The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

John 1:1-5, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

2 He was in the beginning with God.

3 All things came into being by Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.

4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.

5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

Many times it’s best to go back to the very beginning in order to grasp the meaning of what is being said.

John does that in these five verses. God is a Trinity, Father, Son, & Holy Spirit. They always existed

together long before there was a world was created. The word John uses for “Word” is ????? (logos). It is

a “vocalized expression of the mind.” We think something and then we express that thought in words. But

logos is also used to mean the personification of God the Son, as “the Word was God.” The context

determines whether the meaning of logos is a mere word or the Living Word, Jesus Christ. Here it means

Jesus Christ. He was the Creator of all things. Further, it was Jesus who gave life to all thing, man included.

There is also another word for word: ???? (rhema). It means a simple statement, pronouncement, or declaration.

It is by rhema, that the LORD “upholds all things by the word of His power (Heb. 1:3).

Jesus possesses life within Himself. His life is light, and He gives light to all mankind. The light that He

gives is physical light, the kind that overcomes darkness. That light is also a “divine understanding given

to the spirit and soul of all human beings.” Paul makes reference to this in Romans 1:19, when he

says, “…that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them.”

Funny thing about light. It overcomes darkness; but darkness never overcomes light. You can bring a

light into a dark room and it overcomes the darkness. How to bring darkness into a lighted room and

overcome the light, I’ve never figured out. One more thing: the word ????????? (katelaben) that means

to overcome, also means to understand. Thus, it is the light the Savior puts within us that helps us to

understand his Word. And Satan can never keep us from understanding God’s Word when we read it,

trusting the Holy Spirit to lead us. Sounds like He’s provided all we need. Yet He leaves it to us to pick

up the Bible and read!

We Love you and pray for you every day,

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas

“We never know that God is all we need

until He becomes all that we have.”