Already

In the beginning the Word already existed. John 1:1

It seems awkward to use the phrase “in the beginning” and the term “already” in the same sentence. A beginning doesn’t allow for an already. Beginnings imply something new, something original, something initial. Already implies previous existence, previous arrangements, something before. So when beginning and already are used together, either someone is very confused or something unique is happening.

The already in John’s beginning is Jesus. John used the term “the Word,” a concept popular to both Jews and Greeks, as a metaphor. But do not be mistaken, John was talking about Jesus. John’s sentence could just as easily have read, “In the beginning Jesus already existed . . . .”

This creates a tension, and that is precisely what John was trying to do. How can a man predate the beginning? How could Jesus, someone whose birth, life and death had been witnessed and chronicled, really be there already in the beginning? It seems hard to fathom, but that is the point John was introducing.

Before there was anything else, there was Jesus.

Jesus, the man who lived and died over 2000 years ago, is eternal. He is the Great Already. Jesus exists on a level that predates everything else. And something that pre-exists, something that can claim to be the already in the beginning, can only be called one thing–God.

Have you confessed today that Jesus is your God, that he is your Lord? Confess him as such, and then go live like it.

 

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