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Where is the beginning of the Bible narrative? It is not, as most would suppose, the first verse of the Bible: “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). The first verse in John’s Gospel is about a time long before human experience, long before the universe and long before even the angels. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1). Chronologically, John 1:1 actually predates Genesis 1:1.
Why, of all the books of the Bible, the gospels in particular, would John give this account? John wrote his Gospel long after the other three—Matthew, Mark and Luke. So he actually was able to give us a lot more depth.
John’s Gospel is the most profound of the four, because—as the Bible reveals—he had a special relationship with Jesus Christ. He had a deeper understanding of who Christ really was. And because he outlived all the other apostles, he also had a longer time to meditate on this message.
John is the only biblical writer who wrote about the Word. (He also authored the books of 1, 2, 3 John and Revelation. In 1 John and Revelation he also mentioned “the Word.”) What is the meaning of “the Word”? Who is the Word? Why was John the only Gospel writer to mention the Word?
Chapter 1: | God Family Spokesman | Read |
Chapter 2: | Hannah’s Family Vision | Read |
Chapter 3: | High Priest’s Rebellious Sons | Read |
Chapter 4: | Declaring the Father | Read |
Chapter 5: | Where Is the God of Judgment? | Read |
Chapter 6: | God’s Covenant With Levi | Read |
Chapter 7: | A Message Not Delivered | Read |
Chapter 8: | Reviving the Elijah Work | Read |
Chapter 9: | The Hope of the Gospel | Read |
Gerald Flurry
is the presenter of the Key of David television program and the editor in chief of the Philadelphia Trumpet newsmagazine. He is the founder and pastor general of the Philadelphia Church of God, chancellor of Herbert W. Armstrong College and chairman of the Armstrong International Cultural Foundation.
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