“In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He existed in the beginning with God. 3 God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him. 4 The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it. 6 God sent a man, John the Baptist, 7 to tell about the light so that everyone might believe because of his testimony. 8 John himself was not the light; he was simply a witness to tell about the light. 9 The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. 11 He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. 12 But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. 13 They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God. 14 So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son. 15 John testified about him when he shouted to the crowds, “This is the one I was talking about when I said, ‘Someone is coming after me who is far greater than I am, for he existed long before me.’” 16 From his abundance we have all received one gracious blessing after another. 17 For the law was given through Moses, but God’s unfailing love and faithfulness came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God. But the unique One, who is himself God, is near to the Father’s heart. He has revealed God to us.”

When you strike a match, what comes first the flame or the light? It’s an interesting question isn’t it? There is another question to ask. Does the light come from the flame? or the flame from the light? Now most of you know the answer to that question, the light comes from the flame but take the time to think through what you just said. You just said that two things came into being at the same time, and yet one came from the other. Another thought about this little light of mine. Why is it able to shine in the darkness? Why doesn’t the darkness overcome it? Instead, a small light in a darkroom gives light to a large portion of the room. Why is that? If you were able to go into a room that was lit and open a box of darkness, what would happen? Would the darkness overcome the light or would the light overcome the darkness?

One more thing for you to think about. Sometimes preaching is called “giving a word”, especially in charismatic churches. As I am talking to you right now, I am giving you words right? What’s the difference if I give a word to two people or two hundred people? Is the word smaller because it was given to more people or does it hold the same value no matter how many people receive it? When I give you a word, do I lose anything? Normally when you give something, you lose something. If I was to give someone my phone, I would lose my phone but if I give someone a word, I lose nothing. Can you see words? How can we believe in something we cannot see? How about the power of words? Many of you would acknowledge the power that words can have. They can encourage, empower, break, bruise, and inspire people. Why is that? How can words have that effect on us? How is that a coach can give words to a team that will lift them out of the pit of despair and get them to passionately continue playing the game? Words cut to the very soul of a person.

I find it interesting that when John begins his gospel about Jesus, he uses these two terms for who Jesus is. He never uses Jesus’ name in these first eighteen verses. He just refers to Him as “the Word” and “the Light.” Along with John’s explanation of who “the Word” is, I think these two terms help us to better understand who Jesus is.

One major controversy that broke out in the church in the second century revolved around who Jesus was, and some of it revolved around this verse. In this passage John says, “And we have seen [Jesus’] glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.” This is one of the passages that represents Jesus as God’s son. In the second century there was a guy named Arius who came to a conclusion about this. He said that since Jesus was called God’s son, he had to be born, and since he was born then the Father had to be around beforehand. Therefore the Father was greater than the son, they weren’t equal. Now as Christians we believe that Jesus was born, that is the only way he could be called God’s son, but we also hold to the truth of John 1:1 which says, “In the beginning the Word already existed.” Now how can that work? How is it possible for Jesus to be born and also existing “In the beginning…with God”? As I was studying this passage I came across an excellent sermon by St Augustine and I think he gave us a very helpful illustration.

Before we get into the illustration I want to explain something first. There will always remain a mystery of God because we can only see things from a finite perspective. We only see things from the perspective of something created, not the ultimate creator. Along those same lines, though, we can also see things in God’s creation that help us to understand Him better, things that give us slight glimpses of who He is. These glimpses don’t override what is in God’s word, but can compliment it.

As Augustine looked at the problem that the Arian’s raised, he came to a conclusion. He believed that if there was an example in the created world of something that was born at the same time as the thing it came from, then it is surely possible for it to happen for the Creator. This is where he came up with the illustration of “fire being the father of all brightness”. He said that as we light a match, and fire comes into being, the light comes at the same time. The light comes from the fire, or is born of the fire. Therefore if the fire was eternal, the light would also be eternal even though it is born of the fire. So in Augustine’s mind, if it is possible in the created world, it is definitely possible for the Creator.
In our passage of John it says that, “In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He existed in the beginning with God. God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him.” This is the clearest example in scripture claiming Jesus’ deity. It says that Jesus existed in the beginning, that He was with God, and that He was God. This means that Jesus is an eternal being who is God and is still separate from God. This is where the mystery comes in. I can’t explain to you how this works but it is amazing. Jesus was both fully man, because “the Word became human,” and fully God, because “the Word was God,” at the same time. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are all one and yet they are all separate. That is what we mean when we use the word Trinity. It’s a spectacular mystery, to say the least.

When John calls Jesus “the Word” it is to help us understand Him better. I am not going to claim that I have plumbed the depths of this passage or that I have come to a complete understanding of it, but I do have a couple insights into the idea of “the Word.”  Like I mentioned at the beginning, a word doesn’t lose any value based on how many people it is given to, whether it be two hundred or two million. It’s like trying to divide infinity, you can’t do it. This is who we follow. He can be “given” to as many people that confess His name and never be lowered in value, for the same reason that you cannot divide infinity. I can give you word after word after word and never lose a thing. Just like Jesus can fill each and every one of us completely and never lose anything. He can give us everything and never lose anything. Romans 8:32 says, “Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else?” And we all know that words are powerful, more powerful than we really know. Just like Jesus is powerful, more powerful than we really know.

When John calls Jesus “the light” he is also helping us to understand him better. John says, “The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.” Darkness can never extinguish light, it is impossible. It only takes the smallest of lights to shed light on an entire room. This tells us that Jesus is shining forth in the darkness of the world around us. That even when things are falling apart all around us, when we think that all is lost, we know that there is a light shining in the darkness, and the darkness can never overcome it. Light will always win over darkness, it’s not even a battle. If you open the door to a dark closet from a light room, the closet is instantly light. Some may feel that the darkness is winning but remember that when God decides to shed his light upon the “dark closet” of our world, there will be no fight. That’s how powerful He is. There is also one other implication of Jesus being called the light. Someone once said that Jesus is like the sun, without Him you can see nothing but with Him you can see everything. John talks about this in our passage as well. He says, “He has revealed God to us.” Another way to say “reveal” is to say “shed light.” Jesus has shed light on our situation and helped us to see and know God. If we reject Him, we will see nothing. If we believe in Him, we will see everything!

With those thoughts, I want to close by reading the passage again.

“In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He existed in the beginning with God. 3 God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him. 4 The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it. 6 God sent a man, John the Baptist, 7 to tell about the light so that everyone might believe because of his testimony. 8 John himself was not the light; he was simply a witness to tell about the light. 9 The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. 11 He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. 12 But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. 13 They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God. 14 So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son. 15 John testified about him when he shouted to the crowds, “This is the one I was talking about when I said, ‘Someone is coming after me who is far greater than I am, for he existed long before me.’” 16 From his abundance we have all received one gracious blessing after another. 17 For the law was given through Moses, but God’s unfailing love and faithfulness came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God. But the unique One, who is himself God, is near to the Father’s heart. He has revealed God to us.”