Word Play

Have you ever heard or read the words:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.

John 1:1-2

That sounds pretty confusing, eh? What's weird here is that John's talking about Jesus. He's calling a Person the Word of God. How does that make sense? We'll answer that question later, but let's forget about the Word confusion and think about these two verses. If we replace "the Word" with Jesus, we see something that makes Jesus much more than just a religious teacher or moral man:

In the beginning was Jesus, and Jesus was with God, and Jesus was God. He was in the beginning with God.

Let's keep going with the passage:

All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing that was made

John 1:3

Jesus has been around since the beginning of time! He's existed for all eternity having fellowship with the living, true God of the universe! He was there when God created the earth and He participating in creating it! When we deal with Jesus, we're not just dealing with the man that walked around the Middle East 2,000 years ago. We're dealing with God Himself!

Now, since replacing words in the Bible takes away from the original intent of the Bible, let's try to figure out this Word business. We'll do that by skipping down a few inches (or probably more in your Bible...mine's pretty small) in the chapter:

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us

John 1:14

This same Jesus, the eternal, all-powerful, Creator God became flesh and dwelt among us sinners! But again, what's the whole deal with John calling Him the Word? It might go like this:

If God had something important to say to the human race, and then decided to embody those words into a person, we would get Jesus of Nazareth. All that Jesus does, whether it's serving the lowly, loving the lost, forgiving sinners, yelling at the Pharisees, or dying for our sins, is God speaking to us that He's a humble servant, full of love, quick to forgive, intolerant to self-righteouness, and willing to give His life for His rebellious children. Yes, Jesus absolutely is the Word of God. If we want to know God's wishes, pet peeves, or delights, we need to look no further than His Son. God spoke a glorious Word as He became flesh, dwelt among us, bore the wrath our sins deserve, and miraculously rose from the dead. He told us that His arm is mighty to save!

So, if you're looking for a word from God, look to Jesus. Through Christ, you will hear God's Word of forgiveness, grace, and mercy. I implore you to consider that gift.