John 1:1 “In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God.”
The gospel of John opens with this chapter in the same words the book of Genesis opened with. “In the beginning was the word”. It signifies that the beginning of everything is very important.
From this verse, it shows that the “word” was present from the beginning, the same “word” was with God and this “word” was God. This places an equivalence with Genesis 1:1 where we are told that “in the beginning God” saying in the very beginning the Word was God. If the word was with God in the beginning and the word was God, we need to find out who the word is.
In John 1:14, we are told that “And the word was made flesh, and dwelt omg us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth”. From studies and revelation, we know that the word who became flesh is Jesus Christ, which John later exposed in John 1:18, “No one hath seen God at any time; the only begotten son, which is the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him”
If the “word is Jesus Christ, we then need to know why the “word” was there in the beginning. There is a significant importance to the word being present in the beginning and we are going to take a look at some of them.
Jesus Christ as creator
The word being there, in the beginning, establishes Jesus Christ as a creator. In John 1:2-3 the Bible says “The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.”
We see that Jesus was not only present at creation, but He was responsible for creation. Jesus was present at the creation of the world and humans etc. This also exposes the triune nature of God, In Genesis 1:1-2, it says “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.”
When we juxtapose this two scriptures, it gives us an understanding of who was present at creation, i.e. God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. So the three of them were present at creation and Jesus Christ was referred to as the “Word”.
Jesus Christ was responsible for creation, in the book of Colossians 1:15-17, Paul confirms that, “Who is the image of the invisible God, the first born of every creation; for by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers, all things were created by him and for him and he is before all things and by him all things consist”.
So we see that the “Word” is Jesus Christ was the creator of all things at the very beginning.
Jesus Christ is Eternal
The second thing to look at from the word being present at the beginning is the eternal nature of Jesus Christ. Jesus has been eternally in existence before he was conceived and born of the Virgin Mary.
That is why he is called the creator because he has been in existence before the creation of the world. The book of Isaiah 6:8 says “Also, I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I, send me.” This verse of the scriptures explained the eternal existence of Jesus Christ before the creation of the world.
He was only born of the Virgin Mary to the earth because of the great assignment He had to undertake. Another place where the Bible exposes the eternal nature of Christ is in Revelations 1:8 “I am Alpha and omega, the beginning and the ending. Saith the Lord, which is, which was and which is to come, the Almighty.” And in Revelation 22:12 “And behold, I come quickly and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be, I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last”.
These two verses point to the eternal nature of Christ Jesus. He was there in eternity past, He will be there in eternity future. Jesus referred to himself as “I AM” in John I:58. Jesus can actually refer to Himself as I AM because before the world, He was and He is I AM for all eternity. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.
He has been and always will be because He is eternal in nature.
Christ Jesus as God: Equal But Distinct
John 1:1 also helped to establish that the word was in the beginning and the Word was God. This clearly points to the divine nature of Jesus Christ. It further reveals the triune nature of God Almighty.
Looking at John 1:1 again, he said. “The word was with God in the beginning”, the word was with God, meaning co-equal and at the same time, the word was with God, meaning distinct. This is why the triune nature of God is referred to as the mystery of the Godhead. God is revealed in three distinct persons, yet there is one God. It is a mystery, yet it is truth revealed in scriptures.
In 1john 5:7, the scriptures says, “there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost; and these three are one”. Here, we see that Christ Jesus is referred to as the Word in this verse.
Christ Jesus is the Word, which is God, that became flesh and in Him dwelt all the fullness of God, this truth Paul attests to in Colossians 2:9 “For in Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.” The amplified version says “For in Him all the fullness of Deity(Godhead) dwells in bodily form(completely expressing the divine essence of God).
One may want to ask why did John call Jesus Christ the Word. John 1:1 is a very short verse of the scriptures packed with a lot of revelation. The statement “In the beginning was the word” means that Jesus Christ is God, co-equal with God, yet distinct. He is the creator who willingly took on the human flesh to become like those he created, so He could redeem those who were lost.
He is the one who stepped out of eternity into time to rescue those bound by time and darkness and destined to be separated from Him for all eternity. He is the word who was there at the beginning. He is the word, who is God, who also will be there when at the end. In Hebrew 1:8-12, it says, “But unto the son, he saith, thy throne, Oh God, is for ever and ever; a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom. Thou has loved righteousness and hated iniquity, therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above they fellows. And the Lord, in the beginning has laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of thine hand. They all shall wax old as a garment and as a gesture shall thou fold them up, and they shall be changed, but thou art the same, and thy years s not fail.”
From the verses, it is obvious that the Word is Christ Jesus and the heavens and the earth are the works of His hands. He was there from the beginning because unto him rested the responsibility of the entire universe and the need to be abreast of it was part of the reason He was there from the beginning.
The scripture makes us understand that God has exalted His word above all His name. And another verse scripture tells us that God has highly exalted Jesus Christ and made Him sit in heavenly places.
God exalted His word because He knows that His word is His son, Jesus Christ who has been exalted above all other names. Jesus Christ was also present at the beginning because He is the light of the world who will shatter the darkness that surrounded the universe before creation. He is that light that shines in darkness and darkness gives way.
That is why at creation God gave the word, “let there be light and light came, and darkness gave way”.
So without the darkness giving way, nothing could be created and the Word, who is also the light was ther to make it happen. The word that was there at the beginning, is Christ Jesus and He was the one who created the whole world and all that’s in it.