Bible Studies

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We continue the discussion under John 1:1-18 here in Part 5.

I'll read 1 JOHN 1:1-3, which is a very important cross-reference, "What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the WORD [my emphasis] of life - (2) and the life was manifested, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us - (3) what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ." They had fellowship with God the Father and the resurrected Son of God, two Persons; three with the Holy Spirit.

I'll comment briefly on what the very influential oneness writer David K. Bernard says on the meaning of the word "Word" in John 1:1 in his very influential book "The Oneness of God" (Word Aflame Press, 1983, pages 60, 61). I'll just quote two key sentences from the almost two pages of what Bernard says here. "Rather the Word was a thought or a plan in the mind of God. It was with God in the beginning and was part of Him (John 1:1)." Bernard probably did the best he could do to try to remove the Person of the Son of God from this passage, but I don't believe there is any possibility that what he said fits what the apostle John said here. It seems clear to me that what 1 John 1:1-3 says, which is quoted in the preceding paragraph, should suffice by itself to show that the Word was a lot more than a thought or a plan in the mind of God in the beginning, before any creating took place.

In the verses that follow John 1:1, the apostle John goes on speaking of a Person (not a thought or a plan). There is no way, for example, that what John says in 1:4 ("In Him was life and the life was the Light of men") can refer to a thought or a plan in the mind of God. "Him" (masculine in the Greek) refers to the Word, the Son of God, and John continues to speak of Him (not of a thought or plan in the mind of God). He goes on to speak of this Person (the Word) coming into the world in verses 9-13 and in verse 14 John specifically mentions His incarnation with the words "And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His [the eternal Son of God's] glory, glory as of the only begotten [see below for a better translation than "only begotten"] from the Father, full of grace and truth." It is also very significant that the apostle John speaks of the Person of God the Son as "the Word" in 1 John 1:1-4 and "the Word of God" in Rev. 19:13. More could be said, but it seems so clear to me that Bernard is wrong here. I doubt that he feels comfortable with what he said, but he had to say something to try to remove the Son of God from John 1:1, since he is writing to argue that there was no Person (the Son of God) with the Father in the beginning and there is no Trinity.]] (John 1:2) He was in the beginning with God. [[(This double bracket goes on for two long paragraphs.) As the margin of the NASB shows, "He" would more literally be translated "This One." Whether we translate "He" or "This One," this word, which is masculine in the Greek, clearly refers to a Person, not to a word, thought, idea, or plan in the mind of God the Father, or anything other than the Son of God. The fact that the word is masculine is only a very small part of the reason we know that "This one" is a Person. The fact that He is a Person is confirmed by essentially all of the verses here in John 1:1-18: In the beginning, before any creating had taken place, He was with God the Father and He (the Son of God) was God/deity in company with God the Father (1:1). He (not a thought, plan, thing, etc.) was in the beginning with God (1:2). All beings or things were created through Him, a Person (cf. 1 Cor. 8:6 ["...and one Lord Jesus Christ by (or better, "through") whom are all things...."]; Col. 1:16 ["all things have been created through Him and for Him"]; Heb. 1:2 ["...His Son...through whom He made the world."]) (John 1:3). In Him were life and light (things which He had by virtue of His being God the Son); He made the Light available to men before He became the God-man (1:4, 5). John the Baptist testified about Him (1:6). He (God the Son, who was with the Father in the beginning) came into the world (He became the God-man at the time of His virgin birth) (1:9). He came into the world but the world that was made through Him did not know Him; they did not receive Him because of their spiritual death, darkness, and sinful state (1:10, 11). However, those who did receive Him in faith were born again (1:12, 13). The Logos/the Word (see verse 1) became flesh (He became the God-man) and lived among us, and His apostles and others were able to see His glory, the glory of the unique Son of God the Father (1:14). John the Baptist testified, for one super-important thing, that this Person (God the Son, the Logos) who was conceived after he (John the Baptist) was (as far as His humanity was concerned) existed before him (1:15). Those who submitted to the One who came into the world from heaven have received of His fullness and grace upon grace (1:16). The Law was given through Moses, but grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ (1:17). No one has seen God the Father at any time (but we will see Him after we are glorified), but this Person, the unique Son of God, who was with the Father before any creating took place, has revealed Him on a level that no One but the Son of God could do (1:18).

This is important information when we consider that the oneness interpretation of John 1:1-3 does not, and cannot, leave any room for the Logos (the Word) a Person to exist with God the Father in the beginning; the Son from their point of view cannot exist before the virgin birth. If the Word is a Person, which He clearly is in these verses, then the oneness view of God is wrong. I don't make a comment like that to show disrespect for anyone; not at all; but we desperately need the balanced truth of what the Bible teaches, and especially when we are considering what the Bible teaches about the God (the triune God) we worship. I'm not attacking anybody. My desire is to be a blessing to everybody that I can.]] (John 1:3) All things came into being through Him [[through the Person of God the Son. I'll quote the relevant words from John 1:10, "and the world was made through Him." I'll quote 1 Cor. 8:6, "yet for us there is but one God, the Father [the preeminent role of God the Father is strongly emphasized in this verse and in quite a few other verses in the New Testament], from whom are all things and we exist for Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom [The Greek has the same preposition used in John 1:3, 10, and in the next two verses that I'll quote as we continue, the preposition "dia" used with the genitive case. I would translate "through whom" here in 1 Cor. 8:6] are all things [in that God the Father created all things through Him], and we exist through Him." I'll also read the words at the end of Col. 1:16, "all things have been created through Him and for Him." And Heb. 1:2 says, "in these last days [God the Father] has spoken to us in His Son, who He appointed heir of all things, through whom [God the Son] also He [God the Father] made the world." These verses all make it clear that God the Father created everything through His Son, a Person, not through a word, thought, plan, or anything else. Also see Heb. 1:10-12.]], and apart from Him [God the Son] nothing came into being that has come into being. (John 1:4) In Him [God the Son] was life [In that God the Son was deity, He had life in Himself (very much including spiritual/eternal life).], and the life was the Light of men. [[The Gospel of John frequently speaks of Jesus being the Light of men. One of the roles of God the Son was to make light, spiritual light (which includes the truth about God) available to men. (The triune God is the only source for life, light, truth, righteousness, and everything else that is good.) As the next verse and verse 9 show, the Son made that light available as He shined with the light of God in the days before He became the God-man. And the Gospel of John shows that He made that light available (and in a more personal, more powerful way) after He became the God-man.]] (John 1:5) The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. [[The light from God the Son was shining in the darkness, but mankind, speaking of mankind in general (there were exceptions like Enoch, Noah, Abraham, etc.), was not receptive to the light - mankind rejected the light. Mankind was in spiritual darkness and spiritual death after the rebellion and fall of Adam and Eve (see Rom. 5:12-21, for example). As we will see in John 1:9-11, even after God the Son came into the world as the God-man, mankind, speaking of mankind in general, still rejected God the Father, God the Son, and the light of God (see John 3:19-21, for example). The sin problem runs very deep in the heart of man. Verse 13 adds (thank God!) that some people did receive God the Father, the Lord Jesus, and the light of God and became born-again Christians. The Holy Spirit was, of course, right in the center of these glorious things!]] (John 1:6) There was a man sent from God, whose name was John [John the Baptist]. (John 1:7) He came as a witness, to testify about the Light [see John 1:29-40, for example], so that all might believe through him [through John the Baptist]. (John 1:8) He was not the Light, but he came to testify about the Light. (John 1:9) There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man. [[(This double bracket continues for two long paragraphs.) I can't live with the translation of the NASB here. I'll give a literal translation of the Greek that yields, I believe, the intended meaning: (My translation is very similar to the NIV, which I'll quote, (NIV) "The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.") "The true Light [God the Son], which shines on every man, was coming into the world." I believe it is better to translate "shines on" (which is a reasonable way to translate the Greek verb used here) than "gives light to" because the translation "gives light to" tends to wrongly communicate the idea that the people receive the light (and are enlightened by the light) that is made available to them, but verse 5 has already informed us that the people in the darkness (speaking for the large majority) did not receive the light. Verses 9, 10 confirm that the people (speaking for the large majority) had not received the light, and did not even receive the light when God the Son (through whom they had been created) came into the world through the virgin birth. The words, "coming into the world" speak of God the Son's coming into the world to become the God-man. Notice that verse 10 starts with the words, "He was in the world." The words at the end of verse 9 speak of His coming into the world. Verse 14 adds, "And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us."

I'll list some of the verses from the Gospel of John that speak of God the Son's, a Person, coming into the world from heaven, having been sent by God the Father. For one thing, these verses, by themselves, suffice to show that God the Son is a Person distinct from God the Father, and that He existed with God the Father before He became a man. Quite a few verses in the New Testament (including John 1:1-18 and other key verses that we discuss in this paper) show that He existed with the Father before any creating took place, before the time system of our created world existed: John 3:13 ("He who descended from heaven

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