Rhonda Adamson Writes!!!

(NIV)1:1 & 2:"In the beginning was the Word," = Jesus eternally existed.

"And the Word was with God" = Jesus co-existed with God.

"And the Word was God" = Jesus equals God.

"He was with God in the beginning." = A person, not just a philosophical concept, such as was common in ancient thinking, A person named Jesus co-existed with God eternally.

      The Jewish and Greek backgrounds for "Logos" or "the Word" include concepts of creative power, the reason for the world and natural events, and the reason for morality.  The Apostle John uses the word "Logos" to go beyond philosopher's definitions and to declare in verses four and five that the "Logos" gave life, and that life gives light to mankind. 

      The revelation that there is "Logos" which not only gave life through creation, but also gives spiritual light to mankind certainly went beyond ancient ideas about the universe.  The Greeks worshipped many gods, but none of those gods could give both light and spiritual life. In fact, there are countless mythological stories about gods who could not even control their own passions.  These gods certainly could not show mankind how to fully live.

     So John the beloved says that this Logos who existed in the beginning was both with God and was God.  This Logos created all that was made and then this Logos went beyond mere existence and mere creation.  This Logos went into the realm of interacting with mankind by giving spiritual life to all who would trust and be faithful to God.

      Verses one and two look like a logical and literary formula designed to inform readers of the truth and counteract falsehoods.  My Full Life Study Bible says on page 1580, "According to several ancient sources, the elderly apostle John, while residing at Ephesus, was requested by the elders of Asia to write this "spiritual gospel" in order to counteract and refute a dangerous heresy about the nature, person and deity of Jesus led by a persuasive Jew named Cerinthus.  John's Gospel continues to serve the church as a profound theological statement about "the truth" as it is incarnate in Jesus Christ."

The Word in Life Study Bible says on page 1856, "It is difficult to say with certainty to whom this Gospel was addressed.  It uses both Jewish and Greek thought forms in its presentation of Christ, and appears to have been written for the widest possible readership.  Whoever the intended audience was, the purpose of the book is clear: that through this document they would come to saving faith in Christ (John 20:31).

It is widely believed that the John who wrote the Gospel is the one who, late in his life, was exiled for a time on the island of Patmos in the Aegean Sea, where he wrote the Book of Revelation (Rev. 1:9).  According to tradition, John was eventually allowed to return to Ephesus, where he died sometime after Trajan became emperor of Rome in AD 98.  Thus the Gospel is believed to have been written in Ephesus sometime during the 90s."

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