(REFLECTIONS ON John 1:1-18)

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him not even one thing came into being that has come into being.

14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us; and we saw His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

The Word in the original Greek, is the word Logos. Logos is God’s self-expression in action. Although the Word is not a perfect translation, because Logos cannot be simplified into just verbal expression, but it is appropriate because God’s Word in the Bible creates, reveals His will, and goes forth from God to accomplish His creation and redemption.

Logos or God’s Word takes us back to the beginning, to Genesis, where God created the heavens and earth with His Word. This links the Logos in John 1 back to the beginning, back to creation, and back to God in the beginning.

The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and in our faith we understand that to be Jesus Christ. Thus, John 1 connects Jesus, before becoming flesh as man, back to the beginning, with God, and was God. Before Jesus the man, He as the Word was with God, and was God.

The Logos is God making Himself known to the world through Jesus Christ. This reveals to us that Jesus wasn’t just a good teacher, a prophet, a priest, but with God in the beginning, and all things came into being through Him. This is the Jesus that we worship, that took our sins with Him on the cross, and through Him transforms us into sons and daughters of God.

The Logos is God making Himself known in His own creation, in the form of His creation, connecting Himself to us through Jesus Christ. Nothing else can connect us to God, but God Himself. However, how can God connect Himself to us? It is through Jesus Christ, that is both God of creation, and also flesh and blood.

Jesus Christ, the Logos, the Word can connect the created to the Creator because He is both, and being both He serves as the bridge between God and humanity.

Pastor Michael Lu
Enduring Word Bible Commentary: John 1