Mensa Otabil - In the Beginning Was the Word
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Welcome to a brand new week. This week, we are starting a book study, and we’ll begin our study of the book of the Gospel of John. We will try to study as much of the book as we can for quite some time. So, we start with John’s Gospel, chapter 1, verses 1 and 2. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.
The Gospel of John is a very unique Gospel; it’s quite different from the other three Gospels. Whereas the other three Gospels talk about the beginning of the life of Jesus Christ on Earth- his birth and his ancestry-John discusses his pre-existence. John tells us that Jesus Christ did not begin here on Earth; he pre-existed and was manifested here on Earth. It’s a very important study into who Jesus is, his divinity, and his humanity.
So, John says the Virgin birth is not the beginning of the life of Jesus Christ. He starts with the phrase " in the beginning.» What does that phrase mean? When he says «in the beginning,» it basically means that which existed before creation. Before there was a universe, there was something, and that time, or that era, if we can call it so, is what John refers to as the beginning-the moment that existed before time began and before the universe was brought into being. In the beginning, that’s the period John is talking about.
It’s not just talking about the beginning of a new day, a new week, or a new year, but the beginning refers to the time before creation began. Then he says, " in the beginning was the Word.» John is saying there is this period before the universe was brought into being, and in that period, there was something. Something existed, and he called that which existed the Word. The Word simply means a thought that has been spoken.
So, what is John saying? John says that eventually we’ll learn that Jesus Christ is God’s Word, and just as our words reveal our minds and our hearts, Jesus Christ is the Word that reveals the mind and the heart of God. This Word existed before creation began-that’s a very magnificent thought right there.
Then he goes on, building a logical progression: «And the Word was with God.» The Word did not come into existence later; the Word was with God. The Creator existed with his thought, with his Word. John teaches that this Word has always existed. There was never a time that God did not exist, and there was never a time that the Word did not exist. The Word was with God in eternity past, and in any period that you can imagine, the Word has always been.
Then he concludes and says, «And the Word was God.» This is a bold statement about who the Word, Jesus Christ, is. He’s not just Mary’s son; he’s God. How do we know he is the Word? He existed with God, and he existed before time. And that’s how we begin our study of the Gospel of John.
Let us pray. Say with me: Heavenly Father, you are the self-existing One. Thank you for revealing your Word to me through Christ, my Lord. In Jesus' name, Amen and Amen.