1. The Holy Scripture Throughout Has the Lord As Its Subject, and the Lord Embodies the Word

We read in John:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. This was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of people. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.... And the Word moreover became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as though of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:1-5, 14)

Again in the same Gospel:

...the light came into the world, but people loved darkness more than light, for their deeds were evil. (John 3:19)

And elsewhere in it:

While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may be children of light.... I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness. (John 12:36, 46)

It is apparent from this that the Lord is, from eternity, God, and that God Himself is the Lord who was born in the world. For we are told that the Word was with God, and that the Word was God. Also that without Him nothing was made that was made. And later we are told that the Word became flesh, and people beheld Him.

[2] Why the Lord is called the Word is little understood in the church. However, He is called the Word because the term “Word” symbolizes Divine truth itself or Divine wisdom itself, and the Lord embodies Divine truth itself or Divine wisdom itself. That, too, is why He is called the light, which is also said to have come into the world.

Because Divine wisdom and Divine love are united, and were united in the Lord from eternity, therefore we are told as well that “In Him was life, and the life was the light of people.” Life means Divine love, and light Divine wisdom.

This is the union meant by the statement that the Word was in the beginning with God and that God was the Word. With God means in God, for wisdom is present in love, and love in wisdom.

So, too, we find elsewhere in John:

...Father, glorify Me with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was. (John 17:5)

“With Yourself” means in Yourself. That, too, is why we are told, “And God was the Word.” And elsewhere that the Lord is in the Father, and the Father in Him, and that He and the Father are one.

Now because the Word is the Divine wisdom accompanying Divine love, it follows that it is Jehovah Himself, thus the Lord, by whom all things were made that were made, inasmuch as they were all created out of Divine love by means of Divine wisdom.

45. There Is One God, and the Lord Is That God

From the abundance of passages presented from the Word in the preceding section, it can be seen that the Lord is called Jehovah, the God of Israel and of Jacob, the Holy One of Israel, the Lord and God, as well as King, the Anointed, and David. And it can be seen from those passages — though so far as through a veil — that the Lord is God Himself, the origin and subject of the Word.

But even though people throughout the world know that there is one God, and no one possessed of sound reason denies it, it accordingly remains now to confirm it from the Word, and also that the Lord is that God.

[2] 1. That there is one God. This is confirmed by the following passages from the Word:

Jesus (said), “The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord. (Therefore) you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul....’ ” (Mark 12:29-30)

Hear, O Israel: Jehovah our God is one Jehovah! You shall love Jehovah your God with all your heart and with all your soul.... (Deuteronomy 6:4-5)

...one came to (Jesus) and said, “Good Teacher, what good thing must I do to have eternal life?” (Jesus) said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One — God.” (Matthew 19:16-17)

...that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone are Jehovah. (Isaiah 37:20)

I am Jehovah, and there is no other; there is no God besides Me.... ...that they may know from the rising of the sun and its setting that there is (no God) besides Me. I am Jehovah, and there is no other. (Isaiah 45:5-6)

O Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel, who dwells between the cherubim, You alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. (Isaiah 37:16)

Is there a God besides Me? (And) a Rock? I know not one. (Isaiah 44:8)

...who is God, except Jehovah? And what rock is there, except our God? (Psalms 18:31)

[3] 2. That the Lord is that God. This is confirmed by the following passages from the Word:

“Surely God is in you, and there is no other, no other God.” Truly You are God, who are hidden, O God of Israel, the Savior! (Isaiah 45:14-15)

Have not I, Jehovah? And there is no other God besides Me, a just God, and there is no Savior besides Me. Look to Me to be saved, all you ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other. (Isaiah 45:21-22)

I...am Jehovah, and besides Me there is no savior. (Isaiah 43:11)

I am Jehovah your God..., and you shall acknowledge no God but Me, and no savior but Me. (Hosea 13:4)

Thus said Jehovah, the King of Israel, and its Redeemer, Jehovah of Hosts: “I am the First and I am the Last, and besides Me there is no God.” (Isaiah 44:6)

...Jehovah of Hosts is His name, and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel. God of the whole earth shall He be called. (Isaiah 54:5)

In that day...Jehovah shall become King over all the earth. In that day there shall be one Jehovah, and His name one. (Zechariah 14:8-9)

Because the Lord alone is the Savior and Redeemer, and because we are told that Jehovah is the Savior and Redeemer, and none but Him, it follows that the one God is no other than the Lord.