These concluding verses of the prologue begin with the witness of the Church to the blessings and the love that God has given them with un-bounded generosity, through Jesus Christ (1: 16). In I: 17 a contrast is made between Moses and Jesus Christ, and between the Law and the grace and truth which came through Jesus Christ. Although God's light had shone out to Israel in the Law, the sin of Israel had kept them in spiritual darkness; Israel repeatedly broke the old Covenant.

The gifts of God's grace and truth are made available to the people of the new Covenant, the Christians, through Jesus Christ. If we remind ourselves of what Paul said about the purpose of the Law in his letter to the Galatians, we can understand I: 17. The Law taught the Jews what sin was but did not have the power to free them from it. The Gospel fulfils and replaces the Law. Only in Jesus Christ does the believer find liberation from sin. In 1: 18 it is affirmed that the invisible God has been revealed in Christ. The idea of 'spiritual sight' is in this verse. We 'see' God with the eyes of faith, in Jesus Christ. The Greek word for 'known' in 1:18 refers particularly to the revealing of divine truth. God remains invisible to man's physical eyes but is revealed and made known in the world by Jesus Christ.

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