Unit 2: The Word: The Agent of Creation
Key Verse:
John 1:3 NLT
3
God created everything through him,
and nothing was created except through him.
Jesus. He is inseparable from God. We are inseparable from Him.
What you need to know
John 8:12 NLT
12 Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.”
This next set of lessons, Unit 2, turn our attention to Jesus, our Messiah. As the unit title proclaims Him to be the Agent of Creation. He is the personification of the eternal will of God. These lessons provide a survey of the Book of John. The writer, the Apostle John, had a front-row seat to the life and ministry of Christ. His gospel serves as a living witness to the majesty and deity of Christ.
The Lesson
John 1:1 NLT
Prologue: Christ, the Eternal Word
1
In the beginning, the Word already existed.
The Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
“In the beginning, the Word already existed….”
John begins by identifying his understanding of the God concept with the Hebrew Bible, which begins with these words, “In the beginning, God…”. Thus, he informs his audience, comprised of both Jewish and gentile Christians, of several salient truths. These words, quoted from Genesis 1:1, inform us that God existed before the beginning. The beginning of what? The beginning of Creation, or rather, before anything…was. This would indicate that God existed before space or time. If that is the case, then God exists outside and apart from… space and time. The only place, that God could abide, outside of space and time is eternity. I could go on, but suffice it to say that God, not being subject to space or time, both measurable dimensions, or any other measurable dimension, then He must exist in a place that is unfathomable, both to human reason and imagination: eternity.
The next part of verse one introduces us to the principal character of his narrative: Jesus. He doesn’t introduce Him as Jesus, not immediately. His first mention of the Messiah is not a title, but rather, a characterization: the Word, which would have been rendered ‘the Logos’ in Greek. The selection of the word, logos speaks to the philosophy that arose out of greek thought that every part of the observable creation was represented by order, which would imply reason. In order for reason to exist, there must be consciousness. Thus, John was identifying the over-arching evidence of an abiding consciousness responsible for the order and reason of everything to be…God. Creationists call this ‘Intelligent Design’, with God being deemed the ‘Intelligent Designer’. In this simple introduction, John introduces Jesus to both His Jewish and gentile audiences as someone with whom both audiences can identify.
“...The Word was with God,...”
Continuing in verse one, John now associates the principal character, the Word, with God, the Father, thus distinguishing Him as a separate entity and companion to God. This allusion to separation is a concept that is entirely familiar to the Jews. Their whole concept of a Messiah figure is one mentioned throughout scripture as being equal with God, sent by God to deliver God’s people to God. Throughout the Old Testament, he is alluded to as a ‘Son’, or a ‘Servant’, a King who would come in the flesh to rule God’s everlasting kingdom.
“...and the Word was God.”
Finally, in the closing portion of verse one, John gives personage to the Logos by identifying Him as…God. Whoa… What? Yes, Beloved, whoever this is that John is introducing in such a magnanimous way, as of yet un-named is to be identified as God. Notice that I didn’t say ‘with God’. His association with God was established in the previous paragraph. No, this section dismisses any separation between God and ‘The Word’, making them both ‘One’. In one breath, they are separate, equal, and One. This blurs the boundaries of our understanding in such a way that we can only respond by deeming that that exceeds and exists outside of our limited understanding as… holy.
John 1:2 NLT
2
He existed in the beginning with God.
Now, as John continues to describe Him, who here-to-fore, has only been identified as ‘the Logos’, he reiterates that He existed with God in the beginning. The beginning of what? The beginning of everything…, except God. That He existed with God from the beginning hints at what we Christians understand to be the Godhead, The Triune entity that is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Thus, the mystery and holiness of the Logos are maintained in this prologue of John’s gospel.
John 1:3 NLT
3
God created everything through him,
and nothing was created except through him.
In verse three, John continues his description of this God-man by telling us that He is the active force responsible for carrying out God’s creative will. Thus, He is the physical expression of the very consciousness of God. God has never done anything outside of Chris’s direct involvement, ever. Nor has Christ ever done anything except the will of God Almighty, ever. Ever.
John 1:4 NLT
4
The Word gave life to everything that was created,[a]
and his life brought light to everyone.
In verse four, John expresses the authority and power with which this ‘Very-God-Man’ has acted from before the beginning of time, but he also hints at His motivation: Love. John tells us that the life force that is the Logos has given light or rather, illumination to all of mankind. He who spoke light into existence has imparted that life to all of mankind, in some way, making us like Him.
John 1:5 NLT
5
The light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness can never extinguish it.
John closes his prologue with one more item that we often overlook. What God has willed, and the Logos has brought into existence can never be extinguished. God’s will is irrevocable and irreversible. This Logos that John declares is all-powerful. He has no peer. What He does cannot be undone. All of this has eternal implications for you and I Beloved (wink). As I close on John’s opening, I feel like I needed to proclaim a ‘Selah’ moment at the end of each of these paragraphs. Selah.
John 1:6-7 NLT
6 God sent a man, John the Baptist,[c] 7 to tell about the light so that everyone might believe because of his testimony.
John (the author) now turns from his introduction of the Logos, to introduce a new character in this narrative, John the Baptist. His title indicates that, in his day, he was a preacher who baptized people who heard and embraced his message. The baptisms that he performed represented a commitment by his followers to turn from their old way of life with the hope of the Messiah to come. John, the Baptist’s whole purpose before God was to call men to repentance. His message: the beauty to behold of the Messiah that he heralded.
John 1:8 NLT
8 John himself was not the light; he was simply a witness to tell about the light.
John assigns no special gifts or ability to John the Baptist. He simply calls him a witness. One who is convinced before God that he has a message from God concerning the Savior that God will send. He is a witness, in that, the very same Logos that will bring life to all of mankind, now animates him supernaturally to proclaim the wonder of a Messiah whom he has never seen.
John 1:9 NLT
9 The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.
John’s message was simple: “Jesus is coming!” He’s on the way. He’ll be here soon. This simple message identifies John as a prophet, a messenger of God. Such was the description given by Amos, himself a prophet when he wrote, “God will do nothing in the earth, lest He first reveals it to His servants, the prophet.” That John is identified as a prophet of God gives us a bit more information concerning the workings of God in and through all of this. No prophet ever speaks, except by the Ruach Ha’Kodesh, the Holy Spirit, thus revealing to all of us the third part of the Godhead, thus completing the description of what we know as the Holy Trinity.
John 1:10 NLT
10 He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him.
John (the author) returns to the subject of the Messiah. He describes the total unpreparedness of men in regard to the appearing of the Savior. That is why the preaching of John the Baptist is so critical. That Bible says that we (mankind) are all like sheep who have gone astray. This happens in an innumerable number of ways, but its origins lie in our flawed flawed sin-stained nature. The Bible tells us that our sinful nature is enmity to the Holy Spirit, ever resisting the true, salvatic expression of God in the earth. It is our sinful nature that blinds us to the goodness of God.
John 1:11 NLT
11 He came to his own people, and even they rejected him.
So great is our sinful nature’s aversion to God, that even the Hebrews, through whom He delivered the Messiah rejected Him. Though they had the Torah of Moses and the writings of the Prophets, along with the Books of Wisdom; the collective Word of God, that knowledge did not benefit them. They rejected their own Messiah, the only Agent possible of delivering Salvation.
John 1:12 NLT
12 But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.
But Jesus came anyway. He came bearing the gift of Salvation. He opened the door. Actually, He is the Door. He came to do the hard work of reconciling man and Creation to Himself. All that receive and embrace His message will be saved.
John 1:13 NLT
13 They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.
Jesus came to make all things new, including us. He came to grant us the privilege of new life, removing our hearts of stone and replacing them with hearts of flesh; tender hearts, sensitive to His precious Holy Spirit. He came to make us part of the heavenly family of God through adoption by the washing and renewing of the Word. He promises to cherish and love us, His children, awarding us with grace underserved; life with Him in eternity.
John 1:14 NLT
14 So the Word became human[d] and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness.[e] And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.
And so the lesson closes with the message that John wishes to convey. The Logos became flesh and dwelt among us, thus fulfilling the prophecy that first identified as Emmanuel, meaning God with us. John goes on to say that His every intention toward humanity is unbounded, unfailing love. Love that will never perish because its origin is eternal. John completes this introduction to his gospel by pressing this final point. When we receive Christ, by the Spirit of God, we behold the majesty and glory of the only begotten Son of God, He who has created all that there is comes to make His abode in us and share with us the unmatchable riches that await us in eternity.
