we have t he most explicit statement of t he full Deity of t h at Person who be- came incarnate in Jesus of Na z a r e t h— \ " T he Wo rd was God." In t he Greek the definite article is used before the word "Go d" t he first time it is used in t he verse, but it is omitted when the word "Go d" i s used t he second time. This is an illustration of the mi n u te verbal accuracy of the Scriptures as ori- ginally given. While t he omission of the article does not suggest any idea of in- feriority of the Wo rd to t he first Person in the Trinity, a nd while it clearly af- firms the t r ue Deity of the Wo r d, it does imply t h e eternal subordination of t he second Person of the Trinity to tile first Person of t he Trinity. As another has said in commenting upon a passage in Ephesians, " In God the F a t h er we have Deity in its origin and s o u r c e—In God t he Son, we h a ve Deity in its outflow, but all t he perfection, of the source is found in the stream which flows f r om it." The Divine n a t u re is essentially and fully in t he Son, b ut at t he same time the Son is not the F a t h e r. V. 2. " T he s ame" (literally, " t h i s ") was in t he beginning w i th God." This verse gives us no added t h o u g ht b ut em- phasizes t he preceding by repetition and by a different f o rm of expression so as to ma ke sure t h at t h e re may be" no mis- t a ke about it. It f o rms the transition also to what follows in the next section where we have t h e Wo rd not in His eter- nal being b ut in His relation to t he created universe. It is quite character- istic of J o hn to r e p e at the same mes- sage in a little different f o rm. (See e.g. I J o hn 1 : 5; I J o hn 3 : 1 R. V.) II. THE WORD IN H IS RELATION TO THE CREATED UNIVERSE.. 3-13. (1) The Wo rd in His pre-incarna- tion work. 3-5. V. 3. "All things we re ma d e t h r o u gh H i m ." He re we have t he plainest, most definite, and most posi- tive s t a t eme nt possible t h at all created things came o be t h r o u gh he agency of t he eternal Wo r d, not merely all things regarded as a whole, but all things t a k en severally and individually. In t he vast and i n n ume r a b le multiplicity of created things, t h e re is not one thing t h at did not come to be t h r o u gh t h at Person who a f t e r wa r ds became incarnate in Jesus of Nazareth. In Col. 1:16 we are told t h at all things t a k en a s a whole were created in the Son of God. not only the things upon the e a r th but the things in t he heavens, " Th i n gs visible and things invisible; wh e t h er t h r o n es or dominions or principalities or powers;
Word ma de t he e a r th and created man upon i t ": Gen. 1:27 is rendered " T he Wo rd ot t he Lord created ma n ." In the Septuagint r e n d e r i ng of Ezek. 1 : 24 the words, " T he A lmi g h t y" are changed into " T he Wo r d ." The Jewish usage of our Lord's time as reflected in t he Ta r- gum may also haye been influenced by the personification of Wisdom as dwell- ing with God and being His "Master- wo r kma n" (Prov. 8 : 30 A.R.V.) in t he work of creation, which appears in the eighth and ninth chapters of Proverbs (note especially ch. 8:22-31; see also Job. 28:12-28; cf. Lu ke 7 : 3 5; I Cor. 1.24). But wh i l e Hhe use of this ex- pression may have been suggested to J o hn by t he contemporary Aramaic usage, it was t he Holy Spirit who really led J o hn to the selection of this n ame for t he second Person of t he Trinity who was to become incarnate in Jesus of Nazareth. The opening six words of t he verse set f o r th in a striking way the eternal, pre-existence of t he Wo r d. We are not told merely t h at " In t he beginning the Wo r d " became, b ut in the beginning the Wo rd already "wa s ." This carries us back of all t i me into t he eternal ages t h at preceded creation. The phrase " In the beginning" necessarily carries our t h o u g h ts back to the first words in t he Bible, " In t he beginning God created heaven and e a r t h ." In t h at r emo te past time, and in the eternity which lay be- fore that, t he Person who became in- c a r n a te in the birth of Nazareth already "wa s ." Our Lord Jesus did not begin to be when He was born in Be t h l e h em— He always was t h o u gh He did not be- come incarnate until His birth through Mary. In His eternal state He existed in t he f o rm of God. (Phil. 2 : 6 ). The second group of six words in t he verse set f o r th t he clear distinction be- tween the Wo rd of God and t he first. Person in the Trinity. They are not one p e r s o n—" T he Wo rd w;as w i th God." T h e Greek preposition " w i t h" is not the preposition ordinarily so translated. The idea conveyed by it is not merely t h at of co-existence as of two persons in company with one a n o t h e r—t he t h o u g ht is r a t h er t h at of one person being directed t owa r ds and regulated by the other. The Wo rd was with God but more t h an t h a t, His whole being was centered in God, a nd directed toward pod. There were two separate Persons but one derived His whole being frojn and directed His whole being toward the other. In t h e five closing words of t he verse,
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