John 1:16 Of His fullness we have all received

 And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace.

In order to appreciate the complete idea being expressed by verse sixteen we must consider the preface to grace and truth given in verse fourteen.  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.

And of His fullness we have all received  We understand from verse fourteen that it is the fullness of Christ's grace and truth which we have all received.  But what is this grace?

In simple terms, divine grace is the gift of God's favor, including all of God's benefits bestowed upon the objects of His favor.  God's general grace toward mankind gives us each a measure of faith which is sufficient for us to believe in Jesus.  But through Christ's grace we receive the love of God as His dear children; fully pleasing to Him because the Son is fully pleasing to the Father.  As the Father spoke during Jesus' baptism and later during His transfiguration; This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.  In John chapter fifteen Jesus tells the Disciples, for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me, and have believed that I came forth from God.

But doesn't God love everyone?  Yes, He is compassionate.  But we have already observed in verse twelve of Chapter One that the right to be adopted into the family of God as His children only comes by receiving and trusting in Christ.  We are accepted and loved as children - if we are accepted through His beloved Son.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. - Ephesians 1:3-6

When John states "we" all have received of the fullness of Christ's grace he is including all who have received Christ.  The gift of grace is available to all; as the scriptures say, "All who call on the name of the Lord will be saved."  Jesus died for the sins of the whole world.  But to receive the fullness of grace each soul must be humbly drawn to the source of this grace and submit to the Lord Jesus Christ.

But even the desire to seek Christ, and the faith to believe, are gifts of God's grace.  And lest we suppose that only the worthy are drawn to Jesus  the Apostle Paul writes in Ephesians 2:1-9:

And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.

 

But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.  For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.

Paul goes so far as to stress his own lack of merit in his letter to Timothy, stating, This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. - 1st Timothy 1:15

Paul's confession did not mean, however,  that he continued to be the chief of sinners after his salvation.  He makes this clear in the Book of Romans.

What shall we say then?  Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?  Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?  Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?  Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. - Romans 6:1-4

and grace for grace.  This is one of the most marvelous phrases in the Bible.  The Greek is stated in a somewhat poetic fashion that supports several wonderful English interpretations.  It is often translated grace upon grace.  The expanded literal translation of the Greek words yields; for the sake of grace replacing grace.  The imagery might be depicted as a river of grace, ever replenished from a boundless source of grace.

But the result of this ever-replacing grace in the life of the objects of God's special favor could be conveyed by using the illustration of the game of chess.  As each move is made in a chess match, the opponent must recalculate a new strategy based on the changing positions of the pieces on the board.  Now imagine playing chess with a super-computer that is able to instantly respond to your every move.  Then consider what the game might be like if the other player was not your opponent, but instead, was doing everything possible to help you win the game.

The reality of God's grace is that He knew every choice we would make in our lives - the good and the bad - before He even created us.  His ever-replacing grace has us covered, even when we blow it 'big time'.  This doesn't mean that He won't allow testing or chastening in our lives.  But we do know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.  For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.  Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. - Romans 8:28-30

Isn't He Wonderful!  Take a moment to worship Him for His goodness.  And if you haven't yet put your trust in Jesus so that you might be forgiven of all of your sins and know that your name is written in the Lamb's Book of Life, please pray that God would impress the truth of His love upon your heart so that you might be drawn to the One who is full of grace and truth.