John 1:1-3 - Christ: The Logos of God

Our sermon text this morning is John 1:1-3.

If you read our weekly email, you may have seen that originally, I was planning to cover verses 1-5. I backed off a little because there is so much packed into the first 3 verses.

That probably scares some of you because you’re thinking, “is this going to happen every week? And if so, are we going to be in the Gospel of John for years?” Well, I can’t say that this will be the last time that I narrow our focus to just a couple of verses. However, I will note that Jim Boice, the late pastor of Tenth Presbyterian church, preached 270 sermons in the book of John. Doing the math, that’s over 5 years. I’ve planned about 70.

Ok, turning our attention to these verses, you’ll hear the word “word” three times. That is referring to Jesus Christ. We know that from verse 14 where John writes that “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” So, as I read, be sure to make the mental connection between the Word and Christ.

Reading of John 1:1-3

Prayer

“We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal…” Those legendary words bring us back to the very founding of our nation.

Or how about this on: “I have a dream” Those words take us back to Martin Luther King and the struggle of segregation in the 1950s and 60s.

Or perhaps you recognize this: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” Those are the opening words of Charles Dickens’s book The Tale of Two Cities. It takes us back to the French Revolution and the stark contrast between London and Paris.

Each of those opening phrases is packed with meaning and significance. They each capture our minds and our hearts. In some ways, they transport us through time and space and turn our attention to lofty ideas or significant events.

Well, the opening words of John’s Gospel do something very similar. For one, they are renowned. But also, their poetic language and expressive words raise the significance and consequence for the reader… and really for the whole world.

Perhaps these words don’t bring us back to a specific place, but they transport us to the very creation of the world. “In the beginning.” In the very beginning of all time and space “was the Word.” Does that not raise our senses and our curiosity and even our wonder at what is being communicated?

As far as familiar opening words in the Bible, John 1 is only second to Genesis 1. And those are iconic words. Genesis 1 certainly ranks up there among the most famous in the world. Genesis 1:1 says “In the beginning, God created the heavens and earth.” Those 10 words reveal several things about God.

· First, that he is one God. It doesn’t say, “in the beginning, the gods (plural)...” No, rather it’s a definitive statement. “In the beginning, God…” There is one God.

· Second, Genesis 1:1 posits God as existing before the beginning of time itself – he is eternal.

· And third those 10 opening words of Genesis speak about God’s nature and work. He is the creator God of all things - things in heaven and things on earth.

And I think you have probably already made the connection in your minds. The opening words of the Gospel of John are very similar to Genesis 1. They start with the same three words. Of course, one was penned in Hebrew – that would be Genesis – and the other was penned in Greek.

But the connection is unmistakable. Really, the connection between the opening of Genesis and the opening of John’s Gospel even further expand our understanding of God’s nature and the ministry and work of Christ - God the Son.

In Genesis 1, we’re told of God’s creative work and in John 1, God reveals who accomplished that work and how.

So, let’s jump into these opening three verses of John.

As far as an outline, I want to highlight 3 things about Christ:

1. Christ’s Identity as the Eternal Logos

2. Christ’s Deity as One with the True God

3. Christ’s Work as the Agent of Creation

Let me say those again if you are taking notes. We didn’t have room in the bulletin this week for an outline.

1. Christ’s Identity as the Eternal Logos – I’ll explain the word Logos in a minute.

2. Christ’s Deity as One with the True God – Deity meaning his nature as God.

And 3. His Work as the Agent of Creation. It is through the agency of Christ that God created all things.

So, let’s work through those.

1. Christ’s Identity as the Eternal Logos

And the first thing to understand is the word “word.” In the original Greek, it’s the word Logos. Maybe you’ve heard that word before. Logos is one of two words that are often translated “word.” The other is the more common word, rhema in Greek, merely referring to words on a page or spoken words.

But the word logos, on the other hand, is packed with meaning. Yes, it’s basic meaning is a statement or speech – you know, a “word” spoken. But the word logos also includes the idea of a charge like I’m charging you with something… and the idea of cause like speech that causes something to happen. It’s a word spoken that is effective. It accomplished something.

Now, the Greek culture of the time used the word Logos as well. But their use was more of an abstract idea. Their logos was the rational order of the cosmos. It was used in an impersonal way. There was no being behind a Greek use of the word logos. Nonetheless it was still a powerful word. By the way, the Greek word logos is directly related to our English word “logic”… you know, a reasoned explanation.

And sometimes you’ll hear pastors try to apply that philosophical and rational meaning to the Logos of John 1.

But remember from last week that John is writing to a Jewish context. He was Jewish himself. And the word logos in the Jewish community had been used for centuries. The Greek translation of the Old Testament uses the word logos hundreds of times. Our call to worship this morning was from Psalm 33. It says in verse 6 “By the word of the Lord the heavens were made.” Logos to the Jewish community was understood to be personal and declarative and often associated with God himself.

That is very different from the Greco-Roman understanding.

What I am arguing is that John is not borrowing the word Logos from the Greek culture. Rather, he is contrasting that impersonal understanding with the divine and personal understanding of Logos. He’s revealing that the Logos of God is far superior to the Greek’s rational concept of logos.

We see that right there in verse 1. It says, “In the beginning was the Word.” From eternity past, the Logos existed – Christ existed. The verb is very important here. It’s the English word “was” …you know, a form of “to be..” In the beginning “was” the word. And it’s verb tense is the imperfect active. It means not only did Christ already exist in the beginning, but also that his existence continues. English does not have a good equivalent. The word “was” in English is past tense. But the Greek has a much broader meaning. “already was and continues to be”

What we learn in these verses is that the Logos of God is eternal. He existed before the beginning of time and space and he continues to exist. Furthermore, he is not some impersonal rational concept about the ordering of the universe, but rather his eternal existence is personal. He has being, as the verb reveals. He is none other the person of Christ, again as verse 14 tells us. The eternal Logos of God.

Now, in a few minutes we are going to further see how the word logos relates to Christ’s work. That will be point 3, But let’s move on to point 2 - the rest of verse 1 and verse 2.

2. Christ’s Deity as One with the True God

So, #2. Christ’s Deity as One with the True God. – I’m saying it that way for a reason. He is God and he is One with God.

The Logos mentioned here is not some force that God is harnessing. No, this Logos, Christ, is God himself.

Look at the end of verse 1. It says, “the word was God.” It’s the same imperfect active tense. The Logos already was and continues to be God. Now, that seems super clear, doesn’t it? “The Logos was God.”

Some of you know this, but about twice a week, you will see two of Jehovah Witnesses just outside of our church office. They are just standing there on the corner of Main Street. And if you ask them about John 1:1, they will say that it should be translated differently. They translate it as “the word was a god.” They say that Christ was like a god but not God himself. They argue that because there is no definite article before the word “God” (Theos), therefore Jesus is not being described here as God himself.

However, they are wrong for two reasons.

· Number 1, Greek scholarship is fairly unified on the translation. For those of you who are grammarians (you like grammar), the phrase is a predicate nominative. Greek predicate nominatives establish a shared essence between the subject and the predicate – especially when the predicate is placed before the verb as is here. In fact, predicate nominatives in the Greek usually do not use a definite article for the predicate. So, Christ is not being described here as a god, he is being identified as the God - fully and completely God.

· And number 2. This identification of Jesus Christ being God himself is all throughout the Gospel of John. We considered that last week. Several times Jesus identified himself as one with God the Father. He said as much: “I and the Father are One.” We also considered all the I AM statements where Jesus identified himself as Yahweh.

Furthermore, look at the phrase in the middle of verse 1 and in verse 2. They are very similar. It says, “And the Logos was with God… He was in the beginning...