He is the Word made flesh in whom the glory of God is revealed, the same word by which He created all things is now unveiled in Jesus of Nazareth.
The gospel of John identifies Jesus as the Logos, the “word” by which God made all things. This is one of the central themes that is detailed in the body of the book. In doing so, John does not engage in metaphysical speculation but builds on traditional ideas from the Hebrew Bible about how Yahweh created the universe and gave life through His spoken word.
Similarly, the letter to the Hebrews declares that the “ages have been fitted together by the word of God so that what is seen has not been made out of things which appear.”
Thus, John is not breaking new ground by declaring that God has created all things by His word. What is new and revolutionary is the claim that this life-giving “word” has been “made flesh” and manifested in all its glory in the man, Jesus Christ - (Hebrews 11:3).
For example, the Psalmist wrote - “BY THE WORD OF YAHWEH WERE THE HEAVENS MADE, and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth… For he spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast” - (Psalm 33:6-9).
And according to the creation account in Genesis, Yahweh “formed the man from dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man becometh a living creature” - (Genesis 2:7, Hebrews 11:3).
In the Greek text, the opening clause of John echoes the first words of Genesis – “IN THE BEGINNING.” And so, “IN THE BEGINNING, GOD SAID, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.”
Likewise in John, “IN THE BEGINNING, ALL THINGS WERE MADE THROUGH HIM… In him was life, and the life was the light of men.” Just as His “breath” or “Spirit” gave life to Adam, so the “logos made flesh” is both living and life-giving.
God created all things by His “word.” And in John, we meet that “word” in the flesh and blood in Jesus of Nazareth. “In him, the Word became flesh,” thereby revealing the glory of God.
In John’s writings, the term “flesh” is used in the sense found in the Hebrew Bible as a reference to man in his weakened and mortal state. Thus, Jesus was a genuine human being who participated in the same mortal nature as the rest of humanity, and in this man, the “word” and the glory of God have been manifested for all to see.
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