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Romans.--Here the Lord is the Seed of David according to the flesh, declared to be
the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from
the dead. The opening thought is the presentation of Christ as the risen One.
Ephesians.--In the opening chapter Christ is shown as the One in Whom all who form
the Body were chosen before the foundation (or overthrow) of the world, and Who was
not only raised, but seated at the right hand of God far above all. That revelation
concerning Christ Himself made possible the associated revelation concerning the Church
which is His Body.
Revelation.--The Lord says, "I am He that liveth, and was dead; and behold, I am
alive for evermore, Amen". Here in the vision of chapter 1: we have the great
Priest-King after the order of Melchisedec.
The presentation of Christ by John, however, differs from that of the synoptic
Gospels. Before He is presented as either Son of God, Son of man, Son of David, or
Son of Abraham, He is revealed as "The Word". While the repeated use of the name
"Word" by the Targumists (paraphrase of the Hebrew in Chaldee) could be adduced to
illustrate the way in which this word had become generally recognized as a title of the
Lord, the meaning is evident by a comparison of verses 1 and 18 of John 1::--
a | In the beginning was the Word.
b | The Word was with God.
c | The Word was God.
* * * * *
c | No man hath seen God.
b | In the bosom of the Father.
a | He hath declared Him.
It is the function of a word to make manifest the inaudible thought, and this is plainly
seen in the last clause, "He hath declared Him". Exegeomai means to lead or bring out,
and is translated "declared" and "tell". There is a parallel here with the revelation of
Col. 1: 15, but the latter is upon a higher plane. This we may set out as follows:--
John 1:
Colossians 1:
The Word.
The Image.
The Only Begotten.
The Firstborn.
All things made.
All things created.
His fullness-full of grace and truth.
All fullness.
The Word made flesh.
The body of His flesh.
Preferred before . . . . . was before.
He is before all things.
He has pre-eminence.
First, let us observe that there is no such parallel as this discoverable in the other
Gospels. Here John is evidently ministering truth that approximates to the dispensation
of the Mystery, without actually touching it. Having observed the likeness we must also
note the difference.