John 1:13,14
V13 – Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
Born of blood is the natural birth common to all humanity. Although every person is created in the image of God the second birth is so much more, it is entering into a new relationship with God.
The will of the flesh is the attempt to pursue godliness by means of chasing after the perception of “good”. This could be ascetic, epicurean, or even hedonistic. Consumerism, scientism, and being ‘spiritual’ falls in this category of the will of the flesh.
The will of man is man’s attempt to pursue godliness via religious philosophy. It can be the attempt to create laws that lead to godliness. It can also be willfully submitting to men’s rules with the idea that there is virtue in being humiliated beneath them.
Attempts to approach God on our own terms, or make god/s out of myths or philosophies or trying to ignore and reject the reality of God all fail in the long run to answer our need for relationship with our creator.
But we are born of God, 1 Peter 1:23. Born of God’s will, in his likeness, because we are given the grace to believe. Without seeking it, Romans 5:8. Without working for it, Ephesians 2:8. The gift of God, Romans 6:23, is given to us.
V14 – And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
That Word which exists eternally entered into our narrow existence, Galatians 4:4. Matthew 17:2, John saw the glory of the transfiguration. Full of grace and truth.
Grace- Romans 3:24, 2 Corinthians 8:9, Ephesians 2:8
Truth- John 18:37-38 – What is truth?, John 8:32, John 14:6, John 16:13
Since we are become children of God, relationship to and with God is assumed.
What are grace and truth in a relationship?
What gives joy, pleasure, delight in knowing another?
All human philosophy has tried and failed to define truth. Philosophers fail to define truth because truth is not an abstraction, it is a Person. To be in relationship with Jesus is to know the Truth. It is not enough to know about truth or to know about Jesus. The devil knows about Jesus.
As we become like him we receive grace and truth and it pours out of us like living water, John 7:38.
brotherpayne 