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"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'." (John 1: 15,
N.I.V.).
Note the present tense, "testifies", which shows that the Baptist's witness, although
he was long dead by the time this Gospel was written, still remained and would always
do so. Likewise the perfect tense "has cried" shows that while his proclamation was a
past event, the substance of what he proclaimed was permanently true. When Christ
appeared in public, John was able to point Him out and say "this is the One I have been
talking about, He preceded me"; for He had existence before His earthly birth, and this
is recognized by the N.E.B.'s translation, "for before I was born, He already was".
"From the fullness of His grace we have all received one blessing after another" (1:
16, N.I.V.).
"One blessing after another" is the N.I.V. translation of the words "Grace for grace".
Inasmuch as the N.T. consistently teaches that the antitype is greater than the type that
illustrates it, the phrase could mean "the grace of gospel realities in place of grace of
types and shadows". But the context stresses that this grace comes from God's fullness.
This is indeed a rich and inexhaustible supply which has no limits and is placed at His
people's disposal in Christ. So it could also mean that one supply of grace is being
constantly replaced by a fresh one, hence the translation of the N.I.V. The Apostle Paul
proved the truth of this when undergoing a special trial he had the assurance "My grace is
sufficient for you" (II Cor. 12: 9).
"For the law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ" (1: 17).
There are references to Moses in this Gospel (1: 17, 45; 3: 14; 5: 45, 46; 6: 32;
7: 19, 22, 23; 8: 5; 9: 28, 29).
God's law given through Moses has a very
important place in His dealings with Israel. It failed, not because it was faulty in itself. It
was indeed "holy, just and good" (Rom. 7: 12), but the standard was too high for sinful
human nature to keep. It was weak because of the sinful flesh (Rom. 8: 3) and so had
to be superseded. Nevertheless, grace and truth were found in it because it came from a
God Whose character was "abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness" (Exod. 34: 6,
and see Psa. 86: 15). But the fullness of this revelation awaited the coming of the
incarnate Word and the better things that flow from His ministry which are summed up in
"grace and truth", and are abundantly shown in His words and works which the
Evangelist sets forth.
"No-one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only (Son), who is at the Father's
side, has made Him known" (1: 18, N.I.V.).
God is spirit and therefore invisible (I Tim. 1: 17), yet the Old Testament declares in
Exod. 24: 9-11 that "there went up Moses, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy
of the elders of Israel: and they saw the God of Israel . . . . . they saw God, and did eat
and drink". Is this a contradiction? No, before time began, the invisible God expressed
Himself in a form of glory and became the Image of the invisible God, the firstborn of
creation, because he created all things in heaven and earth (see Col. 1: 14-18). It was in