Who is the Word? (Lesson 1: Question 3 Answer)

3.  What does John tell us about the nature of this “Word”?  Who does he say that this “Word” is?

The Word is identified by John as eternal, distinct from God in His Person, yet very God in His being, and creator of everything that exist.  The Word “was” before anything else was in the beginning of history, which qualifies that He is God.  The Word is explicitly identified as God and at the same time distinct from God.  There appears to be a contradiction within the first verse, however this tension is resolved with the Trinitarian formula.  This formula states that the Scriptures clearly teaches that there is only one true God that exists (Jer 10:10, John 17:3, 1 Thess 1:9 and 1 John 5:20). 5 However, in Scripture this one God is comprised of three persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit the same in substances, equal in power and glory; although distinguished by their personal properties (Matt 3:16-17; John 10:30; Acts 5:3-4). 6 

In verse 3 the Word is attributed with creation of everything that exists and without Him nothing has come into being that has come into being.  This is an air tight case for the Deity of Christ, which demands that one concludes that Christ is the Creator of all things.  He cannot be the first creature who then created everything else, because then that would mean that He came into being and the verse says that everything that came into being was created by Him.  This is an open and shut case against all cults who attempt to assign Christ the position of anything less than the one true God (i.e. Jehovah’s Witness, Mormons, Apostolic Christian Church, etc.)

5 Westminster Larger Catechism Question and Answer 8 (1643)

6 Westminster Larger Catechism Question and Answer 9 (1643)