The creation came into being through the Word. I like the way the Recovery Version of John renders verse 3. “All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him not one thing came into being which has come into being.” What does it mean that all things came into being through Him and that apart from Him nothing has come into being? It simply means that apart from Him nothing has existence. One day, through the Word, so many things came into being. We may say that, in a sense, God did not make anything, for there was no need for Him to do anything. He simply said, “Being,” and everything had being. According to our human concept, creation requires a certain amount of labor. However, in God’s creation there was no labor, only speaking. When God said, “Let there be light,” light came into existence. When He said, “Let there be an expanse,” the expanse came into being. When He said, “Let the dry land appear,” the dry land appeared. An atheist would say that this is nonsense, because he does not believe in God. But we believe in Him. We not only believe in God, but also in the all-inclusive Christ. Through Him as the Word all things came into being.
The principle is the same in the new creation. Although we are men of the old creation, the Bible tells us that we must become men of the new creation. According to our human concept, this type of change requires a great deal of work. However, it does not require very much work at all; it is accomplished through the Word, which is Christ. If a man will say, “Lord Jesus,” he becomes a new man even before the words have escaped his lips. By simply saying the word “Lord” something not being comes into being. Abraham believed in the God who “calls the things not being as being” (Rom. 4:17). God did not do anything; He just called. Although once there was no such thing as light, when God said, “Light,” light sprang into existence. This is God’s creation. If He did not create in this way, He might be the same as we are. But God is not as we are—God is God. Everything came into being through the Word. As long as you have the Word, you have everything.
This should strengthen and confirm our faith. Whenever you take the Word, something not being comes into being. This is wonderful. Do not say that you are weak, for the more you say that you are weak, the weaker you become, simply because you say that you are weak. However, if, by taking the Word, you say, “I am strong,” strength comes into being. Do not say, “I have no power.” The more you say you have no power, the more powerless you become. However, if you say, “Praise the Lord that I have power through the Word,” you will have power, the power that things not being will come into being through the Word. If you are afflicted with a certain illness, do not think very much about it, but say, “Through the Word I am a healthy person.” If you say this, health, which had no being, comes into being. Sisters often come to me, saying, “Brother, as sisters, we have no wisdom. We come to you because you have wisdom.” Sisters, the more you say that you lack wisdom, the less wisdom you have. Nevertheless, it is a lie that you lack wisdom. Do you not have the Word? As long as you have the Word you must declare, “I have wisdom through the Word.” If you claim this, you will have wisdom. We have nothing in ourselves, but we have everything through the Word.
What is creation? Creation is calling things not being as being through the Word. The Word is both the means and the sphere. As long as you have the Word, you have the means and the sphere. Thus, you can say, “Because I have the Word as the means and the sphere, things not being can come into being.” Learn to say, “Not being as being through the Word.” No longer am I apart from the Word. I am in the Word and with the Word. Hence, through the Word things not being come into being.
Now we come to the most important point: life is in the Word. “In Him was life” (1:4). The “Him” in 1:4 denotes the Word who was God and through whom all things came into being. In Him is life. Why did He create all things before He came to be life? Because in order for Him to be received as life there was the need of a receptacle, a receiver. Suppose He had not created anything, yet came to be life. To whom would He be life? Although He might be life, there would have been no receiver for Him as life. Thus, before He came to be life He created the heavens, the earth, and man with a spirit to receive Him. Zechariah 12:1 says that the Lord “stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him.” Thus, the heavens are for the earth, the earth is for man, and man was made with a spirit to receive God. Now the Word can come as life to be received by the man whom He created. Creation produced the receptacle for life.
We have seen that life is in the Word. Life can only be found in the expression of God. The Word, which is the expression and explanation of God, contains God as our life. When we receive the Word, we receive the life within it. Both the Word and the life are God Himself. The Word is the expression of God, and the life is the very content of God. When we hear the Word, we realize that God is expressed and explained; when we receive the Word, we receive God’s very content as life and are thereby born of God and become the children of God. The life in the Word is the very content of God.
Since verse 2 refers to the creation in Genesis 1, the mention of life in verse 4 should refer to the life indicated by the tree of life in Genesis 2. This is confirmed by John’s mention of the tree of life in Revelation 22. Since life is in Him, so He is life (John 11:25; 14:6), and came that man might have life (10:10).
Man was made as a vessel to contain God as life. However, by creation he was merely an empty vessel; he did not have genuine life. The created life of man is not genuine; genuine life is the divine life, which is in Christ. What kind of life did you have before you received Christ? It was, at best, a temporary life; it was not a permanent life, an everlasting life. Although it was an instant life, it was not a constant one. Before we received Christ we were uncertain just how long our instant life would endure. Thus, in a sense, before we were saved we did not have life. The life in Christ is eternal, constant, and permanent. All men need such a life, the divine and uncreated life that is in Christ. This life is for man, and man is the receiver of this life.