This first chapter of the Book of John, is a very revealing chapter regarding who Jesus was and what He meant to God the Father and to mankind. In order to reap the full benefit of your walk with Christ, it is important to understand the full significance of Jesus and who Jesus really is.

Let us breakdown this first chapter of the Book of John, to get the complete picture of who Jesus is and the significance of Him who sacrificed Himself for us.

John 1:1-2…”1) In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2) He was in the beginning with God.”

At first read, it sounds a little like double-talk here, but actually it is pretty descriptive. Verse one starts off telling us that the Word was there in the beginning. This refers to the beginning of creation as we know it, as described in Genesis chapter one.

Verse one goes on to say ”the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” How can this be? Let’s think in human terms and relate it to a family. Let’s take the family name of Smith, for instance. The father, who is the head of the family is Smith, and his son, who is with the father, Smith, and yet, the son is Smith.

Even though the father and the son are two distinct persons, yet they are one in the Smith family and both are Smith. The same can be said for the God family. You have God the Father, who of course is God, than you have the Word, who is a separate person from the Father and who also became man, Jesus, yet He is also one with the Father in the God family and is also God.

Verses 3-4…”3) All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. 4) In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.”

Our first experience of the Word creating is found in Genesis 1:3, “Then God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light.” This verse starts out with, “Then God said”— when God spoke, the Word He spoke created the light. Back in John 1:3, John continues by telling us that, “without Him nothing was made that was made.” When you look around at creation and think about this verse, that through God’s Word all things were created, our comprehension cannot deduce such a statement. The reason for this incomprehension is because, although we are looking at the physical and material things of creation, the means of creating them came from the spiritual.

From a human standpoint, coming from the five physical senses that we live by, sight, sound, taste, touch, and smell, we must deny this statement as being true. Because in the physical realm, we require an explanation of the facts to prove or disprove something— this explanation also needs to conform to the physical senses so your physical being may comprehend these facts, and in turn, give us the end result— that being whether we agree or disagree with the facts. Anything of the spiritual realm cannot be explained, nor comprehended in the physical realm, thus, giving us a denial of the facts.

This is where faith enters the picture—as a fleshly human being, living in a physical world where the five physical senses direct our lives, God asks us to believe in faith (Habakkuk 2:4 ). Regardless of our current circumstances we must believe what God is telling us, and who we are in Christ. And, who we are in Christ is a new creation with the ability to now understand the spiritual realm, through the Holy Spirit who takes residence within your being upon your baptism into faith in Christ.

I say, “with the ability”, because even though you were baptized and received the Holy Spirit, you must still choose to allow the Holy Spirit precedence over your physical body. For a study on the Holy Spirit, click here.

As we continue on in verse 4, we are told, “In Him (the Word) was life, and the life was the light of men.” In Deuteronomy 30:19 God tells us, “I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live.” (Parenthesis mine). The life that God is telling us to choose, is the life according to His Word. And, as we will see as we move on here, the Word became Jesus Christ.

If we choose life, we choose the Word of life, Jesus Christ. Upon putting our faith in Jesus, we receive the Holy Spirit, which replaces our “spirit of man” (Job 32:8 ). The "spirit of man" was received by Adam in Genesis 2:7 — this spirit is what gave Adam the “breath of life”.

Upon the indwelling of the Holy Spirit within us, we receive the life that comes from the Word, and that life was, and still is the “light of men.”

John 1:5…”5) And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.”

The darkness here, is referring to this fallen world that we are living in. With Adam and Eve’s sin in the Garden of Eden, the floodgates of evil have been opened and evil has flooded the world. I liken it to a damn—when a damn is functioning properly, all is peaceful and you may actually take for granted the damn and the eminent danger that is behind that damn. But, break down just a part of that damn and the pressure of the water against the damn can cause a catastrophic flood.

Because evil is symbolic of darkness here, the light is symbolic of God’s knowledge and understanding. When someone accepts Jesus as Savior and receives the Holy Spirit, they gain knowledge and understanding of God through the Holy Spirit and that understanding opens their eyes to the truth of God. Just like walking into a dark room, unless you have a light you cannot find your way and you will get lost in the darkness. So too, without the light of the Word and comprehending that Word, you will not find your way in this world no matter how successful one may be in worldly wisdom and material gain. Spiritually speaking you will be bankrupt.

John 1:6-8…” 6) There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7) This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. 8) He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.”

The witness described here is John the Baptist. He was sent into the world to pave the way for the Messiah, Jesus Christ. In Malachi 3:1, we have a prophecy of this messenger, “Behold, I send My messenger, and he will prepare the way before Me.” In Matthew 11:11, Jesus Himself spoke highly of John the Baptist, “Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist.” Considering all the people who served God throughout the Bible, that is a pretty high honor Jesus is bestowing upon John the Baptist.

John 1:9-13…” 9) That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world. 10) He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him 11) He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. 12) But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: 13) who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”

In verses 10 and 11, we read how those who the Messiah came to free from the bondage of sin, did not recognize Him, verse 11 says, “He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.” This here is referring to the Jewish leadership of the day. Acts 13:27 , tells us that even though these Jewish leaders read from the Scriptures of the prophets on the Sabbath, which spoke of the Messiah, they still didn’t recognize Him when He lived among them.

The apostle Paul, in 1 Corinthians 2:8 points to the prophesy of this in Isaiah 64:4, “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” But, verse 12 and 13 is the blessing for those who did receive Jesus, and also for those who received Jesus by faith today, “to them He gave the right to become children of God.”

Wow! How awesome is that? Just by “believing in His name” we become children of God and reap the benefits as heirs to our Father’s kingdom.

Why didn’t the Jewish leadership accept Jesus as Messiah? Because of their hardness of heart (Matthew 10:5 ). They were so caught up in their strict rules and regulations regarding the law, that they put the law above God’s own people. This hardened their heart to the understanding of what Jesus was sent to accomplish—in Matthew 12:6, Jesus said, “Yet I say to you that in this place there is One (Jesus, referring to Himself) greater than the temple.” In verse 8, He says, “For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.” (Parenthesis mine).

What Jesus is saying here is that he has come to override the law and to forgive those who violated God’s law and who sinned against God. Because of their hardness of heart the Pharisees (or Jewish leaders) could not accept this and called Jesus a blasphemer. By not accepting Jesus, the Pharisees were not able to receive the Holy Spirit, and consequently could not discern the spiritual truths that Jesus was preaching.

In 1 Corinthians 2:11, we read, “For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.” You see, not receiving the Holy Spirit, the Pharisees were left to try and discern through “the spirit of the man,” which only can discern the physical five senses that we live by in this physical life. When it comes to discerning spiritual understanding, this can only be done through the “Spirit of God,” which is the Holy spirit.

Verse 13 is revealing in the fact that it tells us that when we accept Jesus as Messiah, we are born-again (John 3:3 , John 3:7 , 1 Peter 1:23 ). 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, we are a new creation, this new creation is “not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” The three things we should no longer take part in are, the physical “blood” (referring to our physical being), “the will of the flesh” (referring to running our lives without God), and “the will of man” (referring to the ways of man, which are contrary to God’s ways). These attributes are all physical attributes and are not in conformity with the Holy Spirit who now resides in us upon being born-again.

We must now put our faith in God, through Jesus Christ, and develop a sixth sense, that of the spiritual realm, which is what God’s blessings flow through. If we stay fully in-tuned to only the five physical senses and disregard this new sixth sense, we disconnect our spiritual life-line to God, and just as the Pharisees our hearts will become hardened to godly truths. As we read in 1 Corinthians 2:11 above, our communication lines to God will be disconnected and we will be in darkness.

As a born-again Christian, it is imperative that we discern this sixth sense, if we are to live a successful spiritual life here and now. This sixth sense is only accessed by faith—Hebrews 1 tells us, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Why must it be by faith? Hebrews 11:6 answers that question, “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”

Of course, none of this would be possible if it were not for Jesus Christ, the Word of God, Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, the Prince of Peace! Thank you Lord Jesus! 

...Continued on Page 2

Page 1 | 2 of The Significance of Jesus as The Word

Back to Top