Why this matters
Before we talk about what Christians believe, before we talk about how to live or how to pray or what the church is for, we have to settle something more basic.
Who is Jesus?
Everything in the Christian faith depends on the answer to that question. If Jesus is a good teacher and nothing more, then the whole of Christianity collapses. You cannot be saved by a good teacher. A good teacher cannot bear the weight of your sin. A good teacher does not rise from the dead.
But if Jesus is who He claimed to be — and who the Apostles declared Him to be — then everything changes. His life matters infinitely. His death achieves something. His resurrection is not a pious myth but a world-altering fact.
John 1:1–18 is one of the most important passages in all of Scripture. It is the opening of John's Gospel, and it does not ease you in gently. It opens with one of the most staggering statements ever written: 'In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.'
From the very first line, John is telling us who Jesus is. And this study is going to work through what he means.
Read the passage
John 1:1–18 (WEB)
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him. Without him, nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness hasn't overcome it.
There came a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came as a witness, that he might testify about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but was sent that he might testify about the light.
The true light that enlightens everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, and the world didn't recognize him. He came to his own, and those who were his own didn't receive him. But as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become God's children, to those who believe in his name: who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
The Word became flesh and lived among us. We saw his glory, such glory as of the one and only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth. John testified about him. He cried out, saying, 'This was he of whom I said, "He who comes after me has surpassed me, for he was before me."' From his fullness we all received grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses. Grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ. No one has seen God at any time. The one and only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared him.
Walkthrough
1. The Word was in the beginning
John's opening words are unmistakable: 'In the beginning was the Word.'
He is reaching back deliberately to the opening of Genesis. Every reader would have heard it immediately. John is making a claim. The one he is writing about was not born into existence at Bethlehem. He did not come into being at a point in time. He was already there — in the beginning.
But John goes further. 'The Word was with God.' This is relationship language. Not merely existence, but a distinct personal presence alongside God.
And then, sharpest of all: 'The Word was God.' The same Word that was with God is God. John is not saying Jesus is a second God, or a lesser God, or a god of lower rank. He is saying that the Word fully shares the nature of God.
This is not vague religious poetry. This is precise theological statement.
2. The Word made everything
Verse 3: 'All things were made through him. Without him, nothing was made that has been made.'
This is a direct statement about creation. The world you live in, the body you inhabit, the stars above and the ground below — none of it came into being except through the Word. He is not part of creation. He is the agent of creation.
There is a clear implication here. If Jesus created everything, then He stands over everything. He is not a figure within the story of the world. He is the One through whom the story began.
This matters when life gets hard. The person you are asked to trust is not a stranger to the world. He made it.
3. The Word entered what He had made
Verse 14 is perhaps the most astonishing single verse in all of the New Testament: 'The Word became flesh and lived among us.'
The eternal Word — the one who was in the beginning with God, through whom all things were made — became flesh. Human flesh. He took on a human body, a human nature, a human life in a particular time and place.
John uses a word that carries the sense of 'pitched His tent' or 'dwelt.' He did not hover above humanity or merely appear as a man. He entered it fully.
Because it tells us that God is not remote. He did not send a memo. He did not issue a decree from a distance. He came. He became one of us in order to reach us.
4. He was not received
Verse 11 contains a sentence of quiet tragedy: 'He came to his own, and those who were his own didn't receive him.'
The Word came into the world He had made, to the people He had chosen, and they did not recognise Him or welcome Him.
This is not incidental. It is a warning. Proximity to religious life, familiarity with Scripture and belonging to a religious community are not the same as receiving Christ. It is possible to know about Jesus and still not truly receive Him.
John is pressing on this because he does not want his readers to be comfortable bystanders.
5. Receiving Him means becoming a child of God
Verse 12: 'But as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become God's children, to those who believe in his name.'
To receive Jesus — to truly believe in who He is — is to be given the right to become a child of God. Not a subject. Not a servant. A child.
This is extraordinary language. The one through whom all things were made offers those who receive Him the standing of children in God's family.
Faith in Jesus is not merely an intellectual agreement. It is a personal receiving — welcoming Him as He truly is, Lord and Saviour.
6. He is the full revelation of the Father
Verse 18: 'No one has seen God at any time. The one and only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared him.'
No one has seen God. But the Son — who exists in the closest possible relationship with the Father — has made Him known.
This means that when you look at Jesus in the Gospels, you are looking at the most complete revelation of God that has ever been given to human beings. His words are God's words. His compassion is God's compassion. His holiness is God's holiness.
You want to know what God is like? Look at Jesus.
Anchored truths
Jesus is fully God
Not a lesser being, not a representative, not a divine figure of reduced rank. The Word was God. This is what Christianity has always confessed and what John states plainly.
Jesus is fully human
The Word became flesh. He entered human life genuinely and completely. He is both fully God and fully man.
He made everything
Jesus is not a creature. He is the Creator. Nothing was made except through Him. He stands over and above all of creation, including your own life.
He came to be received
The question John presses is not just 'what do you know about Jesus?' but 'have you received Him?' Believing in His name means personally welcoming Him as He truly is.
He reveals the Father
To see Jesus is to see what God is like. He is the complete and final declaration of the Father to humanity.
Discussion questions
- —John says the Word 'was God' and also 'was with God.' What does this tell us about the nature of Jesus?
- —Verse 11 says He came to His own and was not received. What does it look like to receive Jesus today versus merely being familiar with Him?
- —John says Jesus is 'full of grace and truth.' Why do you think John holds those two things together? What would it look like to have one without the other?
- —In verse 18 we are told that the Son has 'declared' the Father. What does this mean for how we should read and think about Jesus in the Gospels?
- —What in this passage challenges you most or raises a question you want to sit with?
Personal response
This passage does not leave much room for a Jesus who is only a moral teacher or a helpful example.
John opens his Gospel with deliberate, precise language. The Word was in the beginning. The Word was with God. The Word was God. The Word made everything. The Word became flesh and lived among us.
If John is right, then Jesus is not one option among many religious figures. He is the eternal Son of God who entered human history, who created the world He came into, and who offers those who receive Him the right to be called children of God.
The question this passage asks of every reader is the same question it asked first-century readers: will you receive Him?
Not merely agree with facts about Him. Not merely admire His teaching. Receive Him — as He actually is, Lord and Saviour, the Word who was God and who became flesh for your sake.
Closing prayer
Lord Jesus, You are not who the world says You are. You are the eternal Word, the Son of the Father, the One through whom all things were made and in whom all things hold together. You became flesh and entered the world You created, and You offered to those who receive You the right to become children of God. Help me not merely to know these truths but to receive You as You truly are. Give me eyes to see You clearly, a heart willing to trust You and the courage to follow You all the way. Amen.
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