The Gospel Of John Chapter 1:1-14
I. Outline: I. The Word And God: 1:1-2 II. The Word And Creation: 1:3 III. The Word And Life: 1:4-5 IV. The Witness For The Word: 1:6-9 V. The Word Rejected: 1:10-11 VI. The Word Accepted: 1:12-13 VII. The Word Became Flesh: 1:14
II. Introductory Comments: III. Commentary: John 1:1 ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.’ ‘In the beginning’-The absolute, origin of all things (Genesis 1:1). John agrees with Moses, there was a beginning. This expression may even be intended to go past Genesis 1:1 (the beginning of the universe), and extent back to the remotest time that man can fathom. Let your mind take you back to the earliest possible point in time and then ask the question, ‘Where was Jesus’? John will reply, ‘He was already there.’
‘was’-‘When all things began, the Word already was’ (NEB). Woods notes, ‘The verb “was”….is durative imperfect, not punctiliar aorist…..that which appears in our text not only shows that he was there when the beginning began, thus antedating all creation, but also that he has always existed.’ (pp. 21-22) ‘There never was a time when the Word was not. There never was a thing which did not depend on Him for its very existence….”the Word continually was”.’ (Morris p. 73) Other Scriptures make the same point, that Jesus is eternal (John 8:58; 17:5; Micah 5:2). Clearly, John is affirming that Jesus is not a created being. The verse doesn’t say, ‘In the beginning, the Word began.’
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