“In the beginning was the Word….” (John 1:1)
As a lover of words, this statement opening the Gospel of John has always fascinated me.
“In the beginning” obviously refers to something other than the “Word”, as the Word already existed “in the beginning”.
The phrase, “in the beginning” is a time reference. If the Word already existed in the beginning, the Word existed before the beginning, and that makes the Word timeless.
John also tells us in the beginning “the Word was with God”. (John 1:1) The Word existed with God before time. Language, communication existed before the creation. The nonmaterial “things” that comprise language and communication are, therefore, preeminent, existing before material things, and therefore more lasting than this material world in which we live.
Genesis 3:1 describes how God created the world:
“And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.”
In that statement and in each subsequent statement, all the various components of the creation are prefaced with words, “God said“. In other words (pun intended), God spoke to create the world we know, and it was created through his Word. These themes are continued in the Gospel of John.
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