Jesus, The Eternal Word

Jesus, The Eternal Word

Jn. 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

In the gospels of Matthew and Luke, it is the human genealogy that is in focus, showing Christ is fully human, and has the perfect credentials to be the Messiah of Israel. He not only is part of Adam’s family, but He is of the seed of Abraham, and of the seed of Jacob/Israel. Most importantly to the Messianic claim, He is of the seed of David.

In John’s Gospel, the focus is on His divine pedigree. He is shown to have been present “in the beginning.” Not just that, but that He was always face to face with God, or equal with God. To be equal with God, you must be God, and so John proclaims Him to be. He, the Word, was always being God.

I have heard a multitude of teachings on John 1:1-3. However, what most miss is the most convincing proof of the divinity of Jesus. They pass right over the little verb, was. I hope to show you how powerful and full of meaning this verb actually is.

The verb, was, is the Greek ἦν, ēn (in all 3 uses above), which is the imperfect active of eimi, the verb of being. The imperfect active denotes, continuous action in the past. One Greek grammar notes that the Imperfect,

“Implies that a certain thing was going on at a specified time (the past), but excludes the assertion that the end of the action was attained.” (Dana and Mantey, A Manual Grammar of the Greek New Testament, 1927. 187)

It is an action that is on going in the past, which never reaches a completion or end. It is correctly translated as, was always being. Thus, “In the beginning was always being the Word, and the Word was always being with(or, face to face with) God, and the Word was always being God.” John does this to demonstrate the eternal existence of the Word (Logos) of God.

He repeats this truth in verse 2, “The same was in the beginning with God.” Again, he uses the same verb, so we have, “The same one was always being in the beginning with God.” This again restates the truth of the Word’s eternal existence. There was never a time when the Word was not, and there will never be time when it is not. The Word is as eternal as God is, because the Word was always being God.

The Word was always being with God - The Logos was always with or facing (pros) God. Dr. Kenneth Wuest, a renowned Greek scholar, states that, “with” [pros] designates an “active communion.” The word is from a preposition, which literally means, ‘facing.’ It speaks of “a fellowship that existed from all eternity and will exist to all eternity.” (Wuest, Dr. Kenneth, Golden Nuggets From the Greek New Testament, 1940. p.51)

The Greek authorities, Robertson and Davies, state this phrase means, “The Logos was face to face with God.” (Robertson, AT and Davies, W. Hersey, A New Short Grammar of the Greek New Testament, 1958, p.260)  Dr. Hershel Hobbs notes,

“The Greek phrase rendered ‘with God’ is pros ton Theon, face to face with God. This entails both equality and intimacy. In ancient times if one entertained two guests of equal rank they must be seated on an equal basis. If one were tall and the other short, the latter was seated on pillows so that when he looked at the former their eyes met on an even line. Neither must look down upon or up to the other. They saw eye to eye. They were pros, face to face, with each other. They were equal. So when John said that the Word was pros ton Theon he meant that they were equal. So Christ was not a lesser created being of God. He was equal with God.” (Hobbs, Dr. Hershel. An Exposition of the Gospel of John, 1968. Pp. 25-26)

The Logos was equal to God, because “the Word was always being God.”

THE AGENT OF CREATION

Jn. 1:3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

John makes it clear that it was through (the agency of) the Word, that all things were made, and apart from, or without Him, nothing was made. What exactly does John mean by ‘all things’? The Apostle Paul answers this for us in his letter to the Colossians, when he says,

16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. [Col. 1:16-17]

Everything seen and unseen was made by Him. Not only did He, the Word, who is the Son[Col. 1:13], create all things, they were created “for Him.” Not just for Him, but all things consist, or stand together (continue to exist) by Him. This Word, the Son, was not only the agent whereby all things were created, but they were created for His purpose and pleasure, and all things continue, stand or are held together by Him.

Anything created is rightfully called a thing. The writer of Hebrews agrees when he writes that He, the Son, is “upholding all things by the word of His power.” [Heb. 1:3]

The Greek scholar, John A.T. Robertson comments, “The whole of creative activity is summed up in Christ including the angels in heaven and everything on earth.” Paul also witnesses to the pre-existence of Christ, God’s Son, when he says, “he is before all things.” If all things were made by Him, then it stands to reason that He must exist before all things, and He Himself is not one of those things. He is not a created being or thing, as some pseudo teachers claim.

The Second Century Church Father, Theophulis of Antioch, states this concerning the Word of God.

God, then, having His own Word internal within His own bowels, begat Him, emitting Him along with His own wisdom before all things. He had this Word as a helper in the things that were created by Him, and by Him He made all things. He (the Word) is called "governing principle,” because He rules, and is Lord of all things fashioned by Him. He (the Word), then, being Spirit of God, and governing principle (arche - beginning), and wisdom, and power of the highest, came down upon the prophets, and through them spoke of the creation of the world and of all other things. (Theophulis, Ad Autolychus, II.10)

Here, Theophulis remarks that God, having His own Word internal within Himself, “begat Him, emitting Him along with His own wisdom before all things.” The Word eternally existed within the bowels, or the depths of God’s Being. He then begat Him. How did God begat His Word? He emitted Him, or sent Him forth, along with His own Wisdom. The Word of God and the Wisdom of God were sent forth, before all things, i.e., before any of the created order came into being.

Jesus said it this way, "Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me. He said that He "proceeded forth" from God. In many places He speaks of being "sent forth from God".

This Word, which proceeded from the very depths of God’s being, is called “governing principle.” This is a translation of the Greek, αρχή arche, which is generally rendered beginning. In fact both Paul (Col. 1:18) and John (Rev. 1:8, 3:14, 21:6, 22:13) record this as one of the names of Jesus the Messiah.

Theophulis states later,

Since the Logos is God and derived his nature from God, whenever the Father of the universe wills to do so he sends him into some place where he is present and is heard and seen. He is sent by God and is present in a place. (Theophulis, Ad Autolychus, II.22)

The Father of the universe, wills to send the Logos, who is “derived from His nature,” into some place to be present, seen, and heard. He sends His Word to be His manifested representative in the created, material world. He gives an example of this in his writing, when Adam heard the voice of the Lord walking in the midst of the garden.

Indeed the God and Father of the universe is unconfined and is not present ίη a place, for there is nο (solitary) plαce of his rest [Isa. 66:1]. But his Logos, through whom he made all things, who is his Power αnd Wisdom [1Cor. 1: 24], assuming the role (face) of the Father and Lord of the Universe, was present ίη paradise ίη the role of God and conversed with Adam. For the divine scripture itself teaches us that Adam said that he 'heard the voice'. What is the ‘voice' but the Logos of God, who is also his Son?-not as the poets and mythographers describe sons of gods begotten of sexual union, but as the truth describes the Logos, always innate ίη the heart of God.
For before anything came into existence he had this as his Counsellor, his οwη Mind and Intelligence. When God wished to make what he had planned to make, he generated this Logos, making him external, as the firstborn Οf all creαtion [Col. 1:15]. He did not deprive himself of the Logos but generated the Logos and constantly converses with his Logos.

Where Theophulis states that the Logos, “assuming the role of the Father and Lord of the Universe,” he intends this. The word translated role, is the Greek word, prosopon, which means, face or appearance. Undoubtedly, this was not the first time God had walked in the garden of Eden with Adam. The sound or voice Adam heard, was a familiar one. So, when Adam and Eve heard and recognized the voice (sound) of YHWH Elohim, walking in the midst of the garden, they hid themselves from the prosopon, presence or face (LXX) of the Lord God. The Word was God’s Apostle to the created order, being the visible representative of the invisible God.

Theophulis notes when God wanted to make what He had planned to, He “generated His Logos, making Him external, as the firstborn of all creation [Col. 1:15].” Notice he says the Logos was not created, but generated from Him, making Him, the Logos, external, but not something other than Himself. Even though the Logos is said to be external, God (the Father/Source) “constantly converses with His Logos.”

Theophulis’ thinking here seems to be, that since God is unconfined and unable to restrict Himself to any one place [Isa. 66:1], when He wants to demonstrate Himself in a specific place and time, i.e., walking in the garden (space) in the cool of the day (time), appearing to Moses as a burning bush, or accompanying the Israelites in the wilderness in a cloud, or pillar of fire, etc., He sends forth His Word in His place, as His spokesman. It is from this we can see the origin of the idea of the Word as God’s Apostle.

The cause for this appears to be that when God created, He now had to deal with something which He had never before, i.e., time and space. How does God, the Infinite, Omnipresent One manifest Himself in time and space? He decided to send forth His Word, being His own Counsellor, Mind, and Intelligence to represent Him to creation. Who better to know the Mind and Will of God, than God Himself (Rom. 8:27)?

We also have this,

Jn. 1:18 No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.

No man has seen the fulness of God. Ever. However, the only unique Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared (interprets, shows the way of) the Father.