On Friday night, we considered an overview of the glory of Christ, the basic idea of glory, that glory is greatness, majesty, splendor, glory is honor, glory is brightness, radiance. We saw that the glory of Christ is displayed before he came to earth in his pre-incarnate state. The glory of Christ displayed in his incarnation, in his exaltation and in his second coming. Last night, we focused on the glory of Christ that he had with the father before the world was and the glory that he had in heaven before he came down here to earth. Now, this morning in the first hour, we consider the glory of Christ in his incarnation, the glory of Christ that he had when he lived here on Earth, and that he manifested when he dwelt among men. And as we consider that glory, let's pray and ask the Lord's blessing as we study God's Holy Word. Father, we thank you for the privilege of looking at the glory of your beloved son We pray that this morning, the Holy Spirit will give us eyes to see and ears to hear about the glory of Jesus. We ask it in his name. Amen. Amen. Now, last night, we looked at specifically John chapter one, verse one, and this morning we specifically consider and build on what the Bible says in John 1.14. And if you have handouts from the conference, this text is in your handouts. You don't have a handout from the conference. Just turn to the passage in John chapter 1, John 1.14. John chapter 1, verse 14, very significant text on the glory of Christ. John 1, 14. In order to put John 1, 14 in context, we start reading in John 1, 1. The Gospel of John, chapter 1, verse 1 says, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. Jesus said, Father, glorify me with the glory that I had with you before the world was. There is God, the father and God, the spirit, there is also God, the word, and he was in the beginning and he was with God, the father, and he was God, he was the supreme being. So the supreme being is God, the father and God, the word or God, the son and God, the Holy Spirit. The same was in the beginning with God, a distinct person from the Father, and yet also the supreme being, the mystery of the Trinity, right here in John, chapter one, verse one. Now, verse 14 builds on this. The story of Jesus begins in eternity. But then it intrudes into history in John 1, 14, and it says, and the word became flesh. The same person who was in the beginning with the Father. The same person who was the Supreme Being and who is the Supreme Being. This very same person, God the Word, God the Son, He became flesh. He became what He never was, without ceasing to be what He always was. He became human. Flesh. And he took to himself a true human body and a true human soul. He became human. And it says, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. His special presence was now not only in heaven, but also on earth. He had a bodily presence on earth. present on earth. If you were going to say that in Hebrew, I guess you would say Immanuel. God with us, God present on earth. He dwelt among us, and then it says, and this is why this passage is relevant when you study the glory of Christ and it says, and we beheld his glory. Now, they didn't see this bright light shining from him. They didn't see a halo around his head. What glory did they see when he was here on earth? We considered last night the glory that Isaiah saw that he had when he was in heaven, sitting on the throne, surrounded by angels, worshipped and adored, saying, holy, holy, holy. The whole earth is full of his glory. That was the glory he had. But then he came down here and he took the form of a servant. And even when he was in the form of a servant and had the likeness of an ordinary man, and when people looked at him, they saw and they thought, this is an ordinary man. He wasn't. But that's what he looked like in outward appearance. Being found in appearance as a man. And nevertheless, it says we beheld his glory. We beheld his glory, they saw the glory of Christ, even when he was here in outward appearance as a mere man, though he wasn't a mere man, he was the God man, but he looked like a man and they saw his glory and his glory was unique. It was evident that he was one of a kind, only begotten from God the Father. And it emphasizes not only his mission, but also his character, that he came on a mission of mercy and he displayed in his character his saving purpose. It says, We beheld his glory Glory as of the only begotten from the Father. We saw the majesty of Christ. We saw the greatness of Christ. He's full of grace and truth. Full of grace and truth. And then in verse 17, if you say, well, what does it mean full of grace and truth? Well, there's an interesting statement. It says for the law, was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. The law, Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. Well, the law is divine revelation. It's divine revelation of God's standard of righteousness. And that revelation came by means of Moses when God himself declared the Ten Commandments by means of the mediation of Moses on Mount Sinai. The law was given. It was a divine revelation given by means of the ministry of Moses. And here Grace and truth is in contrast with the law. So does that mean, then, that we enter into a law-grace controversy? A law-truth controversy? Does that mean that the law is not truth? Of course not. It doesn't mean that. Isn't, in one sense, the law truth? Of course it is. But in some sense, There's a contrast in the text between the law given through Moses on the one hand and grace and truth that come through Christ on the other hand. See that clear in the text, isn't it? And the glory of Christ features grace and truth. That he was full of grace and full of truth. And the unique ministry that he had was to convey to men grace and truth in the gospel. So oftentimes they say, well, the law was given through Moses and the gospel came through Jesus Christ and grace and truth is a way of talking about the gospel. Well, maybe. that there's an element of correctness or truth in that interpretation of the text. When you ask about what is grace, what is truth? Jesus said, I am the way and the truth and the life, and no one comes to the father but through me. There's another place where there's a clear contrast between grace and truth in the Gospel of John, and that is the contrast between Christ and Satan. Satan is a murderer. He's not full of grace. The devil doesn't have grace, but what he has is hate. And Satan is a liar. He doesn't have truth, but what he has is lies. And John chapter 8 says he is a liar and a murderer. And from the beginning, he is a liar and a murderer. And he is a liar and the father of lying. So he's not full of grace and truth, but he's full of hate and lies, hate and lies, grace and truth, hate and lies, malice, ill will, hate, evil, lies, dishonesty, falsehood, as opposed to grace and truth. So that Jesus Christ, when he comes and lives his life as a life full of grace and a life full of truth, truth is accuracy, truth is the way it really is concerning God, what God is really like concerning salvation, what salvation is really about and how people really get saved. Jesus always tells the truth. He always tells the truth about God. He always tells the truth about salvation. He always tells the truth about sin. Jesus is never wrong and Jesus never lies. He's full of truth. But Jesus also is full of grace. He comes to save sinners. He said God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world or condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. He didn't come to destroy. He didn't come to condemn. He came to rescue. He came to deliver. He came on a mission of mercy, on a mission of grace. He came to show favor to those who deserve exactly the opposite. He came in goodwill. He came in love. He came in self-giving, self-sacrifice. He came in deference. He came in full of grace and truth. And therefore, in one sense, grace and truth fulfills the law of God. The grace and truth of Christ is all of the righteousness that we need to be right with God, all of the righteousness that the law given through Moses required Christ with his grace and his truth fulfills. So that Jesus Christ and his gospel righteousness is everything that any sinner needs to be right with God. And the glory of Christ in this world is that he lived a life unique in that it was full of grace and full of truth. No other human – and he became human – no other human is full of grace and truth. Only Jesus is full of grace and truth. And he is the manifestation of grace And the manifestation of truth, the grace and truth of God is bound up in the person and work of Jesus Christ. And that grace and truth is the fulfillment of everything that God requires of sinners to be right with himself. And Paul calls that righteousness of Jesus, the righteousness of God, and that righteousness is all the righteousness that any sinner ever needs to be right with God. And it's all the righteousness that the law of God requires. It's a righteousness that we could never fulfill ourselves, but it's a righteousness that God sent Christ to provide for sinners so that they could be right with God. And the provision of that righteousness is the gospel. It is the hope of sinners, the hope of mankind. So in a sense, it's right when they say the gospel came through Jesus Christ. That's true. But the gospel came through Jesus Christ in the sense that Christ in being full of grace and truth provides the righteousness that we need to be right with God. And it is a fulfillment of God's requirement in the law that he gave through Moses. So it's not that Christ is against the law. To the contrary, God forbid, it's that Christ fulfills the law. And that Christ provides the righteousness that the law requires. And that he is the embodiment of that righteousness, full of grace and truth. And that's the glory of Christ. We beheld His glory, glory as of and only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. Therefore, by way of application, when we behold the glory of Christ and that He's full of grace and the glory of Christ, that He's full of truth, then we are transformed in becoming like Christ, not liars anymore. not murderers anymore, like we once were when we were children of Satan. And we walked in the ways of our father, the devil, full of hate and lies. But when God creates in us a new heart and we get right with God and we see the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, then we're transformed into that same image. And we put away lying and we become honest. We start to have integrity. And we start to tell truth instead of lies. And we put away malice and satanic, murderous hearts of hate. And we put on hearts of compassion and kindness and love and grace. And we become like our savior, full of grace and truth. And the more we become like him, the more gracious we become, the more honest we become. The more grounded in truth we become, The more we speak truth about God and about sin and about ourselves and about reality and about eternity, the more we put on grace, likeness and conformity to the heart of Jesus Christ. This is what he is about. He's full of grace and truth. And as we see that glory, then we become more like him. More gracious, more truthful. So that's the foundation of what the scripture says. about the glory of Christ in his in his life here on Earth, that it could be summed up in this. He's full of grace and truth. Now, it says more than that. It says also that he manifested his glory, the glory of his deity, the glory of his power, the glory of his omniscience and the glory of his gospel, grace and truth. through his miracles that he did, and through his teaching that he did. And I'm just going to read to you some passages that speak about the glory of Christ's public ministry. And these passages are in your handouts, so you don't have to go back and forth from Dan to bear Sheba. But these are in your these are in your handouts. If you have the handout, the first passage in Luke 415, it says, that he taught in their synagogues being glorified of all. Luke 4, 15. He taught in their synagogues being glorified of all. And he received glory in his public ministry from his teaching because he was teaching them the word of God. He was teaching truth. And he taught the truth like no rabbi ever taught it to them before. He taught the truth as someone who knew it and as someone who lived it and as someone who said it with authority and conviction and with the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. And they said, what kind of teaching is this? And they honored him. They glorified him because of the way he taught them the truth. And in Luke 13, verse 17, we read. And when he had said these things, all his adversaries were ashamed and all the people rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by him. He did many glorious things, many majestic and great things. What things did he do? He cleansed the lepers, he healed the sick, he raised the dead, he cast out the demons. And the people rejoiced for all these things by which He manifested His divine power and goodness. In John chapter 2, verse 11, we read, This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee and manifested forth, shined forth, or showed forth His glory. He manifested His glory. And His disciples believed on Him. How did He manifest His majesty? How did He manifest His splendor and greatness? He did a miracle. By miraculous power, He turned water into good wine. And John 11, verse 4 says, And when Jesus heard that, He said, This sickness, speaking of His friend Lazarus, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God that the Son of God might be glorified by it. How did the sickness and death of Lazarus glorify God the Son? It glorified God the Son because Lazarus' sickness and death gave rise to Jesus coming after he was dead. And then going out to the tomb and saying, Lazarus, come forth. And he came forth, and the Son of God was glorified when in the power of his word, his omnipotence was manifested in the resurrection of Lazarus simply by speaking the word, Lazarus, come forth. They said, Lord, he's been dead so long now, the body's decaying, he's starting to stink. He said, didn't I tell you if you believed, you'd see the glory of God? And he says, Lazarus, come forth. And just by his word, he has omnipotence. He has the power just to say it. And when he says it, it happens. Lazarus, come forth and he comes forth, raises the dead with his voice. And he manifests his glory, the glory of his great power and omnipotence. So he displays his greatness and he is honored on earth through the miracles and through the teaching of the truth of the word of God that he does. And this is how he displays his glory. Behold the glory of Christ in his public ministry. So, he comes full of grace, full of truth, on a gospel mission of mercy. And on that gospel mission of mercy, full of grace and truth, he displays his glory, teaching the truth and displaying his divine power by which he heals the sick, casts out demons, raises the dead, and the people honor him and praise him. This is the glory of Christ in his public ministry. Now, in his incarnation, in his life on earth, The scripture features another aspect of the glory of Christ displayed while he was here, and that takes place one time on one occasion, a very special occasion called his transfiguration. That transfiguration described in Luke chapter nine. The glory of his transfiguration is described in Luke chapter nine. Luke chapter 9, beginning in verse 28, the text that's in your handout is 932, where it says, Now Peter and they that were with him, verse 32, were heavy with sleep, but when they were fully awake, they saw his glory. They saw his glory. That time, the glory of Christ was especially uniquely displayed while he was here on Earth. There's a glory of his character and mission, full of grace and truth. There's the glory of his public ministry, teaching in the synagogues and healing the sick and raising the dead. There's also the glory of his transfiguration. Now, verse 28. And it came to pass about eight days after these sayings, and he told them that he was going up to die, that he took with him Peter, James, and John, only three, went up to a mountain to pray. And while he was praying, the fashion of his countenance was changed. And his raiment became white and dazzling. And there talked with him two men, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his decease, or departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. And they saw his glory. There was a brightness, a radiance, that came from his countenance, from his clothing. It became white and shining. And they saw it. So here, God, for a moment, with only three of the disciples, pulls back the veil and gives them a little glimpse of the radiance and majesty and splendor of Christ. It was something that they never forgot. Because we read that Peter wrote of it in 2 Peter 1 17. It says, speaking of Jesus, for he received from God the Father honor and glory when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory. This is my beloved son. And that that voice comes in verse 35 and the voice came out of the cloud saying, this is my son, my chosen. hear him. And when the voice came, Jesus was found alone and they held their peace and told no man in those days any of the things that they had seen. There's the glory of his transfiguration, whereas just a little peek behind the veil, a little glimpse of how great and majestic he really is. But the final chapter of the glory of Christ on Earth comes at the end of his life. The transfiguration, in one sense, was a preparation for what was about to come. And in John chapter 12 and verse 23, we read this as Jesus is going up to Jerusalem and about to die. John chapter 12 and verse 23. And Jesus answered and said to them, Jesus answered them, saying, The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. Verily, verily, I say to you, except a grain of wheat fall into the earth and die, it abides alone. But if it die, it bears much fruit. Now is the Son of Man glorified, and he's speaking about being glorified in his death. In John chapter 13, verse 31 and 32, he alludes to it again. He says, therefore, when when Judas was gone out, Jesus said, Now, now is the Son of Man glorified and God is glorified in him. If God be glorified in him, God shall also glorify him in himself. And straightway shall glorify him. And Christ did not honor himself, Hebrews 5.5, to be made High Priest. So Jesus Christ, at the end of His life, as the High Priest, makes atonement for sin and displays His glory The power of God displayed in weakness. The wisdom of God displayed in foolishness. The foolishness and weakness of the crucifixion. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men and the weakness of God is stronger than men. God glorified Christ in His death. And He displayed His glory when He took upon Himself the weight and the debt of the sin of His people. He made Him to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. God imputed to Him. He transferred to Him all the guilt, all the liability to punishment, all the debt of all the sin of all of His people. And He manifested His glory when He paid the debt of sin on the cross. In the shedding of His blood made atonement for sin. And God poured all of His wrath due to all of the sin of all of His people out upon Christ. And the justice of God is satisfied. And the wrath of God is pacified. And the debt is paid in full. And He says it is finished. And in that, in that seemingly disgraceful manner, in the disgrace of public execution, he displays his honor and glory. There's the remarkable paradoxical nature of the glory of Christ is that his power is displayed in weakness, his wisdom in foolishness, his honor in the epitome of disgrace being publicly executed as a criminal. What greater disgrace could there be? And yet there is his glory. That's the ultimate and final display of the glory of His public ministry while He's here on earth, is the glory of His cross. The glory of what appears to be the greatest foolishness and weakness and shame and disgrace And yet there is the majesty of making atonement for sin. The splendor of the debt paid in full. The grandeur of redemption accomplished once and for all. Wrath pacified. Justice satisfied. That's the remarkable glory of the cross. That's the glory of Christ. According to the scripture, that's where full of grace and truth comes to its pinnacle. The grace that was willing to endure the cross, the reality, the truth that on that cross is the payment of the debt of sin for all of his people so that whosoever believes in him will never perish, but have eternal life. That's truth and grace bound up in the cross. Now, by way of application, does not this, as we've seen at the beginning, call us to be like Christ in terms of grace and truth? Does it not call us to be honest people? To face reality, to speak truth, speak truth about ourselves and about God? Does it not call us to be gracious people if God has forgiven us? How much more should we be forgiving? If Christ loves sinners, should we not also have compassion upon people that deserve to go to hell, just like we do? And long to see them delivered and saved. And finally. The final application is in your handouts, I'm going to read it to you. This is the ultimate Application, it's in Revelation, Chapter five, verses 12 and 13, Revelation, Chapter five, verses 12 and 13. Revelation five. It's a picture of the praise of the lamb. In verse 11, John sees and hears a voice of many angels and the living creatures and the elders. Ten thousand times ten thousand. Thousands of thousands. There's this innumerable multitude. And this is what they're saying. Worthy is the Lamb that has been slain to receive the power, riches, wisdom, might, honor, glory, and blessing. In every created thing, which is in the heaven and on the earth, and under the earth and on the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying unto him that sits on the throne and unto the Lamb, be the blessing and the honor and the glory and the dominion forever and ever. And the four living creatures said, Amen, and the elders fell down and worshiped this display of the glory of Christ, full of grace and truth, the glory that he displayed in his earthly ministry, teaching the word and healing the sick and raising the dead, displaying divine power while he was here on Earth. and especially emphatically climatically, the glory of the cross, where in what appears to be the epitome of the opposite of glory, shame and disgrace, he manifests the glory of God. He pays the price of sin, accomplishes redemption, satisfies justice, pacifies wrath, makes atonement. Therefore, it calls us to say with a loud voice, worthy is the Lamb to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing. It calls upon us to say, blessing and honor and glory and power be unto Him who sits on the throne and unto the Lamb forever and ever. Amen. Let us pray. Father, we thank you for the privilege of looking at the glory of Jesus. We thank you for that glory that he has displayed, full of grace and truth. Do we pray, Lord, that you would put away from our hearts all lying and all wickedness and malice and carnal hatred and a murderous spirit. Put away from us all those things. grant to us more and more that we would be made like Jesus. And Father, that when we see the wonderful, remarkable, awesome glory displayed in the cross, we pray, Lord, that more and more our hearts would be lost in wonder, love, and praise, that we would honor you, that we would honor the Lamb, that we would praise your beloved Son, and that we too would sing the praises of our Redeemer forever and ever. Now you would put a song of praise and gratitude and thanksgiving in our hearts. We ask it in Jesus' name. Amen.