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 came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.

In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

John 1:1-5

These are the words Apostle John chose to open his gospel about Jesus — his testimony of who Jesus was and is: as God, as a man like us, and as a Son to God. And, of course, as the Savior of man, His creation.

It is not easy to wrap my finite brain around all that Scripture says about Jesus.

I’m always looking for the simple, straightforward way to understand what I need to know. I found help about Jesus as The Word in a couple of Greek words used by John and other New Testament writers.

Two words are translated as “word” in the New Testament: logos and rhema.

Both can refer to something spoken, written, or expressed in some way as God chooses. Both are revelation from God — what God is revealing to us. Our God is an expressive God!

In another blog post I shared an excerpt from our book Can I Really Hear God? which describes the difference between the Greek words rhema and logos, but here we’ll focus on logos. Why? Because that is what John called Jesus as he introduced Him: Logos, The Word.

A simple way to understand this Greek word is to think of both a textbook and a portrait. The textbook is written to express the whole of a subject in order to fully educate the student. A portrait is created to show an accurate visual representation of someone. John introduced his gospel by telling the reader, essentially, “Jesus is your textbook on God. He is the accurate portrait of God. You want to know who God is and what He looks like? Jesus is your answer.

As Hebrews 1:3 says, The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being…

Of course, extensive scrolls and writings already existed before Jesus came, in which God had expressed Himself to the world. Yet these were not the full picture. They were accurate, but incomplete. Why? Because the full revelation or expression of God’s love and mercy — His amazing grace — could not be seen until Jesus came to die for man’s sin, and redeem him.

Now, John says, we know the full story:

Jesus is the Word of God, fully revealed.

Allow me to illustrate this in a way not couched in Bible terms:

Jesus is the public relations department of the Trinity. Everything you need to know about God is made plain to all men in the Person of Jesus Christ. To know who God is, tell your friends to read the New Testament accounts of Jesus’ life. To focus on what he taught. To judge God — as they inevitably must anyway — by His sacrifice of Himself for them.

Jesus is the book you need to read about God.

Jesus is who you need to Google to understand God’s heart.

Jesus is the portrait, the picture, the final piece you need to make that puzzle complete in its picture of God.

The Old Testament has information scattered throughout which tell us who God is, but in Jesus, we find it all together. The servant. The wise teacher and life coach. The creator and redeemer. The faithful friend. The miracle worker. The healer. The lawgiver.

We could say that Jesus is the handy pocket version of who God is. But He is even better than a volume that fits in your pocket for handy reference. The Spirit of Jesus actually lives in your heart, so you never accidentally leave home without Him.