John 1:1-14
There are innumerable proofs of the Scripture’s divine inspiration. One of them is the stroke of genius struck by John’s inspired pen in the opening verses of his gospel. Facing the formable task of presenting the Gospel to his world, John had to come up with a way to effectively introduce Christ to both Greeks and Jews. Since the word “word’ meant something peculiar to Jews, as well as to Greeks, John’s presentation of Christ as “the Word” is an extraordinary stroke of genius that cannot be credited to human imagination, but must be the product of divine inspiration.
To the Greeks, words were what made sense of it all. Renowned as philosophers, the Greeks believed that you could make sense out of anything if it were debated or talked about long enough. By presenting Christ as “the Word,” John was saying to the Greeks that Christ was the One who made sense of it all. He alone makes the universe a cosmos instead of a chaos. He alone gives our lives meaning, reason, and purpose.
To the Jews, words were alive. Once spoken, words became alive and went forth to accomplish those ends for which they were spoken. This explains why the Jewish vocabulary was so small. By presenting Jesus as “the Word,” John was saying to the Jews that Jesus Christ is everything God has ever said come alive. He is the living Word of God. He came the first time to carryout what God had said (Matthew 3:15; 5:17-18). He is coming again to complete what God has said (Revelation 19:13).
According to the Apostle Paul, Christ comes into the lives of believers to perform all the promises that God has ever made (2 Corinthians 1:19-20). How can we be assured of God’s performing of His promises in our lives? We can be assured of it because God has given us His “Word” on it!
Don Walton
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