Introduction
John’s gospel reads quite differently than the three synoptic gospels. John is thematic and theological. Not to say the others are not of course, just that John is overtly so. There are many things in this fourth gospel that are unique to it – meaning there are certain things that only John’s gospel account mentions. John’s gospel was written after the other three. Many scholars date the fourth gospel as being written about 50 years after Jesus walked the earth. So what we have is a much older John, who has had much time to think and reflect and ponder on his time with Jesus. He is writing this gospel with much theological and pastoral insight, experience, and reflection. I believe it shows. The apostle would’ve written the fourth gospel before he wrote his epistles. As we saw in 1 John, he built upon the foundation of this gospel there.
One of the many things I love about John is the incredible amount of allusions to the Old Testament throughout. I love the way John uses the Old Testament, because in many places he doesn’t directly quote the Old Testament, yet he is clearly referencing or building upon it – it’s just assumed and naturally built upon.
Another thing that stands out in John’s gospel is the doctrines of grace. I believe that Calvinism is all throughout the Scripture; but in many places throughout John’s gospel it is stated very clearly, and is really one of the running themes.
If you remember from 1 John, towards the end of that letter, he states very clearly his purpose for writing the letter. John does the same here in his gospel. I believe John’s purpose for writing this gospel is important for us to consider and have in mind from the start. John 20:30-31, “Now Jesus did many others signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” So John’s main goal is to show and prove to us that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, so that we might believe and have life.
In serving the purpose of showing us that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, John gives us several of what he calls “signs” that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.
In the prologue John immediately jumps into theological meat particularly concerning the nature of Christ; and yet it is interwoven with the historical reality of Jesus coming into the world in a specific time and space. In the opening to 1 John, we clearly see the similarity to the opening of his gospel here.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.” – John 1:1-3
These verses in the beginning of John are some of the most important verses in the Bible, if I can say so. Verses 1-3 are some of the most deep and profound verses on the deity of Christ – absolutely essential to orthodox Christianity. Yet, as Herman Ridderbos put it, “It is hardly conceivable that a deeper issue could have been expressed with greater simplicity and in fewer words.” I think he’s right on. John 1:1 is mind-blowingly deep, yet at the same time very straightforward in its understanding.
John begins his gospel here with Christ and his eternal existence with the Father and the Spirit as the second person of the trinity. As I mentioned, one of John’s goals in his gospel is to show us who Jesus is, and prove to us that he is the Son of God, the Christ, that we might believe in Him and have life. Essential to believing in Jesus, is not only believing His works, but knowing His person – who He is. So we must start here. We must understand where He comes from and who He is to understand what He did.
It is undeniable that John loved Jesus and he knew that he was loved by Jesus. We saw how beautifully John wrote about the love of God in his epistle, and we will see it here in his gospel. One of John’s goals in his gospel is to set forth the glory of Jesus, that we also might see Him, believe Him, love Him and be loved by Jesus, as John was. Some people don’t care too much to study theology, or don’t care to get into deep theological matters. But John, who loved Jesus, probably more than any of us ever will, shows us that if you love Jesus, you will know and want to know about Him – who He is. If you love someone, and they start to tell you about their family, where they come from, and who they are, you don’t say, “Hey, I don’t want to talk about this, this is boring and too deep, and unpractical.” No! You don’t do that. If you love that person, you want to hear all about that stuff. You want to know what makes them who they are. We ought to be even more interested in Christ. As our minds enlarge in their understanding of Christ, our hearts can enlarge in love for Christ. A limited knowledge of Christ, will only allow us to love Him so much. As we look at some of the doctrine of Christ today, let us do so with the aim of knowing Jesus better so that we can love Him better. He has revealed Himself to us right here in His Word, let us not neglect His revelation of Himself to us.
The Meaning of the Word
One of the first things that might be coming to our minds in this passage, is the question, why is Jesus Christ referred to as the “Word?” – or the “logos” in Greek. What is the significance of that? What does that mean? It really gets at the way that God has communicated to us and how He has revealed Himself to us. “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son[d] from the Father, full of grace and truth… No one has ever seen God; the only God,[f] who is at the Father’s side,[g] he has made him known” (John 1:14,18).
A. W. Pink puts it so well, I will just quote him on this: “Christ, then, is the One who has made the incomprehensible God intelligible. The force of this title of His found in John 1:1, may be discovered by comparing it with that name which is given to the Holy Scriptures- ‘the Word of God.’ What are the Scriptures? They are the Word of God. And what does that mean? This: the Scriptures reveal God’s mind, express His will, make known His perfections, and lay bare His heart. This is precisely what the Lord Jesus has done for the Father. But let us enter a little more into detail: A ‘word’ is a medium of manifestation. I have in my mind a thought, but others know not its nature. But the moment I clothe that thought in words, it becomes cognizable. Words, then, make objective [or knowable], unseen thoughts. This is precisely what the Lord Jesus has done. As the Word, Christ has made manifest the invisible God… A ‘word’ is a means of communication. By means of words I transmit information to others. By words I express myself, make known my will, and impart knowledge. So Christ, as the Word, is the Divine Transmitter, communicating to us the life and love of God.”
Jesus Christ as the eternal Word of God, is the means by which God communicates and reveals Himself to us.
The Deity of the Word
Eternal
Jesus was not created. He is the eternal Word of God, second person of the Holy Trinity. He has eternally been with the Father and the Spirit. There has not been any amount of time that Jesus Christ has not been. He has always been, as God has always been. His birth over 2,000 years ago by the virgin Mary was not His coming into being. He has always been. That was simply His coming into flesh.
Distinctive
The Word was “with” God implies a distinguishing person.
Trinitarian
Notice that we do not only see the Father and the Son existing together eternally here. John does not say that the Word was with the Father. “The Father” would be the specific term applying to the first person of the Trinity. Rather, John says that the Word was with God – which would include the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity. So this is not Jesus Christ as an isolated deity, or one of multiple gods; but John is showing us the deity of Christ, in the context of the Godhead. We only know Jesus rightly in the context of the trinity.
One
The Word “was God” implies that they are of one essence, not three individual gods, but distinct persons, who are one – of the same substance. So Jesus Christ is not an angel or some heavenly creature. John is saying, not only was the Word with God, but the Word was God. Jesus is God. That is one of the fundamental distinctives of Christianity. It is important that we know this, believe this, and can defend this, because you could easily have a certain group of people come knocking on your door, who would like to say otherwise.
John is putting Jesus on the level of God (because He is), so that it is understood that our obedience and reverence for God is owed to Him. We must listen to Him. Because “the Word was God” – the deeds and words of Jesus are the deeds and words of God.
The Work of the Word
One of the first things you may have noticed about the opening of John 1 is the similar language to the opening of Genesis 1. It’s interesting, even in the allusion to Genesis 1, John is raising Jesus Christ to the level of God. Genesis 1:1 begins, “In the beginning God…” John 1:1 begins, “In the beginning was the Word…” John places the Word, in the same place as Genesis places God. Thus raising Christ to that level, so to speak. Furthermore, in John 1:3, John emphasizes the deity of Christ, when he talks about all things being created through Him, for only God can create. Only God can create out of nothing and bring things into existence. Creatures like us can only make things with already created materials. There is no amount of willpower that a human can unction that could cause a single blade of grass to appear out of nothing. God, the creator, spoke creation into existence, Jesus Christ who is the Word, was an active agent in that creation. Jesus is God.
The allusion to Genesis 1 is important and fascinating for other reasons as well. Paraphrasing one commentator: “This backward look to Genesis 1 is proof that the Evangelist did not wish to subsume the glory of Christ under some other heading and explain it in that other way. Instead, he sought to identify Jesus Christ on the basis of the Old Testament.” The Jews knew their Old Testament. When the apostles were writing the New Testament, their attitude was not one that said, “forget the Old Testament, Jesus came and we don’t need that anymore.” No, the Old Testament is the Word of God and it prophesied that a Messiah was coming to save His people. The apostle’s job was to prove that the Old Testament was right and that Jesus is that Messiah that fulfilled those prophecies and promises! And so the better that we understand our Old Testament, the better we can understand all that Jesus fulfilled.
Furthermore, we have the continuity of the Bible’s story maintained here. In Genesis 1 God creates the world and it is good. But in between Genesis 1 and John 1, we have mankind sinning, rebelling against their creator, and brokenness entering and infecting the world. Then in John we have that eternal Word who was there in creation before man sinned, stepping into the world, in flesh, to redeem sinful fallen humanity, and to redeem His creation. Isn’t that beautiful? After sin splinters God’s good creation, the Creator Himself steps into the world to redeem it. The apostle John was excellent at doing biblical theology.
I want us to consider verse 3 a little more fully. It is incredibly significant. Not only was the Word present with God, and eternally the second person of the trinity, but He was active in creation. Not only active, but essential and preeminent in creation. Hebrews 1:1-3 says, “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. 3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,” and Colossians 1:16-19, “For by[a] him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,”
If everything was made through Him, that ought to be our worldview as Christians – a Christ-centered worldview. Nothing exists independent of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the center of the universe. He holds it all together. It exists through Him; without Him there is nothing. This world can’t hold itself together without Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is actively keeping everything together by His power. Since Jesus Christ is keeping all of the galaxies in order, and every star in its place, and every planet in its orbit, all the way down to holding every atom together, don’t you think that helps us believe that He’s certainly big enough to hold all of your problems, pains, and plans? Don’t you think He’s big enough to take all of your sins and bury them at the bottom of the ocean never to come up again? Don’t you think the one who holds all things together can hold you together when you’re falling apart and you can’t hold you together? If Jesus is not God, and if He is not preeminent in all things, then He can’t do any of that. But He is and He does. For good or for bad, you cannot escape Jesus Christ – try as you may, He holds you together, you were made by Him. You exist for Jesus Christ, like it or not.
Why is this doctrine of Christ important? The reasons may be endless, and I have mentioned some throughout our time thus far. But here are two reasons I want to leave you with:
1) John 1 is important to know and understand for evangelism and apologetics. Mormons, Jehovah’s Witness, Muslims, Jews, and many others do not believe that Jesus is God. And yet, some of them, Mormons for example, will claim to believe in Jesus. They can say some things that sound pretty Christian. So how do you witness to a Mormon when you say to them, “You must repent and trust in Jesus.” And they respond by saying, “Oh yes, I believe in Jesus.” You’ve got to be able to say, “What Jesus? Who is Jesus?” You must know these doctrines of Christ – who He is – and be able to explain and defend – to give a reason for the hope that is within you.
2) Big sinners, need a big Savior. In our sin, we have offended God – we have offended the highest of beings. There is no one higher than God to save us from God – so it will take God Himself to save us from God Himself. And that is who Jesus Christ is! The only suitable and capable savior of sinners! Our sin is so bad that no mere human can atone for sin. No animal, no angel, no heavenly being can atone for sin. Only Jesus Christ, who is God, can atone for sin. The infinite punishment due to us all is only atoned for by the death of the infinite one in flesh. If Jesus isn’t God, we’re not saved. But He is. And being that He is what sufficient hope we have to trust in Him to forgive our sins, because He is more than able. He blood is sufficient. It is not too hard for God.
Not only do we need Jesus to be God in order to receive atonement for sins, but He’s not God, He doesn’t love us. But He is and He does. You see, if any of our closest loved ones really knew how dark and vile and twisted our hearts and minds were, no way could a fallen human being really us. It takes nothing short of a God-sized capacity to know just how wicked we truly are, and yet love us a thousand more. It is an act and a miracle that only God has the capacity for. And so to know that Jesus is God is to know that His capacity to love us is not limited by human limitations, for He is God, and His love for us, despite knowing full well how wretched we are, is vast beyond measurement or degree. Jesus doesn’t love us as a mere man, but He loves us as God.
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