"John 1:1"

The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe…

"John 1:1"

  Over the 43+ years of my Christian life, I have read the first chapter of John hundreds of times.  I often return to be awed by the passage, particularly the first verse.

   "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God" (John 1:1).

   I'm not sure a "most important verse" exists in the Bible.  "Every word of God is pure" (Proverbs 30:5).   Every verse of Scripture so teems with God's light, life, and love that no passage transcends another in meaning and significance.  Presently, however, some verses at least seem to bear the most importance and necessity.  So, if I had to cast my lot or a Most Important Verse, it would fall on John 1:1 (despite my strong affinity for the writings of Apostle Paul!).  Every time I read the Apostle John's declaration, I find myself completely thrilled, but also daunted by the Truth that presents itself to my heart and mind.  John 1:1 seems like a high summit that gleams with glories of light too bright to behold directly, but which bathes mountainside, foothills, and base with illuminations that suggest "wonders without number" (Job 9:10).  Doubtless this is the case, revealing that eternity will not suffice in allowing us to fully ascend the summit of John 1:1 and behold "the Light which no man can approach unto, whom no man hath seen or can see" (I Timothy 6:16).

   John 1:1 blesses and buffets.  It shines with the glorious Light of the Christ who exists, who dwells in relationship to the Father and Holy Spirit, and who is Himself the second Person of the Divine Trinity:  "was… was with God… was God."  No verse more succinctly proclaims our Savior's blessed Person and being, calling us to admiration and appreciation.  However, no verse more drives us to our faces in the realization that whatever we can know or understand regarding John's declaration, it is not enough.  As we often suggest, we can know some.  We can know more.  But we cannot know all.  This is especially true regarding the nature of our Savior, that is, the God who became man, and the man who remains God.  How can He even exist?  How can the infinite God of John 1:1 become the infant humanity of Luke 2:12?  "Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger."  Paul knew the only answer.  "Great is the mystery of godliness.  God was manifest in the flesh" (I Timothy 3:16).  In Heaven and earth, there is no one like the Lord Jesus Christ.  John and Paul unite to tell us of glories  in Christ beyond comprehension, but which became lowly to the degree He lived and died as a man.

   Lord willing, I will read the first chapter of John many more times during the remainder of my earthly journey.  The first verse will again and again stop me in my tracks, first to rejoice in the peace and gladness of yet again pondering the beauty of our Savior.  I will then crane my neck in the attempt to behold a Summit of grace and truth far too high to fully see, and even more, far beyond our attempt to scale.  Yes, in Heaven and earth, there is no one like the Lord Jesus Christ.  John 1:1 has spoken that message to my heart and mind every time I have ever read it.  And it always will.

"And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, that glory of the only Begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."

(John 1:14)

Weekly Memory Verse

  "Call unto Me and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not."

(Jeremiah 33:3)

  

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