In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (John 1:1)

Eternality is the first of three assertions made about “the Word,” which as we see from John 1:14 is Jesus Christ, who is the “Word became flesh.” In the beginning Jesus Christ existed. A whole volume could be written on this, but we are limited to this short space. Whenever “the beginning” took place, Christ was there in existence. Philosophers wrestle with the concept of time. A common understanding is that time is simply a measure of change. If there were no change then there would be no time. Albert Einstein introduced the concept of time being relative, depending on speed and mass of an object. Interestingly, the Bible presents God as unchanging (therefore, time is not a category by which to define God), and He is not relative to anything else, being the one supreme constant in existence.

So what then is meant by “in the beginning”? This could only mean that at the point of creation, when things came into existence, Christ already existed. Further, Christ must have always existed, for if there was a point when He came into existence, then He could not have existed at the beginning, but He would have come into existence at the beginning. So He must have existed before the beginning. At this point, being constrained by our place in time, we stretch beyond all logic the use of the time words to describe the existence of Christ. Therefore, we conclude that Christ is ever-existing, eternal in His very nature. He exists apart from or outside of time.

We can see this truth of the eternality of Christ in various places in Scripture. Probably this is what the writer of Hebrews meant when addressing the enigmatic character Melchizedek, “Without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, he remains a priest perpetually” (Heb 7:3). Paul appealed to Christ’s timelessness when he wrote, “[God] chose us in Him [Christ] before the foundation of the world …” (Eph 1:4).

Further, when God created the universe, take note—He spoke it into existence. The mean use of words began the sequence of change in the universe that we call time. The Word was His means for doing it. To monotheistic minds, this was huge. There is no question, John’s gospel account presents Jesus as God, Elohim of the OT, the Creator God of the universe. No wonder they repeatedly tried to kill Him with the charge, “You, being a man, make Yourself out to be God” (John 10:33).

Lord Jesus Christ, I believe You are the Creator of all; I humbly submit to You.