Jesus is called many things in Scripture. In the Gospel of John alone, he is called the Lamb of God, the light of the world, the bread of life, the gate of the sheep. He is even called a Vine. But here in chapter 1 he is called “the Word.” And there’s a reason for that. In Jesus, God is saying something to us, something we dare not miss. Jesus is what we might call “God’s Word on the street.” He came down from heaven, took upon himself our humanity, moved in on our block, so to speak, and nothing has been the same since. So, lean forward in your seat, cup your hand to your ear if you must, but do not miss what God wants to tell you through his Son, Jesus Christ, the Living Word.
The very first verse in the Gospel of John says, “In the beginning was the Word.” When you read that verse, you can’t miss the connection between it and the very first verse of the Bible, Genesis 1:1. There we also read the words, “In the beginning.” And what follows, of course, is the account of creation.
Now, I want you to notice something. I want you to take note of the parallels between Genesis 1 and John 1. John says about Jesus, the Living Word, that “all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made.” So, just as in Genesis, here in John we start off with what? the creation.
And how does Genesis tell us that God brought the creation into being? It was by the spoken word, wasn’t it? How does it go? “And God said, ‘Let there be…,’ and there was…” (Gen. 1:3). God spoke words, and called into being things that were not. And now John makes it clear that the Word through which God created all that is was none other than Jesus Christ. “The Word was with God,” John says, “and the Word was God.”
At the outset of the book of Hebrews, we read that “long ago 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” (Heb. 1:1f.). That is what John is telling us. God has spoken to us by his Son. And what is he telling us?
He’s telling us that, since God created everything that is, your life and mine has purpose. We live in a time when the consensus no longer rests with creation. Many voices, high sounding voices, seemingly intelligent voices, tell us that there is no such thing as a creator, and so what we call the creation is not a creation at all. It is simply a vast empty cosmos.
Now, if that were true, it would mean that there is no design, because there is no designer. And if there is no design, there is no point, no purpose. Your life and mine would be essentially meaningless. But the Scriptures counter such a view. The Bible declares that there is a Creator and that the creation is ordered according to his plan.
So what’s the plan? The plan is that everything will reflect the glory of the Creator. That’s the point of it all, and that is the substance of life’s purpose.
Think about it this way. What’s the first thing God created? According to Genesis, what was it? It was light, wasn’t it? “And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.” Go back to John. What is the first thing he mentions when he tells us that all things were created through and by the Living Word, Jesus Christ. It’s light, isn’t it? Verse 4 says, “In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
Already we see a conflict between the light and the darkness, don’t we? “The shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” Believe me, it’s tried. The darkness always seeks to extinguish the light, but it will never succeed.
Now, notice what John says next. Just like in Genesis, the creation of light is first, then the rest of the universe, and then what follows? The creation of man. Isn’t that what we see in Genesis? “Then God said” – again, notice that God’s creative power is exerted through the spoken word – “then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image…’” (Gen. 1:26). And so, John, following the pattern of Genesis, talks about creation. He talks about light. And now he says, what? “There was a man…” (John 1:6). There was a man. And what does John say about him? “He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light…. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.” The man, of course, had a name. It was John. He was not the same John who wrote the Gospel, but rather John the Baptist. The point I want you to see, however, is the order in which the Gospel introduces things to us: creation, light, man, or humankind.
Now, let’s stop here. I said the first thing God wanted to say to us through Jesus Christ, the Living Word, is that there is a purpose for your life and mine. If the creation is a fable, of course, that’s not so. If there is no Creator, if the universe just happened by chance, as some hold, then there can be no real purpose to our lives. But, on the other hand, if there is a Creator, if this universe is the design of divine intelligence, then there’s a point to everything. There’s real purpose in living.
So what is that purpose? What is the purpose of man? Why were we created? The Gospel shows us. We were created to do exactly what the “man sent from God” did – the man introduced in verse 6, John the Baptist. We were created “to bear witness about the light.” That’s our vocation. Genesis says we were made “in God’s image,” which is the same thing. When we look at a human being, what do we see? We see a transparency of God. At least, that’s what we’re supposed to see. We were created to be mirrors of God’s glory, displaying in our own lives the excellencies of him who created us. Isn’t that what we read in the Shorter Catechism? It asks, “What is the chief end of man?” And it answers, “Man’s chief end is to glorify God!” And to enjoy him forever – yes, I know. But if our lives do not reflect his nature, we won’t be enjoying him forever.
And so few do reflect God’s nature. In verse 9 we read, “The true light, which gives light to every man, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own [created order], and [those he had created] did not receive him.
You see how the darkness was at work. Verses 9 through 11 are actually John’s parallel to Genesis 3, where we read about the Fall of man, how our first parents disobeyed God and rebelled against him. The darkness that sought to extinguish the light entered those who were to reflect the light. And we no longer adequately reflect it. Even though that’s what we were created to do. The book of Romans says that we “did not honor…God or give thanks to him, but…became futile in [our] thinking, and [our] foolish hearts were darkened” (Rom. 1:21). There’s the operative word: darkened! And in our darkened state, we “exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man…” (Rom. 1:23). In other words we “worshiped and served the creature [read: ourselves] rather than the Creator” (Rom. 1:25).
We were trapped in this darkness. But remember: “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” John tells us that God took a move toward us to rescue us. He tells us that “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father.”
Now we have come to John’s parallel to the second book of the Bible, the book of Exodus. And I say that because in that book we have the story of how God rescued his ancient people when they were trapped in the darkness of slavery. He brought them out with a mighty arm and guided them through the wilderness to the promised land. And while they were in the wilderness, he dwelt among them. Remember how? It was in a tent, right? He gave Moses instructions on how to make a tabernacle, and when it was completed, the divine glory came down and dwelt in it. This is what John means when he says that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. The divine glory is in Jesus. Isn’t that what the text says? “We have seen his glory?” Jesus’ human body – his flesh – became the tabernacle of God in our midst. God’s presence with us.
And don’t forget this: verse 4. “In him was life, and the life was the light of men.” If you want to escape the darkness of a meaningless and pointless life, not to mention the eternal death to which that darkness leads, here is the light. Here is the life. It is to be found in Jesus. He is “the true light…coming into the world.” “He came to his own, and his own…did not receive him.”
But listen. Listen to what God is saying to you through his Living Word, the Word on the street, the Word that makes his dwelling with you: “To all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” Do you see what that means? His gives us new birth into his family, and we take on his nature, and once more we can pursue our true vocation, which is what? To bear witness about the light. To reflect the glory of God. To mirror his majesty. To glorify him. That is the real purpose of your life. And it will be fulfilled only in Jesus, God’s Living Word.
