The Bible opens with four words: “In the beginning God.” (Genesis 1:1) Before anything else existed, God was already present and engaged in a powerful relationship. Genesis 1:1–3 allows us to catch a glimpse of it:
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Then God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light.” Genesis 1:1–3
The three persons of God are readily visible in these first three verses, communicating together in perfect unity. The Father purposed and initiated the words of Creation. The Spirit hovered over the waters with the attentiveness of a mother bird. And—though not directly named, Jesus, the Word, through whom the Father speaks creation into existence, was breaking the darkness with His light. Then John pulls back the curtain centuries later:
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.” John 1:1–3
Every “And God said” in Genesis Chapter 1 is the Father speaking the Word–Jesus, the Son. In the book of John, “The Word” carries two profound layers of meaning, and both are rich with implication for our daily lives.
The first is the “inner word” or the thought living inside the mind before it is spoken. Your thoughts are not separate from you; they are you expressing yourself from the inside. We can beautifully imagine Jesus as the inner Thought of the Father who was made visible for humanity. Just as we cannot fully explain how thought arises within us, and is inseparable from the deepest part of us, so, too, is the relationship between the Father and the Son a great mystery that compels us to worship and adore God rather than trying to fully fathom Him from our limited earthly perspective.
The second is the “spoken word” or speech that makes the hidden mind known to others. Jesus is this Word of the Father. He doesn’t merely carry a message about the Father; He is the message. He doesn’t point to the truth; He is the Truth. He doesn’t tell you the way; He is the Way. Indeed, He said: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. John 14:6
Jesus makes the unseen Spirit of God known to humanity, not from a distance, but from inside a relationship.
I’m not sure there is a more beautiful truth God has allowed me to write than this!
My friend, this magnificent truth is personally compelling in our daily lives. Because of Jesus and His gift of salvation, we can have a deep and personal relationship with the Creator and Sustainer of all things!
We live in a world that often seems devoid of purpose, full of pain and overwhelming darkness. It feels void, much like the first day of Creation is described. Maybe we’re in a marriage that has become suffocated by apathy. Perhaps our career has tanked or lost any meaning for us. We’ve all felt our minds cycling the same anxious thoughts over and over again at 2 a.m. and felt helpless and unable to have peace about the path ahead.
But, my friend, the same Triune God who spoke chaos into order desires to speak into every area of our lives today!!!
The Father still purposes good for us, not recklessly or randomly, but with the same intentional love that shaped a world out of nothing. The situation that feels most chaotic to you is not chaos to Him. He is a good Father, and He loves you more than you love yourself. Consider these thoughts God inspired in me from the Bible to describe our Heavenly Father:
The goodness of the Heavenly Father is unlike anything we could manufacture or deserve. Like a father who spots his child still far down the road and breaks into a run—arms open, tears falling, dignity forgotten—the Father meets us when we return to Him, not with a ledger of our wrongs, but with compassion that overwhelms us before we can even finish our apology. Luke 15:20
He doesn’t leave us as distant subjects cowering before a king; He draws us close so we know we can cry out “Abba,” which is the most intimate word a child has for their father, because that is precisely what we are. (Romans 8:15) “Abba” is an Aramaic word that translates directly to “Daddy” or “Papa,” the intimate, informal word a small child would use for their father, rather than the more formal word for “father.” It’s significant because it wasn’t a word typically used by Jewish people when addressing God. It was considered too familiar, almost irreverent. Jesus used it Himself in the Garden of Gethsemane (Mark 14:36), which was radical for its time. The fact that Paul says God’s Spirit enables us to use this same word is the whole point:it signals that we’ve been brought into that same closeness Jesus himself has with the Father. Not servants addressing a master, but children calling out to their Father.
Finally, Jesus reminds us that even broken, imperfect human fathers know how to give good things to their children. Thus, how much more does the Father, who is goodness itself, delight in pouring out gifts on those who ask? (Matthew 7:11)
The Father’s goodness toward us is not because we have earned it; but because that is simply who He is.
Then consider Jesus, the Son, the living Word Who still speaks to us. The same voice that called light from darkness, that called Lazarus from the tomb, that said, “Peace, be still!” to a stormy sea (Mark 4:39), meets us exactly where we are, through His written Word. When we are born again, we are made spiritually alive in Christ and we obtain the marvelous gift of intimacy. When we open our Bible, we are no longer intellectually consulting a religious document. We are listening to the eternal Word speak directly into whatever darkness we are in today. Consider these thoughts from God’s Word:
Before the new birth, the things of God are simply foolishness to the natural mind, impossible to receive because they can only be discerned spiritually. (1 Corinthians 2:14) But at the moment of spiritual birth, the same words that were once meaningless beyond our intellect suddenly have weight, depth, and a personal quality, because the Spirit of truth has come to guide that newly alive heart into all truth. (John 16:13) And the Word becomes illuminated, not as any ordinary text—but alive and active, cutting through the confusion and revealing the very depths of who we are and the reality of who God is. (Hebrews 4:12) This is one of the clearest signs of being born again—that is, when we experience the power of God’s Word transforming us to desire to be more like Jesus.
And finally, there is the Holy Spirit, whom Jesus called our “Helper” and “Advocate,” whom we will talk about more tomorrow.
My friend, Jesus, the greatest expression of the Father and only way to Him, desires to be our greatest Friend. He desires to light our way. When we are born again, and we allow Him to be Lord of our lives, He lights our way through the darkness. This is still as true today as it was in the beginning:
“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” John 1:5
It will be true tomorrow. Because Jesus is both the eternal inner Thought of God and His perfect spoken Word, we can trust Him completely in the places where our own understanding ends. He didn’t just give us information about the Father; His life was a revelation of the greatest Father every human longs to know.
You might say, “Well, so what? Why does this matter to me?”
My friend, this truth means that every valley in our lives can become our greatest opportunity. A day that begins with high anxiety can be fully navigated by God’s Word and His loving presence. Like Jesus, we can trust Him 100%. He made the world; He made us. He desires to delight in us.
When we are in Christ, we are overcomers.
Prayer:
Father, I come to You not because I have it together, but because You loved me long before I even knew I needed You. You created a world out of nothing, and You are purposing something out of all the circumstances of my life. I don’t need to understand it. I just need to know You better. Help me to trust You. I need You. Speak to me. I am listening. I want to know You, not just know about You. Be near. You know what needs to change. I give You space to change me. I thank You for inviting me into the experience of this relationship. You deserve the glory and honor forever and ever in my life. In the name of Jesus, Amen.
One Response
To God be the glory, for the things he has done