I am completing a study of the seven I Am statements made by Jesus this month for our discipleship program for our 40 pastors in Uganda. That study provided a good introduction to the Book of John and the next step is to walk through John’s book as he reveals Jesus to us. As I looked at the notes that I wrote in my Bible regarding John 1:1 I paused and thought about a book I am reading by a Christian physicist, Dr. Hugh Ross (Beyond the Cosmos), which he wrote to “effectively impart a vision of God’s awesome magnificence, a vision that expands readers’ capacity to worship and serve our Creator and Savior.”
Thanks Bill, the first 4 chapters were way over my head and truly a challenge but the rest makes a lot of sense.
So as I read the words En Arche Ho Logos in John 1:1 this morning I was challenged to think a little deeper …
John 1:1-5 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made. 4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. KJV
The word for God in Gen 1:1 is translated Elohim, which speaks of the trinity (plural) in the singular form, which is stated again in verse 26 … Let us make man. John alludes to Gen 1:1 and he clearly implies that “the Word” applied to God as it does in John 1:1 and means “before creation;” before the world was made when there was nothing The Word existed. The Word (logos) was the name applied to God after He became flesh (the Messiah). One commentator noted that in this instance it refers to “the divine expression.”
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. KJV
This is the same reference John makes in Revelation 19…
Rev 19:13 And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. KJV
And Paul uses in his letter to the Colossians …
Col 1:15-17 15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: 16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: 17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. KJV
Or the writer to the Hebrews …
Heb 1:2-3 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; 3 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; KJV
Here the word of his power is not logos, it is rhema the “revealed” word; in Him was life…
John 1:4-5 In him was life; and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not [did not overcome it]. KJV
What hit me this morning was that in John’s first 5 verses he says a whole lot more than just that Jesus was in the beginning. Remember, what John writes in his book about Jesus in these 5 verses is in light of the fact of all that was revealed to him by Jesus when he was taken to heaven.
I know this is not new and not earth shaking, but it is a beautiful reminder of so much that is found in the Word of God if we will just listen. Just like Jesus’ final words to John …
Rev 22:12-13 And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be. 13 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. KJV
Yes … and there is a whole lot in between.