The Word (John 1:1) – Part Two

As we saw previously, there is an emphatic stamp when using “the” before a noun in Scripture.  Consider that Jesus is not “a son of God”, but “the son of God”.  There is a greater specificity when using “the”.  God did not rest on “a seventh day”, He rested on the seventh day”.  Much like the exegetical “law of first mention”, where the first time something is referenced in the Scripture is significant in setting the context by which every mention thereafter can be understood, we can learn a lot about the fine details of the Lord’s craftsmanship by the “filler” words in the Scriptures.

There are certain Scriptures that say things that if we take them for what they say, and realize the implications behind them, our current opinions on how things work would get violently confronted.  John 1:1 is one of the Scriptures which has implications to it that are honestly kind of daunting.  “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”  This verse first acknowledges that there was a beginning.  That makes sense to us because we think about everything as having a beginning and end, limits where one things starts and another thing ends.  Two objects cannot be in the same place at the same time.  Thirty years ago I did not exist.  Thirty months ago, my brother’s marriage didn’t exist.  Thirty minutes ago, this sentence didn’t exist.  All these things had a beginning.

However, the Word already existed in the beginning.  Let’s say, just for arguments sake, that the Word existed exactly at the beginning of the beginning.  The curious part about this comes when you look at the nature of words.  Words have one purpose, to communicate.  They come from someone and are intended for someone.  So the Word proceeded from a Source that existed prior to the beginning.  This means that the beginning was not really the beginning.  But then, how far back does it go?  The Source had to have a beginning, right?  If you let your mind try to go back and back and back, it can get a little freaky.  Realizing that God has been around for eternity past can trip a breaker in your head.  Think about the wisest person you know.  They are wise because they have either had more birthdays than you or because they have been through more wisdom-giving experiences than you.  It is no wonder, then, that when we read Proverbs 8 about the personification of wisdom it sounds like the description of Jesus.

Out of His nature of Divine Wisdom as the Word, the Communication of God, Jesus was already reaching out to us to tell us Who the Father is and who we are to Him.  He was crucified before the foundations of the World.  His mind was already made up before wood, nails and whips existed.  What do you do with Someone who is in no hurry because a millennium and a day feel the same to Him?  He doesn’t get bored, He doesn’t get surprised or anxious.  And what if this same Person took that eternal nature and stuffed it into us?  What changes when we be content in every circumstance because we have no limitation of time because we have become like God, having His nature and likeness?  I’ll tell you what changes, we become consciously eternal people that have a perspective that produces peace that doesn’t make sense.  We become unoffendable, immoveable, immortal, and confident beyond understanding.  Jesus said we are already clean by the Word He has spoken over us.  Maybe our greatest need is to hear that Word echo out of eternity and into our innermost being.

*Word of God, reverberate within us and shake everything in us that can be shaken so that we can find discover that which will remain and live from there.

The Word (John 1:1)

The purpose of a word is to communicate ideas from one person to another.  Aside from a note that you write to yourself, when you write something you intend on having someone read what you wrote and understand an idea that you are trying to communicate.  Rarely does someone communicate an idea that they do not think is understood by those they are communicating to, most of the time communication is meant to convince someone and bring unity between the communicator and the audience.

John’s gospel begins with “In the beginning was the Word…”  From the very beginning, there was a communicator and an audience.  The Communicator spoke and everything was as He said it was.  This is why His words are spirit and truth.  They have power and reality.  There is power in the words He speaks, to give life (Genesis 2), to clean men (John 13) and to revive humanity (John 20).  And though heaven and earth pass away, His words will continue eternally (Mark 13).

As previously stated, the purpose of communicating an idea is to convince one’s audience.  So, then, the crucial question is: what is God communicating through His Son that we need convincing of?  If we can answer this question, we can embrace His purpose and accelerate our effectiveness in fulfilling the purpose for which He sent His Word.

The Lord spoke through Isaiah the prophet saying that that His Word would not leave His lips without accomplishing the purpose for which it was spoken.  In the previous verse (Isaiah 55:10), He compares the rain to the word He speaks.  The purpose, He says, of rain is to water the earth, cause growth, provide means for a harvest and nutrition for those who would benefit from the harvest.  Likewise, is the purpose of the Word.  He came to bring inject us with living water so that we grow into His likeness again, release a harvest of souls and be fed by His Presence.  We see at the beginning of chapter 55 that the Lord really is trying to convince us of something when He says “Listen carefully to me…listen so that you may live…”  He knows us well enough to realize that unless we are told to pay attention, we might miss it all together.

So what is He communicating that we need to be convinced of?  We know Jesus’ purpose and thus the intended results of this communication, but what is it that His life is  saying?  Simply put, freedom is free.  He implores the poor to come and buy without money.  He says that the terms of His covenant are already set and everything is taken care of.  He declares that He has already glorified His people.  He prophesies that His people will go out with joy and be led forth by peace – with hill-top happiness and arboreal applause, no less.

The problem is that we don’t believe it.  We think that we have to earn blessings.  We believe that His Covenant is still being written, when really His Covenant is a Person who is alive to prove that He wasn’t joking when He set us free – He is guarding our salvation.  We have it in our minds that glorification is a concept of a future event when it is a reality that has already come to pass.  And for some reason we still need to be convinced that joy and peace are truly part of life as a Christian.

The ridiculous decision that we are faced with is whether or not to accept what He has laid in front of us.  The benefits are so great, the alternative is so bleak, and the stipulations are so simple.  The only thing we have to do to receive His mercy is to call it “mine”.  What would happen if we actually believed His Word?

*Lord, I believe, help me with my unbelief in the Word You spoke and are speaking.