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January 1st
John 1. 1-5
IN THE BEGINNING
JOHN DOES NOT
START his gospel with the human genealogy of God's Son (as does
Matthew), or the annunciation (as Luke), or even Old Testament
predictions of that long-awaited event (as Mark), but 'in the
beginning'. And this timeless beginning pre-dates all others for
it introduces One who never began.
John wants his
readers to be taken up first with neither the blessings of
salvation, 1. 29, nor the divine activity in creation
(unmentioned until 1. 3), but with the person of Christ. Here we
learn of the Son's eternal reality, for unlike John the
Baptist He never came into existence, vv. 6,7, but always was,
v. 1. One of the great names of the Lord Jesus Christ in John's
Gospel is 'I AM', 8. 58 - the eternal, immutable, self-existent,
self sufficient One who has 'neither beginning of days, nor end
of life', Heb. 7. 3. We inhabit a planet pock-marked by
beginnings and endings, but the Son is 'from everlasting', Mic.
5. 2. How wonderfully qualified He is, therefore, to meet our
every need in this passing scene! We note too the Son's blessed
society, always 'with God', enjoying the fullness of love
and communion in the Godhead, John 17. 24. The Son was ever the
Father's delight before He was manifested to men. His absolute
deity is contained in the unambiguous phrase 'the Word was
God', for all that God is He is, Col. 1. 15, undiluted by the
addition of genuine, sinless humanity, 2. 9, and untarnished by
His sojourn among men, John 1. 14.
His title, the
Word, reveals His specific ministry. As we communicate
through words, so God has made known His mind through One who is
the perfect expression of everything He is. In Hebrews 1. 2 the
Lord Jesus is God's language, in Revelation 1. 8 He is the
divine alphabet ('I am Alpha and Omega'), but in
John 1. 1 He is the dictionary of heaven. In the Old
Testament God taught His people their letters by means of types
and shadows; but in the New Testament He links these letters
together showing they spell 'Christ'. The greatest of prophets
only bore a divine message; the Lord Jesus Christ is Himself
God's final word to man. No wonder the Father commands us to
'hear him', Mark 9. 7!
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