In the beginning was the Word. And the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
— John 1:1

So far as I know, this is the only verse in the entire Bible that speaks of God as who He is in Himself, apart from His relationship to creation or mankind.

There are, of course, many other Bible verses that reveal something of who God is. In particular, we can find verses in the writings of the apostle John that describe God according to His essence. Later in this same Gospel, John tells us that, according to His substance, God is spirit (John 4:24); and in His first epistle, he tells us that, in terms of His expression, “God is light” (1 John 1:5), and in terms of His nature, “God is love” (1 John 4:8,16).

In making each of these statements, however, John relates God to mankind in one way or another. And all through its pages the Bible shows us so many of God’s attributes; but, in doing so, it is always a revelation God Himself, or one of His servants, is making of God to His people. In contrast, John 1:1 speaks of God entirely by Himself, apart from any reference to the creation or any connection to mankind.

And yet, even here we see there was an innate desire within God to communicate Himself to others, because instead of telling us the second of the divine Trinity was “the Son” or “the Christ,” John tells us,

In the beginning was the Word.

Just as we manifest ourselves through our words, even so, before anything else existed, God desired to come forth as “the Word,” so that who He was would be expressed to others; and that is the reason the entire universe came into existence:

You are worthy,
Our Lord and God,
To receive the glory
And the honor
And the power!
For You have created all things,
And because of Your will they were,
And were created.
— Revelation 4:11

When we see this, we will realize that the redemption we have in Christ is not merely for our own sake, that we would have our sins forgiven and thus be saved from eternal damnation; even more, it is so God can carry out “the purpose of the ages,” namely, that He would be made known “through the church” (Eph. 3:10-11), thus fulfilling the desire that was in Him from the very beginning.

But the opening verses of the Gospel of John not only show us God’s desire to make Himself known; in this brief section of the holy Scriptures we also see the means by which God carries out that purpose.

And that is what we will consider in the next Note in this series.

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—  7 October 2025 —