And the Word who was God Became Flesh, and Dwelled among us
John 1:1; John 1:14; Heb 10:5; 1Cor 2:16; Heb 12:2
John 1:1 - In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. "in the beginning" as John's reference point is the very first verse of the Bible:
Gen 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Both phrases, John's Greek and Moses' Hebrew, are translated exactly the same.
The opening words of the Hebrew text read, "reshith Elohim bara". describing the creation of the universe and designating the beginning of the history of the universe, but does not refer to the beginning for God.
God-Elohim is identified as the Creator and therefore logic demands that He preexist the creation of the universe.
Using the hermenetical principle of "ICE" (Isagogics, Categories Exegesis) The Bible must be interpreted in the time it was written.
The Gospel of John was written in the late first century during the ascendancy of Docetic Gnosticism, which was a philosophical heresy that taught that knowledge was more important than faith.
The Gnostics believed that matter was evil which led to their denial of the Lord's true humanity and ultimately led to the denial of the Incarnation and the humanity of TLJC.
The Gnostics who denied the Incarnation were referred to as Docetics, a word taken from the Greek "dokeo" which means: apparition, phantom, or vision.
Their contention was that the humanity of Jesus was a phantom or something that appears to the sight but has no material substance and the cross was an optical illusion.
To combat this, John used the Greek grammar of the original language of Scripture to identify TLJC as eternal God, co-equal and co-eternal with the Father and then to identity Him with humanity in his biological life.
John starts his Gospel with a quote of Genesis 1:1 "In the beginning": which refers to the beginning of the universe which was not the beginning of God."
The verse refers to the time where something new, but which is also finite, commences. Referring to point of time that the material universe was created.
The Greek words "en arche” translated "In the beginning" in John1: 1; refer to that which is "before" all time, or, more correctly, that about which no temporal statement can be made.
The conclusion is that the Logos of John 1:1 preexists the creation of the universe.
The point is emphasized by the fact that the verb is the imperfect active indicative of the Greek word "eimi" which is translated "was" imperfect: describes continuous action in past time, a way of indicating that the subject, "the Word,” 2nd person of the trinity who is Jesus Christ, preexisted the creation of the universe.
This indicates that Jesus Christ, was in continuous existence, or eternal life, at the point of the creation of the universe. The Holy Spirit inspires John to capture the attention of the Docetic Gnostics by describing this preexisting One as the"Logos” translated "the Word"
John 1:1a -states that before the beginning of the material creation described in Genesis 1:1, the Logos had preexisted eternally.
The next phrase reads, "and the Word was with God” The word order changes here, with the subject, Logos translated "The word”, coming before the verb, "eimi." translated which is again translated "was".
The word order can be rearranged and a corrected translation could be rendered:
John 1:1a - The Logos had preexisted eternally in the beginning of the material creation in Genesis 1:1.
We learn that this that "Logos", Who preexisted the creation, was also "with God," by the use of the accusative preposition:"pros" which is translated "with".
This preposition indicates relationship, intimate association, or proximity and is often translated "face-to-face". The object of this proposition is the noun: "Theos" translated "God"
John1: 1b… and the Logos was in close association with God in the beginning of the creation of the universe in Genesis 1:1.
John then finishes off with this final statement, "… and the Word was God." In this statement the word "Theos" translated "God" is anarthrtouus indicating highest quality.
The Logos preexisted creation, was eternally in close association with God and in fact was God.
John 1:1 -The Logos had preexisted eternally in the beginning of the creation in Gen 1:1,the Logos was in close association with God in at the beginning of creation in Gen 1:1, and the Logos was God.
John 1:2 - He was in the beginning with God. The word "He" is the masculine singular of the pronoun "Houtos” which can be translated "He,” or "This One".
The verb is the fourth consecutive use of the imperfect active indicative of "eimi" which means "continuous existence in past time before the beginning of the universe.
The Logos is again identified as being eternally existent, face-to-face with God.
He is assigned a personality by the masculine singular pronoun, which suggests that the Godhead to be One in essence but with multiple personalities.
An expanded translation of the two verses could read as follows:
John 1:1 The Logos had preexisted eternally in the beginning of creation in Genesis 1:1, and the Logos was in close association with God in the beginning of creation in Genesis 1:1, and the Logos was God.
1:2 He had preexisted eternally in the beginning of creation in Genesis 1:1 in close association with God.
These verses establish the preexistence and deity of TLJC.
John goes on to say in John 1:14 The Word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.
"The Word became flesh" is the sticking point for the Docetic Gnostics. There is no way the Docetic Gnostic can agree to this, and that's why they are called Docetics. The Docetic Gnostic recoils at verse 14 because John has associated Jesus with the material universe which they consider to be evil.
John strengthens His observation by declaring that He was an eyewitness to the glory of the Lord which occurred on the Mount of Transfiguration at which time the voice of the Father verbalized His approval of the Son. Matt 17:1-5
John not only asserts that Jesus is the Logos, that He is eternal, is in close relationship with God, and in fact is God, but that He also was made flesh and walked among the people.
He presents his own eyewitness account of the transfiguration as evidence of the Father's personal approval of the Logos in hypostatic union and he concludes by asserting that the Incarnation of the Logos is full of "grace and truth."
Grace and truth functioned together as problem solving devices for TLJC just as they do for Church age Believers.
God the Father provided everything necessary for the humanity of Christ to execute the plan of God in the hypostatic union. Jesus Christ was the eternal Logos who became flesh and walked among us. During the Incarnation he was full of doctrine and communicated its message to all who would give it a hearing.
The word translated "truth" is the genitive of source from the feminine singular of the noun: "aletheia” which means "truth” or "that doctrine which is true"
The Humanity of TLJC was provided all the grace assets necessary to inculcate the content of the eternal Logos into His soul.
With these grace assets, which included the filling of the Holy Spirit, He was able to acquire through language the principles and standards found in the thinking of His divine nature.
It is important to remember the definition of the hypostatic union:
In the person of the incarnate Christ are two natures, divine and human, inseparably united without mixture or loss of separate identity, without loss or transfer of properties or attributes, the union being personal and eternal.
Therefore, what the deity of Christ has eternally known, the humanity of Jesus had to metabolize into His stream of consciousness by means of the Grace Apparatus for Spiritual Perception.... God the Holy Spirit teaching Jesus' human spirit from birth.
In order for the eternal knowledge possessed by the deity of Christ to be transferred over to the soul of the humanity of Jesus, the Lord had to submit to the teaching ministry of the Holy Spirit.
The end result was that He was full of grace and doctrine which He communicated through language during His earthly ministry.
Knowing that salvation would require a volitional choice on the part of the human race, the Lord created as a part of biological life the means whereby the Gospel could be objectively understood.
The same cognitive function that He created in Adam would eventually be used by His true humanity to exploit grace and metabolize doctrine during the Incarnation.
John makes it clear that the Logos was not only God but also Man.
A human body was required in order for Him to be qualified as the substitutionary sacrifice for the fallen human race.
The provision of biological life for the true humanity of the Messiah is the subject of:
Hebrews 10:5 - When He comes into the world [Virgin Birth], He says [from undiminished deity], "Sacrifice and offering You have not desired but a body [biological life] You have prepared for Me."
Our Lord made this statement from His deity at the Virgin Birth, the moment when his deity was united with His true humanity which is described in Luke.
Luke 1:26 - Now in the sixth month [of Elizabeth's pregnancy] the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee called Nazareth,
v 27 -to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the descendants of David and the virgin's name was Mary.
v 28 -And coming in He said to her, "Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you."
The Greek word translated "favored" is "charitoo" the perfect passive participle of the verb "charis", which speaks of the bestowal by grace of divine favor and therefore describes a blessing from God.
Mary favored and chosen by God to be the mother of the biological life of the Messiah. The perfect tense: Indicates that the blessing was determined before Gabriel announced it to Mary as a result of the elective decree of God from eternity past.
After determining to permit the Fall, the Trinity developed a plan to save mankind from their sin and condemnation. The plan required one member of the Godhead to take on true humanity in order to become the ultimate sacrifice. Rom 5:8; 2Cor 5:21;
In order to provide the Messiah with the same perfect humanity bestowed upon Adam, the Trinity had to select a human woman who qualified:
She must be a Jew who is a virgin, engaged to be married, but the marriage not yet consummated.
Isaiah 7:14 - "Therefore, the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call his name Immanuel [God with us]. (Compare w Luke 1:27)
The word "engaged" in Luke 1:27 is the Greek verb "mnesteuo" and means to espouse or promise in marriage which is Often translated into the English as "betroth."
According to The International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia, Betrothal was esteemed a part of the transaction of marriage. Among the Jews the betrothal was so far regarded as binding that, if marriage should not take place, owing to the absconding of the bridegroom or the breach of contract on his part, the young woman could not be married to another man until she was liberated by a due process and a paper of divorce. The formality of betrothal is not entered on till the marriage is considered reasonably certain and measurably near. The betrothed parties were legally in the position of a married couple and unfaithfulness was "adultery."
Mary's Qualifications to bear the Biological Life of the Messiah required that She be genetically in the line of Judah, the tribe from which all of Israel's kings are drawn including the Messiah.
Israel's prophecy concerning Judah in Gen 49:10; "The scepter shall not depart from Judah nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until Shiloh comes"
The woman who would bear the humanity of TLJC must also be a descendent of the house of David in fulfillment of the Davidic Covenant: as spoken by the prophet Nathan in 2Sam 7:16 - "Your house [David’s royal line] and your kingdom [Israel] shall endure before Me forever; your throne [authority of rulership] shall be established forever." (Compare with Luke 3:23-31)
Her espoused husband must be genetically in the line of Judah, house of David.
Luke 2:4 - Joseph went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David,
v 5 - in order to register, along with Mary, who was engaged to him and was with child.
The birth of the Holy Child must occur in the city of Bethlehem:
Micah 5:2 "As for you Bethlehem Ephrathah, too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago from the days of eternity."
Luke 2:6; - And it came about that while they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth.
v 7 -And she gave birth to her first-born son; and she wrapped Him in cloths and laid Him in a manger.
A woman who meets all these qualifications must appear at a precise moment in human history which is referred to by Paul as "the fullness of time." in Gal 4:4;
Therefore, Mary was in the right place at the right time and as a result was favored by God to perform the service of being the mother of the Messiah's true humanity.
Other than being a believer, Mary had no special qualifications beyond those we have just seen that caused her to be selected, a point brought out by the passive voice indicating that Mary received the action of being favored from God.
Since Mary receives the action of the verb then as an act of grace it is independent of any merit or work on Mary's part.
The favor directed to Mary is the same as that directed toward every believer in the church age as a member of the Royal Family of God as indicated in Eph 1:6; the word translated bestowed on us is "charitoo"the (same word as used to describe Mary as favored.)
Hebrews 10:5 - When He comes into the world [via Virgin Birth], He says [from undiminished deity], "Sacrifice and offering You have not desired but a body [biological life] You have prepared for Me."
The divine purpose for the Incarnation is stated by the Lord as He concludes his statement in: Hebrews 10:7
That divine will would be personally communicated by our Lord in His teachings and He will demonstrate by His life by the fulfillment of the Law. Matt 5:17; Rom 10:4; and his spiritual death on the cross whereby he satisfied the Father as the propitiation for the sins of the entire world. 1John 2:2;
The Humanity of TLJC, the Living Word would then exit the planet following his crucifixion and resurrection leaving behind the written Word which recorded his thinking 1Cor 2:16b; while he lived on this earth in his unglorified humanity for the purpose of instructing Church Age believers regarding how thy can live in freedom while they remain on the planet as his witnesses. Heb 12:2; John 8:31-32;