In the Beginning Was the Word: Understanding John 1:1-2

John's Gospel begins in a way that is completely different than Matthew, Mark, and Luke. He begins by stating the genealogy of the Son of God—but not in the way you might expect. He doesn't trace lineage through generations of men. Instead, he takes us back before time itself: "In the beginning was the word, before the world was. He is."

In this post, we're going to discuss John 1:1-2 and give you an understanding of what John is really telling us here.

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The Eternal Word

"In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. He was in the beginning with God." (John 1:1-2)

This is a genealogy. This is a declaration that the Son of God—who is the Word, Jesus of Nazareth—existed before all creation. John tells us in John 1:14-15 exactly who this Word is:

"And the word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. John testified about him and cried out saying, 'This was He of whom I said, He who comes after me has a higher rank than I, for he existed before me.'"

The Word is clearly Jesus of Nazareth, and John is tracing Jesus's genealogy all the way back to before the beginning, before the world was, into this concept of eternity—an idea that is so difficult for us as humans to understand because it's not just more time, it's a never-ending existence.

Always Existing, Never Created

Before the world was, in this never-ending existence, the Word was with God and was God. He was in the beginning with God. There was never a point in time where the Son of God, the second person of the Trinity, ceased to exist. He always was—before the world was, in eternity with His Father and with the Spirit.

There never will be a time where the Son of God did not exist.

Now, there has been a time where Jesus, the person that we call Jesus, did not exist. Jesus had yet to be born. But God, who in the beginning was the Word, the second person of the Trinity—this is Jesus of Nazareth who has come. "And the word became flesh."

The Word Became Flesh

So there was a point in time when the Word was not flesh, but He became flesh—not intermingling in the sense that He ceased to be the Word, but in the sense that we have God and man dwelling together in one flesh, in one person, in one being. That is the person of Yeshua, Jesus of Nazareth: fully God and fully man. Two distinct natures in one distinct individual to accomplish a very distinct purpose—to save His people, to take on the sin of the world, destroying the penalty and power and eventually the presence of sin, making a people for Himself from every tribe, tongue, language, and nation.

Jesus came to be Messiah (Messiah is the word that you read as Christ—it's just the Hebrew version of it). So Jesus is liberating King because He was in the beginning as the Word, was with God as the Word, never being created, never not existing, but always existing—and taking on the form of flesh so that He could accomplish that very specific purpose of dying a death that we could not die.

Why "The Word"?

In the beginning was the Word. There was never a point in time where He didn't exist—always existing. But why "the Word"?

It's very interesting to me that John used the Greek word logos, which we know as "word" (and we're going to have another video on that eventually). But why the Word? Because the word is what communicates. The word is what we hear to then understand. And Jesus came to shine the brilliance of God and pierce through the darkness of lies with truth—not just word spoken, but life lived.

Jesus is the exact representation of the nature of His Father. He is deity in bodily form. He is the communication of the nature and the work of God Himself.

John records at the end of his gospel a conversation between Jesus and His disciples where Jesus says, "Hey, listen, if you've seen me, you've seen the Father." Because He came to communicate the Father to all, in the will and purpose of the Father, which is that He's not willing that any should perish, but that all should have everlasting life. And that by believing in Messiah, in Christ, we would have life in His name.

The Chief Piece of the Puzzle

In the beginning was the Word. He was always there, always existing. And He's the Word because He is the chief piece of the puzzle that communicates to us the mystery of God that has been veiled through the ages.

Jesus communicates how God's justice and His righteousness meet together. Jesus communicates how God loves in a selfless display of wholeheartedly giving Himself for the sake of humanity—for people who could not give back anything. Not because He's receiving anything in return, but because it's a selfless act which He chooses to do despite whatever emotions He's feeling about it (which were emotions of deep sadness and emotions of joy).

He came to show us the mercy of God—that He didn't just come to destroy the earth, but to offer eternal life to all whosoever would receive the Son. He came to put on display the character and work of His Father, only doing and saying the things that His Father would have Him do and say, communicating through word and deed who the eternal God is and what the eternal God's plan for redemption has been since the beginning.

The Living Word Today

So the Word was God and the Word was with God, and the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and put on display the character of God and the work of God as the Son of God—for all to see and for all to receive and for all to be born, not of the flesh, not of the will of man, but of God.

That invitation still extends today, as the Word is not in a grave or in a tomb, but is resurrected and living as fully God, fully Word, and fully man as the Word of God—ever living to make intercession for those who would be needy enough to draw near to the Father through the revelation of the Word, the Son of God, receiving Him as Messiah, that we would have life in His name.

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