Notes on John 1:12, 14, 17
12 But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God
(John 1:12) In receiving and believing in Jesus Christ we are transformed and adopted as sons and daughters of God. John states it as a choice, though, not as a forced adoption. We are given "power to become children" of God if we believe in and receive Jesus as God and our Lord and Savior.
14 And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.
(John 1:14) The Word that created the universe and all that lie in it took on the lowly status of humanity and "became flesh." God the Son not only "became flesh" but He "lived among us." And He not only "lived among us" but lived the life of a poor servant, modeling how we, too, should live in serving God and neighbor. In everything that Jesus represents, in every aspect of His earthly life, in every action of His totally divine and totally human being, we see “grace and truth” at work.
17 The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known.
(John 1:17-18) Although the Law is important and a step in God's saving plan for us, only Jesus Christ brings "grace and truth." John uses "God the only Son" to depict Christ, which points to Jesus' unquestionable role as the equal and second part of the Trinity. That Jesus is “close to the Father’s heart” and has “made Him known” points to our Lord being God in the flesh. Jesus is God incarnate, living and breathing among us. When we see Jesus Christ, we see the love, truth, and grace of God. For later in John 10:30, Jesus tells an unbelieving Jewish audience that “[He] and the Father are One.”
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