The Gospel According to John

Biblical Research Monthly
March, 1955
Dr. David L. Cooper
(Installment Two)

THE PROLOGUE OF THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

The most important verse of the Scriptures is Deuteronomy 6:4 which, when properly translated, reads as follows: "Hear, O Israel, Jehovah our Gods is Jehovah a unity." This passage is a recognition of the fact that there is but one true and living God, who exists in the form of three persons—one Divine Essence, but three Divine Persons. If a person does not understand this basic scriptural doctrine, he will find many passages which are utterly unintelligible to him. But when he has the proper scriptural conception of this passage, he can understand thousands of others that are dependent directly upon it. No one can understand the prologue of the Gospel of John unless he is acquainted with the doctrine of the triune nature of God as set forth in Deuteronomy 6:4.
 

The Eternal Existence of the Word

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God" (John 1:1,2). These verses take us back to eternity in the past, which antedated time, and which is referred to in Genesis 1:1: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." The Word (Gr., Logos) existed throughout all eternity in the past. Such is the force of the imperfect tense of the verb which is used in this verse. This verse is an affirmation that the Word is co-eternal and co-equal with God. John asserts, moreover, that the Word was with God, that is, in intimate association with God. Then he is bold and declares that "divine was the Word."

Certain ones who have some special, peculiar, heretical doctrine to support have translated the last statement in John 1:1 as follows: "… and a God was the Word." No competent Greek grammarian would ever render this clause thus. The word meaning "God" is in the emphatic place in the sentence and emphasizes the fact that the Word was and is divine.

In connection with John 1:1 a person should study carefully Philippians 2:5-11. The same basic teaching of John 1:1 is reiterated, with amplifications and modifications, in this Philippian passage.

Possibly the fullest statement of the twofold nature of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is found in Hebrews, chapters 1 and 2. Chapter 1 quotes voluminously from Old Testament passages that show the divine side of the nature of our Lord. Chapter 2, however, emphasizes the fact that He, though God, was indeed a man. He was not God and man, but He was the God-man.

The Word the Creator of All Things

"3 All things were made through him; and without him was not anything made that hath been made" (John 1:3). The testimony of John that Christ was the one who created all things that have been made is substantiated by Paul's statement in the Colossian Letter. In speaking of Christ, the Apostle declared that He is "the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; 16 for in him were all things created, in the heavens and upon the earth, things visible and things invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all things have been created through him, and unto him; 17 and he is before all things, and in him all things consist" (Col. 1:15-17).

On the other hand, there are explicit statements affirming that God is the one who created all things. For instance, in Hebrews 1:2 the Apostle speaks of Christ “through whom also he [God] made the worlds.” This passage shows that God did the creating, but He did it through Christ the Son. Again, in Romans 11:36, Paul declared : “For of him [God the Father], and through him, and unto him, are all things.” Once again, the Apostle in I Corinthians 8:6 said: “6 yet to us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we unto him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and we through him.” Here all things are traced back to God the Father as the Creator. Once again, we read in Hebrews 2:10 that “it became him [God], for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the author of their salvation perfect through sufferings.”

Since there is perfect harmony between the persons of the Godhead, and since the creation of the universe is attributed in certain passages to God the Father, and in others, to God the Son, we come to the conclusion that both had a part in the creation of the universe. What one person does through another he is said to do himself. Hence, there is perfect agreement between these seemingly contradictory passages.

In the Word was Life and Light

"4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shineth in the darkness; and the darkness apprehended it not" (John 1:4,5). The words, life and light, are both philosophical and scientific terms. There has been much learned discussion pro and con with reference to the real significance of the use of these terms in this passage. After everything is said and done of which man can think, he is still far from the solution to the real significance of the terms. What is life? What really is light? What is the essential nature of both? We shall have to bow our heads before the GREAT I AM and say, "We do not know!"

However, there are a few things that we do know about life, and there are also a few things that we do know about light. But what we know about them is so very infinitesimally small in comparison with the realities, it behooves us to tread very lightly on such holy ground.

Though these are profound, philosophical, abstract terms, yet we can in a limited manner ascertain what John meant. Physically speaking, we can detect life and also recognize the absence of life after it has become extinct in a body. We can also differentiate between light and darkness, even though our knowledge of light is limited.

John is using these terms in a spiritual sense, that is, in speaking of realities of the spiritual world, he uses terms of the material, physical universe. "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have eternal life" (John 3:16). Those who have turned to Christ and accepted Him as Saviour and have been born again, know experimentally what is meant by life. Those who are walking in fellowship with the Lord Jesus also know experimentally what is meant by the word light. The Lord Jesus, as we see in John 8:12, declared that He was and is the Light of the world. It was true when He made that statement; it is true today; and it will ever be true.

Once more, Jesus declared, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life: no one cometh to the Father, but by me" (John 14:6). The Lord Jesus Christ is the Way to God. He is the Life, the one alone who dispenses life eternal, life that endures forever and ever. At the same time, He is the Truth, the very embodiment of truth in the highest, truest sense of the term.

The Herald of the Messiah

"6 There came a man, sent from God, whose name was John. 7 The same came for witness, that he might bear witness of the light, that all might believe through him. 8 He was not the light, but came that he might bear witness of the light" (John 1: 6-8). According to Isaiah 40:1-5 the Lord sends a messenger before the face of the Messiah when he makes his second appearance upon the earth. The facts of the context of this passage show that the prophet was talking about the second coming. While this interpretation is demanded by the facts of the context, we know that this passage was quoted by Matthew, in chapter 3, and applied to John the Baptist. This fact being true, we see that this passage in Isaiah is an illustration of the law of double reference. In the beginning of the vision Isaiah saw the first coming of Christ and John the Baptist as the herald of that advent. This picture blends in with the description of the second coming of Christ, which will be announced by Elijah the prophet, who will be sent back to earth to perform a special ministry in Israel. We see the same situation in Malachi 3:1: "Behold, I send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant, whom ye desire, behold, he cometh, saith Jehovah of hosts." A description of the two comings of the one Messiah, preceded each time by a herald, is likewise blended in this passage into a single picture by the law of double reference. An examination of John 1:6-8 shows that John had these predictions of Isaiah and Malachi in view. Especially the language of Malachi determines the phraseology used by the writer on this occasion.

Christ the True Light Not Recognized by the World Which He Created

"9 There was the true light, even the light which lighteth every man, coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, and the world knew him not. 11 He came unto his own, and they that were his own received him not. 12 But as many as received him, to them gave he the right to become children of God, even to them that believe on His name: 13 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God" (John 1: 9-13). Here John declares that Christ was the light of the world, who lights everyone that comes into the world. Even though He does this for every individual, when he made His advent into the world, the men of the world as a rule did not recognize him. There were few—very few—who had spiritual understanding and recognized that He who was in their midst was the Creator of the universe.

He came into the world, entering it by miraculous conception and virgin birth, being born of a Hebrew virgin. Thus He identified himself with the Hebrew race. He came, therefore, to the Hebrews, and they who were His own people did not perceive who he was. But to as many as did receive him, He gave the right, the privilege, or the opportunity of becoming children of God-even to those who believe on His name.

These were born again, as we shall learn from the third chapter of John. Their birth is not the result of blood, that is, of the physical nature; neither were they born of the will of the flesh. The flesh lusts against spiritual things. Nor were they born of the will of man, but of God. God took the initiative and does everything in His power, using all moral, spiritual persuasion, to get men to accept the truth. Hence, this fact is in perfect accord with the statement in John 1:13.

The Word Became Flesh and Tabernacled Among Us

"14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father), full of grace and truth. 15 John beareth witness of Him, and crieth, saying, This was he of whom I said, He that cometh after me is become before me: for he was before me" (John 1:14,15). The statement, "the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us," is just another way of saying that the Word, Christ the Eternal Logos, entered the world by miraculous conception and virgin birth. He became a man. He did not lay aside His essential divine nature; but, in coming into the world, He became a man and tabernacled among us for thirty-odd years. He was the God-man, full of grace and truth. The glory of God shone forth through His very being. But men were blind and could not see. Some, however, such as Nathanael, even at first sight, being an Israelite in whom there was no guile, instantly recognized Jesus as the Son of God and the King of Israel. Of course, the Apostles and others who gave their hearts to the Lord Jesus, had their spiritual vision opened. They recognized that He was the Son of God, in a sense, a unique sense, that no other mortal can claim.

Grace and Truth Came Through Christ

"16 For of His fullness we all received, and grace for grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him" (John 1:16-18). We are told that the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. According to the Book of Exodus God gave His law through Moses at Sinai, when He spoke from its heights the Ten Commandments. After His proclamation of the law from Sinai, He entered into a covenant with Israel by blood. This is seen in Exodus chapter 24.

After the covenant was made and ratified, God revealed Himself in mercy and in grace by giving the Tabernacle service and the ritualism involving certain sacrifices that were to make atonement for the sins of the people, that is, those that were committed unwittingly and through the weakness of the flesh. Although the law was in force from Moses to Christ, everyone who was saved, was saved by the sovereign mercy of God. He availed himself of it by faith. Grace "was given us in Christ Jesus before times eternal, 10 but hath now been manifested by the appearing of our Saviour Christ Jesus, who abolished death, and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel" (II Tim. 1:9,10). Thus the highest expression of God's grace, mercy and truth are seen in the face of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is of this truth that John is speaking in the verse under consideration.

"No man hath seen God at any time," asserted the Apostle. But the Son, who is "the only begotten," and who is in the bosom of the Father, has revealed and declared God unto us. He who has seen Christ has seen God.

The closer one walks with God and Christ by faith, the more will Christ reveal himself to him. Let us, therefore, walk with him daily by faith.