strict. For example, when I was invited to a meal, I would sit without swaying my body or speaking loosely. When someone politely passed a dish to me, I would feel that he was being artificial. When the host remarked that not enough food had been prepared, I would think, “This is not truthful. There are so many dishes on the table, but he still says that there is not enough food.” Although I outwardly partook of the meal in a proper way, I would condemn others inwardly for being hypocrites and full of pretense. As I began to receive more of the Lord’s fullness, however, I began to realize that my attitude was lacking in simple humanity. I was more like a stiff piece of wood than I was a man. Thankfully, the flavor of my humanity has increased over time.
About twenty years ago I was having fellowship with some brothers and sisters in northern China. They were asking many questions, and I was answering them continually. We talked from the morning until one o’clock in the afternoon. Realizing that they must be hungry, I asked, “Are you all hungry?” A recently saved sister immediately replied, “Oh, we are not fleshly.” This word was very strong, and it sounded as if eating would cause them to be fleshly. I could only smile. Then they continued to ask questions, and I continued to answer them. After two o’clock I said, “There are probably many brothers and sisters who need to eat.” Another new sister replied, “None of us wants to be a Martha.” These comments showed that the newly saved ones were lacking in a flavor of genuine humanity. They had the Word, but in their experience the Word had not become flesh. If we truly have the Word in our experience, the Word will become flesh. Christians should not merely pursue spirituality and neglect practical things. If a meal had been prepared, we could have continued our fellowship in an even more pleasant environment. Preparing a meal does not make one a Martha but rather a man, like Jesus the Nazarene. There is nothing fleshly about being concerned for the saints; it is even more spiritual because it testifies of the Word becoming flesh.
The fullness of the Lord Jesus is too great. In the Gospel of John alone there are at least thirty-one items of what He is. He is high, because He is God; He is low, because He is a man, even a man from a poor family and a despised place. He is truly high and truly low; He is truly great and truly small. The content of God is in Him, and the content of man is in Him as well. He is so full.
John 1:16 says, “Of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace.” The phrase grace upon grace indicates that grace is like sea waves that come upon the shore one after another. For example, when we are newly saved, we touch the elements of His redemption, of His bearing of our sins, and of His being judged on our behalf. Our sins are forgiven, and we have joy and peace. Thus, we receive of His fullness. After a period of time our inner being becomes bright and full of light. Then grace comes as life and continues to come as lowliness and submission to the Lord’s kingship. Gradually, grace comes to us as the living of God in our humanity. Although we are a man living on the earth, the source of our living is the life of God within us. All these experiences cause us to not only see but also touch something, that is, to see and touch the element of His fullness as grace. In this way we receive and experience grace upon grace, and more of His element becomes our element. This is grace upon grace in our experience.
At the end of 1934 some of the co-workers who lived in Shanghai prayed with fasting on New Year’s Eve, asking the Lord for His promises related to the upcoming year. One co-worker received a word while in prayer: “To know Him and the power of His resurrection” (Phil. 3:10). He felt that this was the Lord’s word to him, but he did not know the reason for this word. Not too long after, he encountered a particular environment that he could not bear. When he asked the Lord about this situation, he had an inward realization that the Lord allowed it so that he could know Christ and the power of His resurrection. Then he gave himself to the Lord, and throughout this time he experienced the power of resurrection. Later, he was placed in another situation with a person whom he did not love and for whom he had no strength to love. Even though he knew that he needed to love this person, he had no love for him. This situation was not related to his learning how to love but to showing him that he had no love in himself and that he could not love by himself. When he sought the Lord about this situation, the Lord said, “This is for you to know Me and the power of My resurrection.” The Lord showed him that He was the love in him and that the power of His resurrection was the source of this love. Then the brother said to the Lord, “I give myself to You. I am unable to love, and I have no way to change. I give myself to You. You are in me as my life, and You have the power of resurrection. This is Your business.” Spontaneously, he began to experience Christ as love in him, enabling him to love the one whom he could not love. This is grace upon grace. Day by day, as we receive more of the Lord, more of His element becomes our element, and more of His fullness becomes our fullness.
After Paul says, “You have been made full in Him,” in Colossians 2:10, he gives an example of being made full. Verse 11 says, “In Him also you were circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands, in the putting off of the body of the flesh, in the circumcision of Christ.” We cannot deal with our flesh and lusts; however, there is an element in the fullness of Christ that can circumcise us. Once this element in His fullness enters into us, it has the effect of circumcising us.
For example, after being saved, our previous fleshly indulgences often continue to encumber us. However, as we gradually receive more of His fullness, these indulgences begin to fall away. Some weaknesses cannot be overcome quickly, even though others may admonish us and we may make many resolutions. As we receive grace upon grace, however, these weaknesses begin to fall away spontaneously.
After being saved, a brother may have no problem other than losing his temper with his wife. He may be patient with everyone except his wife. Although he knows and acknowledges this problem, and even condemns it, he cannot overcome it. However, as long as he is receiving of the Lord’s fullness with grace upon grace, this is not really a problem. Eventually, he will receive the grace that will kill his temper toward his wife.
I know of a brother who was saved for many years, but he did not like to read the Bible, and even when he read the Bible, he found it difficult to understand. He was familiar with the words in the Bible, but he did not understand what he was reading. Furthermore, he could not sing any of the hymns. In one meeting, however, all the saints experienced the outward filling of the Holy Spirit. As a result of this receiving, he was able to sing the words in the hymnal and understand the words in the Bible. His mind was opened as a result of this receiving. This is God’s grace. “Of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace.” This word is true! His fullness is like an immeasurable and unlimited ocean. His grace is like ocean waves that come to us one after another.
Although John 1:16 says, “Of His fullness we have all received,” this does not mean that we have received everything of His fullness. His fullness is inexhaustible. The word all refers to us, to those who have received the fullness. Every saved person has received of His fullness. Paul received it, John received it, and we have received it. All the saved ones have received of His fullness. Although some have received more and others less, all have received. Furthermore, we have grace upon grace; we can receive, obtain, and enjoy grace upon grace. Every experience of grace involves an element of Himself. The more we receive His grace, the more we will be filled with His element, and the more His fullness will become our fullness. May we learn to be those who receive grace, ceasing from our struggling, striving, and reliance on ourselves. Everything that we have, we have received from Him. Praise the Lord that we can receive of His fullness as grace upon grace.
