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Scripture Reading: John 1:1-3, 18
John 1:1 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” This indicates that whenever God expresses Himself or moves, He does so as the Word. Whenever He comes forth and speaks to man, He does so as the Word. Since the Word is God, why does John speak of the Word as being with God? In order to answer this question, we need to know that there was a very serious theological dispute during the time that John wrote this Gospel. After the ascension of the Lord Jesus the apostles went out to preach the gospel and to establish churches. However, soon there were disputes among Christians concerning the person of the Lord Jesus. For example, some said that the Lord Jesus was not God and therefore possessed no divinity. Others said that the Lord Jesus was not God from eternity but obtained divinity and His status as God only in time.
In response to these serious heresies, John, the last of the twelve apostles to depart, wrote his Gospel to prove that the Lord Jesus was God from eternity. Just as God is eternal, the Lord Jesus is eternal because the Lord Jesus is God. In addition to his Gospel, John wrote his Epistles in which he spoke of “antichrist” and “antichrists” (1 John 2:18, 22; 4:3; 2 John 7). Antichrists are people who deny that the Lord Jesus is God. They go beyond and do not abide in the teaching of Christ (1 John 2:22; 4:3; 2 John 9). Furthermore, John says, “Everyone who denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who confesses the Son has the Father also” (1 John 2:23). This means that we must have the Son in order to have the Father; if we believe only in God but not in the Lord Jesus, who is the Son, as God, we do not have the Father. If we believe only in God and not in the Lord Jesus as God, we have no relationship with God, and God does not have anything to do with us. If we want the objective God to become our subjective God, that is, to be obtained by us and joined to us, we must confess that Jesus is God. Only when we have Jesus Christ do we have God. Only when we have the Son do we have the Father.
Some may ask, “Since Jesus Christ is God, what is the distinction between Jesus Christ and God?” The apostle John opened his Gospel with a very wonderful utterance. It was an utterance that had never occurred before in human thought. He does not say, “In the beginning was Christ,” or “in the beginning was Jesus.” He says, “In the beginning was the Word” (1:1). He does not refer to the name of the Lord Jesus or to the title of Christ; rather, he refers to the Lord Jesus as the Word. John refers to the Lord Jesus as the Word who was with God and who was God in order to show that the Lord Jesus is not only the mysterious, hidden God but also the revealed God. He is the God who is distinct in His revelation. The distinction between God and the Word is not a distinction based on one being God and the other being the Word. The Lord Jesus is not only God but also the Word. In other words, the Lord Jesus is more than just God; He is the revealed God. Verse 18 says, “No one has ever seen God; the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.” Without being the Word, God could never be seen; however, as the Word, the Lord Jesus is the declared God, the seen God.
When the Holy Spirit inspired the apostle John to write these words, He was implying that the Lord is not only God but also God in His distinct revelation. He is not only God in eternity but also the uttered and declared God, who can be revealed. Without being the Word, there would be no possibility for man to see Him or know Him. Without being the Word, He could not declare Himself; He would be silent, hidden, and incomprehensibly mysterious. However, as both God and the Word, He is the uttered, declared, and expressed God.
When we consider human words, it is easy to understand that words are separate from a speaker. As soon as a person speaks, the words that are spoken are separate from him. This is also true in regard to writing a letter. As soon as a person writes words on a piece of paper, the words are separate from the writer. Even though human words are an utterance, a declaration, they are no longer a part of us after they are uttered. Hence, when the apostle John said, “The Word was with God,” he was making a very important point: The Word is not separate from God; the Word is with God. Wherever the Word goes, God goes, and wherever the Word is, God is.
If John only wrote, “In the beginning was the Word,” it would be possible to think that the Lord Jesus, as the Word, is separate from God. This would be a serious theological error. However, even as the Word, He is with God; He is not separate from God. Since the phrase the Word was with God could also be understood to suggest that the Word is different from God, John also says, “The Word was God.” The Word is with God, not in the way of separation, but in the way of oneness.
Theologically, this verse is like a nation’s constitution, which must be very precise in order to avoid disputes. However, it was still possible for some to debate with John by saying, “It is correct to say that ‘He was the Word,’ ‘in the beginning was the Word,’ ‘He was God,’ and that ‘He was with God,’ but His being with God may not have been from the beginning in eternity; He may have become God only at some point in time.” Indeed, in the second and third centuries some were saying that the Lord Jesus obtained His divine status only at a point in time. Even some authoritative Bible expositors at the beginning of the twentieth century made this mistake, saying that the Lord Jesus was not Christ from eternity but that He became the Son of God, Christ, at a certain point in time. They could say this only if they ignored what John says in verse 2: “He was in the beginning with God.”
Four phrases, written by the apostle John, fully define the person of the Lord Jesus. These four solid and unshakable phrases are in the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, the Word was God, and He was in the beginning with God. With these four phrases, there is no basis for dispute concerning the person of Christ. He is the Word, the Word that was in the beginning. Moreover, in His revelation He is with God, and He is God. Finally, His being with God was from the beginning, not just from a point in time. This tells us that He was not only God but God in His coming forth. No one has ever seen God, but as the Word, the Son has declared Him (v. 18).
Man’s relationship with God can be in one of three categories. The most superficial category involves atheists, who believe that there is no God. Such persons are superficial, and the Bible even speaks of them as fools (Psa. 53:1). The second category involves people who acknowledge God. All over the world there are many learned and thoughtful people who acknowledge God. They may not acknowledge God outwardly, because they are embarrassed or because they think that it is outdated, unfashionable, or unscientific to acknowledge God; however, they do not inwardly deny the existence of God. They are slightly deeper than those who say that there is no God.
Although many acknowledge God, they do not have a relationship with God. Muslims worship God, for example, but they have not received God; God has no relationship with them. They are on the earth, but God is in the heavens far from them. I have seen Muslims worship God in a mosque, and it is a very pious atmosphere. Nevertheless, when I contacted them, I did not have a sense that they touched God in their worship; their worship was in vain. Thus, this kind of relationship is not the highest category.
Believing in the Lord Jesus today is not a matter of joining Christianity or of receiving Christian doctrines. When we received the Lord Jesus as our Savior, there was an inner assurance that we had received God; this assurance was more than just a belief in God or an acknowledgment of God. This is the top category of man’s relationship with God.
Of the three categories of relationships with God, the first category is comprised of people who say that there is no God. The second category is comprised of people who acknowledge God but do not receive Him. The third and deepest category is comprised of people who acknowledge and receive God. They touch God and contact God in their spirit. They do not worship in vain; their worship touches and contacts God.
Those who acknowledge God but have not seen that God has come forth in Christ do not receive Him. They believe that there is a God in the universe, but they do not know that God has come forth in Christ. They know that there is God, but they do not know that this God is the Word. They acknowledge God, but they do not acknowledge the Word. This means they acknowledge that there is a Sovereign in the universe, but they do not acknowledge that Jesus Christ is this Sovereign. Furthermore, although they acknowledge the existence of an objective God, this God is not living in them subjectively as the Word. They know of an objective God in the universe, but they do not know the subjective God who is the Word.
This is even true of some Christians today. Although some believe in and worship God, they have little experience of God as the Word. God is only God to them, not the Word. When God is only God to us, He is objective, and our relationship with Him is not inwardly living and fresh. However, whenever God is the Word to us, speaking and living in us, we are inwardly living and fresh.
Once God becomes the Word in us, He is Christ. When we let God speak within us, we are filled with Christ. When brothers and sisters say, “The Lord Jesus lives in me, and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me,” I ask, “How does the Lord Jesus live in you?” It is possible for Galatians 2:20 to be a dead doctrine to us and not our living experience. Christ lives in us when He comes to us as the Word. When we have the living Word, God’s speaking brings a deep sense that Christ is living in us.
The Word of God is Christ; the Word of God is God being received by us, enjoyed by us, and experienced by us. Whenever God speaks to us, He is received by us. The power of Christians is with the Word. Many cannot overcome sin because there is a lack of the living Word within them, not because of a lack of determination or effort on their part. It is a great matter that God is in man as the Word.
Sometimes we draw near to God in the morning to have some prayer, and in our prayer we know that God has spoken; this word is Christ. Once God speaks, our sins and indulgences fall away. Some have accepted the Lord’s commission to preach the gospel in deserted, distant, or dangerous places, even at the cost of their lives, because God has become the Word in them, not because of the inspiration of doctrines or the motivation of men.
Hudson Taylor, the founder of the China Inland Mission, accepted the Lord’s commission to preach the gospel in inland China because God spoke to him as he was by the seaside. At that time God was not an objective God to him, a hidden God; He was a subjective God. Hudson Taylor then prayed and said to God, “I accept Your commission. I accept this commission, on the one hand, and commit this commission to You, on the other hand, for You to carry it out. I would like to cooperate with You on the earth. I will not only go myself but will take many others with me to preach Your gospel in the deserted places, in the inland provinces of China.” After he accepted the Lord’s commission, many responded in their spirit. Some consecrated themselves for this work, and others financed it.
We can experience God in us as the Word not only in a great gospel move but also in the small matters of our daily life. This is a characteristic of being a Christian, and this is how Christianity is different from the religions in the world. Putting aside false religions that worship false gods, all religions in the world, even religions that worship the true God, such as Islam, are very different from Christianity. The God they worship is God but not the Word. The Muslims believe only in God but not in the Lord Jesus as God. They have only God; they do not have the Word. The God whom they worship is a hidden God, an unfathomable God. They do not have a manifested God. The God in Islam is still a God in heaven. Islam acknowledges Jesus only as a great prophet called Isa. The Muslims say that Isa was not killed or crucified but raptured alive by God to the heavens. Therefore, there is no redemption in Islam, for their Isa has not died, shed his blood, or been resurrected. They do not acknowledge Isa — Jesus — as God. Hence, the God in Islam has not come forth. In Islam God is merely God, not the Word.
But to us, God is not only God but also the Word. God came forth; He is Jesus Christ. We believe not only in the existence of God but also that the Lord Jesus is God. He is the manifested God, the expressed God. He is in us as the God who speaks to us. This is the difference between believing in Christ and believing in religion.
People involved in religion may harshly scold others after worshipping God in a pious way, but a Christian in true fellowship with God would never do such a thing. A true Christian, who has fellowship with God, who prays to God, and in whom God has become the Word, would not lose his temper after such fellowship, and he would even receive a correcting word within for having a slightly negative tone in his words and countenance. Christians not only worship the true and living God but also have the true and living Word.
No matter how much Muslims worship God, there is no response from God inwardly. They are very pious in their worship of God, but they have no speaking of God inwardly. In contrast, Christians may worship God for just ten minutes and become more joyful as soon as they begin to pray. They may also be touched inwardly in regard to their attitude toward their spouse and children. The more they pray, the more living they are within, and the more proper, bright, and joyful they become. Even others will sense a warmth that is unrelated to human teachings or religious dogmas, a warmth that is related to God becoming the Word in them and speaking in them.
We must know that the Lord is the Word; He and God are inseparable. We all have the sense that God is within us when He is speaking in us. The Word is with God, and when the Word is in us, God is in us. Practically speaking, when we do not have the Word, we do not have God. Whenever we experience the Word, we experience God. We also have a deep sense that the Word in us is God. We may have had a concept that God is in the heavens and that we are on the earth, but when we pray to Him, we sense the Word within us. We feel sweet within, and we feel that the God in heaven is also in us. Thus, to us, the Word is with God, and the Word is God.
John says, “In Him was life” (John 1:4). Him refers to the Word, not God. Life is in the Word. If God were just God objectively, He could never be our life; He would be hidden and unfathomable to us. However, God is the Word; He has come forth. Furthermore, the Word is not separate from God; rather, the Word is with God and is God Himself. Life is in the Word; whenever we have the Word, we have life, and we are living, fresh, strong, and full of joy.
Regrettably, some Christians only understand doctrines with their mind, but doctrines are powerless and ineffective because they are not with God. The only thing that is effective is the Word that is with God and the Word that is God. Without being the Word, God would have nothing to do with us. Any word that is not with God and that is not God is dead. We want God, but we want God as the Word even more. We want to hear the Word that is with God, not a word that is without God, much less a word that is not God. Many sermons in Christianity convey words that are without God and that are not God. We are for the Word that is with God and the Word that is God. Without this Word, we cannot touch God. Any word that is without God is an empty word; it is only dead letter without life. Only the Word that was in the beginning, the Word that is with God and is God, is life. What we are touching and sensing today is not only the Word but the Word that is with God and the Word that is God. This Word is God Himself, and in this Word there is life; thus, the Word is living.
The Word is indeed mysterious and great. The most powerful and vital thing is God’s coming as the Word. This Word is with God, this Word is God, and life is in this Word.
