John 1: The Word Was God

John 1:1 is one of the most controversial verses in the New Testament. On the surface, it is fairly straightforward: “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.”

Jesus, the Word, was in the beginning (making him eternal God); Jesus was with God (equal with God); Jesus was (and is) God.

In fact, John likely composes this verse to mirror Genesis 1:1 which starts with, “In the beginning God…” Who God is, Jesus is. Who Jesus is, God is.

This is why any religious movement that claims Jesus is not God is not orthodox Christianity. Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and other somewhat Christian groups share a variety of spiritual ideas with historic Christianity, but that does not make them Christian. One essential that makes a religion Christian is its view of Jesus as the Christ.

If Jesus is not eternal God, part of the Triune Godhead of Father, Son, and Spirit, it may be religious, but it is not Christian. To outsiders, this may make little difference, but to Christianity, it is the major issue that drives all others.

Is Jesus God or not? He said he was and proved he was through his literal, physical resurrection from the dead. This verse is the very reason we celebrate Easter.

The Word was God.

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Quick update: Yes, I am still handwriting through the New Testament ahead of schedule, but I have slowed down. In fact, I completed John 1 a few weeks ago. The four Gospels filled a 375-page D-ring binder, so I’ve moved on to volume two. At my current pace, I’m anticipating around 800 pages of handwriting when complete (And that’s with removing paragraph breaks, chapter numbers, and verse numbers. However, I do only write on one side of the page, so it’s really not as long as it sounds.) It has become too tedious to photograph every day’s entry, but I’m certainly open to anyone who has ideas on how to digitize this content along the way and when completed.

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Dillon Burroughs is the author or co-author of numerous books and is handwriting a copy of the New Testament in 2011 at HolyWritProject.com. Find out more about Dillon at Facebook.com/readdB or readdB.com.