Mentoring Men for the Master

AN ANALYSIS OF JOHN 1:1-18 (THE WORD – LOGOS)

The Word in Eternity and Time:  John 1:1-18

The Apostle John calls Jesus Christ the Word.  A word is a unit of speech by which we express ourselves to others.  But John  is not writing about speech but a person.  That person is the Lord Jesus Christ.  A word is composed of letters and Jesus is the “Alpha and Omega,”  the A to Z (Revelation 1:11) of God, the divine alphabet.  Hebrews 1:3 says He is the last word of God to mankind, the climax of divine revelation.

  1. Jesus Christ is the Eternal Word (v. 1) –  Jesus did not have a beginning Himself, but existed from eternity.  There never was a time when He did not exist and never a time when he was not God.  He not only dwelt with God, but He Himself was God.
  2.  Jesus Christ is the Creative Word (v. 1-3) –  He Himself was not created, rather He was the Creator of all things – mankind, the animals, planets, angels, things visible and invisible.
  3.  Jesus Christ is the Life-giving Word  (v. 4) – “In Him was Life.”  This does not mean that He merely possessed life Himself, but that He was and is the source of all life, both physical (bios) and spiritual (zoe).  When born of our parents, we received physical life; when born again, we receive spiritual life.
  4.  Jesus Christ is the Invincible Word ( v.5) – “And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.”  Jesus came into a dark world, a world at enmity with Him.  But the darkness never has or never will overcome that light.
  5.  Jesus Christ is the Rejected Word  (v. 10-11) – Though He made the world and came into the world, the world nor did the Jewish people receive Him.
  6. Jesus Christ is the Saving Word (v. 12-13) – “If verse 11 is the saddest verse in the Bible, verse 12 is the gladdest” (WA Criswell).  For now He offers Himself to all human kind, and to those who receive Him, he  gives the right to become children of God.  Thus salvation is not by inheritance, our will power, or the bestowal of any other person, but of God.
  7. Jesus Christ is the Incarnate Word (v. 14) – Jesus had always existed as the Son of God with the Father in heaven, but He chose to come into the world in a human body.  God actually came to this earth in the Person of Jesus of Nazareth and lived here as the God-man among men.  Illus:  President Nixon said the greatest event since the creation was when man walked on the moon.  No, no, no.  The greatest event was not when man walked on the moon but when the eternal God walked on the earth.