John Series Part 1 Series

Jesus the Living Word: The First Witness of John the Apostle, 1:1–5

(1:1–5) Introduction: this passage is one of the summits of Scripture. In fact, it probably reaches the highest of human thought. What is the thought that reaches the height of human concepts? It is this: Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is …

• the Word of God

• the Creator of Life

• the Very Being and Essence of Life

These three truths have to be deeply thought about to understand their meaning. A quick reading of this passage leaves a person disinterested, not even close to understanding what is being said. However, the importance of the truths lie at the very foundation of life. They cannot be overstated, for they determine a man’s destiny. If Jesus Christ is the Word of God, then men must hear and understand that Word or else be lost forever in ignorance of God Himself.

1. Christ is eternal (vv.1–2).

2. Christ is the Creator (v.3).

3. Christ is life (vv.4–5).

DEEPER STUDY # 1

(1:1–5) The Word—Jesus Christ, Son of God: the Word (logos) is Jesus Christ. John faced a serious problem in writing to the Gentiles, that is, the non-Jewish world. Most Gentiles had never heard of the Messiah or Savior who was expected by the Jews. The idea was foreign to them. However, the Messiah was the very center of Christianity. How was John going to present Christ so that a Gentile could understand?

The answer lay in the idea of the Word, for the Word was understood by both Gentile and Jew.

1. The Jews saw a word as something more than a mere sound. A word was something active and existing. It was power—it possessed the power to express something, to do something. This is seen in the many Old Testament references where The Word of God was seen as the creative power of God, the power that made the world and gave light and life to every man (Ge. 1:3, 6, 11; Ps. 33:6; 107:20; 147:15; Is. 55:11).

2. The Gentiles or Greeks saw the Word more philosophically.

a. When they looked at the world of nature, they saw that things were not chaotic, but orderly. Everything had its place and moved or grew in an orderly fashion, including the stars above and the vegetation below. Therefore, the Greeks said that behind the world was a mind, a reason, a power that made and kept things in their proper place. This creative and sustaining mind, this supreme reason, this unlimited power was said to be the Word.

b. The Word was also seen as the power that enabled men to think and reason. It was the power that brought light and understanding to man’s mind, enabling him to express his confused thoughts in an orderly fashion.

c. More importantly, the Word was the power by which men came into contact with God and expressed their feelings to God.

3. John utilized this common idea of the Jews and Gentiles to proclaim that Jesus Christ was the Word. John saw that a word is the expression of an idea, a thought, an image in the mind of a person. He saw that a word describes what is in the mind of a person. Thus, he proclaimed that in the life of Jesus Christ, God was speaking to the world, speaking and demonstrating just what He wanted to say to man. John said three things.

a. God has given us much more than mere words in the Holy Scriptures. God has given us Jesus Christ, The Word. As The Word, Jesus Christ was the picture, the expression, the pattern, the very image of what God wished to say to man. The very image within God’s mind of the Ideal Man was demonstrated in the life of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ was the perfect expression of all that God wishes man to be. Jesus Christ was God’s utterance, God’s speech, God’s Word to man. Jesus Christ was the Word of God who came down to earth in human flesh to bring man into a face-to-face relationship with God (see vv.1–2). Jesus was the Word of God who came to earth to live out the written Word of God.

b. Jesus Christ is the Mind, the Reason, the Power that both made and keeps things in their proper order. He is the creative and sustaining Mind, the Supreme Reason, the unlimited Power (see v.3).

c. Jesus Christ is the Light, the Illumination, the Power that penetrates the darkness of the world. He, the Life and Light of the world, is what makes sense of the world and enables men to understand the world (see vv.4–5).

1 (1:1–2) Jesus Christ, Son of God—Eternal—Preexistent—Revelation: Christ is eternal. Note three profound statements made about Christ, the Word.