Ten Deep Things John 1
—PART 1
The first 17 verses of John’s account of Jesus, point to ten deep things. Five are listed below with a brief comment on each. The next five are in PART 2. Think on these things.
1 BEGINNING
John 1:1 "In the beginning..."
There was a beginning to everything. Only God has no beginning. "God alone has immortality dwelling in unapproachable light" (1Timothy 6:16).
"From everlasting to everlasting You are God" (Psalm 90:2).
God is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end of all things (Revelation 1:8,22:13).
"He is before all things and in him all things hold together" (Colossians 1:17).
When John says, "In the beginning" he refers to the creation "of all things... in heaven and on earth" (Colossians 1:15).
2 WORD
John 1:1 "...the Word was God..."
This Word is the logos in Greek. Verse 14 says, "And the Word (logos) became flesh and dwelt among us" (John 1:14).
So the Word or logos is Jesus, the subject of John’s book. He caused all things to exist, and before all creation he was God with God.
The Word spoke the worlds into existence and he speaks to maintain everything in the mighty cosmos he created.
"By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God" (Hebrews 11:3 NKJV).
"Let all the earth fear the LORD. Let all the world stand in awe of Him. For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast" (Psalm 33:8-9 NKJV).
In the account of creation in Genesis, notice the repetition of the phrase, "Then God said..." (Genesis 1).
3 MADE
John 1:2 "...All things were made through him..."
Some folk make a distinction between "made" and "created". They say "make" implies the materials are already present from which to fashion something. On the other hand "create" means to fashion something out of nothing.
However the scriptures don't seem to make any such rigid distinction. The words "created, made, formed, and fashioned" can be synonyms. "For thus says the LORD who creates the heavens, who is God, who formed the earth and made it, who established it, who did not create it in vain, who formed it to be inhabited..." (Isaiah 45:18)
"Then God said,'Let us make man in our image'... So God created man in his own image..." (Genesis 1:26-27 cf 2:3). God "formed man from the dust of the ground" yet "God created man". So then, forming man from dust was an act of creation (Genesis 1:27, 2:7).
Jesus Christ is truly the Maker of everything. But he is just as truly the Creator everything. As people used to say, "It's the same difference".
How magnificent is our Lord Jesus! He is not only our Creator but our Re-creator. "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them... the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness" (Ephesians 2:10,4:24 NKJV).
4 LIFE
John 1:2 "...In him was life..."
In the first of this three short letters, John writes... "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word [logos] of life —the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us" (1John 1:1-2 NKJV).
The Word is the originator of our earthly lives since he created all things including living things. Through him "man became a living being" (Genesis 2:7).
However, the Word of Life, Jesus Christ, offers far more than earthly life. He is the Eternal Life so he is able to grant everlasting life to those who truly believe in him. "And this is the promise that he has promised us: eternal life" (1John 2:25).
" And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life." (1John 5:20 NKJV).
5 LIGHT
John 1:4-5 "...the light of men..."
Jesus said, "While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light" (John 12:36 NKJV).
Jesus created the light that shines so that we see with our eyes. He also shines the light of truth in our hearts. He said, "I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life" (John 8:12 NKJV).
This light of truth, understanding, wisdom, and enlightenment, illumines "every person coming into the world" (John 1:9).
The eyes of our hearts can be enlightened by Jesus, or we can shut those eyes and walk in the dark (Ephesians 1:18 NASB).
➤ GO TO PART 2.