Jesus: The Word, the Light, and the Life

By Danny Saavedra

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. . . . The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”—John 1:1–5, 9–14 (NIV)

When do we first meet Jesus in Scripture? The most logical and easiest answer seem to be in the Gospels, right? But we actually encounter Him way further back. Genesis 1:1–3 (NIV) says, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.”

Okay, so you may be asking yourself, “Where is Jesus there?” You see, John 1:1 (NIV) tells us, “In the beginning was the Word . . .” The Greek word here for Word is logos. The concept of logos is honestly kind of mind blowing. The simplest way to explain it is that logos is the reason behind something. To the Greeks, logos was the universal reason found in all things giving life and meaning to the universe. In Hebrew culture, this idea refers to the driving force of God’s creative activity and will.

What does this have to do with Jesus? Well, the Word we read about in John 1 is talking about Jesus! He’s the living embodiment of the Word of God . . . God in the flesh. He’s the One who spoke the will of God into existence in the beginning (Genesis 1:1–2; Psalm 33:9; Hebrews 11:3). He’s the character, heart, will, and mind of God revealed to the world. He’s, as the Jewish people believed, the driving force of God’s activity and will, giving identity and value to all things and, as the Greeks believed, the universal reason inherent in all things (John 1:3). He’s the binding law that sustains all in existence (Colossians 1:15–17), giving purpose to all things. This is WHO Jesus is.

But it doesn’t stop there. John 1:14 (NIV) tells us that the Word who holds the universe together and through whom all of creation came into being, “became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” Did you catch that? The One who said “Let there be light,” who made it all, came to bring light into our hearts and lives so “whoever follows [Him] will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12 NIV). He who made it all paid it all that we may be saved!

Jesus is the light of the world—the light that created life, sustains life, and gives life to its absolute fullest (John 10:10). He came so “all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name” would “become children of God” (John 1:12 NIV).

Today, we can rejoice in the fact that Jesus, the One who made everything, gives identity to everything (the WORD), and is the driving force of creation who gives purpose to all (the LIGHT), loves us so much that He made a way for us to go to heaven and spend eternity with Him, to experience a full and rich life here and now, and to find true belonging as part of His family (the LIFE).

Pause: How does Jesus give meaning to all things? How do we find our reason and purpose in Him?

Practice: Jesus came to the earth to be a light to our world. Today, tell someone how Jesus changed your life!

Pray: My Lord Jesus, I thank You and praise You for who You are. I thank You and praise You because You are everything! You are the reason for all things; for from You, and through You, and for You, are all things. To You be the glory forever! May I never forget this, and may I daily find my purpose and reason and meaning in You and nothing or no one else. Amen.