Dr. Barclay with Something to Think About - WAS GOD, WITH GOD

WAS GOD, WITH GOD

In the first verse of John, there is a somewhat confusing play of words concerning  Jesus. The verse reads:

In the beginning was the Word, 

and the Word was with God, 

and the Word was God 

(John 1:1)

So, the question arises as to how the Word can both be with God and be God at the same time. If Jesus was, at that time, a truly created Son then He would not have been there at the beginning and it could not be said that:

 

All things were made through Him, 

and without Him nothing was made that was made. 

(John 1:3)

Now, the Greek word used for Word in the Old Testament was the word “Logos” which the Greeks often saw as "the power that puts sense into the world, the ultimate reason that controlled all things.”* There is, therefore, a being referred to as the Word, a being who is eternal, and therefore, is God, but also a being who does not encompass all of God’s attributes and so is a distinct entity. Two distinct personas in that the Father is not the Son nor is the Son the Father, and so it can be said that the Word was with God.

In Genesis, we are told that God created the heaven and the earth, whereas, here in John, it is said that Christ created all things stating very clearly that Christ and the Father are One.

Furthermore, John further states that:

In Him was life… 

(John 1:4)

…and again the word used for life here is the Greek word “zoe” implying the “life principle” instead of just biological life itself.

It is really impossible for a finite mind to comprehend the infinity of God and all the attributes thereof, but by noting all the meanings of the words involved, and considering the applications carefully, we can come to some terms with the meanings implied.

Thus, the concept that God can be God and yet be with God at the same time is a difficult one to grasp and yet it is what it is. This is one example of why one needs faith to please God.

And it does give one something to think about.

* From Dods, Morris, Barclay, Bruce, and others as quoted in the Commentaries of David Guzik on John 1:1-2