1 "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." John 1:1-5 (NIV)
Who is This?
Genesis 1:1 starts with these words, “In the beginning, God.” Similarly, John’s gospel begins by saying, “In the beginning was the Word.” As similar as they seem, they are quite different in what each author wants you to see.
When it says, “In the beginning,” the author of Genesis wants the reader to understand that at the time this world began, God was the creative force at work. In John’s Gospel, when it says, “In the beginning, the author wants us to understand that before time began with earth’s creation, there was the “Word.” From eternity, before the creation of the earth, there was the “Word.” Genesis 1 refers to God and uses the plural word for God, Elohim. John 1:1 clearly states that the Word was with God from eternity past, and the Word was God.”
When we look at the verse, we naturally believe the sentence's subject is the Word. However, in Greek, the sentence's subject is “in the beginning.” The author wants us to ask the question, who or what was in the beginning? The answer is, “Before the earth was, the Word was, and the Word was with God, and the Word is God.”
Verse 2 reinforces this by restating, “He (the Word) was in the beginning with God.” When and however God came into existence, which is one of the great mysteries, He, the Word, was with God. There is no separation of time from the beginning of one to the beginning of the Word. How they came into existence; they came into existence at the same time. Through them, all creative power existed. But the Word, as it says in verse 3, is the creative power in forming this planet and humanity. It was the Word that spoke and separated water from the water or commanded dry land into existence. He was the word that hung the sun and the moon and turned the sun's power on to heat and light the earth. The Word stooped down upon Earth and created humanity to enjoy everything made for them.
In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. In the Word and through the Word is life, but not just life, but light. As the light of the Word shone upon the planet at the beginning of its formation out of the chaos, so the Word shines His light upon the chaos created when humanity listened to the serpent at the tree. At creation, when the Word shone His light upon the chaos, He created the world. Today, the light shines in the darkness created by living outside the garden, but this time, darkness does not comprehend the light. Today, the Light shines as a re-creative force, but humanity fails to accept the light given. When the serpent in the tree moved from the tree to the hearts of humanity, it created chaos within humanity’s hearts, making it difficult for humanity to see and respond to the Light freely given so that humanity may see who God truly is and God’s tremendous love for humanity.
John’s gospel shows, through personal testimony of the Word and the testimony of witnesses, that the Word who existed in the beginning with God was indeed God who became flesh. He became one like us and came to testify about who God is. To reveal the true character of the one the Word refers to as the Father. To shine light upon the true character of God and a world in chaos to once again unite humanity with their God.
John’s gospel does not give us a Christmas story because it wants us to see that the Christmas story began eons before the earth was spoken into existence. It began when a loving God and the Word, which was with God and was God, created the earth.
Pastor Lester Bentley