The manisfestation of God's grace and truth (John 1:14, 6-18)

John 1:14, 16-18 ¹⁴ And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father's only son, full of grace and truth... ¹⁶ From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. ¹⁷ The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. ¹⁸ No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father's heart, who has made him known.

The life of Jesus was more than an announcement of "God is with us."  Jesus' life and teachings are also a manifestation of God's grace and truth. 

To explain what this means, we need some background:  God had given the law to Moses.  Six hundred and thirteen rules that at times seem random and arbitrary at best. But humanity was to follow them.  Sadly, not only could we not follow these 613 rules, these laws couldn't address every situation - couldn't make exceptions when they were needed - couldn't love us and want the best for us.  God knew this all along.  But God gave the law to make clear that we couldn't cut it.  However, God doesn't leave us without hope... the ancient prophets told us that a new covenant was coming where God's Spirit would live within us - where we would know God personally - where the law would be fulfilled not by what we do, but by God's grace and truth manifest in what Jesus would do in his life, death, and resurrection. 

So Jesus has come to make this new way of being possible.  Jesus comes teaching us about God, offering us forgiveness, cleansing our hearts, all so that the Spirit of God might live within us.  When the Spirit lives within us - we know God.  This is God's grace and truth made possible through Jesus.

What a difference knowing this makes in our lives!  We don't have to wake up in the morning worried about keeping the law in order to stay in God's good graces.  We can wake up instead and say, "Where will the Spirit of God lead us today? How will God's Spirit send me to be the hands and feet of Jesus? How will I show God's love to others?" 

Because I know God's grace and truth are joyful and outward focused things, I like to wake up in the morning and say, "Spirit of God, what love mischief will you send me to do today?"  :-)