Making God known

“For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made Him known.” John 1:17-18
The contrast is made over and over in the Scriptures between the law, given through Moses, and grace that comes through the gospel of Jesus Christ. They are not in competition to one another – the law was given as a ‘guardian’ until Christ came (see Gal. 3:19-25, 4:1-5). The law was never intended to make anyone righteous by their keeping it, but to show us that we are all incapable of keeping it. The law gave us a glimpse of one aspect of God’s character: His holiness. But only Jesus can show us another aspect: His grace.
Similarly, when we look back at the life of Moses, we see that his perspective of God was incomplete. In Ex. 33:18-23 Moses asked God is he could see His glory, to which God replied, “You cannot see My face, for no one may see Me and live.” Instead, God allowed Moses to see His back as He passed by. This is echoed here in John 1:18. But now God’s face has been seen, in the face of Jesus Christ. Through Jesus’ life, we see God, revealed to us in a way that goes far beyond anything found in the Old Testament. We see His heart of compassion for hurting people, His righteous anger at those who think they are good enough without Him. We see the utter hatred He has for sin. We see the lengths He goes to in order to reach out to us and provide a way for us to be saved.