John 1--In the Beginning

Sometimes it is difficult for me to think about the beginning of time-of the world. For me the beginning is December 16, 1975, the day I was born. I can’t imagine much else existing before that date. Yet I know for certain something did--many things. One event in particular is of importance here. In fact it occurred roughly one thousand, nine hundred, and seventy-five years before my birth. We can read about it in the Gospel of John.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.” (John 1:1-2, NASB)

At first glance at this passage you might say, “Wait, this is talking about the beginning. The beginning was a lot longer than 1,975 years before the writer’s birth.” However, if we read a little further we begin to understand why the beginning John is referring to has everything to do with that amount of time.

“All things came into being by Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. There came a man, sent from God, whose name was John. He came for a witness, that he might bear witness of the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came that he might bear witness of the light. There was the true light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man. He was in the world, and the world did not know Him.” (John 1:3-10). Do you see it? It is the birth of Christ! That is the beginning being referred to here. Although to be clear, this was not the beginning of Christ, it was the beginning of His time on Earth.

You see, the author, the apostle John, does an amazing job of illustrating God’s perfect will. John makes it clear that God didn’t just randomly create Jesus, then send Him to earth. Jesus was always one with the Father. He was in the beginning. When and where there was God, there was also Jesus. He was here long before 1975, in 1975, and He will be here for eternity.

This is a hard concept to grasp. It is easy to read the Bible in such a way that its facts seem like a fictional story or something that happened a very long time ago. With our finite minds it is difficult to understand how or where Jesus was before He came to Earth. Unfortunately this can lead us to let Jesus fall by the wayside. He can become “out of sight, out of mind.” Because He is not visible, because we don’t see Him everyday it can be easy to forget He’s there. However, Jesus was no less present before His time on Earth than He was during it. At the same time His presence did not end when He died. Jesus is always with us. He was there at the beginning and He will be there at the end.

Take some time now to consider what Jesus’ eternal presence means in your life. Do you have a hard time understanding that He has always been there and always will be? What are some ways you can remember His presence everyday--that He is still with us even though He is no longer physically on earth? How do you get caught up in yourself, finding it hard to believe anything happened before you were born?

Lord, help us to understand Your presence in our lives. Help us to recognize you are everywhere at once even before Your presence on Earth and now long after. May we live our lives as ones who understand this and live accordingly.