John 1:1–3
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him was not any thing made that was made.”
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him was not any thing made that was made.”
These opening words from the Gospel of John are among the most profound in all of Scripture. At first glance, they may sound mysterious or poetic—and they are certainly poetic—but John is also making a very bold and logical claim about Jesus.
To understand what John is saying, we need to begin with the phrase, “In the beginning.” That immediately echoes the opening words of Genesis: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” John wants his readers to think about creation itself—the origin of everything that exists. But then he says something unexpected: “In the beginning was the Word.”
Who is “the Word”? A few verses later, John makes it clear that he is speaking about Jesus (John 1:14). Before Jesus was born in Bethlehem, before He walked the roads of Galilee, before human history as we know it—He already existed.
