The Logos (John 1:1-5)

Review.

Last week we began our study of the Gospel of John. We saw in John 20:30-31 the purpose of this entire book of the Bible: It says, “Therefore many other signs Jesus also did in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.”

So now, as we begin to look at what John says, we should look to see what and how he communicates about Jesus that point to Him being “the Christ, the Son of God.”

We begin at the beginning. Look at John 1:1-5 (Read).

As we unpack this passage today, we are going to see three things:

The Preexistence of the Word.

The Creative Power of the Word.

The Self-existence of the Word.

Before we do that, let’s discuss the word “Word” in the passage before us.

Let’s talk about the word “Word” used in this passage.

This has a couple of implications:

The Greek Usage.

The Greeks understood that all that exists could not have come from nothing. It had to have an origin. Which is true.

Where they go wrong is they believed that the “Logos” was some impersonal force.

God is not an impersonal force.

The Hebrew Usage.

The Hebrew understanding was that of God’s revealing Himself to mankind.

Throughout the Old Testament we see it said many ways:

Jeremiah 1:4.

Hosea 1:1.

Joel 1:1.

Also notice that God created through His Word as He spoke creation into existence.

Genesis 1:3, 6, 9, 11.

Which follows what we read in John 1:3.

Not only that, but this “Logos” is the foundational reality to all of life.

John 14:6 “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but through Me.”

Jesus is the foundation and embodiment of truth itself!

To the point that He is the final and complete revelation of God Himself, because He in fact is God!

Hebrews 1:1-4.

The Preexistence of the Word (1:1a).

This intentionally reminds us of the first words of the Bible.

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”

What we see here in John 1:1, is that “The Word” was already existing at the beginning of the heavens and earth.

the word “was” is the Greek word “eimi” in the perfect tense. This stresses continuous action in the past.

This is important, because this stress that Jesus had no beginning point. He has always existed. He is not a created being.

Similarly, later on in John 1:14 “And the Word became flesh...”

The Greek word used here is “ginomai” which talks about a starting point or a beginning point.

This is where we see that Jesus was born as a human all those years ago, but before had He had existed eternally.

Jesus Christ was already in the beginning before the beginning began.

Verse 2 is quite descriptive of the deity of Jesus.

Jesus being “with God” literally could be translated He was continually face to face with God for all eternity past.

Any created being, after sin, could not dwell in the presence of God, because of His holiness.

This puts what Jesus did on the cross for us in perspective.

Philippians 2:6-9. Jesus left the throne room of heaven, where He had dwelt for all eternity past, to become a man and die a sinners death on our behalf.

Mark 15:34. God the Father hid His face, or His presence, from God the Son (Jesus), while He was pouring out His wrath for sin upon Him.

The Creative Power of the Word (v. 3)

Remember how the “Word” was “eimi” or essentially existing without a beginning. Here we see that the “word” made all that exists.

Christ Created everything that was made.

“ginomai” (we talked about this before).

This points again to His “preexistence” but also His deity as He is the Creator of all things!

Colossians 1:15-17.

1 Corinthians 8:6.

The Self-Existence of the Word (v. 4).

Christ does not have to go outside of Himself to gain life.

You may be familiar with the ancient Greek pantheon, like Zeus, Hermes, Dianna, etc.

Each of these so-called gods needed the prayers of their followers to be able to be powerful or even sometimes to live.

This is not so with the One True God. He completely exists within Himself.

Christ gives life to all that exists.

It simple terms, everything that has been created had a creator. In this sense, yes Jesus gives life to all mankind here.

However this “life” is not “bios” or physical life. What is in mind here is “Spiritual Life” or you may know it as “eternal life” like in John 3:16.

John 3:16 ““For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”

Eternal Life is given by the Lord Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 2:1-5. Before Christ, we are all dead in our sins, but made alive to God!

The Eternal Life is connected to “Light”.

When you light a small candle in a dark room, it drives the darkness away, right?

Connected to this Eternal Life that Christ gives is a changed life that looks like “Light” in a dark world.

John 8:12. Jesus is the Light that drives the darkness away.

What this shows is that a person who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation, will in fact show it with the way that they live.

When we are given the Life of Christ, we are also given light.

Colossians 1:13.

This Light cannot be defeated.