My Notes on John 1:2-3

John 1:2-3 " He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.

He was in the beginning with God.

This 2nd verse speaks of Christ's eternal pre-incarnate state: with God - equal and One with the Father. From eternity past, long before the worlds were made or even thought of, Christ dwelt with the Father in His bosom(John 1:15), at His side. John isnt simply making this up or even exaggerating about who this Jesus was before He came to this world as a babe. John was with Jesus in the moment recorded in John 17 where Chrst lifts up His eyes to heaven and prays a High-Priestly prayer for those whom the Father had given Him. In the earliest part of Jesus' prayer, just after He declares that the Father has given Him authority over all flesh, so that He might give eternal life to all the Father has given Him, Jesus says these words in John 17:4

"I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. 5 And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.

Where was Jesus before the world existed? With the Father, in the presence of the Father. Was he just heaven's version of an average man, sitting on the end of the bench in God's presence, waiting to be put into the game? No. He possessed the very Glory of God...lets think about this. This is the same glory that The Almighty Creator of the universe possesses, the same glory that all the wonderful works of creation sing about in Psalms 19:1-3 and in Psalms 145:1-7. This is the same glory of God that avenged all of His enemies, and those that rebelled against Him (Ex. 14:18) This glory that Jesus previously possessed was the same glory that consumed Mt. Saini in the wilderness, the same glory that passed by Moses in the cleft of the rock and prolaimed “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.” (Ex 34:6-7) This glory of God was seen in Isaiah's vision in Isaiah 6:1-4 :

"In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” 4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”


The seraphim, the highest, and most brilliant of angels,which remained in the prescence of God daily- always, couldnt even bear to look upon His glory because they would be consumed and therefore they were created with wings to cover their feet and their eyes. This glory of Jehovah shook the posts and foundations of the temple - filled it with unbearable smoke, and the flowing train of the Almighty One filled the temple. This glory was so unbearable, so filling, and so wonderful and glorious, that all the angels could cry out day and night is "Holy, Holy, Holy!!!" The prophet Isaiah cannot think about anything else in the presence of the Lord except how beautiful and mighty is the Lord of Hosts, how high and lifted up is He, and low and sinful, how desestable and unclean Isaiah is. His eyes had seen the King, whose glory fills the earth and whose majesty is forever. Who was this that Isaiah saw? This glory, who did it belong to- the Lord of Hosts, The King of Glory....Psalms 24:8-10 says:

"Lift up your heads, O gates! And be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. 8 Who is this King of glory? The Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord, mighty in battle"

John also gives us a glimpse of who Isaiah saw in his vision - who it was that was High and Lifted up- seated on the Throne. John 12:39-41 quotes Isaiah:

"Therefore they could not believe. For again Isaiah said, “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, lest they see with their eyes, and understand with their heart, and turn, and I would heal them.”

Why did Isaiah say these things and what do they have to do with Jesus?

John says in verse 41:
"Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke of him."


All things were made by Him...

All things were made by God, The Word. Everything that has existence was made by and through the Word, Jesus Christ. In the beginning, God created. God created by His Word. Hebrews 11:3 says that "through faith we understand that the worlds were framed(set up, establoshed, fashioned, and put in order). The "worlds" is aich: age, or time in contrast to kosmos: people or space. Duration or continuation of time. The worlds were formed by the word of God: word in this verse is 'rhema': that which is spoken; a statement or word. Logos is the expression of thought, while rhema would be the subject matter of the expression of thought - or the thing spoken about. All things were created by the Second member of the Trinity: the Logos Word which was with God and was God - all things were made by Him, for Him, in Him and through Him. Rhema was the subject matter of "the worlds" which is spoken about. Jesus Christ is not just a word, or an utterance from the mouth of God. Christ is "The Word". The eternal pre-incarnate Son of God was "ho logos" which means The Word. This means that there is no other Word of God apart from Jesus Christ or outside of Jesus Christ, and there is no other method or way of creation except by and through Jesus Christ- the Word; so when it came to God creating a new work, or a regenerating work in the hearts of men by taking them as fallen corrupted wicked sinners, and then re-creating them to be new creatures- Christ was and is the only way to create. He is the only way by which things will be made. Just as the Word made all things which have been made, speaking of the account of creation in Genesis, and even speaking of Colossians 1:15-17 of thrones, principalities, and dominions, whether for or against Him - God created all in Christ and through Christ and He is esteemed as the first born or first in rank above all things that have been made. His transcendence is equal to God and Christ didnt think this equality and Oneness with Him as robbery (Phil 2:6-7) why? Because of the eternal reality that He is equal to the Father. Jesus Christ is the only One qualified to do a creative work- whether in the act of creating the universe, or in creating a heart of flesh in replacement of a stony heart. Just as in Genesis, God created everything from nothing, so He does the same in Christ, actually even more so in re-creating a man from previously being a corrupt, vile, and atrocious mass of sin. This is the glory of God in Jesus Christ because the Father is glorified through the Son as the Son glorifies the Father (John 17:1). God shows off and demonstrates His love, grace, power, holiness, and justice in the face of Jesus Christ. By Him He created all things which have been made from the smallest nucleus of an atom to the largest galaxy full of trillions and trillions of stars - without Him - none of these things would exist; and God does an even greater work in demonstrating His love in that while this planet was full of rebellious, helpless sinners, God displayed His justice and grace in sending His Son to die for sinners, becomming a wrath absorbing propitiation in carrying away our sins upon Himself and drinking the infinite cup of God's furious wrath upon sin. God also demonstrated His justice in that He counts those who believe on His Son's sacrifice as just and in right standing with Him - not because of anything they have done in themselves, no; but because of the always-pleasing, perfectly acomplishing the will of God- life of the Son of God on this earth - and in that imputation of His righteousness, God is now the justifier of those who were once wicked. God does the greatest work in Christ:1) by creating all things that have been made, 2)and by regenerating men's hearts by the work of the Holy Spirit in seeing the beauty and grace of Jesus Christ. Logical conclusion: Since Christ created everything, if you take away Christ, you take away everything. There would be NOTHING witout Him. Jesus re-affirms this in John 15:5 by saying " I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing." Without the vine branches wouldnt even exist, likewise without Christ, men are nothing, destined for nothingness and separation from everything in the fires and worm eating miseries of Hell. When men take away the Glory of God in creating everthing that is made and in Him being the only Way to life, they end up believing in and living for nothing - given over by God to lust, dishonor and debasement. When you take away Christ, you take away everything....


Notes on John 1:1