 The triune God holds many attributes: He is loving, He is powerful, He is omnipotent. He is also the Maker, better said, the Artist. God the artist is revealed through Christ as recorded in the Gospel of John, as light, life, and love. This is not limited to the traditional singular thought of God as Maker, being that He created the Heavens and the earth. God the artist goes even beyond that, and this is seen in the gospel of John as Jesus, as the Word of God made flesh1, paints light into a hurting and broken world. Christ as God as Creator, In His counterculture nature, cares for culture in the exact way that it needs. He identifies the inferior, loves them in their current state, and He identifies with the lowly as a unique way to minister to those who hunger and thirst. He then sees them as they are, gets to know them, and loves them with the greatest love in existence. He paints color and abundance into the world as well as individual lives that otherwise would remain dreadfully blank canvases stuck in pain and death. This reality is seen in, though it is not limited to, four aspects. To begin, one must go all the way to the beginning, as John did. He intentionally chose to reflect Genesis 1 in the very beginning of His gospel account and this is worth deep consideration. Another reason is that there are many examples of God the artist, when Christ paints with light and His creative nature, in the gospel of John arguably more than any other gospel. A few examples of this would include the miracle at the wedding at Cana, or Jesus with the woman at Samaria. This mission of Jesus holds transformative innovation, and this is seen in the Gospel of John and into Revelation when as tradition holds, the same author records His visions of Christ and New Creation.  In the beginning of the Gospel of John, the writer gloriously echoes Genesis 1, which is perhaps the most creative passage in all of scripture. John 1:3 reads, “Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.”1 Two verses later, the author embodies Christ’s mission, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”2 The gospel is the most tangible art in existence, available to every human to feast on. Commentator Fredrick Dale Bruner writes, “One feels on holy ground when entering the Prologue to the Gospel. Here we have the overture to the symphony of the whole gospel, the preface to the greatest story ever told, the introduction to history’s central fact, the foreword to the Last Word, and the preamble to the realities most trusted by the worldwide Church.”3 John 1 is sought after and beloved. Another aspect of this passage worth noting is that John intentionally tells of the divinity of Christ (though he still embraces Christ’s humanity), connecting Genesis 1 to John 1 and connecting God the Father to Christ the Son. If Christ the Son, quite literally is God, the eternal God revealed in the flesh, then He certainly holds creative nature. _________________________________________ 1 John 1:3 (NIV) 2 John 1:5 (NIV) 3 Frederick Dale Bruner. 2012. The Gospel of John : A Commentary. A Commentary. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans. https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=sso&db=nlebk&AN=1058482&authtype= shib&site=eds-live&scope=site.  Bruner paints a rich picture, demonstrating the artistic innovation of Christ: “In the Prologue’s second paragraph (“The Word from Creation to the Cross-Resurrection Church,” vv. 3–5) we learn that the Word is not only divine but is also the agent of both the world’s creation and the world’s salvation. Here this salvation is called the world’s “Life,” and its revelation the world’s “Light.” We even get intimations in this compact paragraph of how this saving Life and Light came classically into effect and view — in the Crucifixion (“the darkness did not put it out”) and in the conjoined Resurrection (“this Light shines on in the darkness”). This Light continues to “shine on” in the faithful witness to Jesus Christ by his embattled, crucified, but constantly resurrected Church.”4 This commentator notes that Christ is in fact the “agent” or in other words, the “artist” of both the creation of the world and the creation of salvation, drawing from the key words, “light” and “life.” Going back to verse 3, which reads, “Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.”5 Christ was innovating from the start, but He also was innovating in His life all the way to the cross. The resurrection was a grand culmination of this innovation, as it did not stop there. The Church itself is constantly being resurrected. Adam W. Day of Tyndale Theological Seminary argues that John uses Kingdom Language. Drawing from Jesus’ meeting with Nicodemus by night in John 3, Day insists that the Kingdom of God and eternal life is a narrative frame in Jesus’ life in which John honed in on.6 The well known verse in this passage, when Jesus states, “Truly, truly I say to you, unless one is born again, they cannot see the kingdom of God.”7 Jesus’ words hold creativity. The act of being born again is an innovative process which starts with transformation and continues with this constant resurrection. _________________________________________ 4 Frederick Dale Bruner. 2012. The Gospel of John : A Commentary. A Commentary. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans. https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=sso&db=nlebk&AN=1058482&authtype= shib&site=eds-live&scope=site. 5 John 1:3 (NIV) 6 Day, Adam Warner. 2022. “My Kingdom Is Not of This World: The Kingdom of God as a Narrative Frame in the Gospel of John.” Bulletin for Biblical Research 32 (4): 417–38. doi:10.5325/bullbiblrese.32.4.0417. 7 John 3:3 (ESV)  Creativity can be drawn and seen from most if not all of the stories recorded in the book of John. John 1:1-18 holds such rich revelation, though creativity in the Johannine corpus is not limited to this passage. The miracle at the wedding at Cana tells of fresh innovation, signified by water being transformed into wine, and in that, bringing joy to the attendees of the wedding. Significantly, Joel Elowsky shares that this miracle points to the cross of calvary, the eucharist, and the ultimate eschatolgical banquet.8 Jesus’s use of poetic, richly visual, and metaphorical language carries the essence of creativity, and this is not for nothing. This is so that Jesus’ message may resonate and penetrate into the hearts of those who hear it. This is seen in Jesus’ interaction with the Samaritan woman. He said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up in eternal life.”9 Not only does this interaction display the holy and artistic visual aspects of Jesus’ words that give them all the more meaning, but this interaction once again displays transformative innovation, as the samaritan woman is led to Christ. Michael M. Winter, in elaborating on Jesus’ use of imagery, writes, _________________________________________ 8 Elowsky, Joel C. 2023. “The Wedding of Cana in the Interpretation of the Early Church.” Concordia Journal 49 (3): 55–66. https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=sso&db=lsdar&AN=ATLAiFZK23091800 0283&authtype=shib&site=eds-live&scope=site. 9 John 4:13-14 (ESV)  “The most profound experiences of the human heart cannot be conveyed adequately by prose; they must have something like poetry as their vehicle, where symbolism and imagery can evoke what plain words cannot do. It is clear that religious truths come into this category, not only as we perceive them, but also as God offers them. The richest and deepest truths of religion exceed the bounds of definition in prose or in logical categories; they too require a more comprehensive medium.”10 There is also something profound about how He utilizes nature, creation, for His source of imagery. A few other examples of Jesus’ use of pungent visual to communicate profound realities of the gospel and the Kingdom of God include, the Rivers of Living Water told of in John 7:37-39, Jesus explaining how He is the Light of the World in John 8:12-30, Jesus explaining how He is the Good Shepherd, a common theme through scripture, in John 10:1-21, and Jesus explaining how He is the True Vine in John 15:1-17. These passages are beloved and held dear, offering hope and revelation. Another example of God the Artist through Christ Revealed in the Gospel of John and The Art and the Transformative Innovation of the Mission of Jesus is in Jesus’ countercultural nature. In John 5:1-17, Jesus healed at the pool of Bethesda on the sabbath. This was rebuked in Jewish, specifically pharisaic culture. Though Jesus upheld and respected His jewish heritage, He prioritized the heart, the spirit, the sanctification, the forgiveness, and the healing. This was a brushstroke of New Creation. When Jesus healed the woman with the issue of blood, He demonstrated stillness and tenderness. He was on the way to heal Jairus’s daughter, which was an urgent matter, and yet Jesus remained still and intentional with this woman in need right in front of Him, remaining in a posture of trust. _________________________________________ 10 Winter, Michael M. 1984. “Jesus’s Use of Imagery.” The Way 24 (2): 124–32. https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=sso&db=lsdar&AN=CPLI0000119664&a uthtype=shib&site=eds-live&scope=site.  Lastly, Jesus washed His disciple’s feet. J.G. Van Der Watt argues that interpreting this passage with the application of solely humility is not adequate. He writes, “It will be shown by means of a close exegetical reading of the text that the idea of Jesus implying that his disciples should become like slaves in humiliating service is not adequate. By exploring some ancient social practices of washing feet and relating it to this context, it will be argued that Jesus rather illustrates the nature of intense love by washing the feet of his disciples.”13 Jesus, once again paints light into the dark world in which He lived. This was a counter cultural act of not only humility and servanthood, but also intense love. Each and every one of these instances not only contribute to the gospel and the mission of Jesus, but that also bring glimmers and fragments of New Creation to the present world. The book of Revelation falls within the Johaninne corpus, and it is closely connected to the Gospel of John as well as letters John 1, 2, and 3. The book of Revelation brings to fruition the glimmers of fragments of New Creation in the Gospel of John. It is a book about discipleship with Jesus, hope for His followers, and renewal. The glimpses of renewal that the Gospel of John points to springs into full abundance with the book of Revelation. _________________________________________ 13 Van der Watt, J G. (Jan Gabriël). 2017. “The Meaning of Jesus Washing the Feet of His Disciples (John 13).” Neotestamentica 51 (1): 25–39. https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=sso&db=lsdar&AN=ATLAiFZU18013100 0159&authtype=shib&site=eds-live&scope=site.  John Christopher Thomas in sharing his pentecostal view on New Creation writes,“The present tense verb “make” suggests that God is even now making all things new, that he continues to be active in his work of what might be called “new creation.””14 This alludes to the fact that Kingdom Creativity has always been in action and will always be in action.
The gospel of John demonstrates that art is not limited to the conventional (though beautiful) mediums the world sees it to be, such as painting, photography, filmmaking, or pottery. Though what is done with human hands, made for the glory of God, is a fragrant offering, art goes beyond these things. Art is painting newness into what was tired, life into what was dead, and abundance into what was monotonous. It is like a stream in the desert. This is exactly what Jesus displayed and carried, pouring light, life, and love into individuals and culture as a whole. It is all encompassing of His gospel and His mission from creation, to His life on earth, into New Creation and eternity. _________________________________________ 14 Thomas, John Christopher. 2021. “Pentecostal Reflections on Revelation and the ‘New Creation.’” Australasian Pentecostal Studies 22 (1): 61–70. https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=sso&db=lsdar&AN=ATLAiGW72110190 00551&authtype=shib&site=eds-live&scope=site.
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