The Word
In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
John 1:1
Read John 1:1-18.
This opening phrase in the Gospel of John, “In the beginning...” (1:1) parallels the first verse of Genesis. John wanted us to know that the coming of Jesus was as significant as the creation of the world; it was literally the start of a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17). John used a somewhat mysterious term, “the Word” (1:1), to describe Jesus. The point is, what God had been saying to humankind from a distance for so many years—through creation, through his signs and wonders on behalf of Israel, through the Law and the Prophets—he now says through the Person of Christ. Jesus Christ was God himself (1:1,14), the Living Word. If you want to know what God is like, look at Jesus.
The sad part was, people just didn’t get it; they didn’t understand who Jesus really was (1:5,10). That’s still true today. Many accept him as a good man or a great moral teacher or even a unique model of team building and leadership. But unless you also accept him as God himself (1:14), it’s the same thing as rejecting him (1:11).
The Good News is that God loves us and, through Jesus, has made a way for all people to become his children (1:12). Now, our relationship with God is no longer dependent on keeping a long list of rules, as we saw in the Old Testament (1:17). All God wants us to do is receive and believe Jesus. That’s how we can discover the incredible blessings God wants to give us (1:16-17)—the best being an eternal relationship with him.
A little later in John’s gospel he says it this way, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish but have everlasting life.” That’s the Gospel in a nutshell. And that’s really good news for everyone.
- by Mr. Whitney T. Kuniholm, author and member of Church of the Good Samaritan in Paoli, PA
wkuniholm@gmail.com