The Blog of Patrick Vincent

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” – Gen. 1:1

“in the beginning” in Hebrew is one word: reshith.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” – John 1:1

John here is connecting Jesus to the Creation event. At Creation was the Word, which is to say: Jesus.

Skip over to Prov. 8 (verses 22-31).

“²² ‘The Lord possessed me at the beginning of His way,
Before His works of old.
²³ I have been established from everlasting,
From the beginning, before there was ever an earth.
²⁴ When there were no depths I was brought forth,
When there were no fountains abounding with water.
²⁵ Before the mountains were settled,
Before the hills, I was brought forth;
²⁶ While as yet He had not made the earth or the fields,
Or the primal dust of the world.
²⁷ When He prepared the heavens, I was there,
When He drew a circle on the face of the deep,
²⁸ When He established the clouds above,
When He strengthened the fountains of the deep,
²⁹ When He assigned to the sea its limit,
So that the waters would not transgress His command,
When He marked out the foundations of the earth,
³⁰ Then I was beside Him as a master craftsman;
And I was daily His delight,
Rejoicing always before Him,
³¹ Rejoicing in His inhabited world,
And my delight was with the sons of men.’”

– Prov. 8:22-31

This is Wisdom personified speaking. All scholars agree that Wisdom is, in fact, Jesus. Christ is the wisdom of the Father. Jesus is saying He is eternal, He was there with the Father at Creation, and that He delighted at His Father’s handiwork.

Jesus mentioning Himself as being “at the beginning” is the same Hebrew word: reshith.

So when Moses says “in the beginning,” he is not just referring to the start of time, but to a Person; Jesus. One could substitute “in the beginning” with “in Christ.” In essence, the very first words of the Bible are “in Christ.” Right from the start, the Bible begins by alluding to the Son. It’s a pretty amazing little nugget.

“For in Him all things were created, things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities. All things were created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.” – Col. 1:16-17 (also note Rom. 11:36 and 1 Cor. 8:6).