Genesis 1:1
1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.
6 And God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” 7 And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so. 8 And God called the expanse Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.
9 And God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. 10 God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.
11 And God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.” And it was so. 12 The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.
14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. 16 And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. 17 And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, 18 to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.
20 And God said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens.” 21 So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” 23 And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.
24 And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds—livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so. 25 And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
26 Then God said, Now let us listen carefully to the next verse. “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
27 So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.
Note the change in verse 26: “Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” At this point let’s also refer back to Genesis 1:2 “And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.” Here is a clear reference to the third person of the Trinity, God’s Spirit. Let’s move on to the Gospel of John Chapter 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 was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
Why did he choose to call Jesus “the Word?” “In the beginning was the Word.” My answer to that question is this: John calls Jesus the Word because John had come to see the words of Jesus, as he walked with Jesus, as the truth of God and the person of Jesus as the truth of God in such a unified way that Jesus himself — in his coming, and working, and teaching, and dying and rising — was the final and decisive message of God. Jesus’ teaching when He was with mankind on this earth was definitive. Jesus’ teaching defined the teachings of the Old Testament and brought to a close God’s testament to us through Scripture. Jesus’ words clarified who He was, and His works pointed out to us that those works were those that no mortal man could have accomplished. His works of healing, casting out demons, walking on water, raising people for the dead and many other demonstrations pointed to one who was not only sent by the Father but was One with the Father. They revealed a very real truth: “I am the truth,” Jesus said in John 14:6.
The conviction of the early church fathers was that Elohim’s statement, God’s statement: “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness,” communicates a complex and unified expression of the Trinity. The doctrine of the Trinity holds that God is One in three Persons: God the Father; God the Son, which is Jesus Christ our Savior; and God the Holy Spirit. Here in Genesis 1:26, the “Us” and “Our” indicate God the Father speaking in the fullness of His divine creative power to the Son and the Holy Spirit. A similar conversation among the Godhead is seen in Genesis 3:22 which says, “And the LORD God said, ‘The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil.’”
Only humans are uniquely created in the image and likeness of God, distinguishing them from all other earthly beings. We were made like Him so that we could be in relationship with Him—the one and only triune God.
These opening verses of John clearly defines Jesus. John refers to Him as the Word. First, we focus on the term word. “In the beginning was the Word.” The most important thing to know about this Word is found in verse 14: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” The Word refers to Jesus Christ and it is clearly stated Jesus was there in the beginning of Creation.
Why did he choose to call Jesus “the Word?” “In the beginning was the Word.” My answer to that question is this: John calls Jesus the Word because John had come to see the words of Jesus as the truth of God and the person of Jesus as the truth of God in such a unified way that Jesus himself — in his coming, and working, and teaching, and dying and rising — was the final and decisive message of God. Or to put it more simply: what God had to say to us was not only or mainly what Jesus said, but who Jesus was and what he did. His words clarified himself and his work. But his self and his work were the main truth God was revealing. “I am the truth,” Jesus said (John 14:6).
John’s message is simply this: The eternal God Himself has become human. That is John’s message. The Creator has become a part of His creation, fully God and fully man. And why? In order that He might save sinners from their sin, death, judgment, and eternal hell. That’s the message of the gospel of John, that the eternal God, infinite, transcendent, all-knowing, all-powerful, all-present, everlastingly unchanging, the one true and living God who is at the same time one God and yet three persons has become man. In verse 14 of John 1, the phrase establishes that when John writes, “The Word became flesh.” The Word became flesh.
The Scriptures are full of evidence that Jesus is God in the flesh. If you just take titles given to Jesus and also given to God, you can see the equality there. God and Jesus are both called Shepherd, both called judge, both called the Holy One in Scripture, both called first and last, both called the Light, both called the Lord of the Sabbath, both called Savior, both called Mighty God, both called Lord of Hosts, both called Alpha and Omega, both called Lord of glory, both called Redeemer, and I could go on.
Titles are given to Jesus that belong only to God. Our Lord Jesus is described as eternal, omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent, immutable, unchanging, sovereign, all glorious, and eternal. Jesus did works that only God can do – He created, He raised the dead, He overpowered the kingdom of darkness, He forgave sin, He received worship on many occasions through His life and ministry, He declared that He had a right to be worshiped after His resurrection.
The Apostle John is very clear in verses 9 and 10, referring to Jesus he writes: The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.
Let’s stop briefly here. John is specific here: He now was in the world – Jesus was now in the world – and listen – the world was made through him. The whole Trinity is involved in this creative work. Yes, God the Father is the Creator, of course. Yes, the Holy Spirit participates in creation, of course we saw that in Genesis 1:2. The Holy Spirit is the One who moves over the inanimate creation and brings life to it. The Spirit’s role is stated early in Genesis 1:1-2. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
The Holy Spirit is an agent in creation. But in the end, God does all His creating through the Word, the Lord Jesus Christ. This doesn’t deny God as Creator. It doesn’t deny the role that the Holy Spirit plays in bringing order to the creation. But it does say that the Son of God is the agent by which the creating is done.
One of the great things about Scripture is that the truth of Creation, for instance, can be expounded on throughout Scripture. The Old Testament clearly says God is Creator.
Psalm 102: Of old you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands.
Isaiah 42: Thus says God, the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk in it:
Isaiah 45: Thus says the Lord, I made the earth and created man on it; it was my hands that stretched out the heavens, and I commanded all their host.
The New Testament also clearly states God as creator. Mark 13:19 speaks of God creating. Romans 1:25 talks about God as the Creator, and all through the New Testament, God is referred to as the Creator. And so, of course, is the Lord Jesus Christ, by whom God made everything that He made, as we read here in John and in Hebrews chapter 1.
Hebrews 1:14 – “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.” Okay, let’s pause – God speaking of his Son – through Him what? – yes, through whom he created the world. Let’s continue in Hebrews.
He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.
Jesus Himself said He and the Father are one. In John 10 Jesus presents Himself as the Good Shepherd and, in a debate with the Jewish leaders, makes the claim, “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30). It was a bold statement—one His audience found quite audacious—and it reveals much about who Jesus is.
Jesus claimed to be one with God in the sense of being equal to Him. Jesus did not claim to be merely a messenger or prophet of God, but of equal power with God.
John 10:22-30 Jesus states – I and the Father Are One – let’s put that into context.
At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon. So, the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name bear witness about me, but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”
Now, in order to demonstrate that Jesus is fully God in human flesh, emphasizing the deity aspect, John takes us through three things that demonstrate the deity of Christ: His preexistence with God, His coexistence with God, and His self-existence with God. He is pre-existent, co-existent, and self-existent.
When the beginning began, He already existed. He existed as God. He’s outside time; He exists as the eternal God. But listen to this: He not only exists as the eternal God, and it says it in John 1 verse 1, “The Word was God,” but He existed eternally with God. This is very, very important because what it tells us is that not only is He the eternal God, but He is distinct from the eternal God. And this is where we come to understand that there is one God and yet there are three persons. And here we find two of them. He is God, the Word was God, but the Word was also with God.
Listen to 1 Corinthians 8:6, “There is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him.” It’s the same thing. God is the Creator. The Holy Spirit is an agent in creation. But at the end, God does all His creating through the Word, the Lord Jesus Christ. This doesn’t deny God as Creator. It doesn’t deny a role that the Holy Spirit plays in bringing order to the creation. But it says that the Son of God is the agent by which the creating is done.
Throughout the Gospel of John, he is defining the essence of Christ’s identity.
Jesus is the true Light and Creator – John 1:9 The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him.
Jesus is the one who gives eternal life – John 10:27-28 – My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.
Jesus is the bread of life – John 6:35 – Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.
Jesus is the living bread that came down from heaven – John 6:51 – “If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”
Jesus is the way, and the truth, and the life – John 14:6 – No one comes to the Father except through me.
Jesus is the Light of the World – John 8:12 – Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life.”
Jesus is the Great Shepherd – John 10:27-28 – My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.
Jesus has the Authority as the Son of God – John 5:19-24 – Listen to the words of Jesus “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel. For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will. For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment but has passed from death to life.”
The purpose of John is to convince the sinner, to convince each of us, of the true person of Christ – the true person of Christ. “That you might believe,” John 20:31, “that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing, you might have salvation in His name.” The Gospel of John is a salvation book. And in order to have salvation, you must believe in the true Christ. We must know who we worship, what His true nature is, what He has done for us, and what that means for our salvation and our eternal life with Him.
So, from before the creation of the earth Jesus was, eternally existent. He was in the beginning with God, and all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. Our Lord Jesus Christ was God in the flesh. He descended from heaven, He left the glories of Heaven and descended to earth for what? To walk this earth to define the final Words of God, to proclaim to all who believe in Him they have eternal life, to walk the path to His crucifixion on the cross, to suffer and die to pay our sin debt, to rise again on the third day to prepare a place for us in His coming Kingdom.
We need to fully realize the nature of God, how the Father, Son and Holy Spirit has worked together to guide the history of mankind from the fall through to the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and what this means for each of us eternally. We need to daily pray and give thanks for a loving God who never gave up on mankind, never gave up on each of us here.
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