Scripture Readings

Genesis 1:1-3

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Then God said, let there be light. And there was light.

John 1:1-5

In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him. And without Him, nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

Let’s seek the Lord’s blessing on this, His holy word.

Prayer O gracious God in heaven, we do rejoice and give thanks for the truth of your holy word. We thank you for these passages that we come to this morning, and we pray that your spirit would be present with us, leading us and guiding us according to your truth, helping us to see and understand the truth that is here, to be able to apply it to our own hearts and our own lives, to be able to give glory, honor, and praise to your name. And so we ask now, Lord, for your blessing to be upon your word. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.

Introduction: Suspense and the Identity of the Word

Sometimes when we read a passage of scripture that uses imagery or maybe a word picture, we aren’t told the reality of what’s going on until later, oftentimes at or near the end. Until then, though, until that time, there’s often a sense where the reader is held in suspense.

Now, if you’ve never read the Gospel of John, this may be true for you. And so when you read in verse one, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, you may wonder, well, who is this Word? And it might captivate your attention to keep reading until you find out who that word is.

Now if that’s you this morning, well then I’m sorry, but I’m compelled to spoil the surprise. I’m compelled for a very practical reason because this morning we’re just considering a portion of the prologue. We’re not considering the whole 18 verses of John’s prologue. And so we’re not likely to get to the big reveal until a couple of weeks from now.

But I’m also compelled, because really in order to understand the five verses that are before us, in order for them to make sense and to apply them to our hearts and to our lives today, it would be quite difficult to do so without simply acknowledging the truth of the word right from the start.

Spoiler alert, plain and simple: the Word is Jesus, the eternal son of God.

I know, it’s a big surprise. Many scholars, though, and skeptics, they get caught up in these opening verses, and they philosophize about the nature of the word, and why does John begin his gospel this way, and by doing so, they simply just lose the point That’s so clearly revealed once you get down to verse 14, and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.

We’ll further elaborate on the significance of that verse, of course, when we come to the Lord willing in a couple weeks. But for now, we need to understand this very clear, very precise truth that the Word is Jesus.

Who John Is Talking About: The Pre-Incarnate Son

John is talking about the pre-incarnate Son of God, the second person of the Trinity. He’s defining and defending the truth against naysayers and skeptics. That the Son is divine. The Son is in a close intimate relationship with God the Father and has for all eternity simply existed as God exists.

And He’s worked seamlessly in conjunction with God the Father from before the beginning of time to then at a certain point in time when they created time, He created all things and sustains all things. and is working to bring all things to its new and everlasting fullness according to God’s perfect plan to glorify Himself through all that He created.

And so let there be no confusion then. This morning, we’re talking about Jesus.

And so if we’re talking about Jesus, and ultimately if John is talking about Jesus, well then you may wonder, well then why doesn’t John just state as such plainly, right from the beginning? As the other gospel writers do.

You may think of the purpose statement that John gives that we considered last time in chapter 20 verse 31 where he says,

but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name.

Why doesn’t John state that right at the beginning?

Now, John certainly does achieve his purpose. And he achieves it in a little bit of a different way than the other gospel writers, but that purpose for which John is writing really isn’t all that different from the purpose of the other gospel writers.

Comparison with the Other Gospels

• Mark begins his gospel very abruptly, and he says, this is the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Mark minces no words in his very clear style. He’s very upfront. He’s almost writing as if he’s got a short amount of time. And so he brings it in right at the beginning.
• Matthew all begins his gospel, the book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. And so again, we’re introduced to Jesus right at the start.
• Luke is the only one like John who doesn’t introduce Jesus at the very outset. But again, Luke’s overall purpose in writing is the same. He explains to Theophilus,

it seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write to you an orderly account, most excellent Theophilus, that you may know the certainty of those things in which you were instructed.

Now Luke here writing with the understanding that Theophilus obviously knew that he was giving an account about Jesus and all the things that he did and accomplished.

So Mark begins with Jesus. Matthew begins with the genealogy of Jesus. Luke begins with the birth of John the Baptist, who is the promised forerunner of the Messiah. But John begins rather abstractly by talking about the Word.

Why “the Word”?

Why the Word? Well, it’s because words are what communicate, that reveals our thoughts and desires to others. And in God’s Word, We know that God expresses his wisdom and his will, and in doing so, he then reveals himself to us.

And if we didn’t have words, we wouldn’t have any way to understand or express what we think or how we feel. But when we attach a word to a thought or to an emotion, we define it. And if we define it, well, then we can understand it and we can then communicate it to someone else.

The Apostle Paul declares in 1 Corinthians 1 verse 30, saying,

So Jesus was the wisdom from God come in the flesh.

But he also came with the purpose to reveal or manifest God to mankind. He prays in the high priestly prayer in John 17,

I have manifested your name to the men whom you have given me out of the world.

So Jesus came as the wisdom of God in order to manifest, in order to reveal God to mankind. Jesus has the Word, comes in the flesh, is the fullest expression of God’s Word, His will, and even the fullest expression of God Himself.

Key Truth: The Word Is Truly God

This then leads us to the critical truth that John lays out in these opening verses, that the Word, who is Jesus, is truly God. He’s not a mere prophet. He’s not just a good moral teacher. But the Word is a divine being. And we see this here in several ways.

1. The Word Existed in the Beginning

First, the Word existed in the beginning. That is, before all things were created, the Word existed eternally.

In the beginning was the Word.

And again, very clearly here, this is why we read from Genesis 1, John is echoing the opening of the book of Genesis, which is the opening of the book of God’s revelation to mankind.

And looking at Genesis 1-1, we see the truth declared of the independent self-existence of God.

In the beginning, God.

That’s the declaration that God exists. And he’s declaring it to all that, in the beginning, God. There was just God. That’s all there was.

And John asserts the same truth, though, about the Word. And then John then strengthens this assertion by adding,

and the Word was with God.

And so here he’s connecting Genesis, in the beginning was God, or in the beginning, God. And now he’s saying in the beginning, was the Word and the Word was with God. So we know now that he’s making this connection that the Word is with God.

And this Word, again, John makes clear, is a distinct person from God. A person, though, that was in close communion and fellowship with God, as the preposition with would imply.

And this gives us a glimpse of the Trinity. The truth that we know is revealed in God’s Word that there is one God, but that this one God exists in three distinct persons.

And so John is introducing us to one of those three persons, the Word, again, who we know later to be God, the Son, Jesus Christ.

But friends, this is nothing new.

For even in the Genesis account, were given hints of the Trinity, though it’s certainly not explicit.

In Genesis 1 to 3, we see that there’s God, and distinct from God is the Spirit of God that hovered over the face of the waters.

And then a little bit later, before God creates mankind, we have this divine counsel decreeing in Genesis 1 verse 26,

then God said, let us Make man in our image, according to our likeness. And let them have dominion over the flesh of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.

Who is this us?

It’s God the Father, God the Spirit, and now, apparently, God the Word, or the Son.

And so the Word is in existence with God, yet distinct from God.

But then John removes all doubt about the Word as he continues,

and the Word was God.

And in case we missed it all, John repeats this, that this Word who was God was in the beginning with God.

And so again, the Word is a divine being eternally existing with God in the beginning before all things were created.

Now those who reject the divinity of Jesus as the eternal Son of God that was pre-existent before the incarnation, indeed before all creation as the Word, see they try to rearrange and reinterpret these words but to no avail. John states it very clearly and plainly that the Word, Jesus, God.

2. All Things Were Made Through Him

This then leads to the next important truth that John reveals to us in this passage. In verse 3 he says,

all things were made through him and without him nothing was made that was made.

Here again John is echoing those early verses of Genesis.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

So God is the creator of all things as we know. But John informs us here that the Word was also involved in the creation of all things.

Indeed, all things were made through the Word. And for emphasis, John then plays it in reverse, saying, without Him, nothing was made that was made.

In other words, everything that we see in the created world was made by and through the Word.

And this truth is confirmed by the Old Testament Church, who confessed, for example, in Psalm 33, as we’ll sing later,

…by the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.

And so what John says here is nothing new.

Now the key truth that we want to glean here, though, is that since the Word is the Creator, therefore, The Word cannot be a part of the creation. The Word is clearly distinct from what’s been created.

And so not only is the Word a divine being, yet distinct from God the Father, the Word is creator. That’s distinct from the creation.

And this truth is important because it refutes Arianism.

Arius was a church leader from Alexandria who lived in the fourth century. And Arius not only rejected the idea that Jesus as the Son was existent as a person before the incarnation, but he rejected the idea that the Son, and here the word was, or that he pursued the idea that the Son was actually a creation of God.

Thus he rejected the divinity of Jesus as well as then rejecting the doctrine of the Trinity.

Now Arianism was declared heresy by the Church of the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD, but even today we can see the element that this heresy continues to persist.

And it’s most often espoused by Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons.

But Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons assert that Jesus the Son is a created being. The only difference is the Mormons believe that the Son eventually became God, and so too we will then also become gods. But the Jehovah’s Witnesses just totally reject the divinity of the Son.

But again, John is very clear. The Word existed with God. And as a divine being before creation, and so along with God, is rightly called the Creator of all things.

Where Is the Word in Creation?

But we may wonder, where is the Word? That is, where is Jesus, the Eternal Son of God, in creation?

Again, we already noted the clear presence of God the Father and the Spirit of God in Genesis 1, those first three verses. But where is the eternal third person of the Trinity? Where is the Son? Where is the Word?

Well, note carefully what John says here.

All things were made through Him.

And then again, what we read in Psalm 33, verse 6, it was by the Word of the Lord that the heavens were made.

When do we see the word of God expressed in Genesis 1? We find it in these words, then God said.

Indeed, we find it not only in verse 3, but throughout Genesis 1, the phrase is repeated several times, and God said, and it was so.

God spoke words. The words that He spoke are the wisdom and the will of God. And it’s by the spoken word that God created the heavens and the earth.

And that spoken word, in time, would become flesh and dwell among us. That word through whom all things were created is Jesus.

And we see this clearly affirmed throughout the New Testament.

The Apostle Paul in Colossians 1 verse 16 says,

For by him, that is, by Christ, all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers, all things were created through him and for him.

And if Paul’s writing this, this is likely before John writes his gospel. Where’s Paul getting this idea? He’s getting it from Genesis chapter one.

The writer to the Hebrews also testifies that

God has in these last days spoken to us by his son, whom he has appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the worlds.

So Jesus, as the eternal Son of God, as the Word become flesh, was with God in the beginning, as a distinct divine person, and yet He was one with God the Father.

This same Jesus created all things, and even now, all things that He’s created, all creation, is sustained by Him and through Him for God’s glory.

Now John may have another reason as to why he emphasizes this important truth about Jesus the Word. Not only to clearly assert his divinity in the fact that he is the Creator, but as John, it seems as he reflects on the Word’s work at the beginning of all creation, right, as he reflects on Genesis 1, it seems as though he’s also preparing the stage for the revelation that God the Father, God the Word, Son, even Jesus, and God the Holy Spirit are also not just the creators of all creation, but they are the creators of the new creation.

In fact, John will waste no time in making this connection a bit later in chapter 1 verses 12 and 13 when he says,

but as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become children of God to those who believe in his name, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

We’re born of God, a new creation.

And Jesus will later expand on this very truth even further when he speaks with Nicodemus, charging Nicodemus that he must be born again. That he is, in essence, he must become a new creation.

And that this isn’t a material birth or creation, but it’s spiritual through faith in Jesus Christ. He says in John 3, 6,

that that which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the spirit is spirit.

It’s a spiritual birth. The new creation is a spiritual birth.

The Apostle Paul also picks up on this theme as well, stating in 2 Corinthians 5, 17,

therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. All things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new.

If it’s a new creation, someone has had to create it. Who creates the new creation?

We see here in John, he’s preparing us, that it’s the Word. It’s Jesus. It’s the triune God.

The same God who created all things is the creator of the new creation in Christ.

This truth ought to give us great assurance, friends, about our faith and our hope for eternal life. That the One who had this power to create all things out of nothing by speaking His Word is the same One who creates in us a new life in Christ Jesus.

The same God. The same Word.

3. In Him Was Life, and the Life Was the Light of Men

And speaking of life. we come to the final truth that John reveals to us about the Word.

In verse 4,

in Him was life, and the life was the light of men.

As God and as Creator, it’s no surprise that the Word is also life. That is, He’s the source of life that’s given to all creatures.

And we see this again in the creation account. For example, in Genesis 1 verse 20,

then God said, right, that’s the Word, Jesus.

Let the waters abound with an abundance of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the face of the firmament of the heavens.

And then later in verse 24 he says,

Let the earth bring forth the living creatures according to its kind, cattle and creeping things, and beasts of the earth, each according to its kind.

And it was so.

Here we have the word bringing forth life. life of the birds, of the air, the living creatures, the flying things, and all the creatures of the earth and the sea.

But not only did the Word speak, and life was given to all creatures, but by the power of God and the Word, and through the Word, especially mankind was given life. And mankind was giving life in a way very unique from all the creatures.

And again, in Genesis 126,

then God said, let us make man in our image according to our likeness.

And then chapter 2, verse 7,

and the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being.

The Word brought life to man, and only mankind was created in the image of God as moral beings with a reasonable soul.

And so God created mankind upright with true righteousness and holiness and with the authority to rule over all creation as God’s stewards.

The Word is the source of this life.

And this life, we’re told here, John says, becomes the light of men.

Well, what is this light?

Well, it seems that since the Word created life and gave life to man, and since this light is of men and not of all creatures. And then it would be the light that’s given to all mankind because they’re created in the image of God.

In other words, the light of the life-giving Word would be the evidence of the Creator’s image that remains even after the fall.

The sense of eternity in man’s heart as we see in Ecclesiastes 3 and the law of God as Paul speaks of in Romans 1 and 2 that’s written on the heart. that bears witness to the truth of God.

Indeed, mankind has unique life with a reasonable soul and he also has this internal witness to the truth of his Creator.

It’s also very possible here that John is using these terms in two ways. as a way to kind of cross over or make a connection from speaking of creation and the physical material world and the life that the word has given to creatures and to mankind to now making this connection to a spiritual reality that now exists in the world even after the fall.

Because just as God called light to shine in the darkness of the created world, so too his light shines in the darkness of the fallen sinful world. Ultimately, through that word, become flesh, Jesus Christ.

Well, Paul, the apostle, makes a similar crossover in 2 Corinthians 4, verse 6, where he says,

for it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, again, a reference to Genesis 1, verse 3, who has shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

So Paul does the same thing. He makes the connection from the physical reality of light at creation to now the spiritual reality of light through Christ and the gospel.

And so what Genesis describes is this physical aspectification. Again, light shining in darkness becomes a spiritual truth of Christ coming into the world. even a world that has been now darkened by sin.

And so in this sense, mankind then has a three-fold witness. The internal witness, a three-fold kind of, there’s the witness of creation, so I guess that’s four, but there’s the internal witness of being created in the image of God.

There’s the moral law of God that’s written on the heart. And now we have the revelation of the light of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

And it’s in this last witness that declares that Jesus is the giver of eternal life. And he is the light of the world that has come to chase away the darkness of sin and evil.

Man’s Response: The Darkness Did Not Comprehend It

What then is man’s response to this witness? Both to the witness of the life and the light.

We see here in John, it tells us that they’re rejected.

Verse 5,

the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

Now this helps to complete the crossover from physical creation to spiritual truth. the light and the witness of being created in the image of God, and having the law of God written on their hearts, which is the human conscience.

And we can include here now the witness of the entire created world that demonstrates the eternal power and Godhead of the Creator. As Paul reminds us in Romans 1, that these are all suppressed by mankind in his fallen and sinful state.

And he has exchanged the truth of God for a lie, worshiping and serving the creature rather than the creator.

He sees the light of these witnesses, but he doesn’t comprehend it. He doesn’t understand it. He doesn’t acknowledge it because he refuses to do so in the hardness of his dead sinful heart.

And it’s this general rejection by sinful man of the Word, who is God, who is the Creator, who is the life and the light of men. It’s their rejection of Him in the created world that again sets the stage for the rejection of Him when He, the Word of God, comes in the flesh and dwells among us.

And John will emphasize this point three times in this prologue.

First here in verse 5, when he says that the darkness did not comprehend the light of the word as it shines in the darkness.

In verse 10, he says the world did not know him even though he was shining in the world and the world was made through him. They didn’t know him.

And then in verse 11, he, the word, even came to his own. He came to His own creatures when He humbled Himself and came as a man to dwell among them. But His own, His own race, humanity, even His own people, the Jews, did not receive or welcome Him. They rejected Him.

Well, as we well know, Ultimately, this rejection of the word become flesh will eventually lead to the cross.

Where John records the final word spoken by the word.

It is finished.

What had begun in the beginning with creation, now at the cross, the word declares it is finished.

What does that mean? His work of salvation and redemption, which opens the door for the new creation, has been finished and complete.

The sacrifice of the Son of God, the Word, who is in the beginning, who is with God, who was God.

And though it was finished, This doesn’t mean that the Word was then forever silenced.

Because as we know, three days later, He who is the Word, who is God, who is the Creator, who is the life and the light of men, rose again from the dead to new and everlasting life.

And by His resurrection from the dead, He fulfilled the very purpose for which He came.

And Jesus says in John 10,

I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

We get that abundant life because the Word, Jesus, had to die. But then He rose again. in newness of life so that we might have that life more abundantly.

Beloved of God, obtaining abundant and everlasting life through faith in Jesus Christ is what it’s all about.

This prologue of John’s gospel isn’t some exercise in philosophical exploration to grow and expand the mind and people talking about Plato and this and that and all these kinds of different philosophical ideas and logos and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. They go on and on.

But that’s not what it’s about. No, it’s a reminder to us. This prologue of John’s gospel is a reminder to us that Jesus is the word.

That He is God. That He is the Creator. That He is the Giver of all life. And that He is the bright shining light to all the world.

And this Word, Jesus, is a real Savior. That graciously offers real help and real hope to all those who are in need. even to real people like you and me, all to the praise and glory of God alone.

Closing Prayer

Let’s pray.

O gracious God and Heavenly Father, we rejoice and give thanks for this reminder of who Jesus is, that He is the Word And though we don’t fully, can’t fully comprehend the mystery of the Trinity, we know how you have revealed yourself. There is just one God, only one. And yet this one God exists in three distinct persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

And that these three are all active. together in the creation of all things at the beginning of time. And even now, these three are still active.

In bringing about the new creation. Transforming hearts and changing lives through the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, who brings life and light in this sin darkened world.

And we praise you and thank you, O God, for the blessing and the privilege that we’ve had to taste of this life and this light. And we pray that you would enable us to be equipped to be those faithful witnesses who go forth and who would shine this light and share the life offered through the gospel to those around us. And that many would come to faith in Jesus Christ. That many would see that he is the word. He was accomplished these things, that he is truly the eternal son of God.

And father, we just pray, especially that you would especially just apply each of these truths to our own hearts, drawing us all closer to yourself, all to the praise of your glorious name. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.