THE SELF EXISTENT GOD
John 1:1
Morning Meditation 7/20/16
Verse 1 of John’s gospel says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
John’s gospel is different.. Matthew, Mark and Luke are called the synoptic gospels. It simply means they share more in common than does John’s gospel. John begins with the Eternal God and takes us way beyond our capacity to know. But it does not take us beyond our capacity to think the thoughts God has revealed about his existence.
John begins by saying, “In the beginning was . . .” Had he said “in the beginning” and left the “was” off, then this statement would confine us to creation. There is a beginning of all things. But there is no beginning of God. Creation had a beginning. It is a blessing indescribable for God to say in the first book of the Bible, the book of Genesis, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” (Gen. 1:1). That verse tells us there was a beginning of the creation and that God is the Beginner. But there has to be Someone before the beginning to be the Beginner.
John declares this. I started to say he explains this. I think it is more of a declaration that the God of the Bible inspired him to say than an explanation that he makes from understanding. You see we believe a lot of things we don’t understand. We can meditate on revealed truth with our imagination but there are things that go beyond our imagination.
Tozer said, “There are some truths set forth in the Scriptures that place a great strain upon our minds. Divine revelation assures us that certain things are true which imagination will simply not grasp. We believe them but we cannot see them in the minds eye.” Tozer explains, “We cannot be right unless we think right, and to think right we must distinguish believing from visualizing. The two are not the same. One is moral and the other mental. Unwillingness to believe proves that men love darkness rather than light, while inability to visualize indicates no more than lack of imagination, something that will not be held against us at the judgment seat of Christ . . . The wise Christian will not let his assurance depend upon his powers of imagination.” Then Tozer gives a personal testimony that will illustrate: “Personally, I find it difficult to picture the resurrection and the future life. I believe without reservation everything that is written in the Scriptures about this . . . Still I obtain little satisfaction from the effort to picture the resurrection and the glorified state.”
It is impossible for the imagination to grasp what John says when he says, “In the beginning was.” The preposition “In” (en) is “a primary preposition denoting (fixed) position (in place, time or state), and (by implication) instrumentality.” The word “beginning” (arche) means “beginning, origin; that by which anything begins to be, the origin, the active cause.” The word “beginning” is a definite line or mark from the standpoint of creation. Everything we have to do with has a beginning. That is, everything but God. This is the reason faith is an absolute necessity and a God given capacity by which we know God. John chapter one marks off the beginning of creation and declares certain truths that are relative. But John in this statement takes us beyond creation.
The word “was” is a verb and is the third person singular imperfect indicative. The third person singular means “he was.” The imperfect tense refers to incompleted action in the past. Here it is used to convey the eternity of the “He was.” The verb refers to continuous action in the past and does not give any thought to its ending. John is saying this. God is eternal. There was no beginning of God. When John says, “In the beginning was” he is saying that God was before this marked off place called “beginning.” He “was” before “In the beginning.”
You say, “Preacher do you understand what you are talking about?” I would have to answer “No, but I believe what the Bible reveals about God.” If I am going to worship God, I am going to have to respect him as God. He is not dependent on anything or anyone in creation. He is apart from but interested in and loves his creation. In my prayers I don’t have to pray, “God I am sorry you are having such a tough time. I like what Tozer said: “I do not think I could ever worship a God who was suddenly caught unaware of circumstances in His world around me. I do not think that I could bow my knees before a God that I had to apologize for.”
John is teaching that God is eternal without beginning or without end. Deut. 33:27 says, “The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms: and he shall thrust out the enemy from before thee; and shall say, Destroy them.” Isa. 40:28 says, “Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.” Isa. 57:15 says “For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.” Moses and the prophets accepted and believed in the eternity of God.
It amazes me when God answered Moses question at the burning bush when he asked, “when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say unto me, What is his name? What shall I say unto them?” and God answered, “And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you,” that Moses didn’t seem to have any problems with that answer. Moses seemed to realize that this revelation of God equips him with all he needs to overcome the strongest nation on earth in that day.
Someone said, “God is previous.” And that is a good statement. There is nothing in all creation that this statement can’t be applied to. Someone might say, “What great importance is attached to this truth? Paul says Eph. 1:4 “According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:” This answers one of the questions “What did God do before creation?” He planned. Peter says in 1 Pet. 1:18-20: “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you.”
