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Reading - In the Beginning, the Word (John 1:1-14)
There are certain passages in the Bible that cause one
to be overawed with the sovereignty and greatness of God. This to me is
one of them. John, out of the four gospel writers, shows us the heavenly
Jesus the eternal Son of God. He does not begin his gospel with the birth
of Christ on earth but with the expression of His eternal nature from
before time.
The phrase, 'In the beginning,' used in verse 1 is the same as the Greek
phrase used in the Septuagint (Greek translation of the Old Testament)
for Genesis 1:1. There it literally means, "when the beginning began
God was already there." Now John develops this to show Jesus as being
eternal by saying, "when the beginning began the Word, Christ, was
already there." Only God can have such an eternal nature, that is
no beginning, and John leaves us in no doubt from the outset of his gospel
that Jesus is God. Neither God the Father, nor God the Son is created,
both were in existence before any creation took place. Hebrews 7:3 confirms
this as we read that the Son of God had no 'beginning of days or end of
life,' He is eternal.
It is impossible for us to fully understand this with our humanly limited minds, but that does not stop the Bible from declaring such glorious truths that, although not able to comprehend naturally, we can meditate on spiritually. As we see this in our spirits we are encouraged to see that this God can do anything because He is beyond any human power or, indeed, spiritual power that would seek to come out against us.
This is further evidenced by the declaration in verse 3 that all things were created by Him. Note carefully, "all things". The Word of God offers no exceptions as the emphasis in this verse shows: 'apart from Him nothing came into being.' Why do we ever doubt our Lord? Every created being is under His control. Nothing can take Him by surprise and nothing can usurp Him from His position - He is the originator and the sustainer of all things.
John has yet one more revelation in these opening verses. It is significant that John, here, uses Old Testament terms to describe Jesus' coming to dwell among us. In verse 14 he employs the term "tabernacled" to describe Jesus' coming in the flesh, an Old Testament term for the dwelling of God amongst His people. In the desert the tabernacle was the dwelling place of God. Now God dwells amongst men in the person of Jesus. The significance of this statement cannot be overemphasised.
This one who is so mighty and so supreme is also, as verse 14 tells us, the only-begotten. The Greek word here, monogenes, is contrasted with the word for born, gennao in verse 13. Christ is the unique one, not born as we are but begotten. Begotten can never mean created.
We can only rightly understand this phrase 'only begotten' when used of the Son in the sense of an unoriginated relationship. This "begetting" does not mark the place in time when Jesus was born into this world, John does not deal with that aspect. But this is to do with the eternalness of the Son, there was never a time when He was not the Son, there was never a time when He was not God.
Yet this one was revealed for us all to see and come to know. What an
amazing miracle when we see that the beginning of this gospel takes us
back into eternity but shows just how relevant that is for our salvation.
Read John 5:21-27. Do you rightly honour the Son
"just as you honour the Father"? As you consider the power of
the Son, as Judge, Saviour and Life-giver, do you look to Him for life?