Gospel of John
Genesis 1
Common Greek Words* to both texts.
John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being 4 in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.
1 In the beginning when God created[a] the heavens and the earth, 2 the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God[b] swept over the face of the waters. 3 Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness.
ἐν ἀρχῇ In the beginning.
ὁ θεὸς God
σκότος Darkness
ἐγένετο create, came into being
φῶς Light
[While Logos is not used in Genesis 1 (LXX), note that God “spoke” creation into being. Also, life (zoe) is not in Genesis 1, but all of Genesis 1 is about creating life].
Speak It!
So, who’s in a hurry? We can’t leave John 1:1-5 without one more comment on it. And even so, we’re only scratching the surface of an incredible biblical vein of truth and substance.
One of the Greek words for create is transliterated into English as genesis. So, the book was appropriately named. You can see a variation of the word above: ἐγένετο create, came into being.
We’ve already noted that God spoke everything into being through the Word (logos) who is Jesus and whom, by defeating death and sin on the cross, enables the Eighth Day of Creation — the birth of the Church, and you and me as redeemed by God.
And, you and me, spoke into being by the Creator through the Word, have stamped upon us Image of God. Created in the image of God, we then imitate what God does by taking chaos (the watery abyss) and speaking forth order.
If you’re like me (hopefully taller and smarter), then on plenty of occasions you have turned Beautiful and God-Called-It-“Good” Order into Watery Abyss or chaos.
The stuff regrets are made of.
But now we are offered the ability to repent (definition: change direction; loosely defined: change what you create) and instead turn the chaos of life we encounter into something beautiful and good and with order.
So think of this as your marching order: you are to go forth and be God-like creatures calling forth Beauty, Order and Goodness wherever you go.
Try that out daily. I don’t know about you, but I can’t do it without some Supernatural help. And even so, I get it wrong a lot of the time.
But if you’ve been looking for a mission in life…look no further.
To God be the Glory!
*The LXX or “Septuagint” was a Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures. The Jews of Jesus’ day were more familiar with the LXX than the Hebrew version because Hebrew was already an ancient language by that time and wasn’t known by the common folks who spoke Aramaic and an everyday shop Greek called Koine Greek.
Cover art: The Library of Celsus in Ephesus, c. 110 A.D.
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It's Greek to Me! 