The apostle John wrote, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was in the beginning with God. ³ All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.” (Jn.1:1-3).

F D Bruner wrote that in these verses, John “does four things. First, he shows when the Word was : “In the beginning was the Word”; secondly, where the Word was : “and the Word was with God”; thirdly, what the Word was : “and the Word was God”; fourthly, in what way [of how] the Word was : “He was in the beginning with God”.” (John – A Commentary).

John began his gospel message by taking the reader back to the beginning and beyond the beginning into the eternal. John’s opening statement would have been a bit of a surprise to Jewish readers who were familiar with Gen.1:1 and who would have expected to read, “In the beginning God.” Instead, they read, “In the beginning … the Word.” In Genesis, “in the beginning” introduced the story of the “old” creation. As the reader would discover, John’s “in the beginning” would introduce him to the story of the “new” creation”.  

“In the beginning” points to the beginning of time and creation. That which is before the beginning is the eternal. Gen.1:1 is saying to us that in the beginning God was already there. That tells us that God is an eternal Being. In Psa.90:2, Moses wrote,

Before the mountains were born
Or You gave birth to the earth and the world,
Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.  (cf. Jer.10:10).

Next, Moses told us that this eternal God is the Creator of the heavens and the earth and all they contain. The Biblical testimony that God is the Creator is very pervasive and clear. The Bible teaches divine special creation. God created ex nihilo (out of nothing). (cf. Heb.11:3). God spoke creation into existence. Gen.1 says repeatedly, “Then God said….” Psa.33:6 says, “By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, And by the breath of His mouth all their host.” Creation testifies to the omniscience, omnipotence, and omnipresence of God. For example, Jer.10:12 says,

It is He who made the earth by His power,
Who established the world by His wisdom;
And by His understanding He has stretched out the heavens.

It is for this reason the psalmist declared in Psa.19:1

The heavens are telling of the glory of God;

And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.

Going back to Jn.1:1, we can paraphrase, “In the beginning the Word was already there (or, was already existing).” Who is the Word that John wrote about? The Word is the Lord Jesus Christ. John is saying that Jesus, who was there in the beginning of time and creation, is eternal. John opening statement tells his readers that Jesus is eternal and therefore, divine. Even before John introduced Jesus as man, he introduced Jesus as God.

In Gen.1:1 Moses did not try to prove the existence of God. He simply began with God and said this God is the Creator. For Moses, the truth that there is a God who is the Creator is axiomatic. John does something similar. He does not try to prove Jesus is God. He simply introduced Jesus as God. For John, the truth that Jesus is God is axiomatic.

John reinforced the teaching that the Word is eternal and therefore divine with the verb “was”.  The reader would have noted that the verb “was” is used four times in vss.1-2. The verb “was” is Greek imperfect tense and signifies timeless existence. (M. Harris EGGNT – John). Leon Morris wrote, “There never was a time when the Word was not. There never was a thing that did not depend on Him for its existence. The verb “was” is most naturally understood of the eternal existence of the Word : “the Word continually was”…. John is affirming that the Word existed before creation, which makes it clear that the Word was not created. It is of utmost importance to grasp this…. The Word is seen as greater than all things, greater than time, changeless as eternity.” (NICNT – John).

Do you believe that Jesus is eternal and divine? Do you believe that Jesus is God? In Jn.8:23 Jesus said to the Jews, “I am not of this world.” And then in vs.24 Jesus said to them, “unless you believe that I AM, you will die in your sins.” This truth applies to you also. This is not a lip-service confession. This is confessing with your heart, soul, mind and strength that Jesus is I AM, that Jesus is Yahweh, that Jesus is the eternal God. And unless you make this confession of belief, you will die in your sins. To die in your sins is to die without eternal salvation in Christ. To die in your sins means eternity in the lake of fire is waiting for you!!!