John 1:17,18 Seeing God in Seeing Jesus

17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.

(Incarnation Piero di Cosimo Uffizi in Florence, Italy)
Thoughts: How do you know what God is like- or that He even exists?  The 2010 NIV has a particularly powerful translation of 1:18- "but the one and only Son who is Himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known."  God is made known to us visibly, physically- in the person of Jesus.  If you want to know that God is love- look at the love of Jesus.  If you want to know that God is caring- look how Jesus healed people in their suffering and suffers with us.  If you want to know that God is good- look at the goodness of Jesus.  It is not some abstract debate anymore.  If you believe Jesus is God- and in closest relationship with the Father, then you will see He makes God known to us.  In the movie "Avatar" a man squeezes himself into a body of a being but his soul comes with him.  Jesus is the Avatar of God- but not in a strict sense.  We do not worship the body of Jesus.  Yet the personality and love of Jesus shows us what God is like. 

Prayer:  Thank you, Lord, that we know you, and that you want us to know you.  Thank you for paying the cost to come to us so that we might know who you are and worship you in spirit and truth.

John Calvin Abridged: The Evangelist lifts up Moses but also points out how inferior Moses is to Christ in ministry.  "Truth" is a permanent state of things.  "Grace" is a fulfillment of those things- the letter of which is found in "the Law."  The knowledge of God is the door by which we enjoy all the blessings.  By Christ alone is God truly known to us, so we should seek all things from Christ.  Christ is the living image of God.