Who is Jesus? · Teleios
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What does "In the beginning was the Word" mean?
1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2The same was in the beginning with God. 3All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
Read the verses around it (John 1:1-5)
1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2The same was in the beginning with God. 3All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4In him was life; and the life was the light of men. 5And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
14And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
Read the verses around it (John 1:14-18)
14And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. 15John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me. 16And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace. 17For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. 18No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.
6By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.
Read the verses around it (Psalm 33:6-9)
6By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth. 7He gathereth the waters of the sea together as an heap: he layeth up the depth in storehouses. 8Let all the earth fear the LORD: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him. 9For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast.
1God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, 2Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
Read the verses around it (Hebrews 1:1-4)
1God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, 2Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; 3Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; 4Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.
Think first
Read Psalm 33:6 before John 1:1. How did God make the heavens?
Show the explanation
Our explanation
John begins: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God... All things were made by him." Many read "the Word" as Jesus living in heaven before his birth.
The Greek word is logos (see the word card): a word, message or plan, the thought someone expresses. In the Old Testament, "By the word of the LORD were the heavens made." God's word is His purpose put into action, and that purpose centered on Christ from the beginning.
Then John says: "the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us." The plan became a person when Jesus was born. Hebrews puts it simply: God spoke "in time past... by the prophets" and "hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son."
Our understanding: the Word was God's purpose and message about Christ, and it became flesh in Jesus. "The word" is called "him" because logos is masculine in Greek. Many translations before the King James spoke of the word as "it". This is one of the most debated passages in the Bible. Read John 1:1-18 slowly with Genesis 1 and Psalm 33, and see which reading fits best.
Word cardλόγοςlogos
The Greek word translated "Word" in John 1. It means a word, a message, a reason or a plan: the thought inside someone, expressed outwardly. The New Testament often uses it for the message about Christ, as in "the word of Christ" (Colossians 3:16). In John 1:14, "the Word was made flesh": God's message and purpose became a person in Jesus.
John 1:1 · John 1:14 · Colossians 3:16
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