Became Flesh -John 1:14-18

John 1:14-18 ESV
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 ( John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me. ’”) 16 For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known.


The Word of creation, the very breath of the living God became flesh, just like you and me. What an astounding thought, unbelievable in every way, but true. He came where we are, in the middle of our world and circumstance to claim us for His own.

Though He took on our flesh, He did so in a way that was unique. He was not flawed from birth by disobedience. He was without sin because He was born of God. He entered the water of mankind through His mother Mary, fathered by the Spirit of the Father above, to show us the way to God. He calls us to follow.

We are made in His image and the only creature in which He Himself would come to dwell. We are destined to be the living stones of the City of God, the New Jerusalem. He will dwell among us in His full glory and we will behold Him in our full glory.

The law was a grace of one kind, which turned our attention to God and revealed the distance between where we are and His presence. It is the grace of this law which prepared us for the grace and truth of the only Son, Jesus Christ. He came to fulfill the law and to set us free. Through him salvation is complete.


No one has seen the Father except the Son. We will only be able to behold Him when we are like Him. This is beyond us in our present condition, and why the Son had to empty Himself in order to take on our likeness. The Son has returned to the Father with special recognition and status as the head of creation. They are together in that mystery of fellowship of which we partake and share in the Spirit and the body of Christ. It is personal and inclusive in the Spirit.

While we cannot see God in His full glory, we can approach Him as He approached us, in love. We are told "God is love". When we love each other, we are loving Him. Our God is the expression of life and love is the language of this life. We are conforming to His image the more we love.

We might be reminded of John's special relationship with Jesus. He was known as the beloved disciple and had his head at the breast of Jesus at the last supper. We have a similar relationship with God if we have His Spirit in our hearts. Our hearts beat within our breast with His life poured out upon us, and love is perfected.


κόλπος,ου,ὁ [etym. complex] – 1. ‘front of the (human) chest’, chest, bosom, breast, in NT always in ref. to special social recognition and status through personal contact (CGEL)

κόλπος,-ου+ N2M 11-7-5-17-1-41 Gn 16:5; Ex 4:6 (ter).7 arms, bosom, breast Gn 16:5; id. (denoting physical closeness of a woman to a man) Dt 13:7; id. (denoting tender physical closeness of a man to a woman) Dt 28:56; id. (of a nursing woman) (LEH)


Isaiah 7:14
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

1 Corinthians 15:47-49
The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. 48 As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. 49 Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.

Galatians 4:4-7
But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. 6 And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.

1 Timothy 3:16
Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness:
He was manifested in the flesh,
vindicated by the Spirit,
seen by angels,
proclaimed among the nations,
believed on in the world,
taken up in glory.

Romans 5:20-21
Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, 21 so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

1 John 4:8-12
Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.