The Beginning
By John Gavazzoni

Very recently, a (to me) puzzling perspective on the scriptural view of "the beginning" came to my attention, leading me to look at the subject afresh, recalling that previously, the same had been insightfully addressed by other brethren in a way that impressed upon me the need to give the subject much more consideration than I had up to that point.

It ought not be surprising that what springs to mind for me re: the overall presentation of "the beginning" in the Bible is the very obvious similarity of Moses' account of creation in the Book of Genesis, and the prologue of the Gospel of John. Both begin with "IN the beginning" (Emphasis mine.)

A very common Bible-reading fault is that of reading scripture as if it is saying one thing, when it is, in fact, saying something quite, or often completely different, and this fault arises very prominently when the average reader comes to the opening statements of Genesis and The Gospel of John. Most read both texts AS IF what is being addressed is the AT of creation, rather than the IN of creation.

Most read the texts as if they were saying, "At the very first point in time, God created the heavens and the earth...." and "At the very first point in time was the Word...." Instead, both writers, under the inspiration of the Spirit, are addressing, to repeat, not the AT of the subject at hand, but the IN. Moses and John address the containment field of creation. The opening statements are meant to focus the reader's attention on that IN which creation came to exist.

We find it to be consistent with the whole of the message of scripture, that Moses and John are presenting very foundational aspects of the workings of God IN Christ. Search it out for yourself, dear reader: Everything that God does, He does IN Christ. Everything, both of the natural and spiritual dimensions, exist within the containment field of the Son of God. Everything begins, proceeds and consummates IN Him.

Though it, in effect, strikes a sledgehammer blow at the conventional theological model, we must face the truth that even the darkness that was "upon the face of the deep" existed in Christ. There is no existence outside of Christ; no existence of any kind, for He has from the outset of God's eonian purpose, borne in Himself all the vanity, frustration, futility and uselessness to which God has subjected all creation.

There are no loose cannon situations or things in God's world. It is all safely contained within the Person and experience of His Son, there, by transformation, to be brought to the foreknown and predestined glory of God's One New Man, into the liberty of the glory of the sons of God.

True to this principle, Moses writes: "In the Firstfruits, God created the heavens and the earth." Yes, that's the literal meaning of the Hebrew word conventionally translated as "beginning." The Apostle Paul adds his agreement in his Epistle to the Colossians, writing that "IN Him (Christ) were all things created." For a translator of the Greek to be consistent re: Paul's use of the Greek preposition "en" in that first chapter, that verse ought to read, not "BY Him..." but "IN Him...." For if "IN Him all things consist," it definitely follows, that "IN Him were all things created."

Then how are we to reconcile the above with the fact that the Bible clearly states that "in Him is no darkness at all?" Tough question; tough question indeed! Face it, dear brethren, any serious study of scripture will raise all kinds of deeply disturbing questions. How about this one? Christ IS life, yet He DID die. You might rush to say, "Oh but my preacher explained that to me; you see, it was only His humanity that died" Please spare me these inane, dumbed-down, and actually heretical explanations.

Can we possibly be serious that the explanation to that classic question lies in separating our Lord's Deity from His Humanity? Can't it be seen that while denouncing the error of Gnosticism's view of the nature of Christ---that of refusing to accept His Humanity as integral to His nature and personhood--- that we do the same thing with that kind of explanation?

I have pointed out so many times, that contrary to conventional thinking, when faced with conceptual dilemmas such as the above, that the answer is not one or the other, but both. The answer lies in the SENSE in which darkness does exist within the containment field of the One in whom there is no darkness at all. Here's hopefully a helpful illustration from nature.

A person can ingest something that is foreign to the natural constitution of their human physiology, and its presence in them, while by nature of the fact that the thing is a foreign element presents a painful problem, that does not mean that the thing, because it is in them, is integral to who and what they are.

God clearly has made a place for this anomaly in the creation with which He, in His immanence, suffers. The very process of creation involved God adding to His incorruptible eternality, the vulnerability inherent in the dimension of the space-time continuum, so that it is ALL IN Him, without being IN HIM CONSTITUTIONALLY. God's/Christ's core incorruptibility remains so in spite of any presence.

In the theology of the Bible, there is presented both that which is IN God, and in God’s creation INTRINSICALLY, and that which is in both CONTRADICTORILY. Obviously for Infinity to add to Itself the dimension of the finite, the dimension of space-time limitation, introduces into the divine experience---yes even the inner divine experience--- the element of contrariety.

Deal with it folks. Jesus Christ, God's only-begotten Son, the Image of the invisible God, the very Radiance of God's glory, the One who is the Personification of the righteousness of God, the One in Whom dwells the fulness of the Godhead bodily, to Whom the Father, having life in Himself, gave to have life in Himself, became sin for us, and DIED. That of course, raises the question as to just what is life and death, a subject I've addressed in the series of articles titled, "Life, Death, and Resurrection, " on our web page, and which I encourage you to read.

The darkness that the Genesis account of creation presents has behind its physical manifestation that darkness which is the darkness of evil. That darkness in scripture is a metaphor for the whole dimension of evil, with its ignorance, sin, suffering and death, is undeniable, and its presence in the physical creation is a constant reflection of evil's presence within the universe, within the omnipresence of God.