John 1: In the Beginning

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. (John 1:1-4)

These are famous words.   We hear them every Christmas.  While Matthew and Luke start with genealogies to help explain who Jesus was, John goes straight to the point.

Who is our God? He’s the baby lying in the manger, the man dying on the cross.  But before all that he is creator of the universe, alpha and omega.  There is nothing outside his power or dominion.

But this is not just some impersonal force and energy that made the creation of the universe possible - otherwise the study of God would primarily be the business of the physicist.  The light he is is the light of all mankind - the truth which gives us meaning.  He is the designer of the universe - which is not just functional but beautiful.

And God is love (1 John 4:7).  Love is not just a part of God’s character - like in the way we might describe people or actions. He IS love.  Why? It’s right here in this passage. From the beginning, God has been the trinity loving each other.  The Word (Jesus) was with God and the Word was God. 

As we go on to read God’s story with humanity we start to see these truths played out in more ways that we can understand - through stories, pictures, instructions and eventually God coming to live among us as human.  We can start to unpack what it actually means for Jesus to be the ‘life that is the light of all mankind’. 

But for now, this we know: God was there at the beginning. He is the light, the Word, the life, the truth.