In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1: 1)
These divine words of Genesis 1:1 have held men and angels alike in awe for millennia since they were caused to be written by the Spirit of God. Just ten words. Just one sentence. Yet, in it we have the foundation of all that now is, and all that will ever be. In this teaching, we begin to take a closer look at the message of God to us and His purpose in making these particular words the beginning of the Scripture.
The Literal Beginning
In both the Hebrew (reshith) and the Greek (arche), the primary sense of the word is with respect to time. The idea is that of the starting point of a time-measured period or existence.
This is, no doubt, the sense in which it is used in our text above. Significantly, it is also the sense in which it is used in John 1: 1-3, a text which, on account of the issue of the deity of Christ, has assumed a place of unusual prominence in theological disputations. So, let us look at it in some more detail.
The Word at the Beginning
Genesis 1: 1 declares, "In the beginning, God created". It is interesting to note that practically every human being who has read this verse has interpreted it in the same way regardless of the religious persuasion of such a person. We are not saying that everybody agrees with the Scripture, but that everybody understands what the Scripture is declaring which is that "In the beginning, God, who had been in existence outside of the beginning, created". This is as it should be because common sense (which we all possess) dictates that God could not have created, or in fact done anything in the beginning if He Himself had not existed outside of (or, if you prefer, before) that beginning. Indeed, it is this type of explicit declaration of the existence and works of God without any prior introduction or accompanying physical evidence that atheists frown at. Theists also could frown at it if the god they have credited with the work of creation is not the Elohim mentioned here.
Now, on coming to John 1: 1-3, we find exactly the same message as in Genesis 1:1 albeit declared with the introduction of some details not available in Genesis 1:1.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him and without Him, nothing was made that was made. (John 1: 1-3)
Here, we are told the following:
- The God who existed in Genesis 1:1 was not just a solitary Person
- That there was a second Person with Him in that existence, going by the name "The Word"
- Being there at the beginning with the first Person, the Word is God as well
- The work of creation was actually effected by the Word.
This is to say that Genesis 1: 1 could be paraphrased as: "In the beginning, God, the Word being with Him in that beginning also as God, created the heavens and the earth".
Of course, we may not agree with the truth of this declaration, but we cannot deny that this is what the Bible has said in these two verses. It is therefore very inconsistent for any person to claim to accept the declaration of the Scripture and at the same time refuse to see in it the declaration of the deity of "the Word“ even if the portion that says "and the Word was God" were not included, since the very attribute of pre-creation existence already defines divinity.
The point is that what shows God as God was not because He was called God (there are thousands of beings who are called God), neither is it because He created but because He had been outside (before) creation in an uncreated existence. God was fully God before He created and even if He never created, He would still be God. We now see that the meaning of The Beginning in these verses was that moment when God decided to create. And the Word was with God and was God in that pre-creation, self-existent mode. This was the absolute beginning before which there was nothing except God as the absolute mystery that He is. But He has faintly, yet adequately revealed Himself to us creatures as One God in Three Persons. (We shall see the revelation concerning the third Person, the Holy Spirit in a later teaching). God at this beginning created Time, Space and Substance. Thus, the Beginning was Time zero, Space nothing and substance nothing.
Foundation of the World
This is another expression used in the Scriptures to denote the beginning. Hence, we see the following events being dated with reference to the foundation of the world:
- Heaven and earth were created (Psalm 102: 25)
- Names of the Elect were written in the Book of Life (Rev. 17: 8)
- Christ was slain (in the spiritual) Revelation 13: 8 and hence, the work of redemption completed in reality (Hebrews 4:3)
Other Literal Beginnings
In the Scriptures, we also see numerous other events all of which happened after the original Beginning, but described with the same expression:
- The beginning of sin by Satan (1John 3:8; John 8: 44)
- The beginning of the Jewish calendar (Exodus 12: 2)
- The beginning of Jesus earthly ministry (John 8: 25)
- The beginning of sorrows before the end of the present world (Matthew 24: 7-8)
Figurative Sense
The second sense in which we encounter the beginning in the Scripture is the figurative sense where it refers to a person or a thing rather than a point in time or event. In this sense, it describes someone or something that stands in one of the following three positions:
1. The most eminent person or thing in a group, body, organ or community. Also the flagship. This talks of primacy of rank and/or authority. Thus, Christ is the beginning, i.e the Principality, of the Church (Colossians 1: 18); Similarly, Reuben was the beginning of Jacob's strength (Genesis 49:3). In many other places in the Bible, this word, arche, is translated as other things but in all of them, the essential meaning of the person of primacy and authority is maintained.
2. The Author of something is the beginning of that thing. For example, Christ is the Author of creation (John 1: 3, Colossians 1: 16; Hebrews 1: 2). Hence, He is described as the Beginning of creation in Revelation 3: 14. Secularly, Michael Jackson was the beginning of the moonwalk dance step.
3. The most important or most excellent aspect of an issue is the beginning of such an issue. Thus, the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 1: 7).
With this short introduction. I believe the word beginning will be a little less confusing to the reader. God bless you.
