Then Jesus is not only full of grace, but He is also full of truth. Fallen man by nature is a liar. He goes about speaking lies as soon as he is born. He is a child of him who is the father of lies, who abode not in the truth. Now God is, on the other hand, the God of Truth. “He is the Rock, His work is perfect, for all his ways are judgment; a God of truth, and without iniquity; just and right is He.” (Deut. 32:44He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he. (Deuteronomy 32:4)) “Into Thine hand I commit my spirit: Thou has redeemed me, O Lord God of truth.” (Psa. 31:55Into thine hand I commit my spirit: thou hast redeemed me, O Lord God of truth. (Psalm 31:5)) His eternal purpose has been to reveal Himself, and, therefore, He would make Himself known as the God of truth. Hence, Jesus, the image of the invisible God, has come full of truth; yea, the truth itself, for He says, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.”
There is, however, a more especial way in which Christ is the Truth, and of which He was full. I mean as regards the types and ceremonies of the law, all of which he has fulfilled or filled out. They were all but “shadows of good things to come”—Christ is the substance. In the burnt-offerings and sacrifices for sin God had no pleasure, for they could not take away sin; but in Him who was the Lamb of His own providing—who had, as such, offered Himself to God by the Eternal Spirit—He was truly well pleased. Christ did all God’s will. He put away sin, and by the sacrifice of Himself, He enabled God, as it were, to reveal Himself, in the many and varied aspects of His character, but that of love more especially. The cross is the power of God, whereby He is able to show forth the exceeding riches, yea, the fullness of His grace. Christ Jesus has then made good all the types of the Jewish dispensation. However, in every sense He is the Truth, and they who have believed in Him, and have by grace tasted that the Lord is gracious, have received of this His fullness, and the Truth becomes part and parcel of him who receives it; for the Word of God is an engrafted word, to be received with meekness. Most important word, indeed, is that word engrafted. It means a great deal. It shows that the Truth becomes a part of ourselves, when received in meekness and simplicity Thus, then, again even in this respect, we are as Christ is, and of His fullness have we received, and grace for grace.
And now, lastly, the disciples beheld in this blessed person the Christ of God’s glory— “the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” Man born in the image of God has come short of His glory, and is dead in trespasses and in sins; altogether unlike God, and altogether opposed to Him. Now, we have, as has been so often already said, been predestinated to the glory of God’s grace, but now I find we are destined to be to the praise of His glory. God means to display His glory, and we who are saved in this day of grace are reserved as it were, for its manifestation. The law could do nothing for God in the display of His glory by us. The law entered, and it only brought out man’s corrupt nature. Still, the law had a glory of its own, but that glory was to be done away. God’s purpose was to show forth the excellence of His glory in man. All His grace is to be shown out in man. All His wisdom, too, is to be shown out in the Church (Eph. 3:1010To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God, (Ephesians 3:10)), and so also God’s glory, its praises, its excellencies. (Eph. 1:1414Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory. (Ephesians 1:14)) The law, I say, could not do this, hence the Lord Jesus has come—the Word of God, the image of the invisible God, the express image of His person, the brightness of His glory—to make known His glory in all its brilliancy, splendor, and magnificence. God is the God of Glory. (Psa. 29:33The voice of the Lord is upon the waters: the God of glory thundereth: the Lord is upon many waters. (Psalm 29:3); Acts 7:22And he said, Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken; The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran, (Acts 7:2)) He is the Father of Glory (Eph. 1:1717That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: (Ephesians 1:17)), and, I repeat, that it is to the praise of His glory that He is, by the Holy Spirit, calling out and bringing many sons to glory. The disciples beheld His glory, the glory of the only begotten of the Father. Marvelous as the revelation of this glory was in the incarnate God, it is by virtue of His death that God has glorified Him, and seated Him on His own throne. He has crowned Him with glory and honor, and now in heaven He reflects the glory of God. The glorious Gospel, or rather the Gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, is now preached, for the light of the knowledge of the glory of God is in the face of Jesus Christ.
And now, blessed be God, by faith we can rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. We can look forward to the time when we shall be personally in the presence thereof, free from all fear and anxiety. Yea, we can even now, in this present time, rejoice in it, and say, “Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly.” But now we are in a measure made partakers of the glory as now revealed in the face of Jesus, the last Adam. Satan’s (the god of this world) great aim is to keep the minds of those who believe not, blinded. However, to them who believe, the light of the Gospel of the glory shines into them, because God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined into their hearts the light of the knowledge of His glory, in the face of Jesus Christ. (2 Cor. 4:66For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. (2 Corinthians 4:6)) Thus are they made the recipients of the glory of Him who is Himself the brightness of God’s glory, the express image of His person; and as we go on with Him, beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord are changed into the same image, from glory to glory, by the Spirit of the Lord.
Oh! then, may we who have possessed this blessed gift, whose is the hope of glory, live in closer and more intimate communion with Him, that more of His glory may be seen in all our ways Oh! may we walk worthy of Him who hath called us to His Kingdom and glory; for when Christ who is our life shall appear, then shall we appear with Him in glory; and then shall we, before the countless myriads of the heavenly hosts, be to the praise of God’s glory.
E. C.