John establishes the divine, timeless, and eternal nature of Jesus Christ with poetic elegance: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1). The repetition of the verb “was” utilized the imperfect verb tense, conveying continuous action without indication of completion. Later in the Gospel of John, Jesus affirmed his divine timelessness when he said, “Before Abraham was, I Am” (John 8:58). In John 1, the word “was” in its imperfect tense is used to say:
1)that Jesus timelessly existed before the beginning of time in John 1:1a
2) that Jesus is fully present with the Father in a personal way in John 1:1b
3) that Jesus is true God in John 1:1c
4) that as divine, Jesus is timelessly life itself and gives light to men in John 1:9
5) that as the divine Savior, it was eternally true that he “was coming” into the world and present with the world in John 1:9–10.
The ancient Christians reflected on Jesus’ incarnation, saying, “without ceasing to be what he was, he became what he was not.” This truth makes the incarnation more amazing and mysterious. Jesus’ deity was not limited, restrained, or diminished. The Son timelessly shares in the Father’s holy transcendent nature (John 5:26). The incarnation does not restrain Christ’s deity but rather ushers divine infinity into creation. Christians are redeemed by God, not by a substitute.
We must grasp this to appreciate the sacred gravity of redemption. Jesus did not attain quasi-divine status but rather embodied the full and unchanging deity. He is no mere proxy for human salvation. True God redeems His sinful image-bearers. Through the true Light who has come into the world, we can marvel at the glory of God.
Beautiful! Thank you!