John 1:16

John 1:16 For of His fullness we have all received and grace upon grace. The fullness of grace and truth were offered and given to us through Jesus Christ. Christ was full of these things and gave them in equal measure. To those who needed to hear the truth He gave it to them with grace mixed in. And for those who needed grace He did not leave out the truth. The phrase grace upon grace leads me to think that God not only have given us grace through Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins but more grace to become children of God and spend eternity in relationship with the almighty God. Grace could have just forgiven our sins and not sentenced us to an eternity in hell for what we have done wrong. But grace upon grace goes extravagantly beyond that.

John 1:15

John 1:15 John testified about Him and cried out saying " This is He of whom I said, He who comes after me has a higher rank than I for He existed before me." John, the forerunner, the herald, was sent first to prepare the way for the Lord to come. He came and yet when asked about whether he was the messiah or not his response was that another comes after him whose rank was higher than his. His rank was higher for even though John was born first, the messiah existed before John. John recognized his place in the scheme of things. He was not the messiah. He was just a messenger. But the messiah was coming.

John 1:14 part 3

I had some more thoughts about the grace and truth that was seen in Jesus. Jesus could have come full of grace. Showing people that God loves them and that everything will be ok in their lives. Just talking about the love of God. And this is a needed message today. That God loves people. He is for them. He sent His son to die for them. Yet it would be an incomplete message without truth. The truth is that God is holy and we are not. Yet God wants to make us holy. And the only way He has given for us to do this is to repent in faith and follow Jesus Christ. God is not only love but He is also just. God is holy, He is righteous and Jesus tells us in Matthew 5 that we need to be perfect as our heavenly father is perfect. And this is the truth, we can't do it. So in God's grace He makes a way for us to become perfect.

John 1:14 part 2

John 1:14 The Word became flesh and dwelt among us and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. John was a firsthand witness to the glory of Jesus in the flesh. He lived with the incarnate God for 3 years and was able to behold the glory of who He really was. John was able to see the life the Jesus lived up close. And John chooses to call that life full of glory. John equates the glory that was in Jesus as only able to come from the Son of God. Jesus was full of grace and truth. Grace - unmerited favor of God that even though we deserve death, He came to give us life. And not just a little bit of life but abundant life. But John doesn't stop with just saying that Jesus was full of grace. He says that Jesus was full of truth. Because grace is balanced by the truth that you need to believe/obey and repent to experience this grace that brings life. Without believing so that it brings about changes in our behavior and thinking and repenting for what we have done wrong we don't have faith in what Jesus has done for us. We are still deceiving ourselves.