THE ETERNAL WORD
John 1:1-2
Morning Meditation 7/21/16
Verse 1 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.. The same was in the beginning with God.”
The Word here is a definite reference to the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, the Son of God. What is the meaning of this title? Hebrews chapter 1:1 sheds light on this: “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;” This verse teaches that Jesus is God’s final Word to mankind. Pink says that Christ, “is the One who has made the incomprehensible God intelligible.” Pink says three things in defining the Word.. First he says, “a word is a medium of manifestation. I have in my mind a thought, but others know not its nature. But the moment I clothe that thought in words it becomes cognizable. Words, then, make objective unseen thoughts. This is precisely what the Lord Jesus has done. As the Word, Christ has made manifest the invisible God.” Second, “A word is a means of communication. By means of words I transmit information to others. By words I express myself, make known my will, and impart knowledge. So Christ, as the Word, is the Divine Transmitter, communicating to us the life and love of God.” Third, “A word is a method of revelation. By his words a speaker exhibits both his intellectual caliber and his moral character. By our words we shall be justified, and by our words we shall be condemned. And Christ, as the Word reveals the attributes and perfections of God . . . He displayed His power, He manifested His wisdom, He exhibited His holiness, He made known His grace, He unveiled His heart. In Christ and nowhere else, is God fully and finally told out.”
John tells us the Word was before all time. He did not come into being when “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” He was already there because we are told in verse 3: “All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.” He is the uncreated Creator.
John also tells us that the Word “was with God.” There are two things that this tells us. That he was separate from God and a distinct person as the word “with” shows. I can be with another person. Second, the Word was with God in the sense that He was in fellowship with Him. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown say, “. . . He who is called ‘God’ here, is in 1 John 1:1, 2, called ‘THE FATHER.’” There was fellowship in the Godhead and this fellowship was never broken through the incarnation. It is always, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.”
Then John says, “and the Word was God.” The word “was” in the three instances that it is found here in this verse is an imperfect indicative verb. This means that prior to the beginning of time, the Word kept on being the Word, and the Word kept on being with God, and the Word kept on being God. The time is eternal and the place is before time so that He was there creating.
Another thing about the Word. Arthur C. Custance in his book on The Virgin Birth and the Incarnation, p. 219 says, “The Jewish people had a very spiritualized apprehension of God’s Person . . . They believed God dealt indirectly with the universe through an agency which they called ‘The Word’ (aman—A Hebrew word which means ‘to speak,’ ‘say.’ Its root form is memra—derived from the Aramaic, which means ‘word’ . . . In the Targum of Onkelos it is used in Gen. 3:8, 10, and 24 ‘And they heard the voice of the Word memra walking.’” What a wonderful representation of Jesus. It is like saying, “And they heard Jesus Who is the Word of Jehovah walking . . .”
So John was using a term that the Jews would understand. Also the concept that God did not deal directly is woven into this verse. The Word (Logos) is the Mediator. When God communicated, it was through the Word (Logos). When man communicates with God it is through the Mediator. There is no direct contact with God in all his glory. When Jacob met God at Peniel and wrestled with the Angel, he registered surprise that he lived after he had his close contact with God: Gen. 32:30, “And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.” But what Jacob did not know at that time is that he had seen God in the person of Christ, the Mediator, and He (the Logos) communicates God in a way that man can live after a “close encounter.”
Moses had a close encounter and was protected by the Mediator (the Logos): Exo. 33:18-23: “And he said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory. And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy. And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live. And the LORD said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock: And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by: And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen.” God in mercy veils Himself in the person of Christ so that man can survive the close encounters.. There was no doubt to anyone when Moses came down off the Mount that he had seen the LORD. Jesus is both the glory of God revealed and the clift of the Rock that protects us that we may draw nigh to God. I will say more about the veiled glory when I comment on verse 14.
Next John says, “The same was in the beginning with God.” The word “same” implies the whole previous definition. This very same Word (Logos) was in the beginning with God. John nails it down so that other interpretations are hard to come by. God enabled John to so communicate the preexistence of Christ that UNBELIEF would be the only obvious answer to the one attempting to explain it away. Those who deny the Deity of Christ, his incarnation through the Virgin Birth are unsaved and do not believe in the verbally inspired Word of God. The tactic is, if you don’t believe what the Bible says, then discredit the Bible. This tactic is as old as Genesis chapter three and should be immediately recognized by every believing Christian. I can just hear someone say, “Preacher, isn’t this judging. Isn’t this saying that everyone has to believe like you to be saved?” Listen very closely. Read my lips. We may disagree on a lot of things and still love one another as brethren. But we cannot disagree on who Jesus is (God manifest in the flesh) and what he did on the Cross and that he was raised the third day. If we don’t believe this, we are simply not saved. This is an essential belief. Every true Christian believes this no matter what denomination he is in. 1 John 4:2-3: “Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.” 2 John 1:7: “For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.” I’M NOT THE JUDGE, GOD IS.
May the Lord bless each of you.
In Christ
Bro. White
