PRESENT

Jn1:1,2 – Amp. – IN THE beginning [before all time] was the Word (Christ), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God Himself.

He was present originally with God.

Jn1:1,2 TPT – In the very beginning the Living Expression was already there.

And the Living Expression was with God, yet fully God.

They were together—face-to-face, in the very beginning.

In this passage John is describing the intimacy and unity the Father has always enjoyed with His Son. John described this intimacy in his account of the prayer Jesus prayed in Gethsemane. In that prayer Jesus was saying that it was time for Him to return to the glory He enjoyed with the father before time began. John is describing a supernatural intimacy between the Father and the Son. The shocking implication is what John was teaching us, Jesus became a man so that we could enjoy this intimacy as well. The Passion translation quoted above describes this intimate relationship as face to face. Here is how Brian Simmons describes this text.

“The Greek word used here and the Hebraic concept conveyed is that of being before God’s face. There is no Hebrew word for “presence” (i.e., the “presence” of God), only the word face.”

John starts his gospel with this message because the whole point of the gospel of John was that Jesus came among us to display the glory of God. Jesus said that Himself also recorded in John’s gospel, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father…”. Here is how Barclay describes this passage.

“John goes on to say that the word was with God. What does he mean by that? He means that there has always been the closest connection between the word and God. Let us put that in another and a simpler way – there has always been the most intimate connection between Jesus and God. That means no one can tell us what God is like, what God’s will is for us, what God’s love and heart and mind are like, as Jesus can.”

So what is the point of all of this? The point is that we were all created to know God intimately and nothing else can satisfy our hungry hearts. The gospel of John was written so that we could see the eternal Son of God for ourselves. John wants us to be able to say what he said, in John 1:14 – “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory…”