John does not begin the story of Jesus at Bethlehem. He begins ‘in the beginning,’ before creation. Jesus is the Word: personally distinct from the Father, truly God, the agent of creation, and the One who makes the Father known by becoming flesh.
READ THE KEY PASSAGES
Begin with what
Scripture says.
John 1:1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
John 1:3All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
John 1:14And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.
01
The Word is eternal and divine
John 1:18No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son... he hath declared him.
John’s opening statement rules out the idea that the Son came into existence at His birth or that He is one created being among others. The Word already was in the beginning, was with God, and was God.
The words preserve both personal distinction and full deity. The Word is not the Father, yet He shares the identity of the one true God. Christian faith does not worship two gods; it confesses the Son within the divine life Scripture reveals.
John calls Jesus the Word because the Son eternally reveals God. He is not created speech or an impersonal force.
02
The Word is Creator, not creature
Colossians 1:16For by him were all things created... all things were created by him, and for him.
All things were made by Him, and without Him nothing that was made came into being. That leaves no category in which the Word Himself could be a created thing. The creation belongs to Him as its Maker and Sustainer.
This matters because the One who saves is Lord of all. The world that rejected Him was made through Him. His authority over life, death, nature, and history rests on who He is, not on an honor later given to a mere man.
The Word became flesh without ceasing to be what He eternally is. The incarnation brings God’s self-revelation into real history.
03
The Word reveals the Father
Hebrews 1:3Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person.
The Word is God’s perfect self-disclosure. John says the Son has declared the Father; Hebrews calls Him the brightness of God’s glory and the express image of His person. In seeing Christ rightly, we do not see a rival to God but the Father’s own revelation.
This does not make the Son a temporary mask worn by the Father. The Father and Son are personally distinct. Yet the Son reveals God perfectly because He shares the divine nature and does the Father’s will.
Jesus reveals the Father perfectly, yet the written Scriptures remain the authoritative witness through which He is known.
04
The Word became flesh
John 14:9He that hath seen me hath seen the Father.
The Word was made flesh. John does not say that He only appeared human or merely entered a human body for a time. The eternal Son became truly human while not ceasing to be God. He lived among His people in real history.
The incarnation gives the gospel its glory. The Creator came near; the holy Son entered human weakness without sin; and the Word made flesh gave Himself to save the people He made. We receive Him not as an idea, but as the living Christ.
The title calls for worship. The One who made all things came near to save, and no other revelation can replace Him.
PUT IT INTO PRACTICE
Questions for further reading.
- 01
What does John 1 say about the Word before creation?
- 02
Why does the Word’s role in creation rule out His being a creature?
- 03
How does the incarnation preserve both Christ’s true deity and true humanity?
Read patiently. Let God’s Word speak.
Jesus is the Word: eternal with God and truly God, Creator of all things, perfect revealer of the Father, and the One who became flesh for our salvation. His title calls us to know Him as Scripture reveals Him.
