Advent (1) Jesus Who Came in Grace and Truth (1)

“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth... Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.” (John 1:14, 16-18)
 
Advent
As I said earlier, starting today, one of the most important seasons in Christianity begins. That is Advent. Advent comes from the Latin word Adventus, meaning “coming.”
Advent is observed for four weeks leading up to Christmas. The early Church Fathers commemorated Jesus’ coming during the Advent season in three meanings.
The first is the “past coming.” This refers to the incarnation of Christ, when Jesus took on human flesh and first came to this earth. Jesus, who is equal to God in essence, left the heavenly throne and came into this lowly world, born as a weak baby in a manger in Bethlehem. This is the first coming.
The second meaning of Jesus’ coming is the “present coming.” Jesus began His public ministry at the age of thirty and was crucified at the age of thirty-three. After rising from the dead on the third day, He appeared to His disciples for forty days in His resurrected body and then ascended into heaven in their presence.
However, before Jesus ascended, He gave His disciples the Great Commission and promised them, “…And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Mt 28:20).
Another name for Jesus is “Immanuel,” which means “God is with us.” Even though we can’t see Him physically, He dwells among us through the Holy Spirit. Therefore, Advent is not simply a season to commemorate the Jesus who came in the past, but a time to remember Jesus who is still with us and present in our lives, and to draw closer into His presence.
The final meaning of Jesus’ coming is the “future coming,” that is, the Second Coming. Although Jesus is currently with us in His Spirit, at the time God has appointed, He will return in His resurrected body in a way that our eyes can clearly see.
After sharing the Last Supper with His disciples, Jesus spoke to those worried about His imminent departure: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me… My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am” (Jn 14:1-3).
As Jesus ascended, He talked about His future return. On that day when He comes back, He will judge all nations, renew all creation, give us resurrected bodies, and lead us into His kingdom. This is the third meaning of Jesus’ coming.
Therefore, Advent is a season in which we remember Jesus’ past coming in the incarnation, His present coming among us through the Holy Spirit, and His future coming at His return.
During this period, we remember Jesus’ incarnation and give thanks for the salvation He accomplished on the cross. We also remember Jesus who continues to come to us and dwell with us, and we approach Him in repentance. And, we also remember that Jesus will come again soon, renew our hope in Him, and prepare for His return.
Today, we will focus on the first of these three meanings of Jesus Christ’s coming, namely, His incarnation.
 
Jesus, the Word Made Flesh
Let’s John 1:14 one more time together. “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth” (Jn 1:14).
This verse is one of the most central and important passages for understanding who Jesus Christ is. The Apostle John describes Jesus as “the one who became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” But what does “the Word” mean here, and what does it mean that the Word became flesh?
In the same chapter, John explained what the Word is in the introduction to his Gospel. John 1:1-3 says: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made” (Jn 1:1-3).
According to John, the Word has existed from the beginning. The Word was with God, and the Word was God Himself. Through this Word, all things were created.
What’s important there is the meaning of the ‘Word’. The Greek word translated as “Word” here is Logos (λόγος). This was not a term John invented. It was already widely used in the Hellenistic worldview at that time, especially in philosophy.
In that worldview, Logos referred to metaphysical reality. Here, “meta” means ‘beyond,’ so being metaphysical means going beyond the physical. So “metaphysical reality” means the fundamental principle or order that exists beyond what we can see and feel.
Science deals with what is experimentally observable. But metaphysics deals with what is beyond the physical, with the essence of why things exist. In this context, Logos pointed to the most fundamental cause or absolute universal order that made all visible things exist.
John borrows this term to explain who Jesus Christ is. In doing so, John declares that Jesus Christ, the Word of God, is the one who makes all existence possible, who is the foundation and essential cause of the universe, and who is the absolute order of all things.
God created the world through this Logos, the Word. Nothing that was made came into being without Him. Everything was created in Him, through Him, and for Him. This is the core of Christology.
The Apostle Paul writes: “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together” (Col 1:15-17).
This is Jesus Christ. He is the Word of God. He is the one who makes all that we see possible, and He is the fundamental principle that upholds the entire universe. John says that this Word of God took on flesh and came to this earth. This is the meaning incarnation. Let us read John 1:14 again.
“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth” (Jn 1:14).
Here, John explains Jesus’ incarnation and specifically uses the words “grace” and “truth.” He repeats these words again in verse 17, “For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” (Jn 1:17).
Here, “grace” and “truth” are not merely expressions used to beautifully describe Jesus’ incarnation. Grace and truth show the purpose of Jesus’ incarnation—that is, why He, who is God, took on human flesh and came to this earth. We’ll talk about ‘grace’ today and ‘truth’ next Sunday.
 
Grace
First, let’s talk about grace. Grace is one of the most frequently used words in the Bible and a key term that explains the essence of Christianity. In Scripture, grace can be defined as God’s favor given to those who do not deserve it.
Let’s read together Ephesians 2:8-9. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God” (Eph 2:8-9).
Next, let’s read Romans 3:23-24. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus” (Rom 3:23-24).
These two passages are very important verses that explain the grace God has shown us through Jesus Christ and what salvation is. According to Paul, salvation is being justified before God. It is being recognized as righteous in His sight, having our relationship with Him restored, and enjoying the eternal life He gives.
We didn’t deserve this salvation. As Paul explains in Romans, all have sinned, and as a result, we couldn’t reach the glory of God. Sin separated us from God, from His eternal life, and from all the blessings He provides. Consequently, we were under the curse of sin and heading toward eternal death.
The problem is, we had no ability to resolve the issue of sin ourselves. The price to atone for sin is so great that no one could ever pay it.
Psalm 49:7-8 says, “No one can redeem the life of another or give to God a ransom for them—the ransom for a life is costly, no payment is ever enough” (Ps 49:7-8).
This was our state before believing in Jesus. We were separated from God’s presence because of our sins, powerless to resolve the problem of sin, and heading toward eternal death. This was the result of our choosing sin.
 
Yet God loved us even when we were completely undeserving, even when we were sinners, even when we acted as His enemies. His love was revealed in a very real and sacrificial way. God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, into this world and allowed Him to die on the cross to solve the problem of our sin and give us forgiveness and eternal life.
This is why Jesus took on human flesh and came into the world. God is Spirit, and spirit cannot shed blood or die. Therefore, Jesus intentionally took on a body that could shed blood and die in order to save us from our sins. He bore all our sins in His body and paid the price for them by shedding His blood on the cross.
The Bible calls this redemption. Paul says that we were “justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus” (Rom 3:24).
 
So, to understand grace, it is important to know about biblical meaning of redemption. The Greek word for redemption is apolytrosis (ἀπολύτρωσις), which means “a ransom” or “the price of release.” This word, too, was not originally used in the church. It was commonly used in a market that no longer exists today. Can you guess which market? Yes, it was the slave market.
In the slave market, a buyer would pay the seller the price of the slave to release the person. This is the origin of the word apolytrosis, or redemption.
Paul used this word to explain Jesus’ work for us. Jesus paid the price of our sin to rescue us from slavery to sin, Satan, and death. And the price He paid was His precious blood and His life.
As Paul writes in Galatians 3:13: “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: ‘Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole’” (Gal 3:13).
This was the price Jesus paid to save us. He took the curse on Himself on the cross, bearing the wrath of God that rightly belonged to our sins. The cross was our place. The curse of sin, God’s wrath being poured out upon sin—these were all what we deserved. But Jesus took all of this upon Himself. Because He bore the curse, we can now receive blessing. Because He bore the wrath, we can now stand righteous before God. Because He was forsaken by God, we are reconciled to God.
Now, we no longer need to pay for our sins, nor do we need to strive to be righteous. Jesus Christ already paid the full price for our justification on the cross. By faith in Jesus, who paid for our sins, we are now granted the right to stand righteous before God. And this is given to us by grace, as a gift.
This is the biblical meaning of grace. Grace is God’s unconditional favor freely given to those who don’t deserve it. As sinners, we deserved judgment, curses, condemnation, and death. Yet we didn’t receive what we deserved; instead, we received what we could never earn ourselves—God’s love, forgiveness of sins, and salvation. Not receiving what we deserve is God’s mercy. Receiving what we don’t deserve is God’s grace.
This was the primary purpose of His incarnation. Jesus came in human flesh and shed His blood on the cross to give us this amazing gift of salvation. Jesus is full of grace.
 
Now, I want to wrap up today’s message. Today, we have reflected on the incredible gift of grace that Jesus Christ brought into the world through His incarnation. Grace is God’s favor, freely given to those who don’t deserve it.
We were powerless, separated from God, and under the curse of sin. Yet God, in His infinite love, sent His Son to take our place, pay the price of our sins, and open the way for us to be reconciled to Him.
Jesus’ incarnation shows us not only God’s love but also His willingness to enter into our human reality, to bear our burdens, and to redeem us through His life and blood. Through faith in Him, we can now stand righteous before God—not because of what we have done, but because of what He has accomplished for us. This is the heart of grace.
So, as we begin this Advent season, let us remember the Word made flesh, full of grace and truth. Let us approach Him with gratitude, awe, and faith, recognizing that the same Jesus continues to dwell with us through the Holy Spirit. May this season deepen our understanding of God’s mercy, strengthen our faith in His promises, and inspire us to live in the light of His grace every day. Let us pray.
 
 <Closing  prayer>
Heavenly Father, thank You for the gift of Your Son, Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh, full of grace and truth. We profess that through Him, we have received forgiveness, redemption, and the hope of eternal life. Lord, we confess that we do not deserve this grace, yet You have freely given it to us out of Your great love.
As we begin this Advent season, help us to remember the humility and love of Jesus. May we experience His presence in our lives today and every day. Teach us to live in gratitude for the mercy You have shown us, and give us hearts that reflect Your love to others.
Father, prepare us for the joy of Christmas, and remind us that the same Jesus who came in the past is still with us through Your Spirit, and that He will come again in glory. Strengthen our faith, renew our hope, and draw us ever closer to You.
We pray all of this in the name of Your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
 
[Reflection Questions]
1. What does the incarnation of Jesus Christ mean? Why did Jesus choose to become human? Why is it significant that Jesus, who is fully God, chose to become human and dwell among us? What have you learned about Him through His incarnation? How does the reality of the incarnation affect the way you understand God’s love and presence in your life?
2. What does it mean to you that Jesus is full of grace? How is His grace connected to His incarnation and redemption? Do you believe that Jesus became human in order to die for your sin? Have you ever personally experienced this grace of Jesus?
3. What is one specific way you can respond to God’s grace in your daily life this Advent season?