Question:
Answer:
The Word spoken about in this chapter is Jesus, as we can easily see when we look at verse 14.
John 1 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.
14 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.
The phrase “In the beginning” used in verse 1 does not mean the beginning of the earth, as it is in Genesis 1:1. In John 1:1 it does not have “the”, so is actually “In beginning”, and really talks about the most distant past imaginable, before the creation of “all things” (verse 3). It therefore shows that the Word (The Son, Jesus) existed with the Father and the Holy Spirit from eternity past.
In the original Greek, the word used was logos, which can be translated “saying”, “speech”, “utterance”, “narrative”, “account”, “treatise”, with emphasis on the systematic, meaningful arrangement of the thoughts that are expressed. Almost every one of the dozens of English translations of the Bible have translated logos as Word, except for the The Passion Translation, which translates it “Living Expression”, and the The Voice which translates it “Voice”.
When we compare this chapter with Genesis 1, we note that in both chapters there are more than one God Persons (Beings) present. In Genesis 1 it talks about God creating, and the Holy Spirit hovering over the waters, as well as God saying in verse 26, “Let Us make man in Our image”. In John 1, we have God (not the Word) plus we have God the Word.
So, to summarise, John 1:1 says that in the far distant past, before earth was created, the Word (who we know as Jesus, or Son of God) was in existence with God the Father, and that He Himself was also God, one of the three members of the Godhead, or Trinity. Each member of the Godhead, the Father, the Word (Son, Jesus) and the Holy Spirit, is God individually, and together they are also God.
I trust that this makes sense. God bless!
