Full of grace and truth

When Christ walked among us He was characterized as being full of two qualities...

"And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth..." John 1:14

To describe him in this way indicates that both grace and truth define him and are central to his character.

At first glance these qualities may appear at odds and in tension with each other. Are they?

Truth points out the right way of doing things and exposes error. It is the opposite of a lie and can feel harsh on occasion e.g. to discover we are living a lie or a not being honest is unpleasant - i.e. it doesn't feel very gracious. But if we are living according to a lie this causes harm to others as well as ourselves. Lies have real consequences that must be addressed if we are to be loving to those negatively impacted.

Grace extends to us kindness we do not deserve (even when we are occasionally less than truthful and honest). This can appear to promote the opposite of living according to truth i.e. that it's ok to not be truthful when it isn't.

What makes Christ so unique and glorious is he did not back off the truth; that our rejection of truth (and His Son who declared himself to be the truth) causes harm and must be addressed (to allow lies to go unaddressed is not fair to those who are harmed by them). 

But he also didn't let the destructive consequences of our dishonesty or deception fall on us. He fully addressed it by taking those consequences onto Himself so we might not have to. That is grace. 

In doing so He did not compromise truth or abandon love but was faithful to both i.e. he was full of grace and truth.

16 For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law (truth) was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he (Jesus) has made him (the Father) known. - John 1:16‭-‬18 ESV

The fullness of Christ is that he manifests the full spectrum of who God is. He is a God of truth but also a God of love.

...he has made him known...  

Christ being full of grace as well as truth showed us the loving nature of God i.e. He is not just a God of justice and judgment for our rebellion to and violation of His design (Gods will-truth - i.e. the true nature of how things are and were designed to operate) but He is also the God of love, compassion, kindness and grace.

Christ died to address the consequences of our rebellious distrust (because of truth i.e. violation of God's design-truth matters and the harm it causes must be addressed and because of His compassion-love). He provided a solution to our rebellion from His design without comproming the value and importance of that design, while at the same time taking action that prevents our rebellion from destroying us i.e. He also died because of love. He now leaves it up to us to accept His offer and provision to be in right standing (righteous) before God, but as a gift, not something we earn or can achieve. 

This is not only talking about God's faithfulness to us in our rebellion (grace) but His faithfulness to righteousness and truth.

We are also told Christ is a King and priest after the order of Melchizedek. Who this character is, is not as important as what he represents. 

1 For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, 2 and to him Abraham apportioned a tenth part of everything. He is first, by translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then he is also king of Salem, that is, king of peace. 3 He is without father or mother or genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God he continues a priest forever. - Hebrews 7:1-3

Christ came declaring the good news of the Kingdom of God; the good news of His reign (rule) as King. But His is not just a righteous rule of justice (truth) but of love (grace, compassion).

There are even hints of this in the Old Testament before Christ came to us as a man.

Steadfast love and faithfulness meet; righteousness and peace kiss each other. - Psalm 85:10 ESV

God still demands faithfullness to what is right (truth) but he also meets those demands himself. Christ is both the Judge and the one who is judged (who took our judgment upon himself) within the same person. And that for our sake i.e. for love. Do you accept His offer?

For a discussion on why our rebellions distrust matters click here

For a discussion on why judgment is necessary click here

For a discussion on the value of tension and paradox click here.