For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ. No one has seen God at any time; God the only Son, who is in the arms of the Father, He has explained Him. (v.17)

The Word in Greek is Logos. Some people link this word to logic and rationality. I think the word emphasizes that God’s words are spoken by Christ. The words of God are powerful when they are spoken/proclaimed. I’ve mentioned of my dream about the Reformed church I went to. The farmer wrote on the wall and said that the house was named “the end”. He wrote it in my mother tongue. It may sound strange, but the word written did not make a sense until it was spoken. Only when I heard him saying it, I understood the word “the end”.

Although I’ve been telling you to read the Bible, the messages of God must be delivered by spoken words when the time comes. Ministers do not encourage people to read the Bible. Instead, they want others to listen to what they say. Their words prevail over God’s words in churches. This is evil.

Christ spent much time on speaking and explaining God’s words during His ministry. He did not merely repeat the written words in the OT. He said what He knew and understood. He is the incarnation of God’s words. Therefore, John refers Him as the Word.

And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us; and we saw His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (v.14)

Throughout the Book of John, we see that the Pharisees (and the teacher of the law) are against Christ. The Pharisees claimed that they were the disciples of Moses and accused Christ of breaking the law. Theologians and ministers also emphasize on the law and claim that Christ became a man to keep the law perfectly to gain righteousness. However, verse 17 tells us that Christ is superior to Moses. Here, “the law” contrasts to “grace and truth”. The law brings condemnation and death.

The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me. (Romans 7:10)

Was Christ inferior to Moses as a man? The Bible said Moses saw God face to face.

So the LORD used to speak to Moses face to face, just as a man speaks to his friend. When Moses returned to the camp, his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, would not depart from the tent. (Exodus 33:11)

But the Bible also says that no man can see God.

He further said, “You cannot see My face, for mankind shall not see Me and live!” (Exodus 33:20)

Verse 17 tells us that Christ is superior to Moses and the law. When we say that Christ is equal with the Father, this does not mean that only His divine nature is equal with the Father. Theologians say that the Son of God is equal with God, but the Son of Man is inferior to God. When people think of equality, they think of ranks. We often think one does not take orders from the other if one is equal with the other. That’s human understanding of hierarchy. Christ’s two natures cannot be divided. Even though Christ obeyed the Father’s commands, this does not mean He is not equal with the Father. The Father is beginning of all things. He gave the Son everything. The Son obeyed the Father out of love. The Son has the same authority as the Father.

In the Athanasian Creed, there is this part that may confuse people:

… equal to the Father as regards divinity, less than the Father as regards humanity.

I consider that this part is no more than what Paul wrote in Philippians 2:5-8:

Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, as He already existed in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but emptied Himself by taking the form of a bond-servant and being born in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death: death on a cross.

Paul did not write this to tell us that Christ’s human nature was inferior to the Father. His intention was for us to be like the Son who humbled Himself and obeyed the Father. We must be careful not to fall into the Nestorian heresy by dividing Christ’s two natures. When we say that Christ is equal with the Father, we talk about the Word who has two natures (divine and human) undivided.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him not even one thing came into being that has come into being. (John 1:1-3)

The Gospel of John plays a significant role in the new reformation because it explains the right understanding of the Trinity. I understand that the Jewish religion, the Islam, Jehovah’s witness, and other religions consider that Jesus is a mere man. The Roman Catholic church and the Protestant church also have a wrong understanding of Christ’s two natures. This is because they have been trying to explain God’s words using human reasoning.

Many Christians follow their religious leaders and think that they are Christ. Some of them have many followers. But I think they work for money. They speak what others want to hear. We do not follow some people as if they are Christ. They cannot save anyone. It is the Word that saves.

But what does it say? “THE WORD IS NEAR YOU, IN YOUR MOUTH AND IN YOUR HEART”—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, (Romans 10:8)