Troy a servant of God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Preexsient Christ ;John 1:1/ Part 3B
John 1:1 (KJV)
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
In the beginning -- of all time and created existence, for this Word gave it being (John 1:3, 10); therefore, "before the world was" (John 17:5, 24); or, from all eternity.
In the beginning. This expression is used also in Genesis 1:1. To that place John evidently has allusion here, and means to apply to "the Word" an expression which is there applied to God. In both places it clearly means "before creation," "before the world was made," "when as yet there was nothing." The meaning is, that the Word had an existence before the world was created. This is not spoken of the man Jesus, but of that which became a man, or was incarnate, John 1:14. The Hebrews, by expressions like this, commonly denoted eternity. Thus the eternity of God is described (Psalms 90:2): Before the mountains were brought forth, and eternity is commonly expressed by the phrase, before the foundation of the world. Whatever is meant by the term "Word," it is clear that it had an existence before creations. It is not, then, a creature or created being, and must be, therefore, uncreated and eternal. There is but one Being that is uncreated, and Jesus must be therefore divine. Compare the Saviour's own declarations respecting himself in the following places: John 8:58, 17:5, 6:62, 3:13, 6:46, 8:14, 16:28.
was the Word -- Greek, "was the Logos." He who is to God what man's word is to himself, the manifestation or expression of himself to those without him. (See on John 1:18). On the origin of this most lofty and now for ever consecrated title of Christ, this is not the place to speak. It occurs only in the writings of this seraphic apostle.
This name is given to him who afterward became flesh, or was incarnate (John 1:14)-that is, to the Messiah. Whatever is meant by it, therefore, is applicable to the Lord Jesus Christ. There have been many opinions about the reason why this name was given to the Son of God. Those opinions it is unnecessary to repeat. The opinion which seems most plausible may be expressed as follows:
1st. A word is that by which we communicate our will; by which we convey our thoughts;
2nd. The Son of God may be called "the Word," because he is the medium by which God promulgates his will and issues his commandments. See Hebrews 1:1-3.
3rd. This term was in use before the time of John.
(*) It was used in the Chaldee translation of the Old Testament, as, e.g., Isaiah 45:12: "I have made the earth, and created man upon it." In the Chaldee it is, "I, by my word, have made," Isaiah 48:13: "Mine hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth." In the Chaldee, "By my word I have founded the earth." And so in many other places.
(*) This term was used by the Jews as applicable to the Messiah. In their writings he was commonly known by the term "Mimra "-that is, "Word;" and no small part of the interpositions of God in defence of the Jewish nation were declared to be by "the Word of God." Thus, in their Targum on Deuteronomy 26:17,18, it is said, "Ye have appointed the word of god a king over you this day, that he may be your God."
(*) The term was used by the Jews who were scattered among the Gentiles, and especially those who were conversant with the Greek philosophy.
(*) The term was used by the followers of Plato among the Greeks, to denote the second person of the Trinity. The term nous, or mind, was commonly given to this second person, but it was said that this nous was the word or reason of the first person. The term was therefore extensively in use among the Jews and Gentiles before John wrote his Gospel, and it was certain that it would be applied to the second person of the Trinity by Christians, whether converted from Judaism or Paganism. It was important, therefore, that the meaning of the term should be settled by an inspired man, and accordingly John, in the commencement of his Gospel, is at much pains to state clearly what is the true doctrine respecting the Logos, or Word. It is possible, also, that the doctrines of the Gnostics had begun to spread in the time of John. They were an Oriental sect, and held that the Logos or Word was one of the AEons that had been created, and that this one had been united to the man Jesus. If that doctrine had begun then to prevail, it was of the more importance for John to settle the truth in regard to the rank of the Logos or Word. This he has done in such a way that there need be no doubt about its meaning.
was with God -- having a conscious personal existence distinct from God (as one is from the person he is "with"), but inseparable from Him and associated with Him (John 1:18 John 17:5 1John 1:2), where "THE FATHER" is used in the same sense as "GOD" here.
This expression denotes friendship or intimacy. Comp. Mark 9:19. John affirms that he was with God in the beginning—that is, before the world was made. It implies, therefore, that he was partaker of the divine glory; that he was blessed and happy with God. It proves that he was intimately united with the Father, so as to partake of his glory and to be appropriately called by the name God. He has himself explained it. See John 17:5: And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self, with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. See also John 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. See also John 3:13: The Son of man, which is in heaven. Comp. Philippians 2:6,7.
was God -- in substance and essence GOD; or was possessed of essential or proper divinity. Thus, each of these brief but pregnant statements is the complement of the other, correcting any misapprehensions which the others might occasion. Was the Word eternal? It was not the eternity of "the Father," but of a conscious personal existence distinct from Him and associated with Him. Was the Word thus "with God?" It was not the distinctness and the fellowship of another being, as if there were more Gods than one, but of One who was Himself God -- in such sense that the absolute unity of the God head, the great principle of all religion, is only transferred from the region of shadowy abstraction to the region of essential life and love. But why all this definition? Not to give us any abstract information about certain mysterious distinctions in the Godhead, but solely to let the reader know who it was that in the fulness of time "was made flesh." After each verse, then, the reader must say, "It was He who is thus, and thus, and thus described, who was made flesh."
1st. There is no doubt that by the Logos is meant Jesus Christ.
2nd. This is not an attribute or quality of God, but is a real subsistence, for it is said that the Logos was made flesh-that is, became a man.
3rd. There is no variation here in the manuscripts, and critics have observed that the Greek will bear no other construction than what is expressed in our translation-that the Word was God.
4th. There is no evidence that John intended to use the word God in an inferior sense. It is not "the Word was a god," or "the Word was like God," but the Word was God. He had just used the word God as evidently applicable to Jehovah, the true God; and it is absurd to suppose that the would in the same verse, and without any indication that he was using the word in an inferior sense, employ it to denote a being altogether inferior to the true God.
5th. The name God is elsewhere given to him, showing that he is the supreme God. See Romans 9:5, Hebrews 1:8,9,10-12, 1 John 5:20, John 20:28. The meaning of this important verse may then be thus summed up:
1st. The name Logos, or Word, is given to Christ in reference to his becoming the Teacher or Instructor of mankind; the medium of communication between God and man.
2nd. The name was in use at the time of John, and it was his design to state the correct doctrine respecting the Logos.
3rd. The Word, or Logos, existed before creation-of course was not a creature, and must have been, therefore, from eternity.
4th. He was with God-that is, he was united to him in a most intimate and close union before the creation; and, as it could not be said that God was with himself, it follows that the Logos was in some sense distinct from God, or that there was a distinction between the Father and the Son. When we say that one is with another, we imply that there is some sort of distinction between them.
5th. Yet, lest it should be supposed that he was a different and inferior being-a creature-he affirms that he was God-that is, was equal with the Father. This is the foundation of the doctrine of the Trinity:
1. That the second person is in some sense distinct from the first.
2. That he is intimately united with the first person in essence, so that there are not two or more Gods.
3. That the second person may be called by the same name; has the same attributes; performs the same works; and is entitled to the same honours with the first, and that therefore he is "the same in substance, and equal in power and glory," with God.
(*) "In the beginning" Proverbs 8:22-31, Colossians 1:16,17, 1 John 1:1
(*) "the Word" Revelation 19:13
(*) "with God" John 17:5
(*) "was God" Philippians 2:6 Hebrews 1:8-13 1 John 5:7
Amen
Troy
Preexsient Christ ;John 1:1/ Part 3B
John 1:1 (KJV)
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
In the beginning -- of all time and created existence, for this Word gave it being (John 1:3, 10); therefore, "before the world was" (John 17:5, 24); or, from all eternity.
In the beginning. This expression is used also in Genesis 1:1. To that place John evidently has allusion here, and means to apply to "the Word" an expression which is there applied to God. In both places it clearly means "before creation," "before the world was made," "when as yet there was nothing." The meaning is, that the Word had an existence before the world was created. This is not spoken of the man Jesus, but of that which became a man, or was incarnate, John 1:14. The Hebrews, by expressions like this, commonly denoted eternity. Thus the eternity of God is described (Psalms 90:2): Before the mountains were brought forth, and eternity is commonly expressed by the phrase, before the foundation of the world. Whatever is meant by the term "Word," it is clear that it had an existence before creations. It is not, then, a creature or created being, and must be, therefore, uncreated and eternal. There is but one Being that is uncreated, and Jesus must be therefore divine. Compare the Saviour's own declarations respecting himself in the following places: John 8:58, 17:5, 6:62, 3:13, 6:46, 8:14, 16:28.
was the Word -- Greek, "was the Logos." He who is to God what man's word is to himself, the manifestation or expression of himself to those without him. (See on John 1:18). On the origin of this most lofty and now for ever consecrated title of Christ, this is not the place to speak. It occurs only in the writings of this seraphic apostle.
This name is given to him who afterward became flesh, or was incarnate (John 1:14)-that is, to the Messiah. Whatever is meant by it, therefore, is applicable to the Lord Jesus Christ. There have been many opinions about the reason why this name was given to the Son of God. Those opinions it is unnecessary to repeat. The opinion which seems most plausible may be expressed as follows:
1st. A word is that by which we communicate our will; by which we convey our thoughts;
2nd. The Son of God may be called "the Word," because he is the medium by which God promulgates his will and issues his commandments. See Hebrews 1:1-3.
3rd. This term was in use before the time of John.
(*) It was used in the Chaldee translation of the Old Testament, as, e.g., Isaiah 45:12: "I have made the earth, and created man upon it." In the Chaldee it is, "I, by my word, have made," Isaiah 48:13: "Mine hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth." In the Chaldee, "By my word I have founded the earth." And so in many other places.
(*) This term was used by the Jews as applicable to the Messiah. In their writings he was commonly known by the term "Mimra "-that is, "Word;" and no small part of the interpositions of God in defence of the Jewish nation were declared to be by "the Word of God." Thus, in their Targum on Deuteronomy 26:17,18, it is said, "Ye have appointed the word of god a king over you this day, that he may be your God."
(*) The term was used by the Jews who were scattered among the Gentiles, and especially those who were conversant with the Greek philosophy.
(*) The term was used by the followers of Plato among the Greeks, to denote the second person of the Trinity. The term nous, or mind, was commonly given to this second person, but it was said that this nous was the word or reason of the first person. The term was therefore extensively in use among the Jews and Gentiles before John wrote his Gospel, and it was certain that it would be applied to the second person of the Trinity by Christians, whether converted from Judaism or Paganism. It was important, therefore, that the meaning of the term should be settled by an inspired man, and accordingly John, in the commencement of his Gospel, is at much pains to state clearly what is the true doctrine respecting the Logos, or Word. It is possible, also, that the doctrines of the Gnostics had begun to spread in the time of John. They were an Oriental sect, and held that the Logos or Word was one of the AEons that had been created, and that this one had been united to the man Jesus. If that doctrine had begun then to prevail, it was of the more importance for John to settle the truth in regard to the rank of the Logos or Word. This he has done in such a way that there need be no doubt about its meaning.
was with God -- having a conscious personal existence distinct from God (as one is from the person he is "with"), but inseparable from Him and associated with Him (John 1:18 John 17:5 1John 1:2), where "THE FATHER" is used in the same sense as "GOD" here.
This expression denotes friendship or intimacy. Comp. Mark 9:19. John affirms that he was with God in the beginning—that is, before the world was made. It implies, therefore, that he was partaker of the divine glory; that he was blessed and happy with God. It proves that he was intimately united with the Father, so as to partake of his glory and to be appropriately called by the name God. He has himself explained it. See John 17:5: And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self, with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. See also John 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. See also John 3:13: The Son of man, which is in heaven. Comp. Philippians 2:6,7.
was God -- in substance and essence GOD; or was possessed of essential or proper divinity. Thus, each of these brief but pregnant statements is the complement of the other, correcting any misapprehensions which the others might occasion. Was the Word eternal? It was not the eternity of "the Father," but of a conscious personal existence distinct from Him and associated with Him. Was the Word thus "with God?" It was not the distinctness and the fellowship of another being, as if there were more Gods than one, but of One who was Himself God -- in such sense that the absolute unity of the God head, the great principle of all religion, is only transferred from the region of shadowy abstraction to the region of essential life and love. But why all this definition? Not to give us any abstract information about certain mysterious distinctions in the Godhead, but solely to let the reader know who it was that in the fulness of time "was made flesh." After each verse, then, the reader must say, "It was He who is thus, and thus, and thus described, who was made flesh."
1st. There is no doubt that by the Logos is meant Jesus Christ.
2nd. This is not an attribute or quality of God, but is a real subsistence, for it is said that the Logos was made flesh-that is, became a man.
3rd. There is no variation here in the manuscripts, and critics have observed that the Greek will bear no other construction than what is expressed in our translation-that the Word was God.
4th. There is no evidence that John intended to use the word God in an inferior sense. It is not "the Word was a god," or "the Word was like God," but the Word was God. He had just used the word God as evidently applicable to Jehovah, the true God; and it is absurd to suppose that the would in the same verse, and without any indication that he was using the word in an inferior sense, employ it to denote a being altogether inferior to the true God.
5th. The name God is elsewhere given to him, showing that he is the supreme God. See Romans 9:5, Hebrews 1:8,9,10-12, 1 John 5:20, John 20:28. The meaning of this important verse may then be thus summed up:
1st. The name Logos, or Word, is given to Christ in reference to his becoming the Teacher or Instructor of mankind; the medium of communication between God and man.
2nd. The name was in use at the time of John, and it was his design to state the correct doctrine respecting the Logos.
3rd. The Word, or Logos, existed before creation-of course was not a creature, and must have been, therefore, from eternity.
4th. He was with God-that is, he was united to him in a most intimate and close union before the creation; and, as it could not be said that God was with himself, it follows that the Logos was in some sense distinct from God, or that there was a distinction between the Father and the Son. When we say that one is with another, we imply that there is some sort of distinction between them.
5th. Yet, lest it should be supposed that he was a different and inferior being-a creature-he affirms that he was God-that is, was equal with the Father. This is the foundation of the doctrine of the Trinity:
1. That the second person is in some sense distinct from the first.
2. That he is intimately united with the first person in essence, so that there are not two or more Gods.
3. That the second person may be called by the same name; has the same attributes; performs the same works; and is entitled to the same honours with the first, and that therefore he is "the same in substance, and equal in power and glory," with God.
(*) "In the beginning" Proverbs 8:22-31, Colossians 1:16,17, 1 John 1:1
(*) "the Word" Revelation 19:13
(*) "with God" John 17:5
(*) "was God" Philippians 2:6 Hebrews 1:8-13 1 John 5:7
Amen
Troy
