John 1:15-18

(15) (John bore witness about him, and cried out, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.'")

John acknowledges that Jesus is greater than Himself and that Jesus’ ministry is greater than his own ministry. That which comes first is greater than that which follows. The teacher is greater than the student; the master is greater than the apprentice. John also testifies of the eternalness and deity of Jesus. Each human being begins his existence at the moment of his conception. Prior to conception, a person just simply does not exist. John is older than Jesus yet he testifies that Jesus “was” before he (John) was, even though John was born (and conceived) first. Jesus clearly existed prior to John, which means Jesus existed prior to His own conception.

God becoming man was a unique event in history. Even in God’s created order, He has never had one type of created being become another type of created being (e. g., an angel has never become a human being). He has had angels appear or manifest themselves as men, but their essence remained that of an angel. This unique event of God becoming man was necessary in order to procure atonement for mankind because only a man could pay the price of sin for mankind; only a man free of any and all sin; a truly spotless man. This perfect man would also need to be eternal in nature since the offense committed against God (sin) is an eternal offense. Mankind was completely unable to procreate a man free from sin and eternal. An angel, or any other created being, could not simply manifest himself as a man and then offer himself as atonement because he would not be a man in nature but just a manifestation of a man. Any create being is also not eternal in nature. This seemingly circular equation could only find its answer in the one truly perfect, spotless, and eternal being in existence: God Himself.

(16) And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.
(17) For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

Fullness is translated from the Greek word pleroo, which means to make full or to complete. Jesus came to complete or fulfill the law, not to replace or abolish it. The Law and Jesus are not juxtaposed but are truly complimentary. The Law, by its very nature and design, was incomplete. From the very beginning, it needed to be completed or fulfilled; Jesus, from the beginning was that fulfillment. Likewise He came to complete us in a way that only He could. We could never complete ourselves or restore ourselves to the glory in which we were originally created. We (i.e., believers) were created and predestined to salvation for a specific purpose. From the moment of our conception until the moment of our salvation, we existed but not in the fullness of God. When the Father drew us to Christ and replaced our heart of stone with a heart of flesh, we were made full—in Christ! God’s sovereign grace is unending. We are given His grace in order to believe in Jesus and be saved. He continues to extend His grace throughout our walk; He extends grace, we fail, He extends grace, we fail, He extends grace, etc., etc. His grace is truly never-ending. His never-ending grace was (and is) given for His purpose, not for our purposes, enjoyment, or entertainment. We derive a tremendous amount of pleasure and enjoyment as a result of His grace, but that is not His purpose. He has had a purpose for each one of our lives from before creation; His grace empowers us to accomplish all of which He has assigned to us throughout our lives.

(18) No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known.

God is invisible and remains invisible. God is glorious in His nature beyond the point of where we are able to look upon Him. Since God never changes, it is us who must change in order to see God face-to-face. This change in us will take place through the grace of God at the end of history. Any attempt at placing a visible image onto God or assigning any type of visible image to represent God is offensive to His very nature. This is the essence of the second commandment.

Exodus 20:4-6
(4) "You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.
(5) You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me,
(6) but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

Jesus reveals, to those who know Him and listen to His voice, all that we in our current state are able to know and understand.