# 11 Part of the Painting

Joh 1:14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

 15 John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, "This was He of whom I said, 'He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.'"

The Word, the Divine Expression, became flesh and dwelt among us. I’ll use the artist/painting analogy again.

The Artist, (Creator) became as the paint, and became part of the picture (part of His Creation) He gave His disciples, and all others in that generation, an opportunity to behold, (take in) their Creator! They saw, they touched, they lived with the Divine Manifestation, the Son of God! And this, according to John, is what they observed:

“The fullness of grace and truth!” Everything He said and did was influenced by grace, and every word that flowed from His divinely inspired lips was, and is, truth.

Meanwhile John the Baptist got wind of the fact that the Artist, or Creator, was about to make His appearance on the canvas, and it was his job to tell others of the Artist’s pending appearance. This is what he was put in the painting to do!

Even though the Artist would be arriving in the painting after John, He was before John, because He was and is God!

This is all mind-boggling to say the least, but it’s just the start! The Artist is still at work today, the painting isn’t finished yet! Today, He is in the painting in the person of the Holy Spirit. Actively convincing people like you and I of our sins! Bringing His gifts of repentance and faith to us, and then indwelling us, seeking to conform us to the image of the Artist!

You and I, by the grace of God, have been added to the landscape for a reason. The Artist has created us for a purpose. He has given us certain skills and abilities and placed us in circumstances where He desires to work through us.

The current pandemic we are experiencing in our world gives us ample opportunity to speak and live out grace and truth in our neighborhood of the painting. Let us purpose in our hearts to surrender our lives to the Artist today. Let us seek Him, obey Him, live for Him, and experience the joy of fulfilling His purpose for us in His great painting we call life!