In the Beginning
TRANSLATION
(1) In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (2) He was with God in the beginning. (3) All things were made by him, and without him nothing was made that has been made. (4) In him was life, and that life was the light of men. (5) The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
(6) There was a man, sent from God whose name was John. (7) He came as a witness to testify concerning the light so that through him all might believe. (8) He was not the light but came as a witness to the light. (9) The true light who gives light to everyone was coming into the world. (10) He was in the world, and though the world was made by him, the world did not know him. (11) He came to his own, and those who were his own did not receive him. (12) But to as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believed on his name, (13) children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision, nor of a husband’s will, but of God.
OBSERVATIONS
There are more significant repetitions in this introduction to the Gospel of John than in practically any other passage in the New Testament. Nearly every repetition introduced a theme that would appear throughout the rest of John’s Gospel. In the first paragraph we encounter “beginning” (twice in vss. 1 & 2), “Word” (three times in vs. 1), “God” (three times in vss. 1 & 2 and three more times in vss. 6, 12 & 13), “made” (twice in vs. 3 and then again in vs. 9), “life” (twice in vs. 4), “light” (twice in vss. 4 & 5 and then several more times in vss. 6, 7, 8, & 9), and “darkness” in contrast (twice in vs. 5).
In the second paragraph, John introduced the very significant term, “believe” (vs. 7), which occurred again (vs. 12). In the second part of the second paragraph in addition to terms already used, “world” is found four times (vss. 9 & 10) and “receive(d)” twice as a synonym of “believe” (vss. 11 & 12). The first five verses were set in the eternal realms and described the Word and his relationship within the Godhead. The next eight verses move us into the realm of time/space history describing the role of the forerunner, John the Baptist, as he introduced the incarnate Word to the world.
Something else to ponder is the relationship between John 1 and Genesis 1, the Old Testament creation account. Both authors used the phrase, “in the beginning,” to launch their descriptions. While Moses in Genesis tells us that it was God who created the heavens and the earth, John’s Gospel makes it clear that the Word, the second person of the Godhead, was the agent of creation and the giver of life and light to our world, specifically to humanity. The resemblance was deliberate and the impact powerful.
OUTLINE
I. The Word exists in eternity as the second member of the triune Godhead. (1-5)
II. The Word, introduced by John, entered the world to bring light and life to those in darkness. (6-13)
IDEA STATEMENT
The eternal Word, who created all that exists, personally came to the world he created to bring us light and life, a world where he met with both rejection and acceptance.
APPLICATION
The Good News intended for everyone (vs. 9) was powerfully portrayed by the progression of verbs, “receive…believe…gave the right…born” (vss. 12 & 13). While “his own people (the Jews) did not receive him,” we who do “receive and believe” are granted by God “the right,” that is, authority or sanction, to “become children of God” and join his eternal family. That is precisely why the Word came into our darkened world to bring God’s light and life to all who would receive him.
We will encounter the issue of “birth” once again when we come to John’s account of Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus who came to Jesus by night (John 3). While Nicodemus never voiced a specific request, Jesus knew that he and his fellow Jews desperately needed to be born again or regenerated. Without this supernatural work of the Holy Spirit, none of us could ever receive the Savior by faith and be granted the right to enter God’s kingdom as his dear children.