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John 1:14-18

The transcendence and imminence of God:

Two doctrines of Christian theology always have to be in balance: that is the transcendence and imminence of God. The doctrine of transcendence teaches us that God is high and lofty, far above us. This is how Genesis 1 portrays God: the great transcendent being who created all things by a mere word; a being who had not causation, he simply “was.”

Some false teachers, namely deists, imagine this being as creating and then standing aloof, nonchalantly watching his creation destroy itself all the while not having an ounce of compassion to lift his finger and do anything about it.

To give a human analogy to this false understanding of God, think about the derelict father. That is, the man who finds some indulgent pleasure in procreating outside of marriage, producing a child. Then with vile apathy, this father sees this child as a mistake and turns away from his responsibility. He stands aloof indifferent at his own child, not as though he even wishes the child any harm; because the opposite of love is not hatred, it is apathy. And this is what the derelict father does: stands back with utter indifference towards his own flesh and blood.

Many false religions maintain their deity as a god who stands aloof pondering us, his creation, as a cosmic accident. The polytheists imagine various gods competing with one another producing us either as some means to outdo other gods or a mistake in the great divine war. Pantheist religions see the material works as an accidental oozing out of the divine. Materialist and naturalistic Atheist (who do not unwittingly plunder our Christian worldview) can conceive of no power higher than the material. And thus, we are a great cosmic accident set in motion by the explosion of the ancient singularity.

C.S. Lewis brings this transcendent naturalism to its logical conclusion. Again, take the premise that we, humans are only here because of accidental natural events, without the intervention of any divine being:

Every particular thought (whether it is a judgment of fact of a judgment of value) is always and by all men discounted the moment they believe that is can be explained, without remainder, as the result of irrational causes. Whenever you know what the other man is saying is wholly due to his complexes or to a bit of bone pressing on his brain, you cease to attach any importance to it. But if naturalism were true then all thoughts . . . would be wholly the result of irrational causes. Therefore, all thoughts would be equally worthless. Therefore, naturalism is worthless. If it is true, then we can know no truths. It cuts its own throat.[1]

I hope you gather the sense of what Lewis is arguing from his book God in the Dock. What he means is that if we arrived here by a naturalistic cosmic accident, and our consciousness are merely the firings of neurons in our brains, patterned by some cosmic design, then, our thoughts are just the result of some base animalistic responses to our environment. This is the deity, or rather non-deity of naturalism. One that makes a mistake: us; then leaves us to writhe in our chemical conjectures never able to conceptualize the truth. Naturalism is worse than the blind leading the blind; it is the blind saying there’s no such thing as sight. If you believe all that exists is material, your view of life will can only be hopeless.

And no wonder we see such a rise of depression, mental aberrances, and spiteful melancholies. A society that cannot look beyond itself at all cannot find ultimate meaning.

The Christian conception of God is much different. God did not just create then stand back and watch chaos ensue and engulf. Rather, he created specific creatures, rational beings in his image, to rule creation with him. The God of the Bible was involved in training these creatures so that they might learn what is good and pleasing and what is deplorable. But he did not enslave their wills and desires forcing them to rule as puppet kings. Nonetheless, disaster struck when Adam and Eve, destined to reign, launched a cosmic rebellion against their creator. God had every right to terminate his creation or stand aloof and witness their self-destruction. But another truth we see about God in these beginning pages is his immanence; I.e., his closeness. God having the right to execute his judgment instead makes a way for redemption.

In the beginning pages of John’s Gospel, we’re introduced to another being, or better worded, the same being yet a distinct person. John identifies him as ho logos, or the Word. This Word is; that is, he exists without causation. The Word is identified as God; that is, as being fully God yet distinct from the Father. The Word brings everything else into being (v.3); and yet, he does not remain aloof like a derelict father. Christ is also immanent: close at hand, near to us , as our verse tells us:

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us”

The phrase “became flesh” although it may sound foreign to our ears, simply refers to the fact that He, that is, Jesus became a human. In “Christianese” we call this the incarnation. You see, Jesus did not leave us to our own devices. He became one of us in order to make God fully known to us. But just as we can get too off balance with God’s transcendence, so too can we get off balance with his immanence. To think that Jesus was a normal human like us in every respect, while ignoring his transcendent qualities would in effect deny his deity. People do this all the time when they claim that Jesus was just a good person, or a great moral teacher.

But this does not suffice, for some of the things that Jesus himself taught was that he was God. Like he says to his detractors at the end of John chapter 8, “before Abraham was, I am.” Mere human teachers cannot be “good” and “moral” if they proclaim themselves to be something that they are not. Unless, of course, Jesus truly is God. Thus, we see in the balance not only these attributes of God the Father, but also of Jesus Christ, he is fully God, transcendent above us, and fully human, immanent with us.

Look at the final phrase of this first verse, “and dwelt among us.” God of course has always desired a people for himself that he would dwell with. And if you know any stories in the book of Exodus, he designed a way to dwell with a sinful people, as a type and shadow of the good things to come. When the Israelites left Egypt, they were in the wilderness for many years. Moses mediated the law. With this also come the tabernacle. In this tentlike structure, God would dwell in the midst of the twelve tribes of Israel. God dwelling with his people, revealing himself to them. Notice what happens when the people complete the tabernacle: 34 Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 35 And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.” Exodus 40:34-35.

God’s glory, his weightiness, his essence, fills the tabernacle to such an extent that the people are unable to enter. This is God dwelling with man, making mankind again into what he designed them to be. The word we have in John 1:14 “dwelt” (among us), is as if you took the word “tabernacle” and turned it into a verb. So, as you may have heard other pastors say before, Jesus became human and “tabernacled” with us. All of the language time and time again in this passage is pointing us back to the Exodus account, Oh, that I would have the time to explain it all!

Look at the second half of verse 14:

“and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

Glory, kabod in the Hebrew and doxa in the Greek, refers to weightiness. In the Exodus account I just quoted to you, God’s glory fills the tabernacle. That is, it is a physical manifestation of God’s self-disclosure. We see God manifest himself all throughout the Bible. In the Genesis accounts, God is seen in visions. In the Exodus account God manifest himself physically. In Ex. 19 before the ten commandments are given, the LORD manifest himself on Mt. Sinai in fire, thunder, shaking the mountain, to the point the people fear him and do not want to hear him directly.

Every manifestation of God is gracious. But have you ever considered, how can an infinitely holy, eternal, all-powerful being reveal himself to us and truly convey who is fully is to our finite minds? Think about how difficult it is to capture and explain the essence of a human. Say, I take a photo of you with a big smile. Someone may look at that photo and say, oh, yes, that’s totally so-and-so, that sums of their personality completely! Well, certainly it captures something of who you are, but it misses a lot too, right? What if I take a video of you, does that completely show who you are? What if I write a biography? Now were getting a much better picture, but even a biography is going to have a certain slant to it, and it will miss your deepest and innermost thoughts.  We can hardly capture the essence of a finite human and truly explain it to other finite humans! How can an infinite God explain himself to us?

What if God whispered to the people on Sinai? They might not learn of his holiness, and in turn not recognize the seriousness of their sin. What if God became an ant and started talking to people? We would belittle his power. Now, in our sinful state, we have the ability to corrupt any manifestation of God. Humans often corrupt these things to fit their own sinful passions. Some preacher somewhere once said that the vilest person is an unconverted religious man.

So, how can we see God’s glory? John says they have beheld Jesus’s glory, which is God’s glory. They are, in that sense, one in the same. And this glory is full of grace and truth. This harkens back again to the text in Exodus. When Moses, after seeing everything God had done through the golden calf story, begs God, “show me your glory;” God replies, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.” Ex. 33:19.

God explains himself and shows grace. This is what we see from Jesus. Before John brings us to the depths of Christ’s immanence, he again reminds us of his transcendence:

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.’”

This is, as most translations recognize, a parenthetical statement. Verse 16 picks up again on the idea of “fullness.” John the Baptist’s testimony will again be the main subject starting in verse 19. But for now, John the Evangelist gives us this reminder of Jesus’s eternality. “He who comes after me” is a refence to chronological order. You could think order of ministry, but also birth order; John the Baptist is born before Jesus was born. But humans are non-existent before their conception. Christ, however, was, before John the Baptist. That is Christ always was, in himself is all being and life. There was never a time when the Son was “not.”

But why, again is this so important? Because, if Jesus were a mere human, who cares? If Jesus was a mere human, he has no power, no transcendence to effect your life. The Pharisees recognized this in Mark 2 when Jesus forgives the lame man of his sins. They retort, “Only God can forgive sins.” True! If Jesus is not God, if he does not transcend our mere humanity then we are without hope. As Paul put this in reference to the resurrection: “And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.” 1 Cor 15:17. But look at the effect of Christ’s transcendence:

“For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.”

One commentator, F.F. Bruce pictured this grace like an ocean. Use your imagination to picture a cold, refreshing, fresh-water ocean. Something there to fill your glass and satisfy your soul. Just when you think you’ve done it. Just when you think this is sin is the last straw; now God will come down and smite you. Surely you can hear the Accuser say against you, “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” Your heart and conscious rise up to accuse you. Perhaps all creation itself would stand in judgment over you; then, if you’re in Christ, here it is, wave upon wave of fresh, cleansing grace; never to run dry because it comes from his fulness, His infinite fulness which can never be depleted.

Look with me at verse 17:

“For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”

Notice the large contrast between the verbs “was given” and “came.” Of course the other major contrast between “law” and “grace and truth.” The law “was given” it did not originate with Moses. Moses was merely a mediator for the law, which is good. You do a study on the legal code in the Old Testament, a detailed study, not a cursory reading, and you see the law is good and righteous, and it is meant for our good. The law does not squash our joy as some make it out to be. Now, that being said, “grace and truth came” you could translate this word “came to be” through. This is the same word that is translated “created”  in verse three. So while the law was merely given through Moses; grace and truth came to be through Jesus.

Law and grace are not opposing terms. The giving of the law was gracious on God’s part. Could you imagine what the world would be like without it? However, the law is insufficient for truly and fully knowing and experiencing the grace of God. The law, rather, points us to our need of Christ. And this is important to note in our day, because so many Christian churches only give law and no gospel.

Back in the nineties and some decades prior, the pulpits were filled with THOU SHALT NOTS and all manners of hell, fire and brimstone preaching. This succeeded in creating external conformity to the law of God, but not inwardly. For example, the women may not have been wearing pants, but in their hearts they were not submissive to their husband.

Today, we dress legalism up to be much kinder and friendlier, like a casual conversation. Instead of, “don’t do this!” the messages have become “do this, and your life will be so much nicer.” I remember reading a blog of one of these churches which basically said, “Our people need to have a sermon series on marriage, finances, and work-ethics every year.” This preaching looks for the felt needs of the people, then uses a Bible search to find “Biblical” principles on the given topic. The message is clear: Do you want to be successful? Then do this. Do you want a happy marriage? Then do this. Do you want people to like you? Then do this.

All of this preaching relegates Jesus to the sideline where he cheers you on to a successful life, successful, somehow, without Him. Isn’t there something missing here? Something rather important? How can we read this passage in John and see this great, amazing, wonderful, all-powerful, beyond our comprehension Jesus; this Jesus so FAR above us, who decides to become like us, lives a difficult and sinless life, tempted every way we are, yet without sin, dies a cruel wicked death in our place, raises from the dead that we too may taste life eternal, and is seated at the right hand of the Father. How could we place this Jesus on the sidelines of our preaching? Only when we see the law given by Moses as more important than the grace and truth that came to be through Jesus Christ. Once we flip these priorities we stop being Christ-centered and start being self-centered.

Look at our last verse, verse 18: No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.

No one has ever seen God: ah, but some may object, “What of Abraham, and Jacob, and Moses, and Isaiah, and Ezekiel? Did not these individuals see God?” Yes, indeed they did, but each was limited in their sight of God. Abraham saw God in a vision. Jacob saw God in a dream. Moses was put in the cleft of a rock and only allowed to look at the backward parts. You see, all these theophanies were mere glimpses into the divine, lacking in some way the fullness of who God is. But that is not so with Jesus. Jesus is the only-begotten God, begotten, not made, who is “in the bosom of the Father” as would be translated literally. What does that mean? It means that Christ, who is fully God, is in complete and full fellowship with God unhindered by finite or sinful limitations. God the Son knows God the Father fully.

Furthermore, this is not some knowledge that Jesus has and decides to keep to himself. Rather he exegetes the Father. The word there translated, “has made him known” is the word familiar to the Jews regarding the technical interpretation of the law. In the similar manner that scribes and teachers of the law would pour over its contents, determine the correct meaning, and expound it to the common people; so Christ knows not just the letter of who God is, but the very heart of God. Jesus is not limited or bound in his knowledge of God; thus, John is telling us, the only way we can come to fully know God is through Jesus Christ. The author of Hebrews puts it this way, “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. 3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.”

Now, as we come to a conclusion, let’s take a step back and think about the implications and applications of this passage. I know, this sermon was theology-heavy; I was heavily tempted to not make it so. But most of you have heard me preach before. You know it is my desire to follow the text. When we’ve explored the stories in 1 Samuel, we get involved in the plots of the narratives, riveting as we navigate the twists and turns. This passage, however, was heavy in theology. And it is my desire to make the main point of the passage be the main point of the sermon. The main point of this text seems to be clear: Jesus, being fully God, completely balances his immanence and transcendence in making God’s glory known to us.

If we have a misbalanced view of Jesus, our misunderstanding will ease our consciousnesses into sin. Take for example Christ’s transcendence. If we conceive of Jesus to be far off, aloof from us, high above us, but not close at hand, we have a Christ who operates only to set demands on us. Perhaps we picture him as a harsh judge always ready to squash us like a bug if we fall out of line. We fear Jesus because we fear the punishment for our sins. We constantly strive to be better than our neighbor, rather than loving them. And because we allow this legalism to zap all the joy out of our lives, we strive to zap the joy out of other people’s lives as well, constantly raining down the harsh demands we imagine Jesus has placed on us. If you are in that place, let me remind you of the grace upon grace. Yes, of course, there is a righteous demand on our life to life holy as God as holy, but our righteousness can’t save us; we’re not our own saviors, Jesus is our savior.

Perhaps on the other hand, we have a Jesus who is nearby, but not transcendent. Jesus is our emotional support animal, our cheer leader. We find our needs and desires within ourselves then turn to Jesus to have him fulfill them. Don’t we see this all over America today? Everyone wants to be happy. If we took a poll across American churches and asked, “What does God most want for your life?” What do you think we would get? You see, the “Jesus is my homeboy” mentality has produced this idea that I have my best interests in mind, and Jesus is in my corner looking out for what I need to get out of life: happiness, success, and all the rest.

You remember the story when Joshua meets the angel of the LORD and asks whose side he’s on. The angel is like “Neither” because he was on God’s side. We’ve done the same thing with Jesus, except we don’t even ask the question. We just assume Jesus is on my side, he will support my needs, and will always be positive and encouraging no matter what. If this is your station, let me pose to you a question that has been quite difficult for me personally: Do you think God would be more pleased if he gave you everything you selfishly wanted, made you happy, and you did not have a care in the world for him? Or do you think that God would be more pleased if you suffered a debilitating depression, yet every waking second you were seeking him?

I’m not saying that God expects us to be depressed, nor am I saying that there is no joy in Christ. What I’m getting at is our expectations of our Messiah. If our Savior is right next to us; not far above us, he makes little demand on our life and gives us what we selfishly want.

That’s not so with Jesus. He is fully God. He is far above us, yet close at hand. He makes demands of us and gives us grace upon grace. It’s only in this balance of truth that we will find true joy in Christ. Pray with me.

[1] C. S. Lewis et al., The Timeless Writings of C.S. Lewis: The Pilgrim’s Regress ; Christian Reflections ; God in the Dock (New York: Inspirational Press, 2004), 393.