John 1 “Beginning” is NOT Genesis 1 “Beginning“

The Gospel of John starts with the phrase, “In the beginning”. But this “beginning” is not the same “beginning” as Genesis 1. While being an intentional parallel to the Genesis beginning, John 1 describes a different beginning, a “new beginning” that God brings about through the man Christ Jesus.
John’s first verses use Genesis creation words like, “light” and “darkness”, but these are not the “light” and “darkness” of Genesis.
In Genesis, light comes before life. But in John 1:4 it is exactly the opposite: life comes first, and then light.
The darkness in John 1:5 is not the darkness of Genesis 1.
John the Baptizer is in verse 6 of a Genesis creation account?
For more information, see the lecture called “John 1 IS NOT Genesis 1: Eight Evidences "the Beginning" of John 1 is NOT Genesis 1 Beginning” • John 1 IS NOT Genesis ...

[@GoldAndSilver988]

Excellent.

[@neweyz3396]

Thanks for bringing this TRUTH to the table Bill ! Blessings ❤😊

[@fLUKEYdNb]

Yes exactly, it is the beginning of Yeshua’s ministry and the word is an it not he (few verses later)

[@eddieyoung2104]

Hi Bill, I've always thought of this beginning as the Genesis one, but from a Biblical Unitarian perspective. And I can also see how it would fit the new creation beginning as well, like you believe. But, recently I was wondering about it being the beginning of the Old Covenant. Though I haven't heard much about this idea, I think it has some weight. These are just my thoughts on it, without having read any other sources. So, in the beginning of the Old Covenant was the word (of God). That is, the covenant and law consisted of God's words. And all things regarding that covenant or law were made by that word being given to Moses. In that word of the covenant was life, albeit temporal life in the promised land, not eternal. Then the word, which created the Law of Moses, and was that law, was made flesh in Jesus. He was the embodiment of it. I.e. the law was a shadow of Jesus etc. So, Hebrews tells us things like the sacrifice prefigured Christ. Which would mean that when those aspects of the law were made flesh, they were seen perfectly in the man Jesus. This would mean that the light in verse 4 refers to the Law of Moses. Which was the light of men, and shone in the darkness of the surrounding nations. But, then Jesus as Malachi's messenger of the covenant, came to be that light, by perfectly fulfilling the law. Making it possible for the new covenant to be made. This explains why we have John the Baptist, son of a priest, witnessing to Jesus. Like a handing over of old to new, 'He must increase, but I must decrease'. And Paul's words, 'But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son...made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law'. It also would better explain John 1:17, 'For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ'. Which otherwise might seem a little out of place. I could probably flesh it all out a bit more, but this gives an idea for consideration.

[@billschlegel1]

I think there are as well allusions to the Book of Exodus in John 1, particularly of the covenant at Sinai, which is a specific "beginning" for Israel as a nation/people. That beginning, as you mention, is set into motion by Torah (God's word). Light and darkness also play a role in the Exodus/Sinai narrative.

[@eddieyoung2104]

@@billschlegel1 You're right, those allusions are there. Like, the light shone in the thick darkness, where only Moses heard God's name and character. And the Israelites overwhelmed by the darkness comprehended it not. Moses was the man sent from God, like John. And Moses was one who came to his own, and his own received him not. There's definitely a lot in John 1 for us to go at, and whenever I try to pin an interpretation down, different aspects come out. Which all makes a Trinitarian viewpoint more distant.

[@solascriptura373]

I think this is an intentional reference to the Book of Genesis but described with special emphasis on the Wisdom of God which. This is accentuated by enlightenment of every human being born into this world by light ( WISDOM ) John made clear connection between the Wisdom of God, which is the building block of reality and the revelation of the same wisdom in man Jesus Christ. There is a clue in the Old Testament (Book of Proverbs 8:22-35) which explains true meaning of the first chapter of John and gives correct definition of LOGOS. GOD'S WISDOM is same as LOGOS from John 1:1. John for describe LOGOS uses almost same literary language as Book of Proverbs describes Wisdom of God and this reasoning is confirmed in letter to Cotinthians, which reveals that world did not know God through the Wisdom hidden in creation ( *Romans 1:21-23* ) , so the Wisdom of God had to be revealed by preaching. *"For since in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe."*1 Corinthians 1:21 So Wisdom of God serves as informational bridge between God and His creation. WORD of GOD is both "material" that creates our reality and also interface for God's communication with creation. Saying that WORD became flesh is nothing more, nothing less than metaphor for fact that Wisdom of God was revealed in and by man who is Jesus Christ. He revealed to us God's Wisdom both in teachings and in his life. *"And of him are you in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom"* 1 Corinthians 1:30

[@billschlegel1]

Hi, thanks for the response. Although Paul does describe the man Jesus as "wisdom of God", I don't think that is what the Gospel of John is presenting. "Wisdom" is not mentioned in the Gospel of John. I don't think the literary parallel is so strong with Proverbs either. Again, "wisdom" is not mentioned in John. And, e.g., in Proverbs, "Wisdom" is brought forth, "created", before the creation of the earth. I think John, while intentionally re-purposing some Genesis language, is describing a new beginning that God brings about through the man Jesus of Nazareth.

[@solascriptura373]

@@billschlegel1 I agree with that in Christ is new beginning (Apocalypse 3:14 ), but this new beginning is initiated by the same power and wisdom of God that created all things in Genesis. As you can see for yourself, the light that illuminates every born person in this world is not Christ at that moment, but only LOGOS ( John 1:9-10), which is the carrier of God's Wisdom through whom all things came into being. Christ is vessel for LOGOS - God's Word but in human reality. Adam cut us off from the higher structures of LOGOS, that's why humanity is dying. In Christ as first participant comes our reconnection with LOGOS, which is the essence of life ( John 1:4 ) To come for this light of LOGOS revealed in Christ, God's initiative and action are necessary ( John 6:44-46 and John 6:65 ) and this is same kind of divine God's action as was at creation of the world or birth of Jesus ( Luke 1:35 ) Just as God's Wisdom materializes in all creation by vessel and building material which is LOGOS identically Jesus born directly by the power of God ( Luke 1:35), and later became a vessel for the Spirit of God revealing the Wisdom of the Father. So God's Word (LOGOS) is a bridge between creation and invisible Creator and has multi-level fractal structure and John uses this analogy to reveal the role of Christ, whose mission is based on the same principle as LOGOS which is mediation. After the events in Eden, the world does not see the Wisdom of God hidden in creation, that why God gave birth to Jesus to be the first vessel in which our connection with the spiritual world ( higher heavenly structures of LOGOS ) is restored for ever.

[@dulcetsimone1482]

Wow!

[@readlesspraymore4686]

It we interpret the Logos to be the non personified Eternal Wisdom of the Father, then this beginning can also be interpreted as the Genesis beginning. John makes it clear. It’s the Father who is coming into the world and who the world doesn’t know.

[@alexcampbell3032]

The Light in Genesis comes before the creation of the Sun.

[@axierogaming4854]

May god bless you with goodness

[@gregoryphi]

Beware of wolves in sheep’s clothing

[@user-gk3ec7cg4t]

I disagree sir. If you read Gen 1:1 in the Hebrew, the Alef Tav is the Word that became flesh, through whom Yah created the worlds through, as Paul teaches. Then if you follow the Greek text (a translation) it says "and G-d was the Word". The G-d of Gen 1:1 is elohim, not YHWH. So Yeshua is identified as an elohim, a Mighty One.

[@darinhouston1009]

what lecture?

[@CutTiesWithYourCaptor]

This is the lecture he was referring to... "John 1 IS NOT Genesis 1: Eight Evidences "the Beginning" of John 1 is NOT Genesis 1 Beginning" kzbin.info/www/bejne/jnfZZGaIl9d9nLMfeature=shared

[@alexcampbell3032]

​@@CutTiesWithYourCaptorYour link is not working for me friend.

[@CutTiesWithYourCaptor]

@@alexcampbell3032 You should be able to find it by searching 1 John IS NOT Genesis 1 Bill Schlegel

[@alexcampbell3032]

@@CutTiesWithYourCaptor 👍

[@davidw9705]

No. John 1 plainly says In the beginning was the Word. Jesus was Spirit, then made Light on Day 1 of Creation. Sun Moon and Stars was Day 4. Read it again. Jesus was then made Flesh, approx 2026 years ago. There are 3 groups of people. Spirit, Light, and Flesh. Please go to Ministry Revealed.

[@billschlegel1]

I think the Bible describes the human person, the man Christ Jesus from Nazareth. He didn't have a literaly pre-incarnate existence. If he did, he is not a human being.

[@shahboogz4915]

From Africa to Rome

[@russellchido]

All creation was done by verse 3: "All things were made by him;" verse 4 is then talking about the Word, "In him was life;" so it's not surprising it doesn't match up with the first day of creation, having nothing to do with it: in John's account, all that already happened. Then it is not a problem that John is brought up in the next paragraph, "The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe." "He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not." The world in which the Light was in, that was made by him. "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me." Let's hammer down who John bore witness of, who the Word by whom all things were made is, who the Light by whom the world in which he dwells was made is, who was before John; verse 29 & 30, "The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me: for he was before me." It's pretty clear who and what is being talked about here.

[@ken440]

yes it is clear who is being talked about here. Thanks for saying that. Jesus was talked about first, by God in Gen3:15. And in Deut18:18. God spoke through Moses and promised the messiah to be a Jewish man. Prophets spoke about the same coming messiah, an offspring of David. David, a mesianic king spoke of him too, in psm110. It wasnt till later than that was it spoken that one like Elijah would usher in the promised Jewish messiah. Yep, from the beginning the word of God promised these things, and the later one would be the greater, would be before the former (the one like Elijah...jt Baptist) in stature and importance in Gods plan. Thanks for pointing it out.

[@billschlegel1]

Thanks for the note. Consider the possibility that the "all" that comes to be in John 1:3 is not the material universe. I understand John 1:4 to be a clarifying expansion of the "all" of 1:3 "that which came to be in him was life". The subject of what comes to be in John 1 is not land, rocks, trees, stars, grass, seas, sun, moon and stars. BTW, the word "world" (kosmos) in John 1:9-10, and everywhere else in John's Gospel, does not mean planet earth.

[@SonOfGodByNewBirthInChrist]

@@billschlegel1John 1:11 He came to his own people and they did not receive him. Jesus was of the Tribe of Judah, the rightful heir to the Throne of David which God promises to him at the announcement to Mary before he was born. Luke 1:32 The Judeans, for the most part, rejected him as their King. John 19:15 We have no King but Caesar. Deity of Christ believers don’t care he is the King, for them: being God trumps King. Blessings to you in God’s only begotten son.

[@billschlegel1]

@@SonOfGodByNewBirthInChrist Here's an interesting real possibility: "the world" that God loved in John 3:16 is a reference to Israel.