John 1:14 (NKJV) And the Word became 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.
God has chosen to reveal His heart to us despite His supremacy, to humble Himself to walk among His creation because of His love for us, to reach out to us while we were still sinners, and to love even the untouchables, the wretched souls, sinners and those He should not have been associating with in view of His holiness and supremacy.
Nobody would deny that holiness, righteousness, justice are some of the attributes of God. God hates sin because of His holiness, and it was sin that separated mankind from God. In the past, God taught people what sin was through the ten commandments, the Pentateuch and how to approach Him through the sacrificial system. God must judge sin and teach man the consequences of sin. Nonetheless, the first covenant, namely the Mosaic covenant, was imperfect because it was a conditional covenant. Therefore, out of His love for us, God rolled out a new and better covenant established on better promises through the blood of Jesus Christ. Because God took no pleasure in animal sacrifices, He prepared a body for His son.
There was a veil in the Old Testament which prevented the people from seeing God clearly. Similarly, there is a veil over the eyes of unbelievers today that hinders them from understanding the wonderful news of the Bible, for sin has separated mankind from a holy God. The Bible is progressive revelation, which means everything is made clearer as we enter the New Testament with the understanding of the work of redemption. The incarnation of the second person of the Godhead, Jesus, allowed God to walk among us as 100% man and 100% God. Jesus told his disciples who asked Him to show them the Father that He and the Father are One, and so they were seeing the Father when they saw Him. The people were able to behold the glory of Jesus as He ministered among them, full of grace and truth. They were no longer in the dark as to what God was like, because as Jesus walked among them, they were able to witness His love in action, the words that were spoken to reveal the nature of God and His will. Jesus, the Son of God, came to do the will of the Father and He did and said nothing apart from what the Father wanted to be said and done.
John 1:18 (NKJV) No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.
Sermon Series: Extending Grace
耶稣表明了父神
约翰福音 1:14 道成了肉身，住在我们中间，充充满满地有恩典有真理。我们也见过他的荣光，正是父独生子的荣光。
尽管神至高无上，但祂依然选择向我们展示祂的心。因祂对我们的爱，祂选择了谦卑自己在祂的造物中行走。当我们还是罪人的时候，祂选择向我们伸出援手。祂选择了去爱世人，甚至是那些不可触碰之人，那些可怜的灵魂，罪人和那些与祂的圣洁至高沾不上边的人们。
没有人会否认或质疑圣洁、公义、正义是神的部分属性。神因祂的圣洁而恨恶罪，而使人与神隔绝的正是罪。在过去，神通过十诫、摩西五经教导人们什么是罪，以及如何通过献祭接近祂。神要审判罪，也要教导人罪的后果。第一个盟约，即摩西盟约是不完全的，因为它是一个有条件的盟约。然而，出于对我们的爱，神展开了一个更新更好的约，藉着耶稣基督的宝血，建立在更美好的应许之上。因为神不喜悦以动物献祭，祂为祂的爱子预备了一个肉身。
旧约中的幔子阻止人们清楚地看到神。同样,如今那遮在非信徒眼睛上的幔子也阻碍了他们理解来自圣经的福音，因为罪已经让世人与圣洁的神隔绝了。圣经是渐进的启示，这意味着当我们进入新约时，一切都更加清晰，对神救赎的计划有了理解。神的第二位格耶稣的道成肉身，让神以100%的人和100%的神的身份在我们中间行走。当耶稣的门徒们请求祂显明父神的时候,，耶稣告诉他们: 祂和父原为一，因此当他们看到耶稣的时候, 他们也就看到父神。当耶稣在世间服事世人时，世人看到耶稣的荣耀，充满了恩典和真理。他们不再对神的本质一无所知, 因为当耶稣在他们中间行走时，他们既看见了祂以行动表达的爱，也听见了祂那显明神的品格和旨意的道。耶稣，神的儿子，来遵行天父的旨意，祂所行所说的，正是天父所要行所要说的。
约翰福音 1:18: 从来没有人看见神，只有在父怀里的独生子将他表明出来。
讲章系列：延伸恩典