A Study of Christ - Vol. III; No. 3

A Study of Christ- The Prologue of John, Overview

With this article, we begin a new series that studies the prologue from the gospel of John. This article contains a overview of the whole prologue. Subsequent articles will look at each verse in detail.

John 1:1-18 - Overview

¹In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

²He was with God in the beginning. ³Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made. ⁴In Him was life, and that life was the light of men. ⁵The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.

⁶There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. ⁷He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. ⁸He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. ⁹The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.

¹⁰He was in the world, and though the world was made through Him, the world did not recognise Him. ¹¹He came to that which was His own, but His own did not receive Him. ¹²Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God--¹³children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.

¹⁴The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

¹⁵John testifies concerning Him. He cries out, saying, "This was He of whom I said, `He who comes after me has surpassed me because He was before me.'" ¹⁶From the fulness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. ¹⁷For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. ¹⁸No-one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father's side, has made Him known.

Arresting words. Powerful words, full of meaning, densely stating so much of the Christian religion. Words that demand a response from the reader, because their theses are so assertively and authoritatively stated. Words, nevertheless, penned by an uneducated fisherman; and thus, clearly much more.

Arresting words: it is quite impossible to ignore them, or quickly gloss over them. It is nearly impossible to read them just once. One reads them and immediately realizes that they are saying something important, something worth taking notice of, something worth understanding.

Powerful words, full of meaning. One senses that not one word could be added or removed. Each word is worthy of study. Why the Word? Why Light? Why Life? Why "beginning"? Why "through"? Why "receive"? Why "children"? Why "flesh"? Why "dwelling"? Why "grace"? Why "truth"? In John's prologue, we find the whole of the Christian religion: Christ as the Word of God; Christ as God; Christ as Creator; Christ as the light of men; Christ as life; Christ misunderstood; Christ as the object of faith; Christ as the medium of new birth; Christ in the flesh; Christ dwelling among us; Christ glorified; Christ as the means of blessing; Christ full of grace; Christ full of truth.

These words demand a response from the reader. They state authoritatively, unequivocally: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." One must accept these words, or throw away the Christian religion. There is no sign of wavering in these words. They do not say, "Quite possibly, the Word was God", but rather, "the Word was God." These words of John are honest. They forthrightly state that "the Word" will be (at best) misunderstood, unrecognized, and (at worst) rejected by those whom He Himself created. "The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it. . .[T]hough the world was made through Him, the world did not recognize Him. He came to that which was His own, but His own did not receive Him." These words demand a response; indeed, they set up (by their forthrightness) a challenge: a challenge to receive "the Word of God", a challenge to receive Christ: "Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God."

These words, so arresting, so powerful, so demanding, were penned by an uneducated fisherman. What does this tell you? It shouts that the Spirit of God is alive and well in the world, and actively working through His people. Did a fisherman invent these words by the power of his unpracticed intellect? Did a fisherman have the nerve to state his theses so unequivocally, so authoritatively? It was not the fisherman, but the Spirit of God speaking, testifying, more powerfully than any man could, the truths of the gospel.

Father, help us, as we study these words in this series, to understand them; and through our understanding of them, change our lives. May we glorify Christ more boldly as we understand more clearly His Deity, His worthiness to be praised above all others. In His name we pray, Amen.

(This series will continue in the next issue.)