Written by Pastor Jack Wellman– John 1:1
In the Beginning
Before the universe was created, there was the Word; and we know that the Word the Apostle John was writing about was Jesus Christ. This is clear in John 1:14 because he writes, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth”; and that is obviously Jesus. So Jesus existed before the beginning. For Him there was no beginning; for everything created there was. In fact, “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 1:2-3). So Jesus was, before anything existed; and there isn’t anything that exists now that He did not create (John 1:3).
The Word Was With God
In the very beginning, we can read that the Word was with God and the Word, Jesus Christ, was God. But what time period was “the beginning” referring to? I believe it was the beginning as far as humans are concerned. There was no beginning for God, as the author of Hebrews writes that Jesus is like the Old Testament priestly king, Melchizedek. He was “without father or mother or genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, like the Son of God, he remains a priest for all time” (Hebrews 7:3). No mere mortal human being can say they are without descent or mother or father or genealogy. Only God can claim that for Himself.
The Word Was God
John not only says Jesus was the Word but that the Word was God. Jesus was God and is God is what John is saying. That is an irrefutable proof of Jesus’ divinity. John wouldn’t have made a mistake in writing this. He had witnessed Jesus’ transfiguration (Matthew 17), the dead raised to life, the blind made to see, and the deaf made to hear. Jesus, being God, could also forgive sins and so said “that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” (Matthew 9:6a). Only God can forgive sins.
Conclusion
In the beginning was the Word; and the Word, being Jesus Christ, was both with God and was God. There are some false religions which teach that Jesus was a created being and that he had physical parents and, therefore, was not fully divine. They claim that Jesus became God, but by definition God has always existed. Sadly, if they don’t have the right Jesus, they don’t have the right Savior; and that can have tragic, eternal consequences.
