John 1V1

“In The Beginning Was The Word”

The Bible says in the gospel of John 1:1-2, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God.”

The Word. In these verses Jesus is called the Word. Revelation 19:13 says of Jesus, “his name is called The Word of God.”

What was in the beginning? How did it all begin? It began with the Word. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. In other words, Jesus has always existed. Jesus was not created. Jesus is not a created being like man, but Jesus is God. Jesus is the everlasting father.

If in the beginning was the Word, then that tells us just how important the word of God is. When you want to get to the basics and to the root of things and when you want to understand the whole story and what is important and what is not, you always have to start at the beginning. And in the beginning was the Word.

The Bible says in the gospel of John 1:3, “All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made.” This verse is saying that Jesus is the Creator. Verse 10 says, “The world was made by him.”

Some other verses that parallel these verses are Hebrews 1:2-4 which says, “Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.”

Jesus is the creator of the worlds: Hebrews chapter 1 and John chapter 1 clearly says. We know that in the book of Genesis which was written in Hebrew, Elohim created the world. Elohim is a way of referring to God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit all in one, because these three agree in one.

There are some things that should be understood about Jesus Christ as the Word of God and as the Creator of the Worlds. In the beginning he was there. Jesus created the angels. Jesus is above angels.

It also says in Ephesians 1:21-22 of Christ, “Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come; and hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church.”

Jesus is the Word. In the beginning was Jesus. In the beginning was the Word. Jesus is the name above names: the name at which every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess.

The Bible says in the gospel of John 1:1-2, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God.”

The Word has always been around and it will always be around. Jesus is the eternally existent one.

Why is it important to understand this about the beginning? Verse 4 tells us why.

The Gospel of John 1:4 says, “In him was life; and the life was the light of men.”

What is the meaning of life? This is the great question according to the world. But the answer really is very simple. The meaning of life is to serve Jesus by living by faith in his Word. By understanding the beginning and that the Word was in the beginning with God and was God and is God, we understand some important truths about life.

Life comes from God. Not only does life come from God because God is the Creator, but life comes from God because we serve a living Savior. Everyone knows that Jesus died on the cross, but do they know that he rose from the dead and do they believe? In him was life; and the life was the light of men.

Think about the life of Jesus for those 33 years that he spent on the earth. In 33 years what did Jesus do? One thing Jesus did not do was sin. What Jesus did do was work as a carpenter for 30 years, then spent 3 years as a preacher doing many miracles to heal the sick, the lame, the blind, the deaf, the diseased, even raising the dead.

Imagine comparing Jesus to the preachers of today who claim to heal people and who take money from those they claim to heal. Jesus healed people and did not take money from them. Jesus did not just heal sick people. Jesus raised people from the dead. During Jesus’ 3 year public ministry, Jesus healed thousands of people, thousands of people. Why? Because in him was life; and the life was the light of men.

For 30 years Jesus was a carpenter. Why a carpenter? The answer to that is very simple: a carpenter works with wood and the cross was made of wood. Maybe Jesus made crosses for the Romans. It is possible. But he surely spent those 30 years looking forward to the day he would go to the cross.

Imagine God setting aside his glory, humbling himself in fashion as a man and for 30 years, a whole generation, working with his hands to shape and fashion wood: tThe same hands that would one day be nailed to the wood of the cross.

The Gospel of John 1:5 says, “And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.” Light and dark do not mix. Darkness does not understand light. And so those that are lost in the darkness of sin, those that are dead spiritually do not comprehend the light either.

This why so many people that study the life of Jesus do not understand Jesus or the gospels. There is something in the intellectual community of the world, among the historians and the archeologists and so forth, which is called the historical Jesus. And what they mean by that is Jesus from the perspective as though he were just a sinful man like us. But these people who teach the historical Jesus are not Christians. They do not believe the gospel. The real historical Jesus, according to history, would be according to what really happened. And so the historical Jesus is the Jesus of the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. The intellectuals use the word historical to add weight to their arguments and their lies with arguments against the divinity of Christ.

History has to do with what happened yesterday, what happened 1000 years ago, and what happened in the past. Just because something is written in a history book does not make it true. Just because archaeological finds and evidence are interpreted a certain way does not mean that the interpretation is the truth. This is why John 1:1 says, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. We have the historical Jesus: it is the Jesus of the Bible because in the beginning was the Word.

The Bible says in the gospel of John 1:10-11, “He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not.”

The world knew not Jesus because all men are lost in sin without Jesus. It is hard to imagine how it must have felt for Jesus to have created this world and the world knew him not. And even more so when he came into this world, he came unto his own and his own received him not. What must it have been like for Jesus to be rejected by those of Israel? The King of Kings, the King of the Jews, was rejected by those who should have called him King. Jesus is called a man of sorrows. How great the sorrow must have been in the heart of Jesus when his own received him not.

God set aside his glory and came to this earth in the flesh. He wore a crown of thorns and they rejected him. What sorrow that is indeed.

For God to sorrow might seem a strange thing but he only sorrowed because of his love. Isaiah 53:3 says, “He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.”

The Gospel of John chapter 1:12-13 says, “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”

Who can be saved? As many as receive Jesus. Those who receive Jesus become the sons of God. It is those who believe on His name that are saved. They are not saved through human effort, not by the will of man, but they are saved by the power of God.

This is the power of God. God is great. God is all wise and God has a way of turning the tables. Yes, Israel rejected Jesus and shouted, “crucify him crucify him.” His own received him not. If it was any other nation, God would surely have destroyed that nation. But it was Israel and God loves Israel and God promised that Israel would always be a nation. In fact, God is going to turn the tables and one day all Israel shall be saved. They rejected him the first time but the second time they will welcome him with open arms. This is the amazing power and wisdom of God.

The Bible says in the gospel of John 1:14, “And the Word was made 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.”

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word was made flesh. He was in the world, says the Bible. Immanuel, God with us.

There are those who deny that Jesus ever walked this earth. But the Bible says that the Word was made flesh. Notice that it says flesh. It does not say sinful flesh. Jesus did not have a sin nature. But Jesus did come in the flesh. To think that God would set aside his glory and be made flesh because of his love for us.

What is the glory of God like? When you think of God’s glory what do you think about? Maybe you should think about the face of Jesus Christ.

2 Corinthians 4:6 says, “For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”

The Bible says in the gospel of John 1:14, “And the Word was made 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.”

Speaking of the apostles, John said We beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father. The face of Jesus shows the glory of God: love and wisdom, truth and holiness, meekness, gentleness, kindness and compassion.

In the beginning was the word. And the word was made flesh and crucified on the cross in Jerusalem. There is nothing so sweet as to know the Savior, the lover of your soul. When John the Baptist saw Jesus, this is what he said, “Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world.”

Jesus is the Creator. Jesus is the Everlasting Father. Jesus is the Author of Salvation. If you come to Jesus, he will in no wise cast you out. All men are sinners and come short of the glory of God and without forgiveness and without the righteousness of Christ to clothe you, your destiny and your fate will be hell forever.

Just think about what Jesus did for you. He gave his life for you. He set aside his glory, became flesh, and fulfilled the law. Then he suffered on the cruel roman cross, the nails piercing his hands and his feet. He was whipped and beaten. Mocked and rejected, despising the shame, he died on the cross for your sins. To think that the Kings of Kings wore a crown of thorns. To think that the Lord of Glory set aside his glory, to think that the Lamb of God shed his blood his precious holy blood for our sins: for without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins. Born in the little town of Bethlehem in a manger even as a little babe they wanted to kill him but could not for his destiny was the cross. They took from him his robe and parted his garments and smote him on the face. They chose Barabbas, a murder and robber, over him and when asked by Pilate he said not a word. And in all these things the Father was well pleased.

Jesus is the Word, the Lamb, the Author of Salvation and the Everlasting Father and if you trust in him today you can find redemption for your sins and eternal life in the love of God.

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