Chapter 1: His Existence Before the Beginning

There are several passages in the Bible that open with the words “In the beginning.” The first comes from the Old Testament, in the opening verse of Genesis: “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). The second comes from the New Testament, in the prologue of John’s Gospel: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning” (John 1:1–2). And a third appears in the letter to the Hebrews: “And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands” (Hebrews 1:10).

These three texts are not accidentally similar. The Gospel writer deliberately echoes the opening words of Genesis so that his reader will hear, beneath the account of a new creation in Christ, the great chord first struck at the dawn of all things. D. A. Carson observes that a first-century Jew, or a synagogue-attending proselyte, could not hear the phrase in the beginning without thinking immediately of Genesis 1:1.²⁰ John means for us to make exactly the connection your eye has already made: the One who was “in the beginning” with God is the same One by whom the foundations of the earth were laid (Hebrews 1:10; Colossians 1:16–17).

First, the words “in the beginning” introduce the reader to the moment the whole story commences. To speak of a beginning is to speak of time and space—for there must be time and place for there to be a “beginning” at all. So when the Bible says in the beginning, it points us back to the One who already was before time and space existed. The Greek of John’s prologue makes this point with great precision. John uses the verb ēn (“was”), which denotes continuous existence, rather than egeneto (“came into being”), which denotes a coming‐into‐existence. Leon Morris notes that this “was” is most naturally understood of the eternal existence of the Word: however far back one presses, the Word already is.²¹ C. K. Barrett puts the stakes plainly—John intends his entire Gospel to be read in the light of this verse, for the deeds and words of Jesus are the deeds and words of God.²²

The term “God” refers to the object of worship. For a being to be considered God in relation to creatures, there must be creatures to offer that worship; God is understood as Creator, ruler, protector, and moral authority. Yet because of widespread ignorance, many false gods are venerated around the world, and to distinguish among them each is given a name. In the Hebrew Bible, the word that stands in the very first verse of Genesis is Elohim: “In the beginning [Elohim] created the heaven and the earth” (Genesis 1:1).

Although Elohim is plural in form, it is paired with a singular verb when it refers to the true God. In Genesis 1:1 the verb bara (“created”) is singular. Hebrew grammarians call this the “plural of majesty” (or the plural of intensity or fullness): it magnifies a singular subject, signifying greatness, supremacy, and the fullness of deity rather than a plurality of gods. Gordon Wenham treats the singular verb as decisive—one sovereign God is the actor in creation.²³ We must be careful here: the plural form of Elohim does not by itself prove the doctrine of the Trinity. John Calvin himself was restrained on this point, warning against pressing the plural too hard, even while he recognized in the broader sweep of Old Testament revelation a preparation for the fuller disclosure of God yet to come.²⁴ The plural form leaves the door open; later revelation walks through it.

Yet there is one name uniquely associated with the God of the Bible: Yahweh. Yahweh signifies the “supreme one,” the “mighty one,” the “immortal” and “self-existing, eternal God”—a name God revealed to Moses. Yahweh-Elohim is rendered “the Lord God,” reflecting God’s relationship with humanity as both Creator and Redeemer, and emphasizing the oneness within the rich, diverse expressions of the one true God. Later we will explore the names of God as they appear in the Old Testament and how they unfold in the New.

Before the beginning—when Elohim (Yahweh) created the heavens and the earth—He is described as the “self-existing one.” He is wholly self-sufficient, needing nothing outside Himself to be complete; He is complete in Himself. Yet this raises a profound question: Who is Yahweh before the beginning, in an eternity when nothing existed to worship Him as God?

Before anything existed, there was Yahweh, the “self-existing one,” the great eternal Spirit, who would later choose to introduce Himself to His creation as the great “I AM.” No beginning, no ending—just “I AM.” This is the heart of what the name at the burning bush discloses. When Moses asked God’s name, the answer came: Ehyeh asher ehyeh—“I AM WHO I AM” (Exodus 3:14). The early Greek translation of the Old Testament rendered the phrase “I am the One who is,” and the whole interpretive tradition has heard in it the truth theologians call God’s aseity—His self-existence, the truth that He has being in and of Himself and depends on nothing outside Himself. Calvin comments that here God “attributes to himself alone divine glory, because he is self-existent and therefore eternal; and thus gives being and existence to every creature.”²⁵

The Reformed theologian Herman Bavinck makes the connection explicit: Yahweh is the name that describes God’s essence most clearly—“His name is ‘being.’” From this single attribute every other perfection flows, for because God has being from Himself, He is also eternal, unchanging, and the fountain of all existence.²⁶ There is more here still. Recent evangelical study of Exodus stresses that the name also carries a covenantal, relational force: not only “I am the self-existent One,” but “I am present with you”—the God who will faithfully be there for His people in their suffering.²⁷ Both senses are true, and they reinforce one another. The eternal “I AM” is also the ever-present “I AM,” near to those who call on Him.

The Bible says Yahweh is Spirit and Light—not the light we see and comprehend, but light of a wholly different dimension. “God is Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24). “This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5).

To say “God is light” affirms two things at once. John Stott explains that it tells us God wants to be known—for light reveals—and that God is holy and pure, for “in him is no darkness at all.”²⁸ The “light” in which God dwells is therefore not merely physical brilliance but the blazing purity of His holiness. And the One who is Spirit has no form and is invisible: “You saw no form of any kind the day the LORD spoke to you at Horeb out of the fire” (Deuteronomy 4:15). “Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen” (1 Timothy 1:17).

The Attributes of the Self-Existing One

What follows is a portrait of the One who simply is. In the language of Reformed theology, many of these belong to what are called the incommunicable attributes of God—the perfections that belong to God alone and are not shared with creatures. Louis Berkhof and Herman Bavinck organize them around God’s independence (aseity), from which flow His immutability, eternity, immensity, and infinity.²⁹ Wayne Grudem, whose work is widely used across evangelical and Pentecostal circles, treats the same cluster—independence, unchangeableness, eternity, and omnipresence—and is a helpful guide for readers who wish to go further.³⁰

Eternal (no beginning nor ending). The Bible portrays God as eternal, without beginning or end. “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God” (Psalm 90:2). And again: “‘I am the Alpha and the Omega,’ says the Lord God, ‘who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty’” (Revelation 1:8).

Omnipotent (all-powerful). Scripture repeatedly affirms God’s limitless power. “I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted” (Job 42:2). “Ah, Lord God! It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you” (Jeremiah 32:17).

Omniscient (knows all things). “Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure” (Psalm 147:5). “The Lord by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding he established the heavens” (Proverbs 3:19–20). In Him all things hold together, both seen and unseen; even the salvation of man was settled in Him before the foundation of the world (Colossians 1:17; Revelation 13:8; Titus 1:2; Ephesians 1:4). He is right where you are, and He knows your needs, your challenges, and your tears. He says, “Call unto me, and I will answer thee” (Jeremiah 33:3; Isaiah 65:24).

Sovereign (not dictated to). “All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing; He does according to His will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. No one can restrain His hand or say to Him, ‘What have You done?’” (Daniel 4:35). Ephesians 1:11 affirms that God works all things according to the counsel of His will.

Infinite (without limitation). “But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you” (1 Kings 8:27). “Can you find out the deep things of God? Can you find out the limit of the Almighty?” (Job 11:7–9).

Omnipresent (everywhere present). Because He is the self-existing One, His dwelling place is everywhere. While there was as yet no time, no space, no light or darkness—nothing spiritual or physical—He was there. Everything we can define, see, touch, hear, smell, or imagine was made possible by Him and through Him; in Him all things hold together.

In Psalm 139, David asks where one could possibly hide from God: “Whither shall I go from Thy Spirit? or whither shall I flee from Thy Presence? If I ascend up into heaven, Thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, Thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; even there shall Thy Hand lead me, and Thy right Hand shall hold me. If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. Yea, the darkness hideth not from Thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to Thee.” David understood that there is no place one can hide from God. He is everywhere present (cf. Jeremiah 23:23–24).

Dwelling in Unapproachable Light—and in Thick Darkness

Scripture says something remarkable about God’s dwelling place. Although He is everywhere present, He has chosen a place where His glory is hidden—and it tells us, astonishingly, both that He dwells in unapproachable light and that He dwells in darkness. Remember that Yahweh is Spirit and Light, but this light is of a different nature and dimension from anything we know: no one can see it and live. Being God, He created everything else, including light and darkness themselves: “I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things” (Isaiah 45:6–7).

He chose to dwell in the light and the darkness He created. The apostle Paul unfolds the mystery of God’s dwelling when writing to his spiritual son Timothy: “…Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see” (1 Timothy 6:16). And in the Old Testament we read that He dwells in darkness: “He bowed the heavens also, and came down: and darkness was under his feet…. He made darkness his secret place; his pavilion round about him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies” (Psalm 18:9, 11).

So too, when King Solomon dedicated the temple, the presence of God descended and the cloud filled the house of the Lord, so that the priests could not minister because of it. Then Solomon said a striking thing: “The LORD said that he would dwell in the thick darkness” (1 Kings 8:10–12). Moses likewise was given grace to approach the darkness where God was: “The people remained at a distance, while Moses approached the thick darkness where God was” (Exodus 20:21).

How can both be true? The two images are not a contradiction but a double picture of God’s transcendence and incomprehensibility. The “light” is so intense and pure that no creature can approach it or survive the sight of it. The “thick darkness” is the cloud of holy mystery that veils His glory and shields His worshippers, as at Sinai and at Solomon’s temple. This is not ordinary darkness—for where ordinary light shines, darkness must flee. This darkness is unique, for it can contain the unapproachable Light; and so men like Moses and Solomon were spared, because no one can see the unapproachable Light and live. Both light and darkness, as Isaiah reminds us, are His creations and His servants. He is contained by neither, but is sovereign over both.

Therefore we may say with confidence that before anything came into existence—before there was space, time, light, darkness, or any created thing, whether spiritual or physical—there was Yahweh, the great “I AM,” the self-existing One. He is Spirit and Light, the Father of lights (James 1:17), the Creator of all things, who dwells in unapproachable light within the thick darkness.

The God Who Chose to Reveal Himself

Being self-existent and self-sufficient, Yahweh chose to reveal His many hidden attributes—to disclose His hidden self in many forms and degrees of glory that can be perceived through the things He has made: “For since the creation of the world his invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse” (Romans 1:20). He chose to reveal that He is God—holy, glorious, Creator, Father, loving, merciful, gracious, faithful, righteous, just, good, wise, unchanging, sovereign, one, and provident—among many other perfections. As David sang, His creation declares His glory and reveals His attributes: “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork” (Psalm 19:1).

No matter what challenges we face in daily life—even when everything around us looks dark and we can see no clear direction—there is a God who is Spirit and Light, and the Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it (John 1:5). Let God shine into every part of our lives.

Join me as we continue, in the next chapter, to learn how He began to reveal His character and attributes—first by manifesting Himself from the One who is Spirit, Light, and invisible to the One whose presence became, in a spiritual sense, visible; and how, through this manifestation, He brought forth all of creation. Indeed, this is a profound mystery.