In the Beginning
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
(Genesis 1:1, NASB)
The Beginning
The Bible starts at the beginning. Well, the beginning for us. But God was before the beginning. Otherwise, He wouldn’t have been there to create.
God was before. He has always been. Without beginning. Without end. God is eternal.
Sometime in eternity past, God created. God did so in accord with His sovereign will and good pleasure. That was our beginning. Not His. In our beginning, God had already existed for eternity.
The Apostle John wrote his Gospel with the purpose of bringing about belief in Jesus, the Christ. The message of this Gospel is worth your most serious attention. The overall message is Come, Believe, Follow. The Apostle John wants his readers to believe so that they will have life. Abundant life. Everlasting life in Christ.
As John’s account begins, he uses language like we already read in Genesis.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (John 1:1, NASB)
At first glance, it seems like John is starting at the beginning. But he isn’t. He’s starting before.
In English, word order helps us to understand what the subject of the sentence is. Unfortunately, most of our modern English translations have obscured the subject of this verse to make a smoother reading.
The Word (Logos) of God
This verse has three clauses. The subject of each clause is The Word. This is made clear in the second and third clause. However, most translations read as if the subject of the first clause is The beginning. But it isn’t. The Word (logos) is the subject throughout.
The clumsiness becomes apparent immediately if we attempt to keep the proper subject in its proper place.
My literal translation: The Word in the beginning was, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Clumsy. In order to smooth this out, a modern paraphrase adds a word to help understand the original intent.
In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. (John 1:1, NLT)
While accurately capturing the sense, this rendering likewise obscures the subject. John’s not talking about the beginning. He is talking about the Word. He’s telling us about Jesus. About the Christ, the Messiah.
Some people think Jesus is a created being. He isn’t. This false teaching that exists in our day was around in John’s time, too. Just like Genesis 1:1 assumed the pre-existence of the Creator God, John 1:1 tells us of the pre-existence of Christ.
Go back all the way to the beginning. There - in the beginning - the Word already existed. All the way back in the beginning, the Word already was. The beginning of creation was not the beginning of Christ.
The Word, in the beginning, already was.
The pre-existent Son of God was with the pre-existent Father (and Holy Spirit, too!) in the beginning. The triune God was fully present. One God, three Persons. All equally eternal.
If God wasn’t already existing in the beginning, He couldn’t have created the world. That’s why Genesis 1:1 assumes His pre-existence. Christ was there, with the Father, so that He could create the world by Himself, through Himself, and for Himself.
Behold the glorious Christ who both created and sustains all of creation for the glory of God:
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities-- all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. (Colossians 1:15-17, NASB)
Worship Him, the eternal Creator. For He is worthy of your praise.
(If you would like to hear more about this article you can listen to the podcast episode: In The Beginning)
