In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. -John 1:1
It’s interesting in comparing the beginning of John’s gospel to the beginnings of the other three.
Mark’s gospel begins with the ministry of John the Baptist as the one who points to Christ.
Luke’s gospel goes back further with the birth of John the Baptist and the birth of Jesus.
Matthew’s gospel goes back further still to the family line of Jesus and takes us back to Abraham, back to the beginning of God’s covenant with his people.
John’s gospel goes back even further, back to the very beginning, back to eternity.
It’s the same way in which the Bible opens up, the first words in Genesis are: in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1:1)
John starts with: in the beginning was the Word.
Now, it’s interesting that John says “the word.”
He doesn’t say “in the beginning was Jesus” or “in the beginning was the Christ” or “in the beginning was the Lord” but “in the beginning was the Word.”
But, in the beginning was the Word.
Why use the word Word?
Borrowing an idea from D.A. Carson in his commentary on John.
From the beginning of the Bible, we see references to God’s word. God is a talking God. He speaks in Genesis. “Let there be light,” and the text says “and it was so.”
God calls things into being by the power of his word, and what he calls into existence exists.
Psalm 33:6 says: By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and by the breath of his mouth all their host.
God’s word is attached to deliverance.
We see God’s word in his covenants and promises. Genesis 15:1: After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.”
The word of the Lord is mentioned numerous times in the Bible with respect to divine revelation given to prophets. Both Jeremiah and Ezekiel say “the word of the Lord came to me.”
The Word of the Lord is seen as a key to truth and enlightenment.
Psalm 119:105: Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
And we could go on and on and on. There is power in the word of God.
Given that in the Old Testament, God’s word is tied to creation, salvation, healing, and deliverance, the incarnation of Jesus is God’s greatest and most spectacular form of expression to the world. The Word is an appropriate title for Jesus because it is through this Word that we have ultimate truth, eternal life, future hope, assurance of God’s promises, and God’s greatest revelation of himself to the world.
And we learn from our passage this morning that this Word was in the beginning.
This Word is not some abstract idea or force. This Word exists.
“And the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
But just to sum up what verse 1 is saying is that Jesus is eternal, he has always existed in fellowship with God, and that he himself IS God. That’s really the major theme of John’s Gospel. Jesus is the Lord.
Thanks for reading! If you liked, please comment and subscribe!
This post is part of a series in studying the Gospel of John. Recommended resources: Carson, D. A. (1991).The Gospel according to John (pp. 113–117). Leicester, England; Grand Rapids, MI: Inter-Varsity Press; W.B.
The gospel of John opens up with a profound theological affirmation about the nature and identity of Jesus.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. -John 1:1-3
These three verses at the beginning of the Gospel of John give us four fundamental truths about Jesus.
I. Jesus is eternal
“In the beginning was the Word.”
John opens up by referring to Jesus as The Word. I take it almost as a title for Jesus in the beginning of John. In the Old Testament, it is through the word of the Lord that God creates, speaks to his people, makes his promises, and points people to truth. In Jesus, we see the ultimate disclosure of divine love, wisdom, truth and salvation, and so it is therefore fitting to refer to Jesus as the Word.
There was never a time when the Word was not.
And this is very important because right from the beginning of John, it confronts a common error that has existed in the church essentially since the time of Christ.
And that error is thinking Jesus is created. Or thinking that God made Jesus. Or thinking that he was a really good man who was given a promotion and became divine.
He has always existed. This is something that will continue to unfold throughout this passage, but Jesus is not a created being.
II. Jesus has fellowship with God.
The verse continues “and the Word was with God.” Another absolutely monumental and profound reality from this passage. Think about this for just a moment. The Old Testament is filled with lofty language of the majesty of God. Rightfully so.
Exodus 33, Moses wants to see the glory of God (Exodus 33:18).
God tells Moses in Exodus 33:20: you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live
It’s because God is so vibrant and righteous and full of life that it is completely overwhelming for fallen and finite people.
But in that story, we see the glory of the Lord is revealed to Moses and Exodus 34 tells us that when Moses came down from the mountain, his skin was so radiant from beholding the glory of God that people were afraid (Exodus 34:29-30).
He shined so brightly that he had to wear a veil.
1 Kings 8, the Ark of the Covenant is brought into the Temple. And when the priests came out of the Holy Place, a cloud filled the house of the Lord, 11 so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord (1 Kings 8:10-11).
The glory of the Lord was so overwhelming that the priests could not stand to minister.
Isaiah 6, the prophet is given a vision of the throne room of God and he is terrified:
Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” (Isaiah 6:5)
The presence of the Lord is completely awesome as you behold his glory and majesty and life. If you’ve ever stood at a great waterfall, as the hundreds of thousands of gallons of water crash over the edge every minute, you can feel the power and rush of the water. That’s awe inspiring in its own right, but it’s no comparison to encountering the eternal and almighty God of the universe. And yet, with Jesus, we’re told that the Word was with God.
Jesus can see God, he can behold the glory of God because he himself is glorious and righteous.
In the beginning, there was fellowship with Jesus and God the Father.
III. Jesus is God
The text continues “and the Word was God.” The central theme of John’s Gospel. The Lordship of Christ.
Something to consider…
Borrowing from Wayne Grudem in his book Systematic Theology: Historical, Orthodox, Biblical Christianity believes the following. There is one God. God is three persons. Each person is fully God.
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
While you can’t build an entire theology of the Trinity from this passage alone. But this passage affirms that Jesus is God and also that there is distinction between Jesus and God. In his commentary on John, Leon Morris talks of Jesus and God the Father and says “the Word and God are not identical by they are one.” We don’t have to know exactly how it’s simultaneously true that we have one God, who is three persons, and each person is fully God. But the Bible affirms all three of those statements.
Theologically, this matters tremendously. And we have all of these affirmations right from the beginning of John’s gospel.
If Jesus were not God, then he would not be a worthy sacrifice for our sins. If he were just a great man, he would still be fallible. If he were just a great teacher, he could still be wrong . If he were just a great leader, he would still be finite.
But he is the perfect God of creation. He entered into a sinful creation to redeem humanity.
It also matters because if Jesus were less than God, then not only would he be unworthy of our worship, but the very act of worshipping him would be blasphemous.
From the beginning of the Ten Commandments.
Exodus 20:2-3: 2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.3 “You shall have no other gods before me.
We’re told elsewhere in the Bible that God is a jealous God.
But the gospels show people worshipping Jesus. He never corrects them or deflects worship when that happens. That is either blasphemous or warranted. There’s no middle ground. It is either acceptable to worship Jesus or it is not.
There reason why it’s warranted, why it’s acceptable is because Jesus is God.
Part of the reason why I love John’s Gospel is that it constantly confronts us with absolute claims about Jesus. Chief among them is that Jesus is God. That’s an absolute claim. It’s either true or it’s not. If it’s true, the only response is to believe in him, to worship him, to trust in him.
If it’s not, the rest of this gospel is meaningless and blasphemous.
IV. Jesus made everything
Verse 3: 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.
Again this is speaking to the divinity of Jesus. All things were made through him. All means all.
The ground, the trees, the sand of the beaches, the stars in the sky, the air we breathe, the materials we use to build things, all of it was made by Jesus.
He made every person. Each of us has billions of cells in our bodies. Incredible complexity and structure just within our own bodies.
He made the universe!
To put that in perspective, if you had an atlas of every galaxy in the entire universe and each page represented an entire galaxy, and if you spent just one second on every page and continually turned pages in the atlas, it would take you more than 31,000 years to flip all the way through the atlas.
The universe is incredibly, unfathomably big. There are more stars in the sky than there are grains of sand in all the beaches of the world. Yet there are more trees on earth than there are stars in our one galaxy. And that’s just looking at the amazing size of of our universe.
There is amazing creation within our world. New species of animals are still being discovered.
Did you know that? And they’re not all insects or really small animals. Since 2000, there have been new species of primates discovered. We don’t even yet know everything on our own planet.
Yet Jesus made it all.
There are other passages in the New Testament which speak to this fact.
Colossians 1:16
16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.
We see this language as well in the opening chapter of the Book of Hebrews.
Hebrews 1:10 referring to Jesus says: You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning,and the heavens are the work of your hands;
Jesus is the creator. He made everything. And John states it both ways. He made everything. And also there’s nothing that he didn’t make.
He’s a mighty God. It’s a lofty passage. It’s a confrontational passage. You affirm these truths or you don’t. Our society often likes to treat Jesus as something you can take or leave.
Gravity isn’t something that you can take or leave. Arithmetic isnt’ something that you can take or leave. Breathing isn’t something that you can take or leave.
Jesus isn’t something you can just take or leave. Jesus isn’t just a nice person or a nice idea. He’s the Lord of creation.
Many cherry pick certain teachings. Others treat him as a great teacher or a great religious leader. Jesus isn’t one good teacher among other great teachers. He’s God.
The sages of other major religious traditions were born. Buddha wasn’t there in the beginning. Mohammad wasn’t there in the beginning.
But in the beginning was the Word.
There have been great leaders in the world who have influenced nations and movements. Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Gandhi. Some like to just act like Jesus was a wise peace maker who came with a good message.
While the Bible might not mention the word “trinity,” the concept is Biblical and cannot be so easily dismissed. For almost 2,000, years this doctrine has been considered orthodox within the Church, including within the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches as well as Reformed, Lutheran, Anglican, Baptist and most Pentecostal churches.
The greatest minds in the history of the Christian Church have affirmed the doctrine of the Trinity. Furthermore, the doctrine is not only standardly held within orthodox Christendom, it is also a necessary doctrine. Historically and in the contemporary era, when church bodies undermine the Trinity, it is sowing the seeds of heresy.
I think the first step in understanding the Doctrine of the Trinity is understanding that it is Biblical.
Wayne Grudem summarizes the Biblical teaching on the Trinity in three propositions:
God is three persons.
Each person is fully God.
There is one God.
At first glance, these look to be contradictory. But from the early church until today, these three propositions have been affirmed. In fact, they must be affirmed because each of these propositions has strong Biblical attestation.
With the three scriptural statements, in arguing that God is three persons, the point is that there is distinction between the persons of the Trinity. The Father is not the Son, the Son is not the Spirit, and the Spirit is not the Father. The opening verse of John affirms both that Jesus was with God and that the Jesus was God in the beginning (John 1:1), and by virtue of the Son accompanying the Father, it shows that the two are distinct.
Another important piece of evidence showing the distinctiveness within the Trinity is when Jesus prays to God the Father throughout the gospels (Mark 1:35; Matt. 14:23; Luke 6:12, 23:34; John 11:41-42). Some have argued that this is a distinction between Christ’s two natures, such as his humanity praying to his divinity. However the matter is complicated to an even greater degree when factoring in the Holy Spirit. At the beginning of the ministry of Jesus, all three persons of the Trinity are present. Jesus is baptized in Mark 1:10, the Holy Spirit descends on him, and a voice from heaven addresses Jesus as the beloved son (Mark 1:11).
There are also verses which talk about the Spirit working with the Father and the Son (Matt. 28:19; 1 Cor. 12:4-5; 2 Cor. 13:14; Eph. 4:4-6; 1 Pet. 1:2).
The second proposition affirmed by scripture is that each person of the Trinity is fully God. There is rich Biblical support as to the divinity of Christ as the second person of the Trinity. Jesus is worshipped as God. He talks of being one with the Father, proclaiming his divinity (John 10:30). Jesus also calls God his Father, which the Apostle John says was putting himself on the same level with God the Father (John 5:18).
Jesus talks of his existence prior to the incarnation and before Abraham (John 8:58). The works of Jesus witness to his divine nature (John 10:25-26). Jesus is the image of God (Col. 1:15). Jesus tells Phillip that those who have seen him have seen the Father (John 14:9). Jesus is called the “radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature (Heb. 1:3). When Thomas encounters the risen Lord and is able to see the pierced hands and side of Jesus, he exclaims “My Lord, and my God!” (John 20:28). In the context of Thomas making this proclamation, it is approved of by Jesus and agreed to by John as a climax of his gospel (John 20:20-31). After his resurrection in the gospel of Matthew, Jesus is seen as being worthy of worship by the disciples (Matt. 28:9, 17). Jesus is worshipped at his ascension at the end of Luke (Luke 24:52). 1 Corinthians 8:6 speaks to monotheism while also calling Jesus the Lord. While the term “Lord” does not inherently speak to divinity, the verse further elaborates that it is through Jesus that all things and all people exist.
A significant support as to the divinity of Jesus is his ultimate victory over death on the first Easter. In the gospels, Jesus had already shown control over life and death by raising people from the dead (Luke 7:11-15p John 11:1-44), but it is only Jesus who was raised and never experienced the second death.
While being worshipped as God, Jesus does not deflect this worship. The Bible affirms that angels are not worthy of worship (Heb. 1:6). The Apostle Paul deflects a cult of personality within the Corinthian Church (1 Cor. 3:4-6). When Jesus heals a man born blind, the man worships Him (John 9:38). As has been mentioned, there are other instances in which Jesus is worshipped. For Jesus to not be God and to not forsake the worship of himself would be blasphemous. In Jesus coming to fulfill the Old Testament, he is also pointed to as being divine. In the prophecy of Isaiah 9:6-7, when talking of the child who will be born, it says he will have the name “Mighty God.” New Testament writers ascribe divine qualities to Jesus, as noted by John Feinberg. Jesus is immutable (Heb. 13:8); omniscient (John 2:24-25); holy (Luke 1:35); and he exists in aseity (John 5:26).
A further point to the divinity of Christ is that he forgave sins on multiple occasions, something that can only be done by God (Luke 5:20, 7:48). Paul also affirms that we have redemption and forgiveness through Jesus (Col. 1:14). Based on the Bible, and with a belief in the inerrancy of scripture, the divinity of Christ is clear.
In understanding the divinity of the Holy Spirit, two of the primary functions of the Holy Spirit in the Christian Church are to indwell and regenerate believers. Feinberg notes two theological implications which would result if the Holy Spirit were not fully God: “If the Holy Spirit is a lesser God or not God at all, how can we be sure that he can do any of these things?”
Furthermore, if the Holy Spirit is not fully God, and indwells believers, it seems difficult to have ultimate assurance that the sanctification of the Spirit would necessarily be approved of or in accordance with the will of God the Father.
Divine qualities are ascribed to the Spirit by Paul in 2 Corinthians 2:10-11, talking of the Spirit searching the depths of God, and then rhetorically asking “for what person knows a man’s thoughts except the spirit of the man which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.” Michael Horton gives a treatment where he notes passages which ascribe various qualities of deity to the Spirit. The Spirit is omnipresent (Psalm 139:7-10); omniscient (Isa. 40:13-14); regenerative (John 3:5-6; Titus 3:5) and is given “divine homage” (Matt. 28:19; Rom. 9:1; 2 Cor. 13:14).
The third proposition given by Grudem that is essential to formulating the doctrine of the Trinity is that there is one God (Deut. 6:4-6). With the Shema, while it teaches that there is one God, it can also be argued that it is making a statement to God’s unity and integrity as one being. The fact that there is one God does not change in the New Testament and is affirmed by Paul (1 Tim. 2:5; Rom. 3:30). More importantly, the Biblical teaching on one God is also stated by Jesus. When asked what the greatest commandment is, the first part of his response refers back to the Shema (Mark 12:29-30).
On numerous occasions in the Old Testament, when the Israelites turn to idols, they are mocked because these pagan deities are unable to intercede or act on their behalf (Isa. 46:5-7; Jer. 10:5, 14-16, 14:22; Hos. 15:8). The reason is simple: it is because the pagan gods do not exist! There is only one God.
It has been argued that the doctrine of the Trinity comes from nowhere in the New Testament. But is this true? Within Christianity, Jesus is the ultimate hermeneutic through which to interpret the Old Testament. Jesus talks of a true understanding of the Old Testament necessarily pointing to him (John 5:45-47). In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus talks of his coming in fulfillment of the Law (Matt. 5:17-20) and Jesus interprets moral issues with authority (Matt. 5:21-48). The synoptic gospels all attest to Jesus teaching as one with authority (Matt.7:28-29; Mark 1:22; Luke 4:31-32).
Glimpses of the Son and the Holy Spirit can be seen in the Old Testament, going back to the beginning of the Bible and prior to the beginning of time. The Spirit is present in creation, with the Spirit hovering over the face of the primordial waters (Gen. 1:2).
At the end of Genesis 1, God proclaims “let us make man in our own image, after our likeness.” (Gen. 1:26). This is a passage that would not necessarily be interpreted as Trinitarian in isolation. Various interpretations fall short of Unitarian interpretations. One is that it is God and the heavenly hosts who are speaking, but this view is problematic for two reasons. The heavenly hosts do not create, only God creates ex nihilo. The second problem with this view is that man is not created in the image of angels. Man is created in the image of God (Gen. 1:27). Another interpretation is the royal we, the idea that God is referring to himself in the second person while ultimately referring to him in his Unitarian sense. This view would be plausible if the royal we were utilized elsewhere in the Old Testament, but given the obscurity of such grammatical constructions, this interpretation should not be favored. While the plurality in Genesis 1:26 does not necessarily prove it is Trinitarian, the verse is assuredly not Unitarian.
Several books in the New Testament talk about the work of Jesus in creation. In part, these sections help to clarify Genesis 1. In the Christ Hymn of Colossians 1, it talks of Christ’s preeminence. The passage informs the reader that “by him all things were created” (Col. 1:16). Hebrews 1 talks of the majesty of Christ and shows his dissimilarity from the angels, because he is greater than the angels. In that passage, it talks of Jesus laying the foundation of the earth from the beginning, and says the heavens are the work of his hands (Heb. 1:16). One of the most significant passages with respect to Jesus’ role in creation is the beginning of the gospel of John. In that section, John writes that Jesus was in the beginning and that all things were made through Jesus, and that nothing has been made without being made by him (John 1:3). Jesus is specifically depicted as an actor in creation.
Based on all of these points, it is again affirmed that the doctrine of the Trinity is Biblical. Christianity is a monotheistic faith. There is one God who is three persons. Each of the three persons are distinct from each other and each of the three is fully divine.
Thanks for reading! I’d love to hear what you think, and don’t forget to subscribe!
Josh Benner is the associate pastor at Cornerstone Evangelical Free Church in Fergus Falls, Minnesota and has a Master of Divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He enjoys writing about faith and culture. He lives with his wife Kari in Minnesota.
