The Word is the definition, explanation, and expression of God; hence, it is God defined, explained, and expressed. God is mysterious. He needs the Word to express Him. If you want to appear mysterious, the best way to do it is to be silent, for the more silent you are, the more mysterious you become. However, the more you talk, the more you expose yourself. All that is deep within you is revealed by your words. This is the meaning of the Word. Although God is a mystery, Christ as the Word of God defines, explains, and expresses Him. Thus, this Word is the definition, explanation, and expression of God. Eventually, this Word is God Himself, not God hidden, concealed, and mysterious, but God defined, explained, and expressed. The Word is not the invisible God, but the very God who is visible. In the beginning this Word was with God; it was not separate from God, but always had God in Him.
John 1:1 says that the Word was with God, and verse 2 says, “He was in the beginning with God.” The Word was always with God and always had God in Him; He was never separate from God. When many of the young people are away from home, they receive loving letters from their parents. These letters are a word from their mother or father. Suppose you receive a letter from your father. That letter is your father’s word coming to you. However, when that word comes to you, it cannot be a word with your father. Although the letter is the word of your father, it is not a word with your father, for you and your father are actually far away from each other. This means that the word of your father is separate from your father himself. It is different with Christ as the Word of God. Never think that this Word was separate from God. No, this Word was and always is with God. When the Word comes, God comes. When the Word is present, God is present. The Word is with God. Thus, we have another clause in 1:1 telling us that the Word was with God.
The last clause of 1:1 says, “The Word was God.” Never try to understand the Bible merely according to the black and white letters. This verse says that, as the Word, Christ was both with God and was God. Are Christ and God one or two? If He and God are one, why does the Bible say that He was with God? How can these two statements be reconciled? We cannot reconcile them. In this verse we find the secret to understanding the whole Gospel of John. In subsequent messages we shall see many points similar to this one. For example, the Lord said to Nicodemus, “And no one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended out of heaven, the Son of Man who is in heaven.” Where is He—in heaven or on earth? We should simply say, “Hallelujah, He is both here and there.” He can be both here and there because He is omnipresent. Although we cannot figure it out, we nevertheless have a clear word. Just accept the word. “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.” Although we cannot reconcile all the clauses in this verse, we should simply accept this verse as God’s Word.
John’s writings were brief, but he was very careful. He was aware that some might argue with him, saying, “He was with God and He was God, but He was probably not with God from the beginning. In the beginning He was the Word, but He was not with God. At a later time the Word came to be with God and eventually became God.” If you read church history, you will discover that even in the first century there was a school of thought which claimed that originally Christ was not God and that only at a certain time did He become God. Thus, John added verse 2, not as a mere repetition of a part of verse 1, but as a confirmation. “He was in the beginning with God.” Christ was with God, and was God from the beginning. In the beginning, that is, from eternity past, the Word was with God. It is not, as supposed by some, that Christ was not with God and was not God from eternity past, and that at a certain time Christ became God and was with God. Christ’s deity is eternal and absolute. From eternity past to eternity future, He is with God, and He is God. This is why in this gospel there is no genealogy regarding Him as in Matthew 1 and Luke 3. In this gospel He is “without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life” (Heb. 7:3). We all must be very clear that our Christ was with God and was God from the beginning. He was the Word with God from the beginning.