John 1:14-18
The One and Only
Jesus Christ is God’s One and Only Son. That means that Jesus is the only one of His kind, He is unique to all others. God has many sons - we learned last week that when we receive Jesus Christ by believing in His name, we become children of God. We receive the right to be called children of God (v. 12, 13). So I am a son of God because I believe in the Son of God. But, I am not the same as the Son. There is no other like Him; He is unique from all others.
He is God’s One and Only Son, unique from all others because He is God the Son. He is equal in every way as God with God the Father. The same attributes, the same essence, the same nature. The Son of God is God the Son.
Second, He is unique as God’s One and Only because He is the only way of salvation. John 3:16 says that “God so loved the world that He gave His One and Only Son, so that whoever believes in Him would not perish but have eternal life.” You cannot believe in me as the pastor and have eternal life. You can’t believe in any Christian and have eternal life. You must believe in God’s One and Only to have eternal life.
A third reason Jesus is God’s One and Only is that He is to be worshipped. Revelation 5:13, 14 say, “Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing: ‘To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power for ever and ever!’ The four living creatures said, ‘Amen,’ and the elders fell face down and worshipped.” The Lamb is Jesus Christ and He receives the same worship as the one who sits on the throne. I am not to be worshipped. You are not to be worshipped. Angels are not to be worshipped. Creation is not to be worshipped. Only the uncreated, eternal God is to be worshipped and Jesus Christ is the
In our passage today we are going to see 4 things about God’s One and Only Son: The Entrance of the One and Only, the Exalted One and Only, the Economy of the One and Only, and the Explanation of the One and Only.
The Entrance of the One and Only
First of all, we see the Entrance of the One and Only into the world. Notice verse 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.”
The Word entered the world by becoming flesh. Merry Christmas. John is talking about the Incarnation of Jesus Christ. Eternal God entered the world by becoming a man. The infinite entered into the finite; the eternal entered into time; the divine entered into humanity. God became a man.
This does not mean that the Jesus stopped being God to become a man. He did not replace His divinity with humanity. This is important. God cannot stop being God. God is immutable, that means He is unchanging. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever Hebrews 13 says. God does not change.
He added humanity to His divinity. He remained fully God, and, when He was born to the Virgin Mary, He continued to be fully God. Let me give you an illustration: I am a husband. When I became a father I did not stop being a husband. I became a father and I continued to be a husband. The nature of a husband and a father are different. I now have two natures. Jesus is God, and, when he was born as a human he added the human nature to His divine nature.
What John is doing is combating the false teachings that were going around in his day. There was a false teaching called Docetism that believed Jesus didn’t have a real body. They were influenced by the Greek philosophy of dualism. Dualism basically says that physical matter is evil and spirit is good. Therefore, Jesus, the divine Word, could not have come in actual physical human flesh because human flesh is evil. They said that instead his body was a phantom or an illusion.
But the apostle John called this a teaching from the spirit of the Antichrist. In 1 John chapter 4 verses 2 and 3 he says, “Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the Antichrist.” Jesus Christ entered into the world and came in the flesh – in a human body.
Listen, if you hear someone say that Jesus Christ was created at Christmas that is the spirit of the Antichrist. If you hear someone say Jesus Christ didn’t have a real body and He was just an illusion, you’re hearing the spirit of the Antichrist. Anyone who denies that Jesus Christ came in the flesh is not from God, and they are from the spirit of the Antichrist.
Why is it so important that He had a real body? Turn to Hebrews 2 verse 14, “Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death – that is, the devil – and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.” Skip to verse 17, “For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.”
Notice key statements here are “he shared in their humanity” and “he had to be made like his brothers in every way.” Jesus had to become a man and take on the human nature so that He could qualify to be the Savior of men. If he didn’t, then he did not destroy the devil who has the power of death, he did not free us from the slavery of sin, he is not a merciful and faithful high priest, and most terrible of all our sins are not atoned for.
There is something very personal about this you have to see. God entered the world to reveal Himself to the world, so that He would live with us. God wants to live with you. The Greek word for “made his dwelling” is literally, “he set up his tent”, or, “to live in a tent”. God set up his tent among us. The idea here is that God’s purpose is to be with man and to be in fellowship with man.
We can’t help but be reminded of the way God’s presence was with the Israelites in the wilderness. God’s presence was manifest in the tabernacle as they traveled, and later in the temple once they were in the promised land.
But, more significant to us is that God promises to dwell with us in eternity. Revelation 21 verses 3 and 4 say, “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
Summary Statement: God’s One and Only Son entered into the world.
The One and Only is Exalted
Secondly, we see God’s One and Only is Exalted. Notice verse 15, “John 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.’’”
Jesus was born to Mary 6 months after John the Baptist was born. He began His earthly ministry after John the Baptist was already ministering. This is what John means when he says, “He who comes after me.” John was born first and preached first.
However, he makes a strange statement by then saying Jesus surpasses Him because Jesus was before him. Jesus the man came after John. Jesus the Word is eternal and has always existed and therefore was before John the Baptist.
Jesus said in John 8:38, “Before Abraham was, ‘I AM’.” He was referring to His pre-existence by calling Himself by the same name that God called Himself in the OT.
Jesus is first in both time and rank. He is the Name above all Names, and the place He holds is above every other place (Phil 2:9-11). At the end of all things, all things will be brought under His power.
The One and Only Son of God surpasses all, and is exalted over all things.
The Economy of the One and Only
So we see the Entrance of God’s One and Only, we see Him as Exalted, and thirdly, we see the Economy of the One and Only. Notice verses 16 and 17, “From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”
God has dealt with mankind in different ways throughout history. During the time of Moses, God’s gave the Israelites the Law and it was through the Law that God dealt with the Israelites. The Law was given through Moses.
But, that economy ended at the cross and a new economy has begun. Today we are in the economy of grace. Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
When John says that grace and truth came through Jesus Christ does that mean that there was no grace and no truth in the Law? No! Grace and truth were in the Law because the Law revealed the truth of the Holy character of God and the truth of man’s sinfulness and utter inability to live up to the law. In other words, man is not holy like God.
That’s the truth; here’s the grace. Grace was in the Law in that God prescribed the priesthood and sacrifices so that although man was falling short of the mark, and although he could not live up to the Law, God provided a way for sinful man to be forgiven for his sins. It’s graceful of God because God does not owe man forgiveness. Man is not entitled to forgiveness.
So, why does John say ‘grace and truth came through Jesus Christ?’ Oh, this is good, listen up. Grace and truth in perfect, complete, fullness came through Jesus Christ. In other words, God’s grace and truth were expressed partially in the Law, they were foreshadowed. But, now, in His One and Only Son, His grace and truth are expressed perfectly, completely, and fully.
You may have noticed that the property next door is plowed over. It’s all been leveled……….you can see the grass, the fire pit, the tables….they’re not there yet – we’re only half-way there. You can partially see what is going on, but, because it’s not fully done yet, you can’t know what it’s going to look like.
In the Law someone could see partially the grace and truth of God, it was not fully visible yet. The Law pointed to the One and Only who would be the full revelation of God’s grace and truth. Jesus Christ is the One who is the fullness of God’s grace and truth.
That means that He is the source of grace and truth. God’s grace and God’s truth are exclusively found in Jesus Christ and no one else.
And it is in Jesus Christ and the fullness of His grace that we receive one blessing after another. The Greek actually reads, “we have received grace replacing grace.” This phrase gives the picture of grace coming in wave after wave. Certainly you’ve been to the beach. Just like the waves just keep coming to the shore, and one wave is followed by another and another and so on….so too is the grace of Jesus Christ. From His fullness we receive one wave of grace upon another, grace replacing grace.
Conclusion ……….. The Explanation of God’s One and Only …
The Entrance of God’s One and Only, the Exalted One and Only, the Economy of God’s One and Only, and now we see the Explanation of God’s One and Only. Notice verse 18, “No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known.”
No one has ever seen God because He is invisible. Paul said to Timothy, “Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God”. And Timothy, in case you didn’t get it the first time I told you, let me tell you again about “God, the blessed and only ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see.” John says here that no one has ever seen God.
But, the invisible God has made Himself visible in the person of Jesus Christ. “Jesus is the image of the invisible God” Colossians 1:15. He is “the radiance of God’s glory, the exact representation of His being” Hebrews 1:3. “In Him the fullness of deity dwells” Colossians 2:9. And Jesus says, “If you have seen me you have seen the Father” John 14:9.
And so when John says, “No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made Him known” John is saying that Jesus Christ, God the Son, who is the One and Only, has made God the Father known. The Greek word for “made him known” is the word, “exegesato”. We get the English word, “exegesis” from this word. Do you know what that means? It means to explain, or to unfold the meaning of. It means to bring understanding to or, to piggy back on last week’s theme, it means to bring into the light so that we get it.
This word is absolutely crucial to me as a pastor who preaches and teaches the Bible. Have you ever heard exegetical and expository preaching? That’s what I try to do for you every week, is bring out the meaning of the text, to unfold what is there so you can understand God’s Word. I’m not up here to give you my opinions and my personal philosophies on life, and you should never tolerate anyone who does.
The point of these is that if a man wants to know God he must know Christ. Jesus Christ is the fullest revelation of God.
God came and made His dwelling among men. Revelation says His dwelling will be with men for eternity. But, will you dwell with God? The Bible teaches that there is another place in which God dwells – inside of men. When a man believes in God’s One and Only Son, God forgives that man’s sins and the Bible says that God’s Spirit now lives within Him. That man becomes a living temple where the Holy Spirit dwells.
But listen, you must make Jesus Christ your One and Only. You must believe in Him and Him only. No one else can save you from your sins. No one else has the fullness of God’s grace and truth for you. God allows no one to come to Him except through faith in Jesus Christ.
He is God’s One and Only and the Bible says that if you want your sins forgiven, and if you want eternal life, you have to make Jesus you’re One and Only. That means put your trust in Him alone.
The One and Only
Jesus Christ is God’s One and Only Son. That means that Jesus is the only one of His kind, He is unique to all others. God has many sons - we learned last week that when we receive Jesus Christ by believing in His name, we become children of God. We receive the right to be called children of God (v. 12, 13). So I am a son of God because I believe in the Son of God. But, I am not the same as the Son. There is no other like Him; He is unique from all others.
He is God’s One and Only Son, unique from all others because He is God the Son. He is equal in every way as God with God the Father. The same attributes, the same essence, the same nature. The Son of God is God the Son.
Second, He is unique as God’s One and Only because He is the only way of salvation. John 3:16 says that “God so loved the world that He gave His One and Only Son, so that whoever believes in Him would not perish but have eternal life.” You cannot believe in me as the pastor and have eternal life. You can’t believe in any Christian and have eternal life. You must believe in God’s One and Only to have eternal life.
A third reason Jesus is God’s One and Only is that He is to be worshipped. Revelation 5:13, 14 say, “Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing: ‘To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power for ever and ever!’ The four living creatures said, ‘Amen,’ and the elders fell face down and worshipped.” The Lamb is Jesus Christ and He receives the same worship as the one who sits on the throne. I am not to be worshipped. You are not to be worshipped. Angels are not to be worshipped. Creation is not to be worshipped. Only the uncreated, eternal God is to be worshipped and Jesus Christ is the
In our passage today we are going to see 4 things about God’s One and Only Son: The Entrance of the One and Only, the Exalted One and Only, the Economy of the One and Only, and the Explanation of the One and Only.
The Entrance of the One and Only
First of all, we see the Entrance of the One and Only into the world. Notice verse 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.”
The Word entered the world by becoming flesh. Merry Christmas. John is talking about the Incarnation of Jesus Christ. Eternal God entered the world by becoming a man. The infinite entered into the finite; the eternal entered into time; the divine entered into humanity. God became a man.
This does not mean that the Jesus stopped being God to become a man. He did not replace His divinity with humanity. This is important. God cannot stop being God. God is immutable, that means He is unchanging. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever Hebrews 13 says. God does not change.
He added humanity to His divinity. He remained fully God, and, when He was born to the Virgin Mary, He continued to be fully God. Let me give you an illustration: I am a husband. When I became a father I did not stop being a husband. I became a father and I continued to be a husband. The nature of a husband and a father are different. I now have two natures. Jesus is God, and, when he was born as a human he added the human nature to His divine nature.
What John is doing is combating the false teachings that were going around in his day. There was a false teaching called Docetism that believed Jesus didn’t have a real body. They were influenced by the Greek philosophy of dualism. Dualism basically says that physical matter is evil and spirit is good. Therefore, Jesus, the divine Word, could not have come in actual physical human flesh because human flesh is evil. They said that instead his body was a phantom or an illusion.
But the apostle John called this a teaching from the spirit of the Antichrist. In 1 John chapter 4 verses 2 and 3 he says, “Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the Antichrist.” Jesus Christ entered into the world and came in the flesh – in a human body.
Listen, if you hear someone say that Jesus Christ was created at Christmas that is the spirit of the Antichrist. If you hear someone say Jesus Christ didn’t have a real body and He was just an illusion, you’re hearing the spirit of the Antichrist. Anyone who denies that Jesus Christ came in the flesh is not from God, and they are from the spirit of the Antichrist.
Why is it so important that He had a real body? Turn to Hebrews 2 verse 14, “Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death – that is, the devil – and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.” Skip to verse 17, “For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.”
Notice key statements here are “he shared in their humanity” and “he had to be made like his brothers in every way.” Jesus had to become a man and take on the human nature so that He could qualify to be the Savior of men. If he didn’t, then he did not destroy the devil who has the power of death, he did not free us from the slavery of sin, he is not a merciful and faithful high priest, and most terrible of all our sins are not atoned for.
There is something very personal about this you have to see. God entered the world to reveal Himself to the world, so that He would live with us. God wants to live with you. The Greek word for “made his dwelling” is literally, “he set up his tent”, or, “to live in a tent”. God set up his tent among us. The idea here is that God’s purpose is to be with man and to be in fellowship with man.
We can’t help but be reminded of the way God’s presence was with the Israelites in the wilderness. God’s presence was manifest in the tabernacle as they traveled, and later in the temple once they were in the promised land.
But, more significant to us is that God promises to dwell with us in eternity. Revelation 21 verses 3 and 4 say, “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
Summary Statement: God’s One and Only Son entered into the world.
The One and Only is Exalted
Secondly, we see God’s One and Only is Exalted. Notice verse 15, “John 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.’’”
Jesus was born to Mary 6 months after John the Baptist was born. He began His earthly ministry after John the Baptist was already ministering. This is what John means when he says, “He who comes after me.” John was born first and preached first.
However, he makes a strange statement by then saying Jesus surpasses Him because Jesus was before him. Jesus the man came after John. Jesus the Word is eternal and has always existed and therefore was before John the Baptist.
Jesus said in John 8:38, “Before Abraham was, ‘I AM’.” He was referring to His pre-existence by calling Himself by the same name that God called Himself in the OT.
Jesus is first in both time and rank. He is the Name above all Names, and the place He holds is above every other place (Phil 2:9-11). At the end of all things, all things will be brought under His power.
The One and Only Son of God surpasses all, and is exalted over all things.
The Economy of the One and Only
So we see the Entrance of God’s One and Only, we see Him as Exalted, and thirdly, we see the Economy of the One and Only. Notice verses 16 and 17, “From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”
God has dealt with mankind in different ways throughout history. During the time of Moses, God’s gave the Israelites the Law and it was through the Law that God dealt with the Israelites. The Law was given through Moses.
But, that economy ended at the cross and a new economy has begun. Today we are in the economy of grace. Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
When John says that grace and truth came through Jesus Christ does that mean that there was no grace and no truth in the Law? No! Grace and truth were in the Law because the Law revealed the truth of the Holy character of God and the truth of man’s sinfulness and utter inability to live up to the law. In other words, man is not holy like God.
That’s the truth; here’s the grace. Grace was in the Law in that God prescribed the priesthood and sacrifices so that although man was falling short of the mark, and although he could not live up to the Law, God provided a way for sinful man to be forgiven for his sins. It’s graceful of God because God does not owe man forgiveness. Man is not entitled to forgiveness.
So, why does John say ‘grace and truth came through Jesus Christ?’ Oh, this is good, listen up. Grace and truth in perfect, complete, fullness came through Jesus Christ. In other words, God’s grace and truth were expressed partially in the Law, they were foreshadowed. But, now, in His One and Only Son, His grace and truth are expressed perfectly, completely, and fully.
You may have noticed that the property next door is plowed over. It’s all been leveled……….you can see the grass, the fire pit, the tables….they’re not there yet – we’re only half-way there. You can partially see what is going on, but, because it’s not fully done yet, you can’t know what it’s going to look like.
In the Law someone could see partially the grace and truth of God, it was not fully visible yet. The Law pointed to the One and Only who would be the full revelation of God’s grace and truth. Jesus Christ is the One who is the fullness of God’s grace and truth.
That means that He is the source of grace and truth. God’s grace and God’s truth are exclusively found in Jesus Christ and no one else.
And it is in Jesus Christ and the fullness of His grace that we receive one blessing after another. The Greek actually reads, “we have received grace replacing grace.” This phrase gives the picture of grace coming in wave after wave. Certainly you’ve been to the beach. Just like the waves just keep coming to the shore, and one wave is followed by another and another and so on….so too is the grace of Jesus Christ. From His fullness we receive one wave of grace upon another, grace replacing grace.
Conclusion ……….. The Explanation of God’s One and Only …
The Entrance of God’s One and Only, the Exalted One and Only, the Economy of God’s One and Only, and now we see the Explanation of God’s One and Only. Notice verse 18, “No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known.”
No one has ever seen God because He is invisible. Paul said to Timothy, “Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God”. And Timothy, in case you didn’t get it the first time I told you, let me tell you again about “God, the blessed and only ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see.” John says here that no one has ever seen God.
But, the invisible God has made Himself visible in the person of Jesus Christ. “Jesus is the image of the invisible God” Colossians 1:15. He is “the radiance of God’s glory, the exact representation of His being” Hebrews 1:3. “In Him the fullness of deity dwells” Colossians 2:9. And Jesus says, “If you have seen me you have seen the Father” John 14:9.
And so when John says, “No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made Him known” John is saying that Jesus Christ, God the Son, who is the One and Only, has made God the Father known. The Greek word for “made him known” is the word, “exegesato”. We get the English word, “exegesis” from this word. Do you know what that means? It means to explain, or to unfold the meaning of. It means to bring understanding to or, to piggy back on last week’s theme, it means to bring into the light so that we get it.
This word is absolutely crucial to me as a pastor who preaches and teaches the Bible. Have you ever heard exegetical and expository preaching? That’s what I try to do for you every week, is bring out the meaning of the text, to unfold what is there so you can understand God’s Word. I’m not up here to give you my opinions and my personal philosophies on life, and you should never tolerate anyone who does.
The point of these is that if a man wants to know God he must know Christ. Jesus Christ is the fullest revelation of God.
God came and made His dwelling among men. Revelation says His dwelling will be with men for eternity. But, will you dwell with God? The Bible teaches that there is another place in which God dwells – inside of men. When a man believes in God’s One and Only Son, God forgives that man’s sins and the Bible says that God’s Spirit now lives within Him. That man becomes a living temple where the Holy Spirit dwells.
But listen, you must make Jesus Christ your One and Only. You must believe in Him and Him only. No one else can save you from your sins. No one else has the fullness of God’s grace and truth for you. God allows no one to come to Him except through faith in Jesus Christ.
He is God’s One and Only and the Bible says that if you want your sins forgiven, and if you want eternal life, you have to make Jesus you’re One and Only. That means put your trust in Him alone.
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