The Logos and Creation: Understanding John 1:1-5
John 1:1-5 – The Word and Creation
A Beginning Beyond Time: “. . .in the beginning was the word and the word was God.”
Unlike Matthew and Luke, the Gospel of John doesn’t start with a genealogy or a birth narrative, but instead, jumps into the deep end of mystery: "In the beginning was the Word." Written decades after Christ's birth and with just as much reflection, John sees something marvelous: everything we know about beginnings, time, and existence is bigger than we think. This gospel is power-packed and starts off with such a punch, for when he says, "in the beginning," he's not just talking about a moment in time but pointing to something timeless, a personal existence that's always been.
This “Word” (Greek: Logos) isn’t just language or thought; it’s a presence. When John’s original audience heard Logos, it clicked in a way that our word “Word” might miss. For Jews, Logos resonated with the spoken word of God, the voice that said, “let there be light” and brought all things into being (Genesis 1:3). For Greeks, it symbolized divine reason, the principle holding the universe together. John’s weaving together of Jewish and Greek ideas here is no accident; he’s telling both groups that this Word, this Logos, is not just a principle but a person. And, this person was not only “with God” but “was God.” The distinction and the unity—they’re both there.
The Word’s Role in Creation
Now, what does it mean that everything was made through this Word? John tells us that all things came into being through him. Not a single thing was made without him. This points back to Genesis, where God speaks creation into existence. But John’s telling us something new—this Word didn’t just speak the world into being. He was involved in every part of it. He was the architect and the builder, the one through whom the foundations of life were set.
Echoing Genesis 2:7 where God breathes life into humankind, John draws our mind to how God gives us life, a life that doesn't just animate; it transforms.
This life, as John tells us, is the "light of all people."
Light that Darkness Cannot Overcome
Finally, John tells us that the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. The darkness represents everything opposed to God—ignorance, sin, even death. Yet John’s claim is that this light, brought by the Word, is unstoppable. Darkness can try to push against it, but it cannot snuff it out.
For us, this light draws us to a life beyond what we know. It’s a light that’s at work even when we can’t see it, a light that was shining before time began and will continue to shine beyond the end. What John is showing us is not just how the world was created, but how it’s sustained by the presence of the Word—a light that can’t be dimmed and a life that will not end.
This Word, this light, this life—it’s the person of Jesus, the one who is God and yet dwells among us. It’s an invitation to see him not just as a teacher or prophet but as the very One who holds everything together. And in knowing him, we are drawn into that life ourselves.
