Section 2
is very meaningful. Although this clause is ex ceedingly deep, let us try to understand it.
THE BEGINNING— THE ETERNITY PAST
The Bible begins with the words, "In the be ginning." However, what Genesis 1:1 says is dif ferent from John 1:1. It says, "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." Although two books, Genesis and John, start with the same phrase, the meaning of each is absolutely differ ent. The phrase, "In the beginning," in Genesis de notes the beginning of time, for it refers to God's creation. Therefore Genesis 1:1 refers to the be ginning of time in which God created all things. The meaning of this phrase in John 1:1 is differ ent, for it refers to eternity in the past without a beginning. The beginning in Genesis 1 starts from the time of creation, but the beginning in John 1 is before the time of creation. In other words, the beginning in Genesis 1 is the begin ning of time, and the beginning in John is the beginning before time existed; it refers to eter nity past without a beginning.
John's ministry was a mending ministry. Mend ing means that something has been in existence for a length of time, that it has been damaged,