The Word Series

Message

John 1:1-2

Name Above All Names - The Word

This series that we are going to focus on is called the Name Above All Name Series.

The names that we're looking at in this series will be the names that appear in the New Testament that appear before the birth of Jesus up to the time when Jesus goes with His family to Egypt.

So let’s look at the first name which is found in John 1:1-18 (read).

In the beginning was the Word. In the Greek text it looks like this HO LOGOS and is pronounced “ho logos” which equals the Word. Maybe you've heard of Jesus being called “the Word”.

It is actually one of the oldest and one of the first names that is given to Jesus.

Before he is the son of Abraham or the son of David.

Before he is Immanuel before he is Christ.

Before all of that he is “the Word.”

And unlike all of the other gospel accounts - the gospel accounts are Matthew Mark Luke and John - unlike the other three gospel accounts John doesn't talk about the birth of Christ.

John doesn't give any narrative about the Nativity. There is no stories about Joseph or Mary. There are no angels, there are no Shepherds, there is no raging Herod, there is no nativity stories. Nothing.

However the Word is announced and then we are told about Jesus.

The “nativity” which John opens with is about this powerful Word.

The Word who we are also told became flesh.

In the beginning was the Word and that Word is now flesh, says John.

Notice the language

There in the beginning his name was the Word … at his birth his name is still the Word.

The Word who will rule the universe is now the Word who is a baby in a Manger.

The Word whose voice brought creation into place is now the Word who can only communicate with a few cries and whimpers.

The Word who has been there from eternity past now has a lifespan.

The Word who was limitless can't even move now without being carried.

When you start to think about this nativity name it's a powerful name isn't it because it's a name that gives us an incredible amount of comfort. For what's happening here is the creative Word is coming to the world.

Through him all things were made, without him nothing was made that has been made (John 1:3)

There is this connection between Jesus as a baby and the very very beginning.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth and God spoke and the Word that is spoke put creation into place.

3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness.5 God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.

6 And God said, “Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water.” 7 So God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it. And it was so. 8 God called the vault “sky.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day. (Genesis 1:3-8).

And you can keep reading the passage. There is power in these Words the power to speak separation between light and dark.

The power to speak separation between the sky and what is below the sky … which at that point is a ball of water that will become the Earth.

The Word that has power today - and we all see it in different ways.

For some of us it will be in the beauty of a flower and we will see God's hand in that.

For some of us it is the simplicity and yet the complexity of oxygen - such a simple thing and yet so necessary.

For some of us it is the cycle of the seasons; the fact that this has been going on for thousands of years and provided the sustenance for the earth for all this time.

For some of us it is the intricacy of the of the insects or the land creatures or the sea life. The fact that today we are still discovering new insects, new plant life, new animals.

And plant bacteria or microscopic organisms that have become the source for most of our medication that we have today.

Make your list. Your list of all of the creative acts. When you go out and you see the world and in that world you are seeing God's hand. That is what this text is focussing on.

In the beginning God made all this - and without him … without the Word … nothing was made that had been made.