“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:1-2, 14
“In the beginning” means before creation, before time and space came into being.
The term “Word” means that which is spoken, a statement, or a speech. In the Jewish translation of the Old Testament into Aramaic, this term was used for God. So “the Word” here not only describes divine revelation (the Bible), but the pre-existent Christ, as the two phrases “the Word was with God” and “the Word was God” indicate. Jesus is fully God but distinguished from the Father. An early church writer put it this way, “The Father was never without the Word, but He was always God with God, yet Each in His proper Person”.
The Word was preexistent. Note the contrast with verse 14, where the eternal Word “became” flesh”. Thus, this Gospel begins with the thought that Jesus, “the Word”, the unique manifestation of God, was already continuously in existence when the material universe was created.
The fact that “the Word was with God” also suggests a face-to-face relationship. In the ancient world, it was important that persons of equal station be on the same level, or face-to-face, when sitting across from one another. Thus, the word “with” indicates a personal relationship, but also implies equal status.
Moreover, “the Word was God”. The Greek construction emphasizes that the Word was of the very quality of God while still retaining His personal distinction from the Father. Thus, the Gospel of John opens with a simple, single sentence affirming the preexistence, personality and deity of Jesus Christ. He is distinct from God, and yet is God. Neither the Person of Christ, nor His Sonship, came into being at a point in time. Rather, the Father and the Son have always been in loving fellowship with one another.
“The Word became flesh” indicates that God’s Word was embodied. So, there are two natures—the divine and the human—inseparably joined in one person … Jesus. The divine essence is not changed into the human nature. But the two natures, unchanged, are personally united in Jesus.
The word “dwelt” comes from the Greek word for tent. In the OT, God revealed His glory in the tabernacle. When Christ took on flesh, He dwelt, or “tabernacled,” among His people. God’s glory was then manifest in Christ throughout His entire ministry, but especially in His submission to the cross.
Verse 1 speaks of Christ’s nature and works being outside of space and time, before creation. Verse 14 places Jesus Christ into time, space, and the history of mankind. The Son of God who was from all eternity, at a point in time, became human with limitations in time and space. Jesus Christ uniquely and thoroughly identified with us as both God and man. He was fully God and yet He became fully human. God the Son will forever exist as a man with a resurrected body.
Jesus Christ is the only Son who is fully God. He is also “full of grace and truth”. When God revealed Himself to Moses, He proclaimed Himself to be “abounding in goodness and truth”. As applied to Jesus Christ, this phrase marks Him as the author of perfect redemption and perfect revelation.
God’s blessings on your day…