From beginning to beginning

"In the beginning..." You might be thinking the next words in this quote are: "...God created the heavens and the earth." But today we will be finishing the quote in the gospel of John. Often, when we read the Christmas story, we turn to Matthew or Luke. But I'd like to look at the birth of Christ through John's perspective in his gospel. Instead of looking at the story narratively, as Matthew and Luke do, we will be looking at it theologically. The first verse of John's gospel starts with the same phrase as in Genesis: "In the beginning the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God."

Before we begin, it is important to note that John describes Jesus as the Word. This may not make sense to us today, but to the Jews and Greeks of the day, this term emphasized Jesus' deity and significance. The Jews recognized the "Word" from Old Testament prophecies describing the Messiah (the promised Savior King). The Greeks used the term in a philosophical context, communicating divine reason.

In John 1, we see many similarities to the creation account. We've already looked at the opening phrase. But we also see these similarities thematically in the ideas of life and light, as well as in reference to the fall of man. We see in the creation account that God separates the light from the darkness. However, later in Genesis, when Adam and Eve sinned, a different kind of darkness entered the world. This was spiritual darkness: sin. When this darkness entered the world, we needed a new light to come into the world to pierce the darkness. As we see in John 1, Jesus is that light.

John 1:4-5 reads, "In him [Jesus] was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it." The Fall brought death and darkness, but Jesus brought life and light. Continuing in verse 9, "The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world."

John 1:11 speaks of the rejection that led to Jesus' crucifixion. The birth of Jesus is significant because of his death as a sacrifice for our sins. The death of Jesus brought light and pierced the veil of darkness. "To all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God." (John 1:12)

The birth of Jesus was just as significant as the creation account, for both were new beginnings. To those of us who believe in Jesus' name, we are children of God. We have died to sin and have been born again to true everlasting life through Jesus.

John 1:14 sums up the birth of Christ well: "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth."