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MOVEMENT AFTER CHRIST

W. M. Grosse

John 1: 18, 29–42; Judges 1: 12–15

I trust the Lord will help with regard to a few impressions I

have as to the thought of movement. I thought perhaps we

would see in these verses what relates to movement. I think

that is one of the things that John has in mind particularly in

his gospel, that there would be movement after Christ. John

commences this gospel with the word, “In the beginning was

the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was

God”—the wonder of the Person of Christ as the Word and

being none less than God; the glory of it, that God Himself has

come within our range, come near us. John then goes on,

“And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us (and we

have contemplated his glory, a glory as of an only-begotten

with a father), full of grace and truth” (John 1: 14). What a

wonderful thing, the contemplation of the Word become flesh.

We know that “the Word” involves the logos; it involves all that

we can know of God, which has thus come within our range in

the incarnation. God has been manifested in flesh, a

marvellous truth that we can hold on to and stand by. Then

John goes on, “No one has seen God at any time; the only-

begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he hath

declared him”. It brings out the glory of John’s gospel in which

everything really flows from this verse. In the good teaching

we have been helped to see that He has moved into this

position, “the bosom of the Father”, in view of our

dispensation. The Lord Jesus has moved into a position where

all the love of God can shine out and the fulness of divine

blessing and love be expressed.

In the next passage read we have, as to John the baptist, “On

the morrow he sees Jesus coming to him, and says, Behold

the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world”.