God sent a man, John the Baptist, to tell about the light so that everyone might believe because of his testimony. John himself was not the light; he was simply a witness to tell about the light. The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God. So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son. (John 1:6–14 NLT)
When John describes Jesus as the Word made human, there are a few things going on. His Greek readers may have understood that John’s use of the word Logos—Word, but also Logic—for Jesus was intended to convey that He is the source of all of creation and the source of order in the midst of chaos. His Jewish readers may have taken this idea a step further and connected the Word with Genesis 1, where God spoke creation into being, especially since John begins his gospel connecting the Word to the beginning of all things. In fact, F. F. Bruce notes in his book The Gospel of John, “The ‘word of God’ in the Old Testament denotes God in action, especially in creation, revelation, and deliverance.”
By calling Jesus the Word in the introduction to his letter, John establishes that Jesus is not simply an agent used by God to further His divine plan; John places Jesus firmly in the center of everything, both the source of the story and the story itself. Jesus is the Word and the Action.
God made Himself flesh because He is continually working to restore all things to Himself, and the incarnation advances this effort, at least in part, through giving visibility to the Kingdom of God and announcing Himself as King. How can you use your life today to further announce the Kingdom of God and Jesus as King?