John 1:1 Meaning
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
What does John 1:1 mean?
John opens his Gospel not with a manger but with eternity. John 1:1 reaches back before creation to tell us who Jesus really is, using a title full of meaning: “the Word.”
“In the beginning was the Word.” The phrase echoes Genesis 1:1 on purpose. Before anything was made, the Word already was — not created, but already present. Jesus does not begin at Bethlehem; he is from before the beginning.
“And the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” John holds two truths together in one breath: the Word is distinct from God (“with God”) and yet fully is God (“was God”). This is the seed of what Christians mean by the Trinity — one God, and Jesus truly God.
Why call Jesus “the Word”? A word is how a person makes themselves known. John is saying Jesus is God's self-expression — the way the invisible God speaks himself into the world so we can finally see him.
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