Scripture References: John 1:1-8; Colossians 1:15-17

Christ’s Relationship to/with God

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

“In the beginning,” whenever that was. Remember, since the Bible relates to man in relationship to God and vice-versa, time (from man’s perspective) also began. These three words throw us back to Genesis 1:1. As the Bible opens its account of God’s creative work, so the Beloved Apostle John begins his account of the beginning of God’s redemptive work in Christ. Revelation 13:8 speaks of Christ as slain before the foundation of the world. So, in effect, the redemptive work fixed in eternity was wrought out in time that we might believe in Him who was slain for our sins.

John personified the “Word” (logos). This means the open, spoken manifestation of the speaker. And “in the beginning” gives us a clue as to John’s selection of the “Word.” In Genesis 1, each new phase of God’s creative work is introduced with “God said.” There is His open, spoken manifestation. So, as in the beginning God spoke the universe into being, in Christ, God spoke His final word of revelation, redemption, in the very person of His Son, Jesus Christ.

“Was” is the word expressing essential, and in this case, eternal being. It may read “always was.” There had never been a time when Christ did not exist. Like God the Father, He is eternal in nature and being.

Furthermore, Christ always was “with God.” Literally, He was “face-to-face with God.” In ancient times, let us say, a person entertained two rulers. One was tall, the other was short. The host had to seat the shorter one on pillows so that when they looked at one another, it was on an even line. Neither looked up or down at the other. We would say that they saw eye to eye. This expressed equality. To express it, the same phrase was used as here. So in essence we can say, “the Word [always] was [equal] with God.” There is no difference in equality in the Godhead.

Likewise, literally translated, the final phrase should read, “and the Word [Christ] always was God Himself.” For “God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself” (2 Corinthians 5:19).

Thus in one concise sentence, John answered the Gnostics, then and now, by declaring the coeternity, coequality, and coexistence of Christ with God the Father.

Now let us turn to Colossians 1:15 where Paul said that Christ “is the image of the invisible God.” The word “image” here means “exact manifestation.” This does not mean that God is visible but has not been seen. It means that He cannot be seen with the natural eye. “God is Spirit,” stated Jesus (John 4:24). And a spiritual being cannot be seen by the natural eye. This is the reason for the incarnation: So that Jesus could say, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:9).

Let me try to explain this in this way. With my wife, I bare three relationships with her. I am her husband, the father of her child, and her pastor. I am not three distinct people. I am only one person, but I bare three relationships to her. Now please understand this with this analogy, there is no human example can adequately illustrate the Godhead in its trinitarian form, this only shows how it is possible to be one, yet bear three relationships to another. In Jesus Christ, God revealed Himself as our Redeemer.

To Be Continued

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®, NKJV © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.
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