Seeking Jesus First Dec. 29, 2025
Grace, Truth, and the God Made Known
“For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.” (John 1:17–18, NKJV)
John now draws a clear and beautiful distinction—not to diminish the law, but to reveal its fulfillment. “The law was given through Moses.” The law was a gift from God. It revealed His holiness, His righteousness, and His moral will. It showed humanity what was right and what was wrong. Yet the law, though true, could not impart life. It could expose sin, but it could not remove it. It could define righteousness, but it could not produce it.
“But grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”
Grace and truth did not merely arrive as teachings; they came embodied in a Person. Jesus Christ did not bring a new list of requirements—He brought the fullness of God’s heart. Grace is God’s unearned favor and empowering presence. Truth is reality as God sees it. In Jesus, grace and truth are no longer concepts to study; they are a life to receive.
This verse helps us understand everything John has been building toward in chapter one. The Word became flesh. The Light entered the darkness. Those who received Him were born of God. Now John explains the nature of that new life: it is a life governed not by law from the outside, but by grace and truth from within.
Grace does not oppose truth, and truth does not cancel grace. In Christ, they are perfectly united. Grace without truth would be permissive and empty. Truth without grace would be crushing and condemning. But Jesus reveals a Father who is both perfectly holy and perfectly loving—without contradiction.
John then takes us even deeper: “No one has seen God at any time.” Humanity has always longed to know what God is truly like. Prophets spoke for Him. The law described His will. Creation testified of His power. Yet God Himself remained unseen—until Jesus.
“The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.”
Jesus does not merely speak about God—He reveals Him. To declare means to explain fully, to make known, to unfold what was hidden. Jesus is the living explanation of the Father. His compassion reveals the Father’s heart. His truth reveals the Father’s mind. His sacrifice reveals the Father’s love. If you want to know what God is like, look at Jesus.
This is deeply personal. God is no longer distant or unknowable. Through Christ, the invisible God has made Himself known and approachable. And through faith, we are brought into that same relationship—not as servants under law, but as children living by grace.
Today, let this truth anchor your heart: you are not trying to reach an unknown God. In Jesus Christ, God has already come near and made Himself known. Grace and truth are not something you earn—they are something you receive. As you walk today, let the revealed heart of the Father shape how you see Him, how you see yourself, and how you live before Him.