James Nisbet Commentary - John 1:18 - 1:18

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James Nisbet Commentary - John 1:18 - 1:18


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THE ONLY-BEGOTTEN SON

‘The only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father.’

Joh_1:18

So writes John, in this glorious introduction to his Gospel. He is about to tell, in the following chapters, of what the Man Christ Jesus did, and said, and suffered; how He called His disciples, how he sat wearied by the well, how He wept at the grave, how He died upon the Cross, and rose again. And here, then, first He tells us, plainly, solemnly, and sweetly, Who this Man was. He shows us His other nature, His Godhead, His eternity, His oneness with the Eternal Father—so that we may believe, and adore, and rest in and enjoy, the preciousness and power of all which as Man He did and bore; the wonder of His being Man at all; the loveliness and peace of the thought that He was made Man and slain for sinners.

Now part of this description of the eternal Nature, the Godhead, of Jesus the beloved Saviour, is this simply worded yet mysterious truth: that He is one with the Father, and the Beloved of the Father. Could it be more graciously conveyed than it is here: ‘The only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father?’ This is one part, then, of what we know of the Saviour’s glory. Let us look at it just as it is set before us.

I. All is mystery in such a truth; yet all, in one respect, is simplicity and joy. All is mystery. If we ask how these things can be, the answer must be, ‘We absolutely cannot know.’ The being and Nature of God is in itself an unfathomable secret. He Who is from everlasting (think of it) and to everlasting; all knowing, Almighty; surely the how and the why of His Nature and His ways absolutely must be far above out of our sight? And so, when we read, on His own Word (and nothing less than His Word could be worth hearing about it) of this wonderful Fatherhead and Sonship which is in Him—of God the Father, one Person; and God the Son, another Person; both Eternal, both Almighty, because both God in the Scripture sense of God: and yet One, one God, in a oneness most deep and blessed—when we read of this, and try to think it out, in its how and why, by our knowledge of human fathers and human sons—thought fails; we feel we cannot tell; His ways are past finding out.

In this respect, all is mystery indeed. Clouds and darkness are round about that throne where from eternity to eternity the only begotten Son is—eternally is—in the bosom of the Father.

II. But then, on another side, how simple and how divinely comforting and gladdening is the revelation of this only begotten Son in the bosom of the Father.—We lay aside the vain, weary question, how it can be. We look here and see on the page of God’s book that, however it is, it is. And now what light it gives! The Son, the only Son, the beloved Son, the Father, the infinitely loving Father; such is the truth about the God Who made us. How simple indeed are the holy words ‘Father,’ ‘Son,’ ‘the bosom of the Father.’ Nothing is here but nearness, dearness, love. The golden words, ‘God is love,’ shine even brighter than ever when we think how Scripture, how God tells us of this union and endearment on the Throne, the eternally loving Father, the eternally beloved Son. Look simply again, I entreat you, on this truth, this mighty truth, of the inner Divine love. Does it not somewhat move and stir your heart, even if that heart is as yet a stranger to the love of God? Does it not show you that at least, whether you love God or not, God is lovable? Can you not believe, whether you ever felt it or no, that there is in such a God a heart to love you, dearly to love you? Ah! believe that there is such a heart in Him.

‘The only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father.’

Such is the simplicity of the truth, whatever be the mystery. Christ the Saviour of sinners, Christ the welcomer of the weary, Christ the meek and lowly, is nothing less than this, the only begotten Son who is eternally in the bosom of the Father.

III. Who shall explore, and weigh, and fathom that love—the love of God the Father for God the Son?—We shrink from the question; we know it must be a love immeasurable as it is eternal; the love of the All-blessed for the All-blessed; of the All-holy for the All-holy; of God for God. I ask, who can explore and estimate that love—only that I may ask, in closing, one or two questions suggested by it.

(a) ‘The Father loveth the Son,’ with a love infinitely above what any creature can have for Him. Well, what then was the Father’s compassionating love for the sinful world, that He so loved it, yes, so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should have eternal life?

(b) ‘The Father loveth the Son’; then what an object of love must that Son be to them that find Him, to them, to us, to whom His Gospel comes! And what is obedience to the Son, but a life lived in the path of His most blessed will, under the light of His most precious love?

(c) ‘The Father loveth the Son, Who is in the bosom of the Father.’ Then what is the love of the Father by those who are led by the Holy Spirit to love the Son, to recognise and accept and love the Lord Christ Jesus as their pardon, their peace, their life, their hope, their righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption? Think of this, that it may attract you to your Lord.

Bishop H. C. G. Moule.



THE REVELATION OF GOD TO MAN

‘No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him.’

Joh_1:18

What is meant by Revelation.—Etymologically the term means the drawing aside of a veil.

I. Christians believe that all knowledge is revelation, or the drawing back of the veil. The worldling speaks of invention and discovery, but the God-fearing man calls it revelation. The worldly man would speak of radium as a discovery, but we speak of it as revelation, seeing it has been hid in the secrets of the mountains all the ages and is no secret, and never has been to God, and that God has revealed it to crown the efforts of man’s research. So when I speak to you of Divine revelation I speak of the revelation of God, and not of His essential Being which only God knows; I speak of His relationship to us men for our salvation. You might say, ‘Is it possible that God could reveal Himself to man?’ If it were not possible that God could do it, it must either be that God could not do so, or that men could not perceive the revelation. But God can do it because He is Almighty, and man can receive it because God has created him with capacities of perception, for God is Life and Truth and Power, and man is created to receive life and truth and power. It is possible. But is it necessary? Yes; it is necessary, because, as St. Augustine says, God has created all men for Himself. Our beginning comes from God, and our end is God. Just as yonder streamlet bubbles on and on through many twists and curves till it reaches the ocean from which it originally came, so man progresses onward and onward through many twists and curves till he reaches back to God from Whom he came.

II. Without revelation.—But suppose you will not have the revelation and reject it altogether, what then? There remains but one thing open to thinking man—for it is only the fool that says in his heart, There is no God—the speculative. And the gods of speculation are many. The God we worship to-day is the God of revelation. No man by thought hath found out God, lest any flesh should ‘glory in His Presence.’ God, then, has discovered Himself to us.

III. God’s revelation in Nature.—In Nature we see, if we believe in God, God’s power, His might, His wisdom, ah! and to a great extent His mind. But it is quite obvious that Nature by itself is too limited. So God has revealed Himself to us in human nature, that we may learn of Him of the very nature which He gave us; and His revelation of Himself to us in human nature is in three stages.

(a) In the primitive stage.—St. Paul tells us that all men have enough light to enable them to walk by, that no man is without witness of God. John tells us of the ‘Light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.” And the Saviour tells us that before Him He will gather all nations—by which He does not mean believers. He will count the following of their light as actions done to Himself.

(b) In the progressive stage.—As you know from your Bible history, God chose a family, a nation, to which to commit His Truth, through which He might commit it to the world, which we have.

(c) In the perfect stage.—Here we approach God manifest in the Flesh, the one perfect ‘sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction for the sins of the whole world,’ Christ our God Who showed us how God would live if He came down on earth and lived amongst us men, Who showed us how God could love, could suffer and die for those He loved. And the revelation of God, perfect in Christ, has the force of perfection, and whosoever believeth in Him shall be justified, and he who is justified is sanctified, and whom God sanctifies God perfects. That is the perfect revelation in Christ. ‘No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son which is in the bosom of the Father He hath declared Him.’