In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. — John 1:1.
These words are profound… extraordinary and mind-blowing! Jesus is the Word, the one who was with God in the beginning and was God before there was a beginning (John 1:1-3). Jesus is God’s ultimate and final Word (Hebrews 1:1-3). This Word is the one who turned water to wine, fed the five thousand with only five loaves and two fish, and raised Lazarus from the dead. He made his human appearance on earth when he was born in Bethlehem and placed in a manger by his mother, Mary, but Jesus has always been one with God and always has been God the Son. When Jesus came to us, he was God with us (Matthew 1:23). Jesus was God’s human incarnation in human flesh. He was God who came to visit us, his people (Luke 7:16). This Word is the Son of God, as Mark reminded us (Mark 1:1). He was declared Son of God with power through his resurrection (Romans 1:3-4). As the Jewish religious leaders knew in Jesus’ time, to be God’s Son meant you were one with God (John 10:30, 36, 17:20-23), equal to God (John 5:16-18), and the “I Am” who revealed himself to Moses as Israel’s covenant God, the Lord (Exodus 3:11-14; John 8:57-58). If you want to know how God would live on earth, look to Jesus; he, the Word, has made God known through his life on earth (John 1:14-18). We join with Thomas and declare to Jesus, “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:26-28).