John 1:1-18

Read John 1:1-18 in English: https://www.youversion.com/bible/59/jhn.1.esv
Read John 1:1-18 in Chinese: https://www.youversion.com/bible/40/jhn.1.cnv

It is not until verse 17 that the Word is named. Jesus Christ: the Word of God become flesh.  

• As the Word of God, Jesus existed in the beginning with God.
• As the Word of God, Jesus was God.
• As the Word of God, Jesus was present in the creation of all things.
• As the Word of God, Jesus is the source of life and light to all.

What does it mean for John to speak of Jesus as "the only son of the Father" in verses 14? Some people have wrongly understood divine sonship as indicating that there was a time when the Word was not, that the Word was a created being. They would teach that Jesus, though perhaps divine in some sense, is less divine than God the Father.

The problems with this view are evident right in the text:

• Verse one explicitly ties the activity of the Word in creation with the activity of God Himself (compare John 1:1 to Genesis 1:1)
• Verse one clearly states that "the Word was God" - it can't get much clearer than that!
• Verse 3 states that without him "was not anything made that was made." Everything created being was made through him, therefore He himself cannot be a created being.
• The Word is called the source of light and life.
• Verse 18 states that the Word was "the only God who is at the Father's side."

So what does it mean for Jesus to be "the only son of the Father"? I think the answer is right in front of us in the previous verse.  In John 1:12-13, we are promised that everyone who receives Jesus and believes in the name of Jesus is given the right to become children of God. This is adoption language.  Those who were not children of God, legally become children of God through adoption into his family.  So there are many other children of God who have become children through the Father's act of adoption.  Jesus, however is set apart from every other child of God in that He is the Son who shares the Father's essence.  He is not an adopted child of God, but is the only Son of the Father's nature. To call Jesus the Son of God does not speak of his creation, but of his nature and position.   

The amazing thing John is pointing out is not only that the Father's only true son came to us to reveal God to us, but that through the Son we might also become children of God if we only would receive the Son by believing in His name.  That is why John wrote his gospel. That we might receive the Son and thereby become sons and daughters of the Most High God.