John 1:1-14 (Guide A)

God expressed Himself

J.B. Phillips paraphrases the first line of John 1:1, “At the beginning God expressed himself”. God’s word is more than mere speech. His word is action. When God speaks in Genesis 1, stuff happens, creation disintegrates chaos, something arises from nothing, things go from “good” to “very good”. John’s Prologue describes the “Word” as present at the beginning of creation, fundamentally instrumental in the formation of the material world in all its form and beauty, and indispensable to the inception of the glorious show of human life without whom life would not exist.

This same Word is light overcoming darkness. This same Word is life itself. In John’s mind, Logos, the Greek word from which Word is…