A couple of weeks ago, Emmaus Road Baptist Church began digging into the Gospel of John. We encourage you to join with us each Saturday night at 7:00 in studying this inspired account of the life and ministry of Jesus.

John, who focuses upon the deity of Jesus more than his humanity, doesn’t begin his account with the typical birth narative.  He goes much further back! He goes further back than the human mind can fully comprehend. He states that, “In the beginning, was the Word.” That is to say, that before mankind walked the earth,  before the stars filled the skies, before God spoke light into existence, the Word was already in existence. The rest of the first verse explains that not only was the Word “with God” in the beginning, but that the Word “was God.” In a very short order, John has taught us that “the Word” (or “ho logos” in the Greek language in which the New Testament was orignially written) not only pre-existed all creation, but that “the Word” has its own unique personage. That personage, has not only been eternaly with God, but is completely God himself. Under inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the writer gives us a glimpse into the truth of the Tri-unity of the Godhead. He will continue to unfold this mystery in the chapters to come.

In the next few verses, the Word is revealed to be the creative member of the Godhead. Not only is He credited with the creation of all things, but it is clearly implied that He Himself is not a created being. If there were any doubt remaining that this Word is a person, verse four states that in this Word was life. The life of the Word is described as the light of men.  The manner in which the Word is the light of men is expanded upon throughout the next several verses and the rest of  the Gospel of John. This coming Saturday we will be looking more into that topic.

“Ho Logos” is not mentioned again until the fourteenth verse. When He is, it is in glorious fashion. The Word is delcared to have become flesh.  Not only did He become fully man, while maintaining complete deity, but He elected to remain with with men. John states that he personally saw him and that he observed his glory. His glory is desribed as the glory of the only begotten of the Father and his life is characterized by fulness of grace and truth.

The implications of these verses abound. Jesus is much more than just a baby in a cute little cresch. He is the eternal Son of God who has left the glory of the presence of the Father to be born in a dirty stable. He is the one who has inhabited eternity, but stoops to be united once and for all with humanity. Why would the sinless and spotless Son of God be willing to live among sinners? It can only be explained by a deep love for his creation. As John would ask in another of his writings, “What foreign kind of love is this that we should be called the sons of God?”  It is only possible to love God, when we understand how much He loves us. In this short introduction, we get a glimpse of how much He really cares.

We also understand with which authority Jesus teaches. One of the things which amazed his audiences was the authority with which He spoke. He did not speak as one who struggled to interpret the Scriptures, but as the Author of them. His words were not just equal to the Scriptures, his words were Scripture.

As we continue to study in John, we will learn how this Word not only has life, but how he offers life to all who will believe in his true identity and rely upon his redeeming work for forgivness of sin and eternal life.