“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1 WEB). With the use of “Word,” John seems to be addressing Greek and Jewish readers. For the Greek reader, the Word is a higher power; for the Jew it is the Word of the Lord, the God the the Hebrew Scriptures. John writes that the Word was at the beginning, which is the same opening as Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning, God.”
John is opening up the identity of the Word gradually throughout this chapter, starting with the Word was with God and the Word was God. So the Word being with God is separate from God in some way, and He is still God Himself in some way.
“The same was in the beginning with God” (John 1:2). The Word and God existed at the beginning. One did not come before the other. They had always co-existed. This Word was not one that was born from the other God. (Do you have any idea of who the Word is? John will tell us in John 1:14-18, if you want a sneak peak.)
“All things were made through him. Without him, nothing was made that has been made” (John 1:3). The Word is the Creator of all things that were made. John is still relating things to Genesis 1, the creation week. The Word, who is God, created all things that were made.
The humans and animals did not evolve on their own over millions of years, otherwise, how could the creatures have been brought to Adam to be named? (See Gen. 2:19-20. After naming the animals, Eve was made.) All plants, creatures, people and their environments were made over a six-day period. People ask, “Who made God?” The Word is the uncreated Creator. He, Jesus, existed from the beginning, before all things.
He who created all things is holding all those things together. Colossians 1:16-17 tells us that He created human and angelic authorities, in heaven and earth, visible and invisible, and He is holding all things together. That means everything from the smallest electrons to the stars over a thousand times larger than our sun continues to be maintained by the Word. One day He’s going to let it all go and create a new heavens and new earth free from sin, according to Revelation 20 and 21.
Because the Word, the Son of God, was with God in the beginning, we know that the Father did not come first and then the Son. Their names indicate their relationship to one another. They are equally divine. The Son is not from a birth.
“In him was life, and the life was the light of men” (John 1:4). In Him is life. Because He has life in Himself, as God He can impart it to others. You can’t give what you don’t have. Being divine, He gives abundant life.
This contrasts with the unspiritual mind that looks everywhere else for life and enjoyment. In all of our hungering and longings, we don’t realize that they are to draw us to Him to find satisfaction. Instead, we turn to the world for it.
The life was the light of men, the verse says. By paying attention to the life and words of Jesus, we receive light in the sense that we learn what we may be like. Without learning of Jesus, we walk in the darkness of seeing this physical life from our narrow views and abilities. When the Holy Spirit reveals Christ to us, we see what life can be.
We too can be with God. We can’t make something from nothing, but we can create. For instance, knowing His love, we can create a safe environment of love and caring. If all we know is our bitterness and inability, our options are reduced to the flesh, and we can’t go higher. We might bring a toxic, selfish environment with us.
This means that we should learn of Jesus so we can imitate Him and move out of our prison of self and into His freedom and life. He Himself unlocks that door that releases us. He is knocking on the door of our hearts. Open the door to let Him come in, and have fellowship with Him.
We don’t naturally have a relationship with our God. Jesus came to create that. Sin breaks it. Jesus breaks the power of sin that He may plug us back into God, like a branch plugged into a vine, and have His life flowing through us.
John tells us in John 20:31 that these words were written “that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that by believing you may have life in His name.”
If you believe Jesus is the powerful yet compassionate Word, receive Him and get to know His life. The Word that created all creatures, and put them in their nurturing environments of water, sky, and earth to supply all their needs, made us to have a relationship with Him for our flourishing. John 1:12 says, “But as many as received Him, He gave the right to become children of God.” Then He will create in you a clean heart, with your sins washed away. Then to be nurtured in that partnership, start reading the New Testament from the beginning to learn more about this eternal life He came to give to the people He made.
