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In the previous message we saw that Christ, as the Word, came as life and light for the purpose of bringing forth many children to be God’s enlargement and corporate expression. This is revealed in John 1:1-13. May we keep this point deep within us.
In this message we come to the second section of John 1, which is composed of verses 14 through 18. This section shows us that the very Christ who was the Word and who came as life and light to produce many children for God’s enlargement and expression was incarnated for our enjoyment. John 1:1-13 tells us that Christ came to produce the children of God; verses 14-18 indicate that all the children of God need the enjoyment of Christ.
How can we enjoy Christ? By His incarnation. To be incarnated means to be consolidated. As the Word before His incarnation, Christ was mysterious. However, when He was incarnated, He became so real to us. Before His incarnation, He was intangible, invisible, and untouchable. By becoming flesh, He became solid, real, visible, and touchable. Verse 14 says, “And the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us.” That was something solid. In becoming flesh to tabernacle among man, He became tangible. People could not only see Him, but could also touch Him. Hence, John says, “We beheld His glory as of an only begotten from a father.” In his first epistle, John tells us that they touched Him (1 John 1:1). Thus, in His incarnation, Christ became tangible.
Although He became tangible through His incarnation, we needed something more before we could enjoy Him. Therefore, 1:14 says that He was “full of grace and reality.” It does not say that He was full of doctrines and gifts. When He became visible and touchable, He was full of grace and reality. When Christ was in the flesh with the disciples, they not only saw and touched Him, but they also enjoyed Him. If you could have asked Peter and Mary why they loved Him so much and why they liked being in His presence, they would have said, “We simply cannot put it into words. As long as we stay with Him, we have a certain enjoyment. No words can utter it. But we can all testify that it is so sweet to sit in His presence. There is such enjoyment and reality. We don’t know how to explain it or define it, but we know for sure that we enjoy it.” What did they enjoy? It was the Word in the flesh, full of grace and reality.
We have just stated that the Word became flesh for our enjoyment. Now we must see that He was incarnated that He might declare God (v. 18). God “was manifested in the flesh” (1 Tim. 3:16). How did He declare God? He declared God in the flesh by presenting Himself to us for our enjoyment. He did not say to the early disciples, “My little children, I want you to know that I am the Son of God and that I have come in the flesh to declare God to you. You all must know God. Look at My face. You must realize who I am. When you know Me, you know God the Father.” If He had declared God in this way, all His disciples would have withdrawn from Him. Peter would have said, “I will return to my fishing in Galilee,” and Martha would have said, “Lord, I will go home and tend to my affairs.” No, Christ did not come in the flesh to declare God in the way of teachings, but in a way that was full of grace and reality. He did not say, “Little children, you must seek God in Me. Learn the lesson that I am here to declare God.” He declared God in the way of enjoyment, by presenting Himself as grace and reality. Thus, Peter could have said, “I will never go back to fishing. I will stay with this man forever. Although I don’t know who He is, whether He is the Son of God, the Father, the Word, or the Creator, I do know that staying with Him is so sweet.” This is the way that Jesus, the Son of God in the flesh, declared God. He did not declare God to His disciples by teaching them, but by affording them such a sweet enjoyment. By simply looking at people He could capture them. How enjoyable was His presence! His presence was so charming. So many of the early disciples were charmed by Him. It seemed that no one could withstand His charming presence. That was His way of declaring God.
God is not a God of teaching, doctrine, regulations, laws, or gifts. God is a God of enjoyment. God is grace and reality to us. God is our full enjoyment, and Jesus as the Son of God is the very embodiment of all the enjoyment of God. When He abides with you, you enjoy God. You taste God as One who is sweet, dear, and precious. Eventually, you gain His reality. We have no human words to explain this. Although we lack the utterance to describe this, we may enjoy it today. When we stay with the Lord for a period of time, calling on Him, saying, “Lord Jesus, I love You,” we sense sweetness, comfort, rest, refreshment, and strength. Not only so, we have His reality. People may ask you, “What kind of reality do you have?” Although I do not know how to describe it, I do have reality. Before spending time in the presence of the Lord I was empty, but now I am full. I have reality. I am satisfied and filled to the brim.
The Word was incarnated to declare God, becoming flesh for our enjoyment. The Son of God declares God to man in the way of enjoyment. This is wonderful.
When the Word became flesh, He was “in the likeness of the flesh of sin” (Rom. 8:3). In the Bible, the word “flesh” is not a good term; it denotes something fallen and sinful. Romans 7:18 says that nothing good dwells in our flesh. When the Word says that Christ became flesh, does this mean that He became something sinful? Absolutely not. He became flesh in the “likeness of the flesh of sin.” The brass serpent lifted up on a pole by Moses (Num. 21:4-9) was a type of Christ being made in the likeness of the flesh of sin. Although that brass serpent was in the form of the serpent, it did not have the poisonous nature of the serpent. Its nature was pure, clean, and good. It was made in the form of the serpent for the purpose of substitution. We shall see more of this when we come to John 3:14. For the time being it is sufficient if we realize that when Christ became flesh, He did not have the sinful nature of the flesh, but only the likeness of the flesh of sin. By His becoming flesh in this way, man was able to touch Him, participate in Him, and enjoy the fullness of God that was in Him. When He became flesh, He apparently became sin, for 2 Corinthians 5:21 says that God made Him to be sin. Actually, He did not have the sinful nature, but only the form, the likeness, of the flesh of sin.
In 2 Corinthians 5:21 we are also told that He “did not know sin.” We do not have the language to explain this. How can we say that the Lord Jesus did not know sin when He knew everything? Since He knew everything, He knew sin thoroughly. Nevertheless, 2 Corinthians 5:21 says that He knew no sin. What does this mean? According to my understanding, it means that Jesus had no sin and that He had nothing to do with it. In His nature and His substance there was no such thing as sin. Although He was made sin, within Him there was no nature of sin. All we can say is that He was in the form, in the likeness, of the flesh of sin.
When He was in the flesh, He was the tabernacle of God among men. By being incarnated, the Word not only brought God into humanity, but also became a tabernacle to God to be God’s habitation on earth among men. According to the history in the Old Testament, there was among the people on earth a tabernacle, and in that tabernacle God was present. Jesus in the flesh was the real tabernacle. The Old Testament tabernacle was a type, a shadow, and a prefigure of the real tabernacle which was Christ Himself in the flesh. God was in the tabernacle, for it was the tabernacle that brought God to the children of Israel. In the time of the New Testament, it was Jesus in the flesh who brought God to man that man might enjoy God’s presence. When He was in the flesh as the tabernacle of God among men, God was embodied in Him (Col. 2:9). All that God is and has was embodied in Jesus. For what purpose was God embodied in the flesh in Jesus? For the purpose that sinful man might partake of God in Christ. In other words, God was embodied in Christ for our enjoyment.
When He was in the flesh, Christ was God’s dwelling on earth. One day, while He was on the mountain with three of His disciples, He was transfigured before them (Matt. 17:2; 2 Pet. 1:17-18). This means that the very God of glory who indwelt Him came out of the tabernacle. The God of glory who was concealed in and by His flesh was manifested there on the mountain. That was the transfiguration of Jesus. The glory, which was God Himself, came out of the tabernacle. Even in the ancient times the children of Israel saw the shekinah glory that was concealed in the tabernacle (Exo. 40:34). The same thing happened on the mount of transfiguration. Suddenly, as He stood before three of His disciples, the shekinah glory that was within Jesus was manifested, shining over Peter, James, and John. They were shocked, unable, at that time, to enjoy the glory very much. They might have had some enjoyment at the time. However, as they recalled that event, they must have thought of how wonderful it was.
John tells us that when Christ as the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us, it was full of grace. There was something with Christ that the Bible calls grace. What is grace? It is difficult to define. We may say that grace is God in Christ with all that He is as the fullness for our enjoyment. This includes rest, comfort, power, strength, light, life, righteousness, holiness, and all the other divine attributes. This is grace for our enjoyment. We may simply enjoy God in Christ as everything. Whenever we are in the presence of God, we enjoy the fullness of all that He is. Thus, verse 16 says, “For of His fullness we all received, and grace upon grace.” The fullness of the Godhead, that is, all that God is, dwells in Christ bodily for our enjoyment.
We have seen that grace is nothing less than God in the Son as our enjoyment. When Galatians 2:20 is compared with 1 Corinthians 15:10, Christ is clearly seen as the grace — i.e., “yet not I, but Christ” and “yet not I, but the grace of God.” Grace is not the gift of material things, nor just the gifts of spiritual things, but the gift of God Himself in Christ as our enjoyment. The apostle Paul said that all things other than Christ are dung (Phil. 3:8). Besides Christ, besides God, even the best things in the eyes of the apostle were nothing but dung, which in the Greek means dog food, the refuse or garbage thrown out to the dogs in ancient times. If anyone is seeking anything other than God in Christ, he is seeking garbage. All things apart from God in Christ are such. But God in Christ is grace to us, and this grace came by God’s incarnation. Grace is simply God whom we enjoy in Christ as our only and full enjoyment.
When we enjoy God and participate in Him, that is grace. I say again that grace is God in the Son for our enjoyment. Grace is God, not in doctrine, but in our experience. When you experience God as your strength, life, comfort, rest, power, righteousness, and holiness, that is grace. Christ declares the Father God in the way of enjoyment, day by day affording us a portion of the enjoyment of God.
The more we enjoy God, the more we know Him. The only way to know a certain food is by eating it. Although you may tell me that a particular food is delicious, I cannot know it for myself unless I taste it. When I partake of that food, it is declared to me by my enjoyment of it. Now I know it, but still I cannot explain it to you. If you want to know it, you also must eat it. Thus, God is declared to us by our tasting of Him. We need to taste God. We need to enjoy God as our grace, for this is the way in which Christ declares God to us. This matter transcends our utterance. We do have the enjoyment, but it is difficult to tell people about it. Suppose you have tasted a cake and you say, “This cake is delicious.” If I were to ask you to tell me how delicious it is, you would have to reply, “I can’t tell you. You have to taste it for yourself.” We need to taste God. Christ came with the fullness of God’s grace. We need to enjoy His presence and remain with Him. Then we shall participate in what God is. In this way God is declared to us, and we come to realize Him.
Whenever we enjoy God, we not only have grace, but also reality. When God is enjoyed by us, we have enjoyment, that is, grace, and when we have this enjoyment, we realize the reality of God. The last item related to God’s incarnation is reality. Truth in the Gospel of John actually means reality. It means the realization of God and the reality of God. Paul in the New Testament said that all things are dung (Phil. 3:8), and Solomon declared that all things are vanity (Eccl. 1:2), without reality. Nothing is reality; everything is vanity. Everything in the eyes of the apostle was dung, and everything in the eyes of King Solomon was vanity. Only God is reality. If we have God, we have reality. The more we experience God, the more we shall enjoy grace and apprehend reality.
Grace is God enjoyed by us in the Son; reality is God realized by us in the Son. Grace is the enjoyment, and reality is the realization. To say, “God is light,” may be merely a doctrine without realization. However, when you participate in God, experiencing God as light to you, you have the realization of God as light. Likewise, to say, “God is life,” may be a mere term. But, whenever you enjoy Christ as your portion, you have the realization that God is life to you. Hence, grace is God enjoyed by you, and reality is God realized by you in that enjoyment.
Both grace and reality came with Jesus. Verse 17 says, “For the law was given through Moses; grace and reality came through Jesus Christ.” The law makes demands upon man according to what God is, but grace supplies man with what God is to meet what God demands. The law, at the most, was only a testimony of what God is (Exo. 25:21), but reality is the realization of what God is. No man can partake of God through the law, but grace is the enjoyment of God for man, and reality is the realization of God for man. Eventually, grace is God enjoyed by man, and reality is God realized by man. Since both grace and reality came with Jesus, when Jesus is with us, we have grace and reality. Although we lack the adequate language to describe this, we may nevertheless know it, at least to some extent, from our experience. Many times we have enjoyed God in Christ as our grace, and many times we have realized that God in Christ is truly life, light, comfort, rest, patience, humility, and so many other things. This is the realization of God.
When we enjoy God in Christ as grace and apprehend Him in Christ as reality, we find how unsearchable are the riches of Christ. Of His fullness we have received grace upon grace. In the incarnated Christ there is abundant fullness, for the fullness of God dwells in Him (Col. 2:9). Through the incarnation of God in Christ, we can receive the riches of grace and reality out of His divine fullness.
Grace and reality have no limit. There is always fullness. Anything that we enjoy other than God in Christ has a limit; however, when we enjoy God in Christ as grace and reality, we find that there is no limit, only fullness. This fullness is unlimited. The more you enjoy this fullness, the more you realize how unlimited it is. Grace can never be exhausted by your enjoyment, and the reality can never be depleted by your experience. The more you experience, the more there is; it increases according to your capacity to experience it. Our capacity determines our measure of the fullness of the Godhead. How full is God to you? If your capacity is that of an eight ounce cup, God’s fullness to you will be eight ounces. If your capacity is enlarged to eight hundred gallons, the fullness of God will fill up that measure to the brim. If your capacity is that of the Pacific Ocean, you will know God’s fullness to that extent. However, even the capacity of the Pacific Ocean is not great enough. We need the capacity of an eternal ocean. Even if our capacity were increased to that degree, God would fill it to the brim. Thus, the enjoyment of God in Christ is unlimited. How much we enjoy His fullness depends upon our capacity.
This declaration of God is in the only begotten Son of God who was in the bosom of the Father from eternity past and who is still in the bosom of the Father after incarnation. Thus, verse 18 says, “No one has ever seen God: the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.” The only begotten Son was with God the Father and was, is, and always will be in the bosom of the Father. The words of verse 18 are simple, but the meaning is profound. Can you say what is the bosom of the Father? I have not heard a definition that can satisfy me. This matter is too intimate, too deep, and too profound. I simply cannot tell you what it means because I lack the understanding and the utterance. Nevertheless, we know that this dear, only begotten of the Father is continually in the bosom of the Father to declare the Father. This is the way in which He declares the Father and brings us into the enjoyment of the Father.
God is expressed in Christ, and with Christ we have grace and reality. Thus, when we come to Christ, we enjoy grace and participate in reality. Verse 18 tells us that Christ, as the only begotten Son of God, is in the bosom of God the Father. Thus, when we enjoy Christ in such an intimate way, this intimate enjoyment of Him will bring us to God the Father. In other words, this enjoyment of Christ brings us into the bosom of the Father. With the Father we have love and light. Christ is the expression of God in the same way that grace is the expression of love and reality is the expression of light. When we enjoy Christ as grace and reality, this enjoyment brings us into the bosom of the Father where we enjoy love and light. Love is the hidden source of grace, and light is the hidden source of reality. This is the reason that in the Gospel of John we have grace and reality, but in the First Epistle of John we have love and light (1 John 1:5; 4:7-8). The Gospel of John brings God to us, and we enjoy Him as grace and reality. The First Epistle of John brings us to God, and we enjoy Him as love and light. If we merely enjoy grace, that enjoyment is not deep enough. When grace brings us into love, we reach the source out from which grace flows. When we trace grace back to its source, grace becomes love. Likewise, light is the source out from which reality flows. When you trace reality back to its source, you arrive at light, for light is a deeper experience of reality.
We have seen that the Word was incarnated to declare God, to express God (Heb. 1:3), to explain God, and to define God. The Father’s only begotten Son declared God by the Word, life, light, grace, and reality. We have seen that these five things are related to God’s incarnation. All of them are founded and fulfilled in God Himself. The Word is God expressed, life is God imparted, light is God shining, grace is God enjoyed, and reality is God realized, apprehended. God is fully declared in the Son through these five things. The essence of them all is God Himself. It is by these things that God is declared. Although no one has ever seen God, the Son of God has declared Him in the way of being the Word, life, light, grace, and reality. The more we receive the Word, have God as our life, and let the light of this life shine within us, and the more we enjoy God as grace and apprehend Him as reality, the more God will be declared to us. To declare God means to express, explain, and define God. Christ declared, expressed, explained, and defined God by being incarnated as the Word with life, light, grace, and reality.
The first eighteen verses of chapter one may be summarized with a few simple words: Word, God, life, light, grace, and reality. John 1:1-18 tells us how through the Word all things came into being and how the Word as God Himself became flesh to bring grace and reality to man. In Him was life, which was the light of man for man to receive. As many as received Him as such were born of Him, having Him as their life and light. Then they partook of Him as grace and reality. In this way God in the Son was declared to man. By being the Word, life, light, grace, and reality, Christ has expressed, explained, and defined God to us.
