John 1:1

In the Beginning, Christ Was

Introduction.

The Gospel of John is perhaps the most theologically robust treatments on the humanity and divinity of Jesus Christ. If you were unaware, or had any hesitations on who Christ is, John’s Gospel not only provides succinct truths on his humanity and divinity, but also presents tangible pictures and representations of who Christ is with everyday items, a door, bread, and light.

Martin Luther writes of John, ““This is the unique, tender, genuine, chief Gospel.… Should a tyrant succeed in destroying the Holy Scriptures and only a single copy of the Epistle to the Romans and the Gospel according to John escape him, Christianity would be saved.” A bold but accurate statement.

The purpose of John’s Gospel is evangelistic by nature. John himself near the end of his Gospel accounts tells us, John 20:30–31“Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”

This theme of believing is drawn out throughout John’s Gospel. It comes in a few ways.

Evangelistic. We believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, because of the great miracles and signs he does.

We are given 7 signs accompanies with 7 “I am” statements throughout John’s Gospel.

Signs.

water into wine (2)

Healing official’s son (4)

healing lame man (5)

Feeding 5000 (6)

walking on water (6)

healing a man born blind (9)

raising Lazarus (11)

Post-resurrection, miraculous catching of fish (21)

I ams

Bread of life (6:35)

Light of the world (8:12)

The door (10:7-9)

The Good Shepherd (10:11)

The resurrection and the life (11:25)

The way, truth, life (14:6)

The true vine (15:1-5)

John uses the verb “to believe” nearly 100 times, twice as much as the Synoptic Gospels.

Apologetic. We believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, contrary to early heresies that were developed.

Docetism. Jesus was never incarnate but only appeared to be incarnate, from dokeo in Gr.

Jews. Jesus is YHWH, John 8:58“Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.””

Modern apologetic.

Arianism - Christ was created

Modalism - God reveals himself in modes

Adoptionism - Christ was adopted, received power from God

Theological.

Doctrines of grace throughout.

Man’s inability to come to Christ apart from God (John 3; 6)

God’s election and sovereignty (John 6; 10)

Particular redemption (John 10)

Irresistable grace (John 6)

Perseverance (John 10)

Typological.

Christ as the bread from heaven

Christ as everlasting water, not temporal like Moses striking rock

Christ as Passover lamb

Even here in the opening verses, we see Jesus Christ as God. To believe in Christ is to believe in God. The God of the covenants, who unilaterally entered into a covenant relationship with His people comes and dwells amongst them as the Covenant Mediator to atone for their sins, and promises in John 14-16 to send the covenant seal, the Holy Spirit. That Christ is God, implies that you are only saved through Him and no one else, for salvation is the Lord’s.

John’s Gospel is essentially presenting to us Christ in His fullness in the opening 18 verses. It is as if he is asking, “Do you want to know who this Savior is, then let me show you.” Like small talk amongst acquaintances, John is getting us acquainted with the God-Man Himself, by answering the typical small-talk questions, “What’s your name?”, “What do you do?”, “Where are you from”, etc. (cf. Sproul commentary).

John gives us that answers so that we may know Christ and believe in His name alone for salvation.

Admonition: Believe that Jesus Christ is God.

The preexistence of Christ

The personhood of Christ

The power of Christ

[1] The preexistence of Christ

John 1:1“In the beginning was the Word”

John opens up the mystery of the Trinity in verses 1-2 and summarizes this doctrine in the fewest words possible. We see this summarized well in the Shorter Catechism. As the WSC reminds us, “There are three persons in the Godhead, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one God the same in substance, equal in power and glory.

arche, beginning, corresponds directly with the creation account. It is argued here, as in 1c, that “beginning” has no definite article and therefore could be translated as “in a beginning.” Yet, we know that there was one definitive beginning in all of creation and that is when God Himself spoke.

John further tells us that the Word was in the beginning.

Eimi, the word, to be, is in its imperfected form. Why is that relevant? It describes a continuing action in the past, which further reinforces the fact that the Son is eternally preexistent. Even more important, is that if John intended - as the Arians and JW presume - that Christ “became” or was “created” he would have used the correct word “ginomai”.

There is no confusion as to the Word, Jesus Christ existing before creation began.

John also parallels the Old Testament, Genesis 1:1“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”

There is a distinct difference in the thought of heretics who believe Christ was a created being. Not only is Christ God, but He was active in creation. Genesis uses “created” ποιηω which is an act of God. That Christ is God, He also created.

Colossians 1:15–17 “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”

The Word, Christ, is the executor of God’s will. When the Lord declared “let there be” and spoke into existence, the Word acted. “Let there be light” and there was light. And that radiant light of the sun pales in comparison to Jesus Christ the light of the world.

In the same way, we are given a taste of the Triune God in Genesis 1:26“Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.””

The preexistent Word, Jesus Christ, was with God in the beginning and mankind was made in His image. In contrast to Genesis, where John is pulling from, where we see the first creation, here in John, we see the New Creation in Christ.

John’s use of logos, or word, in relation to Christ had ties to both the Old Testament and Hellenistic Greek philosophy.

In Greek, the logos was to be an impersonal and abstract principle of reason and wisdom. This was popularized by the philosopher Heraclitus who believed the Logos is always existent and that all things happen through the Logos. It should be no surprise to us that even pagans recognize truths about divine Scripture. Precisely what Paul speaks of in Romans 1:19–20“For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.”

What adds to John’s evangelistic and apologetic flavor to his gospel account is, as Leon Morris writes, “The Jew will remember that ‘by the Word of the Lord were the heavens made’; the Greek will think of the rational principle of which all natural laws are particular expressions. Both will agree that this Logos is the starting-point of all things” (NIGTC, 108)

In contrast to Greek philosophy, Christ is personal and the true source of wisdom. As Paul writes in his doxology in Romans 11:33“Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!” Christ is the wisdom come from God.

Christ as the wisdom of God and the Word of God “was fully able to reveal the Father because from all eternity he participated in his divine nature, his divine life, his divine love, and so on, and was by nature Logos. Since God communicated himself to the Logos, the Logos could communicate himself to us. The Logos is the absolute revelation of God, for from all eternity God communicated himself in all his fullness to him” (Bavinck, RD, 2.274)

What is truly beautiful about this alone is that for a person to communicate by word to someone else, indicates a willingness to reveal something about themselves. We see the Father’s willingness to not only create all things but to communicate verbally, and personally, to His own creation, a non-obligatory transaction. God both choses to reveal Himself and has revealed Himself through Christ.

Hebrews 1:1–3“Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,”

Revelation is not static, but dynamic. God has not revealed himself impersonally (static) but personally (dynamic), by speaking through Christ who does the will of the Lord and through prophetic emissaries as carried along by the Holy Spirit. Therefore, we see how throughout the Scriptures, the Word of God, Jesus Christ, does the will of the Lord.

Psalm 33:6“By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and by the breath of his mouth all their host.”

Psalm 107:20“He sent out his word and healed them, and delivered them from their destruction.”

So intimately tied to God’s Word, is not only seen in creation but in salvation as well. God is said to deliver, or save, his people from destruction.

It is not surprise that John the Baptist declares in John 1:29“The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”

Implicitly, we see how sin ruined God’s wonderful creation. Surely John was not only pulling on the thread of Christ’s creative power but also reminding us of the short transition from Genesis 2 to Genesis 3 and the Fall of Man.

Believe in the Lord Jesus because He is the one who is restoring all things and making all things new. Sin and death is the great equalizer. All are born in Adam and all will die. But with Christ, the resurrection and the life, He has not only saved His people as the Second Adam but also raises them up on the last day.

Man is always searching for the meaning of life. Man spends countless years building for himself a kingdom that terminates upon his death. Yet Christ the Son of God incarnate provides meaning to life. Redemption in His name alone. Salvation accomplished and applied by His perfect obedience unto death, despising death’s shame, and with joy redeeming His elect.

[2] The personhood of Christ (1b)

“and the Word was with God”

Extending the same use of the verb “to be” in its imperfect form, we see who Christ eternally existed as the Second Person of the Trinity. In that, John shows how Christ was with God.

(προσ τον θεον)

The distinction in Greek is far more personal than our Bible translations allow. In fact, the phrase here in Greek implies “face-to-face” relationship between the Father and the Son. Only people can be in relationships. An attribute cannot be relational to another being. Christ the Son of God was in eternal communion and fellowship with the Father.

John 17:5“And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.”

Importance of the incarnation of the second person of the Trinity. God made a covenant with Adam in the Garden wherein He promised eternal life upon condition of perfect obedience in forbidding him to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, upon the pain of temporal and spiritual death. Adam’s failure led to spiritual death and so death spread to all because all sinned.

Yet in the eternal counsel of God, the intra-Trinitarian covenant of redemption where Christ took upon Himself the stipulations of the covenant - fulfilled them to perfection - yet suffered the punishment required therein, was an absolute necessity for man to be saved. Without the incarnation, Christ could not have bypassed the imputation of Adam’s first sin. The incarnation was an act of humility, servanthood, and love.

We see how in the incarnation, Christ in fact “left the glory of heaven and the privilege of face-to-face communion with His Father” in his condescension. Philippians 2:7–8“but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

Charles Wesley’s hymn And Can It Be? provides a beautiful picture of this: He left His Father’s throne above, so free so infinite His grace! Emptied Himself of all but love, and bled for Adam’s helpless race.

This act of humiliation of the Second Person of the Trinity

That Christ was in personal communion with the Father provides for us great comfort in the personal communion we have with Him.

Christ’s personal communion with God the Father means we have an object grounding for justification.

It means we have a perfect Savior who is not only willing to save but does save.

Christ not only eternally declared His willingness to suffer the curses of the covenant on behalf of His people but He completely, once for all, accomplished the demands for sin. Christ’s personal

Christ’s personal communion with God the Father means we have an intercessor to pray for us.

Hebrews 7:25“Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.”

[3] The power of Christ (1c)

“and the Word was God.”

This verse has drawn much scrutiny from Arius in the 4th century to modern day JW. And it centers around the lack of a definite article (the) when reference to God. In fact, they would translate 1c as either “the Word was divine” (possessing divine attributes but not God), or “the Word was a god.”

Contextually, this is nonsensical. In the previous clauses in verse 1 alone, we see the definite article attached to God already referenced. In fact, John is expressing in the most simplest of terms the fullness of the Triune God. Although in Greek the Logos is at the end of the clause, it is treated as the subject due to its case. Just as in German, you have the “nominative case” which is the subject of the sentence. The reason for John placing “Logos” as the subject in the clause is to distinguish the persons of the Trinity.

It is not to say “God was the Word” for that would disintegrate the Triune nature of God. Rather, he states, “The Word was God” ascribing deity to Christ.

Oddly enough, JW fall into the same issue as the RCC does in its desire to use particular words when necessary to fit their theological system. Recently, I had undertaken a short personal study on the seven sacraments of the RCC, particularly with regard to marriage. In the Latin translation of the NT, the word for “mystery” as seen in our series in Romans, is a reference to the complete and total revelation of Jesus Christ in the NT.

In the second century, Tertullian began to translate the word mystery in Greek for sacramentum in Latin. And although no where else in the Latin translation of the NT do you find sacramentum referring to the mystery of Christ, you do indeed find it in Ephesians 5:32“This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.” The addition of marriage as a sacrament is imposed upon the text to fit a theological construct no matter how erroneous.

Therefore, in the same way, the JW take the word “theos” for God and translate it as “a god.” Yet, in verses 6, 12, 13, and 18, of chapter 1 alone, the JW translate the word “theos” without the definite article as “God” (definite). It is clear to see how heretical beliefs often undercut the authority of Scripture to add their own meaning to the text.

Likewise, John could have easily attributed the Logos, Jesus Christ, to merely a divine messenger. Yet John, moved and carried along by the Holy Spirit, used the most simple, yet most precise and theologically powerful construct to not only explain how Christ Himself is God but also a distinct person.

Illustration: John is like a jeweler presenting to us a diamond. We are given it in light and see its front side in all its glory and beauty, that Christ was in the beginning. But as he rotates it around, we see the fullness of the diamond. Christ was eternally with God, the second Person of the Trinity. And as he rotates it even further, we see that Christ Himself is God.

You do not have to travel far in the Gospel of John to see the glories of Christ. Here, in just one verse, the entire doctrine of Christ’s humanity, Christ as creator, Christ as God, and Christ as Savior are explicitly and implicitly stated.

Do you believe this?

Paul gives us a stark warning if we do not, Galatians 1:7–9 “there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.”

Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved, this promise is for you, for your children, and for those who are far off.