In the beginning was a word i don

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The apostle John opens his account of the life of Jesus Christ with this declaration: «In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made . . . And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth» (John 1:1-3, 14).

Thus, this «Word»—the Greek term here is Logos—became the flesh-and-blood human being Jesus Christ. And He still bears the name «The Word of God» (Revelation 19:13).

How are we to understand this? God created the universe through this preexistent Word who became Christ. The Word was with God and, at the same time, was Himself God. Many use this to advance a Trinitarian argument, claiming that two divine persons here are said to be one single being. But is that what is meant?

Note that in the original Greek, the Word was with «the God» and was Himself «God» (no «the» in this case). The Word was not the God, as They were not the same entity. But He was still God.

We should understand «God» here as a kind of being—the divine, holy and eternally living God kind—as well as the name for that kind of being. The apostle Paul says the whole divine family is named after the Father, including Christ and others later added to the family (Ephesians 3:14-15).

Thus, in the beginning was the Word (Christ), and the Word was with the God (the Father) and the Word was also named God Himself! Of course, the Word would not be named God unless He was like the Father as well. That is to say, God is who He was as well as what He was (and is).

We have here, then, two divine Beings—not a single being of three persons as the Trinity teaches. Yet why was the divine Being who became Christ called «the Word»? Just what does this signify?

The Angel of God’s Presence

Of the many Old Testament references to angels of God, there are a few (Genesis 16:10-13; Genesis 22:11-12; Exodus 3:2-6; Judges 13:3-22) where One called «the Angel of the Lord» is also identified as «the Lord.» But how can an angel of God be God Himself? This is evidently the same figure referred to as «the Angel of His Presence» in Isaiah 63:9, as well as the «Angel» God sent to lead the Israelites through the wilderness to the Promised Land (Exodus 14:19; Exodus 23:20).

The word «Angel» here can cause confusion, as it is typically used to refer to created spirit beings who are lesser than God. However, the Old Testament Hebrew word from which the word «angel» is translated, malak, simply means «messenger,» as does the New Testament Greek equivalent angelos (from which the English word angel is derived).

In Hebrew and Greek, those words can mean either a human or spirit messenger. We must look at the context to determine which is meant. In this case, we have the Messenger of God who is also God. Clearly, there is only one entity fitting this description. It is an exact parallel to the Word of God who is also God.

Consider an Old Testament prophecy declared in the New Testament to refer to John the Baptist and Jesus Christ. God said: «Behold, I send My messenger [malak, here John the Baptist], and he will prepare the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple, even the Messenger [malak] of the covenant [that is, Jesus Christ, Mediator of the New Covenant], in whom you delight. Behold, He is coming» (Malachi 3:1; compare Matthew 11:9-11; Mark 1:1-2; Hebrews 12:24).

The «Lord» here is God, for He comes to «His temple.» Yet He is also a Messenger—a malak, the term elsewhere rendered angel. Jesus is thus the Lord God. Yet He is also the Messenger of God the Father. And Christ’s role as Messenger has great bearing on His distinction as the Word of God.

The Spokesman and the literal meaning of Logos

As God’s Messenger, Jesus spoke on God’s behalf. He did so when He came to earth as a man. And He did so at the creation of the universe. The declaration of John 1:3, that God made everything through the Word who became Christ, is proclaimed in other Scriptures as well (see Ephesians 3:9; Colossians 1:16-17).

This fits perfectly with earlier biblical passages: «By the word of the Lord the heavens were made . . . For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast» (Psalms 33:6-9). Who did the actual speaking? From these references, it is abundantly plain that God the Father did the actual work of creating by, or through, the Word who became Jesus.

Jesus Christ is the One who spoke the universe into existence—but only at the Father’s behest. Jesus explained this in John 8:28: «I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things.» And John 12:49-50: «For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave a command, what I should say and what I should speak . . . Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told Me, so I speak.»

Jesus is thus the Father’s Spokesman, a role some have equated with the name Logos. This is quite legitimate, but the matter requires some explanation since logos literally refers not to a speaker but to what is spoken.

What does the Greek term logos actually mean? The Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon (1992) offers the following meanings among others: «A word, uttered by a living voice . . . what someone has said . . . a continuous speaking discourse . . . doctrine, teaching . . . reason, the mental faculty of thinking.»

The HCSB Study Bible notes: «Like the related verb lego [to speak],the noun logos most often refers to either oral or written communication. It means statement or report in some contexts» (2010, p. 1801, «Logos,» emphasis in original).

Some first-century Jewish usage of the term may relate to the usage in John 1. But this question remains: How are we to understand Christ as what is spoken, the literal meaning of Logos, when we know He is the One who speaks for God?

Both Messenger and Message

By way of answering, let us ask: Should all of Christ’s other titles be understood this way? What about «the Alpha and the Omega» in Revelation 1:8? Is Christ really two letters of the Greek alphabet? What about «the Lamb of God» in John 1:36? Is Christ literally a young sheep? It should be easy to see that titles in the Bible often have figurative meanings.

Consider for a moment that figures of speech must still follow a certain logic. What do you think it would mean if you called someone your «Word»? It would, no doubt, be very similar to what Paul meant when he wrote to the Corinthian congregation, «You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men» (2 Corinthians 3:2).

The church members in Corinth were not a literal epistle or written letter. Paul was using abstract language with an underlying concrete meaning. When you write a letter, you communicate your thoughts to others. The Corinthians, Paul was saying, acted in representation of his ideas. They expressed, through their conduct and words, all that he had taught them and stood for. Isn’t this exactly what you would mean if you called someone your «Word»?

The New Unger’s Bible Dictionary sheds further light on the matter, pointing out: «Words are the vehicle for the revelation of the thoughts and intents of the mind to others. In the Person of the incarnate Logos, God made Himself fully known to man. Nothing knowable by man concerning God is undisclosed by incarnate deity. Christ as the Word constitutes the complete and ultimate divine revelation» (1988, p. 780, «Logos»).

Let’s consider again Christ’s role as God’s Messenger. Christ represented the Father exactly. He lived everything the Father commanded and conveyed His Father’s thoughts to human beings. He spoke on His Father’s behalf as God’s Spokesman. But the message Christ brought entailed not only speaking. Rather, His whole life itself conveyed a message.

Indeed, Jesus Himself is both Messenger and Message. The way He lived taught us how to live. His humbling of Himself to come in the flesh and give His life in sacrifice speaks volumes about the unfathomable love of God. Jesus Christ is the Word of God. Everything He said, everything He did, everything He went through is God’s Word to us.

God is not a God of coincidence or chaos, and Jesus was no coincidence. John’s words show us that Jesus was with God in the beginning. He is God, one with God, and the life He came to live on this earth was a part of a glorious plan from the beginning.

What Was The «The Beginning»?

The Greek word John used here means “the first to do something, to begin.” This teaches us that God is the great initiator of all we know. As the Creator of the World, God was there in the beginning, making a way for us.

“Then He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around Him.” (John 13:5)

Another understanding of the Greek origin of the word ‘beginning’ is “to be chief, to lead, or to rule.” Jesus flipped preconceived notions of leadership when He, the teacher, knelt to wash His followers’ feet. The daily accumulation of dust on the soles of our feet is rinsed and removed by the tender care of Christ. From the beginning, God planned to renew and restore us through His Word, Jesus. The most important cleansing, the war for our souls, required a spotless sacrifice.

Jesus Christ alone lived a spotless, sinless life. To be lifted high by the Father, He bent low. John the Baptist humbly baptized the one he had been preparing the way for! Jesus led with an assertive humility, confident in who He was.

From the beginning, God went before us. He aims to gather each precious sheep, shepherding us home to heaven—a path we could never pave for ourselves.

What was «The Word»? (and how was it «with God»?)

“For the LORD God is a sun and shield…” (Psalm 84:11a)

God spoke the world into existence. “Let there be light” was His first command (Genesis 1:3). It separated light from darkness.

“Philosophers employed logos, or ‘word,’ for the divine reason that orders the universe” (NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible).Jesus is the light of the world (John 8:12), forever removed from the shadows.       

The Greek translation of ‘word’ is logos, meaning word, message, or report. “According to John, this logos was in the beginning, was with God, and was God himself” (Mounce’s Complete Expository Dictionary).

The Spirit of God hovered over the waters (Genesis 1:2), and “the Word was with God”(John 1:1). The triune God, from the very beginning, was present at Creation. The NIV Study Bible Notes say this of Genesis 1:1-6: “God’s ‘separating’ and ‘gathering’ on days 1-3 gave form, and his ‘making’ and ‘filling’ on days 4-6 removed the emptiness.”

He who made us fills us, removing our emptiness through salvation in Christ. Every note of creation reflects God’s love for us.

Jesus, the ultimate expression of that love, is evident from the very beginning. Matthew Henry’s Commentary states that “The plainest reason why the Son of God is called the Word, seems to be, that as our words explain our minds to others, so was the Son of God sent in order to reveal his Father’s mind to the world.”

“Light is necessary for making God’s creative works visible and life possible.”(NIV Study Bible Notes, Genesis 1:3)

“Light has come into the world.” (John 3:19)

Jesus, the Word, illuminates the Truth of Scripture, by which we learn the character of God. Jesus, Himself, said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12). The Holy Spirit, available to us through Jesus’ death on the cross, allows a brightened perspective, enlightened by the Word of God—Jesus.

“For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of the darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” (2 Corinthians 4:6) Through us, the light of life shines to others! We stand out, shine bright, and illuminate. Each life is purposed for work in the furthering of the gospel. The gifts written on our hearts by the Word bring God’s love and light to the world. All we are and all we do is to honor Him.

«The Word was God»

“He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.” (Colossians 1:17)

God is omnipotent and sovereign, two characteristics addressed in the cross-reference in John 1:1. The Word, Logos, Jesus Christ, is before all things and holds all things together. The Son of God is the fulfillment of God’s covenant with His people:

“For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be by people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and his brother, saying ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” (Jeremiah 31:33-34)

The law within us, written on our hearts, is the Word of God—Jesus Christ. By Him, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us from salvation, we interpret God’s law. Through our Christ-centered lives, the Great Commission to spread the gospel truth (Matthew 28:16-20) illuminates the world. The Word is before all things, holding all things together.

John 1:1 powerfully inaugurates John’s eyewitness and Holy Spirit-inspired account of Christ’s life. “In the beginning” is “a deliberate echo of Genesis 1:1 to link God’s action on behalf of the world through Jesus Christ with his first work, the creation of the world” (NIV Study Bible Notes).John’s testimony is especially tender, because of his friendship with Christ. He was the only one left at the foot of the cross with Mary and Christ’s best friend on this earth. John’s kinship with the one, triune God seeped into his bones and leapt out of his heart. Though omnipotent and sovereign, our God is a personal God.

In the words of John Piper, “Christ was not made. That is what it means to be God. And the Word was God.”

“Megs” writes about everyday life within the love of Christ. She stepped out of her comfort zone, and her Marketing career, to obey God’s call to stay home and be “Mom” in 2011. From that step of obedience her blog, Sunny&80, was born, a way to retain the funny everyday moments of motherhood. Meg is also a freelance writer and author of Friends with Everyone. She loves teaching God’s Word and leading her Monday morning Bible study, being a mom, distance running, and photography. Meg resides in Northern Ohio with her husband, two daughters, and Golden-Doodle—all avid Cleveland Browns fans. 

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This article is part of our larger resource library of popular Bible verse phrases and quotes. We want to provide easy to read articles that answer your questions about the meaning, origin and history of specific verses within Scripture context. It is our hope that these will help you better understand the meaning and purpose of God’s Word in relation to your life today.

«Be Still and Know that I Am God»
«Pray Without Ceasing» 
«Fearfully and Wonderfully Made»
«Faith Without Works is Dead»
«Trust in the Lord with All Your Heart»
«All Things Work Together for Good»
«Be Strong and Courageous» 

Photo Credit: Unsplash/Denis Degioanni

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

² The same was in the beginning with God.

³ All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

⁴ In him was life; and the life was the light of men.

⁵ And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

⁶ There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.

⁷ The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.

⁸ He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.

⁹ That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.

¹⁰ He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.

¹¹ He came unto his own, and his own received him not.

¹² But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

¹³ Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

¹⁴ And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

¹⁵ John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me.

¹⁶ And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.

¹⁷ For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.

¹⁸ No man hath seen God at any time, the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.

¹⁹ And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou?

²⁰ And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ.

²¹ And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No.

²² Then said they unto him, Who art thou? that we may give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself?

²³ He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias.

²⁴ And they which were sent were of the Pharisees.

²⁵ And they asked him, and said unto him, Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that prophet?

²⁶ John answered them, saying, I baptize with water: but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not;

²⁷ He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe’s latchet I am not worthy to unloose.

²⁸ These things were done in Bethabara beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing.

²⁹ The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

³⁰ This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me: for he was before me.

³¹ And I knew him not: but that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water.

³² And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him.

³³ And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost.

³⁴ And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God.

³⁵ Again the next day after John stood, and two of his disciples;

³⁶ And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God!

³⁷ And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.

³⁸ Then Jesus turned, and saw them following, and saith unto them, What seek ye? They said unto him, Rabbi, (which is to say, being interpreted, Master,) where dwellest thou?

³⁹ He saith unto them, Come and see. They came and saw where he dwelt, and abode with him that day: for it was about the tenth hour.

⁴⁰ One of the two which heard John speak, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother.

⁴¹ He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ.

⁴² And he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone.

⁴³ The day following Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and findeth Philip, and saith unto him, Follow me.

⁴⁴ Now Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.

⁴⁵ Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.

⁴⁶ And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see.

⁴⁷ Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!

⁴⁸ Nathanael saith unto him, Whence knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said unto him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee.

⁴⁹ Nathanael answered and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel.

⁵⁰ Jesus answered and said unto him, Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believest thou? thou shalt see greater things than these.

⁵¹ And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.