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made that was made" (John 1:1-
3). Verse 14 explains who this
"Word" was:
"And the Word
became fiesh
and dwelt among us,
full of grace and truth; we [the
disciples] have beheld his glory,
glory as of the only Son from the
Father. " J esus Christ is the only
heavenly being who ever became a
fteshly human being and lived in
this world.
T hese very few verses tell us a
great deal about the nature of J esus
Christ: 1) He was God; 2) He was
with anot h er being
called God from the
very beginning; 3) He
was the "Word" (Greek:
Logos)
or Spokesman
for the Father . The
Father is referred to in
verse 18: "No one [no
human] has ever seen
God," meaning the
other being called God.
John's first letter and
two of Paul's epistles
provide us with an excel–
lent commentary on
ferred us to the kingdom of his
beloved Son [Jesus Christ], in
whom we have redemption, the for–
giveness of sins. He [Jesus] is the
image of the invisible God, the
first-born of all creation; for in him
al/ things were created,
in heaven
and on earth, visible and invisible,
whether thrones or dominions or
principalities or author ities-aJI
things were created through him
and for him. He is before aJI
things ... " (Col. 1: 13-17; compare
with Phi!. 2:5- 11, N lV) . Paul here
' '
Jesus was God
before his human birth;
he was God
in the flesh while
a human
the world, then he
preceded
the
creation. Yet when he carne in the
human flesh, the vast majority of
those who had the opportunity to
know him rejected their own Cre–
ator.
J ohn the Baptist picked up this
same theme and is quoted by John
the apostle. " John bore witness to
bim, and cried, 'This was he of
whom l said, "He who comes after
me ranks before me, for
he was
before me"'" (John 1:15). Was
John indulging in sorne kind of
sp i ritual dou bletalk
here? No! J ohn the Bap–
tist was begotten and
born into the huma n
ftesh
before
Jesus was
(Luke l :35-36, 57-60).
But
Jesus was
God long
before John was ever
conceived. The Baptist
repeats it in chapter one,
verse 30: " .. . After me
comes a man who ranks
before me, for
he was
before me."
these beginning scrip–
tures in the fou rth gos–
pel. As if by habit, J ohn
begins bis first epist le:
being here on earth; and he
is
now
very God
Jes us' Supernatural
Knowledge
John revealed that
Christ possessed powers
that no normal human
being had, although he
was certainly subject to
the pulls and tempta–
tions of the flesh (Heb.
4:15).
"That which was from
the beginning, which we
have heard, wh ich we
have seen with our eyes,
which we have looked
upon and touched with
our hands, concerning
the word of life- the Jife
was made manifest, and
we saw it, and testify to
it, and proclaim to you
the eterna! life
which
was with the Father
and was made
manifest to us- that which we have
seen and heard we proclaim also to
you, so that you may have fellow–
ship with us; and our fellowship is
with
the Father
and with his Son
Jesus Christ"
(1
John 1:1-3).
This Jetter, like the first verses of
John's gospel, makes it plain that
the bei ng with whom they had
lived , worked, played, swam and
fished was none other than a mem–
ber of the Godhead-with, and
like, God the Father.
The apostle Paul wrote: "He [the
Father] has delivered us from the
dominion of darkness and trans-
18
at the right hand of the
Father in heaven
(John 16:28).
.,,
points out the broad and massive
extent of the work and authority of
the pre-human Christ.
John's Theme-the Godship of
Christ
J ohn emph,asized over and over
again, through the inspiration of
the Holy Spirit, the preexistence of
Jesus Christ as God before his
human birth.
It
is a prominent
theme running throughout his
enti re gospel. Notice it again in the
very first chapter. "He was in the
world, and the world was made
through him, yet the world knew
him not" (John 1:10).
If
he made
When Christ ca1led
Nathanael to a disciple–
ship (and future apost le–
ship) , "Jesus saw Na–
thanael coming to him,
and said of him, 'Behold,
an Israelite indeed, in whom is no
guile.' Nathanael said to him, 'How
do you know me?' J esus answered
him, 'Before Philip called you,
when you were under the fig tree, 1
saw you.' Nathanael answered him,
' R abbi, you are the Son of
God! .. .' Jesus answered him, 'Be–
cause l said to you, 1 saw you under
the fig tree, do you believe? You
shall see greater things [miracles]
than these'" (John 1:47-50).
Notice also the last three verses
of John, chapter two. "Now when
he was in Jerusalem at the Passover
feast, many believed in bis name
when they saw the signs which he
The PLAIN TRUTH