Scripture References: John 1:1-18

Full of Truth

Not only is Jesus full of grace, He is also full of truth. Truth is one of the watchwords of John’s Gospel, occurring over thirty times. Jesus embodied truth. He said once, “I am the truth.” The truth Jesus incarnated was more moral than intellectual. His truth was the kind of faithfulness, trustworthiness, goodness, and love we see in God. Jesus said once that “the truth will set you free” (John 8:32). It was a liberating truth. It could snap the bonds that hold people, strike off the chains that enslave them, and bear away the bars that imprison them! It found captives and left them free. It found people serving powers that would one day destroy them and left them serving the God who alone had the right to possess them.

The Spirit Jesus would send in His place would be like Him. He would be the Spirit of truth. Jesus stated, “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth” (John 16:13).

There was no room for greed, selfishness, or possessiveness in the life of Jesus. He was full of grace. There was no room for misrepresentation, falsehood, or propaganda. He was full of truth.

Jesus was so much like us and yet so unlike us. He had our humanity, lived in our kind of world, spoke our language, and knew our pain and the limitations of our time and place. Yet He was so unlike us. He was so full of grace and we are not. He was full of truth and we are not.

Lawrence of Arabia once stated, “No man could lead Arabs except he ate the rank’s food, wore their clothes, lived level with them, yet appeared better in himself.”

Jesus met this qualification to a superlative degree. He ate at our tables, wore our clothes, and lived with us. He was like us. Yet, there was a quality of excellence in Him which we can never begin to achieve. His face had light without shadows. His love was without blemish and His goodness without marring of any kind.

John tells us, “He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:11-12).

The same thing will happen this Christmas. He will be coming to His own, those whom He loves and claims. There will be those who reject Him, turning into ways of darkness and death. There will be those who receive Him, turning into ways of light and life. Let us be among those who receive Christ.

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, ESV © 2016 by Crossway Bibles.
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