John 1:1-3 PART 2

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (John 1:1)

We return to this verse today, because it is the opening, the “hook” John uses to begin his gospel. Right off the bat, he has my attention! Because he wrote this book that we might believe in Jesus, John wants us to be certain who Jesus really is. He was not just some profound teacher who said some radical things about love and peace. He was not just a messenger of God - He IS God! I heard Dr. James Dobson once say, “If Jesus had just been a ‘positive thinker,’ they wouldn’t have put him on the cross.” And we will see in this book that it was indeed His claims for Himself that put him there.

Jon Courson writes about this first verse of John:

“Whenever the beginning was, wherever it was, whatever it might have been, Jesus - the Word - was already there. He had no beginning and He has no end. He is eternally God.” (Application Commentary: New Testament, P. 444)

If you want to know God, you must know Jesus. And this is the goal of John - that we may KNOW Jesus. John will emphasize the “I Am’s” of Jesus - those claims he made. Romans 10:9 declares, "If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved."

What does that mean to claim “Jesus is Lord?” When I was a new Christian I had a huge “Jesus is Lord” sticker plastered to the side of my diaper bag. I must have thought it was a great way to share my faith! :) Ye gads! Anyway, it was several months into my walk with the Lord that it finally struck me why that is such an important statement. It did not merely signify that Jesus had become the Lord of ALL aspects of my life. That certainly wasn’t and still isn’t true, as much as I’d like it to be. I’m still struggling with relinquishing control over everything in my life (my tongue, my thoughts, etc.) We know that it is not possible this side of heaven to make Him completely Lord of our lives. Instead, confessing Him as Lord is an acknowledgement of Who He IS.

We’re moving on in this first chapter tomorrow, because this issue of Christ’s identity will be hit over and over throughout our journey through John’s gospel. But know that it is a predominant theme of John’s book, because it matters!

I’m going to ask today for a couple of prayers from those of you who are prayer warriors. My daughter Molly’s mother-in-law, Judi, entered the hospital yesterday in great pain. It was determined that she has kidney stones, however, they also found a mass on one of the kidneys. They are doing a biopsy today, so please pray for a benign result. And while I’m speaking of kidneys, would you also pray for my friend, Karen, who is now getting in line for a kidney transplant, as both of her kidneys are functioning at only 10%. Lots of needs out there! Please share yours with me!