The Original Word (Part 1)

(This is an excerpt from Chapter Three of What Story Have We Fallen Into?)

“In the beginning was the Word” (John 1:1).

In the novel The Man Who Was Thursday, G. K. Chesterton’s character, Syme, exclaims,

“Shall I tell you the secret of the whole world? It is that we have only known the back of the world. We see everything from behind ... If we could only get round in front.”

To “get round in front” is the task that has long occupied the minds of philosophers and theologians. Somehow, we sense there is more going on than meets the eye. It seems that our existence is connected to a greater reality, and we long to know what it is. 

Looking Through the Cracks

If the Bible is, as it claims to be, a book inspired by the One who crafted the cosmos, we should expect it to provide insight into the true story of our world. Holy Scripture, like a crack between time and eternity, should allow us to peer through and catch sight of the meta-narrative of our existence.

No section of this ancient book is better suited to help us than John’s Gospel. “John excels in the depths of divine mysteries,” affirmed early Christian scholar Jerome. The ancient Church Fathers referred to the Gospel of John as the “spiritual” Gospel. Its chapters are steeped in transcendence, riddled with spectacular vistas of divine truth.

One scholar called the first verse of the Fourth Gospel the “most compact and pulsating theological statement in all of Scripture.” Here the beloved apostle pulls back the curtain to let us see what was going on before everything else began. The text conveys an ocean of truth teeming with mystery.

“In the beginning was the Word [Logos]” (John 1:1).   

In the beginning, there was Someone. A secular interpretation of the universe traces everything back to a “what.” The biblical narrative starts with a “who.” John begins his Gospel by presenting to us the Script Writer, the Divine Author of the whole narrative. Someone called “the Word” holds the key to the mystery of our existence.

Verse one reveals remarkable facts about the Word:          

          •  His eternality - “in the beginning”

          •  His singularity - “was the Word”

          •  His personality - “was with God”

          •  His deity - “was God.”          

John doesn’t immediately reveal the surprising identity of the Logos. He doesn’t mention the name Jesus Christ until verse 17. But, it soon becomes clear that this is who the apostle is talking about.        

When God Speaks                

Why is Jesus given the codename: Word?

This name alerts us to the fact that God has a message for us, and this message is—Jesus. “John intends that the whole of his Gospel shall be read in the light of this verse (John 1:1),” wrote biblical scholar C. K. Barrett. “The deeds and words of Jesus are the deeds and words of God.” The prologue tips off the reader to see the whole Gospel story as God’s word to the world.

Jesus is God revealing His heart to us.

“God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son …” (Hebrews 1:1-2 NASB).          

Prophets of old received messages from heaven and made them known to the people. Their job was to pass on God’s words.

But, something new took place.

“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us …” (John 1:14).

The Word of the Lord did not come as before—verbally, audibly, and occasionally. The Word became flesh. The Word of the Lord took human form. God was now speaking “in His Son” (Hebrews 1:2)—an unusual phrase that implies that the Son not only brought the message, but was the message. Messenger and message merge. 

Previously, God had spoken through patriarchs, sages, and prophets. They gave us words about God. Their messages were the Word made a precept, an ethic, a commandment, a sermon. They were attempts to communicate the transcendent with the feeble medium of human vocabulary. Mere words were not up to the task. They could never carry the weight of the message! 

A superior communication took place—Jesus was the Word made flesh. A Word you could touch, see, and hear—the Living Word.

The Divine Word had become human. 

God Has a “Word” for Us 

A person may have magnificent ideas in their mind, but they remain hidden and unknown until words are used to express them. Words are the primary way we share our thoughts; words transmit ideas. We use words to make ourselves understood and known.

The Logos is the Word that breaks the silence and makes known the mystery of God.

The true plot to God’s Story would forever remain hidden unless He revealed it to us. We needed light from heaven; we needed a word from God—and that is exactly what we have! Not a multitude of words, but the Word. Not a verbal word but a living Word. A life-giving, beauty-making, truth-revealing, evil-destroying, goodness-spreading, joy-bringing Word.

And when this Word finishes saying what He is going to say, there will be nothing left to say. 

When the truth about the Real Story is finally and fully revealed, the entire cosmos will bow and worship in wordless wonder. When He brings the Story to its grand finale, every tear will be wiped away, and every tongue will sing as all creation dances in the “glorious liberty of the children of God” (Romans 8:21 NKJV).

You will not want to miss it!

In the next installment, we will continue our exploration of the Word made flesh—Jesus Christ—and how he can impact your life.

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FORWARD TO the next post in this series.

Bio: Jurgen Schulz is a Canadian missionary from Victoria, B.C., who, along with his wife Wendy, has served in Bolivia for over forty years. He is currently an instructor at the Seminario Bíblico Evangélico in the Andean city of La Paz, Bolivia. 

You can read more about the ministries of Jurgen and Wendy at this link on the MSC website.

This excerpt is from Jurgen’s book, What Story Have We Fallen Into?, which you can purchase at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Indigo, and other stores.

Photo credit: Nolan Nasser, used by permission.