Unearthing Genesis 1:1 | AfterWord
The Sapphire Review Vol. 2 | No. 28 • May 30, 2025
In the Beginning was the Word
In the opening statement of John’s Gospel, we are met by the familiar words, “In the beginning…”—calling into mind that In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.1
But what is the beginning of John 1:1?
Some would say, “Why, it is the beginning of Christ, of course!” And a worthy beginning it is, indeed, to all who know the Word as the literal, only begotten [Son] of the Father.2 But by the truth that we have received of Genesis 1:1, this passage now emanates from the page with new light, and truly we have said, “This is from [JEHOVAH]; it is marvellous in our eyes.”3 For God, who begat us with the word of truth4 has brought forth in us these things in order that we might be sanctified by His truth.5 So once again, beloved brethren,—“Come now, and let us reason together.”6
The Word was In the beginning with God
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
John 1:1
In the beginning was the Word,
As believers of the literal Fatherhood of God and Sonship of Christ, it is only natural to suppose that this beginning could only be that of Jesus. For as it is written, “[JEHOVAH] possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old. I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was.”7 “But thou, Beth-lehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from the days of eternity.8
Is this what the beloved disciple would have us to understand,—the beginning of the Father’s way? Or could he have had the beginning of the heaven and the earth in mind? In order to discern which beginning John is writing about, we must continue reading.
and the Word was with God,
Whichever beginning this should be, it must be one in which Jesus was present with the Father. As it is written, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.”9 Christ declares concerning Himself, “When [JEHOVAH] prepared the heavens, I was there.”10 The Word was indeed present with the Father in the beginning [when] God created the heaven and the earth, for it was by His Son that He made the world[s].11 And likewise, has the Son declared concerning Himself, “[JEHOVAH] hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.”12 And again, declares Christ, “Then I was by him, as one brought up with him: and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him.13
In both beginnings, the Word was there alongside God. Let us continue.
and the Word was God.
This third clause, “the Word was God”, would signify two different things depending on which beginning John is speaking to. If the beginning at hand is the beginning of the Father’s way when Christ was brought forth, then John must without any doubt be testifying to Christ’s divinity. But if it is the beginning of the heaven and the earth, then doubtless John is identifying Christ with “God” in Genesis 1:1 when Moses writes, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” So which of these is John meaning to tell us? Let us read further.
2 The same was in the beginning with God.
3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
John 1:2–3
The same was in the beginning with God.
[The Word] was in the beginning with God. This is an emphatic reiteration, and contraction of the first two clauses of verse one: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God”.
All things were made by him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.
And now, the context becomes crystal clear, for the third verse contextualizes the first two verses preceding it: “All things were made by him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.” The context is:—“In the beginning [when] God created the heaven and the earth.”
The beginning of Genesis 1:1 is the whole beginning in six days, and therefore, when John tells us that, “All things were made by [the Word], and without [the Word] was not any thing made that was made”,—we are to understand “all things” in the context of our world. That is to say, in six days [the Word] (with God) made the heaven and the earth, the seas, and all that in them is.14
John 1:1-5
With these things in mind, let us read John 1:1–5 together in this new light.
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 The same was in the beginning with God.
3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
John 1:1–5
In the beginning is the whole beginning in six days when God created the heaven and the earth,—and in that beginning was the Word. So, the Word was with God, the Father, in the beginning. Now “the world was made by him,”15 so, the Word was God because it was He that made the firmament called Heaven, the dry-land called Earth, the gathering together of the waters called Seas, and all things that are therein.
God created all things by Jesus Christ.16 “For by [Christ] 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: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.”17
Thus, In [the Word] was life; and the life was the light of men. Christ spoke,18 and formed man of the dust of the ground,—into whose nostrils He breathed the breath of life, and man became a living soul.19 Wherefore, by that same Word of life does man’s life consist, even till “the dust return[s] to the earth as it was, and the spirit shall return unto [the Word with God] who gave it.20
And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. When “darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters”,—then did Christ say, “Let there be light:” and there was light.21 The light called Day which appeared by the Word of God overcame the darkness called Night. It is Christ who has made us all the children of light, and the children of the day:—and through Him, we are not of the night, nor [are we] of darkness.22 “For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”23
So then, on the seventh day, God with the Word fully overcame the darkness of Night,—even as by God’s grace, we too may overcome the darkness of this world through Him which saith, “I have overcome the world,”24 so long as we abide in Him. And again, saith He: “I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.”25
As it is written:
Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.
John 8:12
Genesis 1:1 in Light of John 1:1
John 1:1 is ultimately an elaboration upon Genesis 1:1 by which we understand that “In the beginning [the Word with] God created the heaven and the earth.”26 Thus, “In the [whole] beginning [in six days] was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” While the distinction must still be discerned between God (the Father), and the Word,—the only begotten Son of God the Father, Christ was God in the beginning because He created all things. He is not the Father himself, but is God as Creator (with the Father). For “All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.”27
Thus, of course Christ is God (divine) because He is the literal, only begotten Son of God the Father, but John intends to set Christ as Creator before the mind of the reader as he begins to recount the earthly life of Jesus. In accepting the true meaning of this verse, no harm is made to the doctrine of Christ’s beginning in the days of eternity, as established in Proverbs 8:22–23, Micah 5:2, and others like John 16:27. But John 1:1 differs from these respectively, in order that the reader might know that this same Jesus is He that created the heaven and the earth in the beginning.
God bless,
Brandon