How DO We Build a Relationship With God, Anyway?

John 1:1: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.” 

So, I read the study note (because I have always loved this verse in the Bible. It rings in my mind like music in my ears) and the study note says that based on the context of the word “with” in the original language this verse was written in, this verse indicates a “face-to-face relationship”. Meaning the Word was equal to God and personified. 

[And here it is…drumroll, please….] The Word is a Person  

So I looked up the cross-referenced verses:

1.       Col. 1:17 – “And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.”
                 a.       “He” refers to Jesus
                 b.      Note that this is written in the present but refers to the past… He is before all                                  things

2.       1 John 1:1-2 – “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have handled, concerning the Word of life – the life was [here is a sort of definition of what the “Word of life was/is] manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us”

a.       So this is another reference to the Word as a proper noun – as a person

b.      1 John 1:1-4 study note – “…these verses emphasize the personal experience of the apostles with the incarnate Word. – [underlines and emphasis added by me in all cases]

c.       So, a personal experience; the incarnate Word – the Word is a Person and in context here, also refers to Jesus

3.       John 1:14 – “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”

a.       In the proper context of the original language, you can replace the word “became” before flesh with the phrase “took on”.

b.      The Person (or Being) of the Word (which, by the way is full of grace and truth) took to Himself physical flesh and became human in appearance – so, His regular/normal/natural appearance, if you will, is not that of a human?

4.       Rev. 19:13 – “He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called ‘The Word of God’. And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses.”

a.       [side note: notice how heaven is never a proper noun in the Bible…is heaven really a place?]

b.      He = Jesus = The Word of God = God

c.       And who, but a King or Prince, do armies follow on horse-back as like in this image?

 There were other verses my Bible cross-referenced, but the above were the most pertinent.

So this helps guide me to an answer to a question that has bugged me for a long time: How do we really develop a relationship with God through Jesus? It’s an answer that everyone uses but I’ve never truly understood. But now it makes sense in a deep and meaningful way: You develop a relationship with God through Jesus by spending time with the Word – not the word, but the Word, if that makes sense. And the Word has two parts – the written: the Bible; and the “Spoken”: that which the Holy Spirit reveals to you/your heart in prayer.

 And He was there from before there was nothing – before nothing existed He was there with God and He is God.