Let's Start Before the Beginning, Part 1

Think about it. When did Jesus come into existence? In Bethlehem, more than 2,000 years ago, or perhaps earlier, when the world was created?

Today on Insight for Living, Chuck Swindoll presents a brand new mini-series designed to prepare us for the Christmas celebration ahead. And in this first presentation, he'll take us back to the very beginning of time. First, and right after Chuck finishes reading from the Bible, we'll hear a beautiful musical performance from the children of Stonebriar Community Church. Based on John chapter 1, they'll be singing, The Word Was God. If you have brought your Bible with you, please turn to John chapter 1. Once that's located, then go to Philippians chapter 2. We'll go from John 1, the first five verses, along with verse 14, over to three verses found in that wonderful section of Philippians 2 that ties in beautifully to the story of our Savior's coming to earth.

Once you find your place, please stand with one another for the reading of the Scriptures. I'm reading from the New Living Translation as we read the Scriptures this day. In the beginning, the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He existed in the beginning with God. God created everything through Him, and nothing was created except through Him. The Word gave life to everything that was created, and His life brought light to everyone.

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it. Verse 14, so the Word became flesh and made His home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faith and faithfulness, and we have seen His glory, the glory of the Father's one and only Son.

Now, to Philippians 2, I began the reading at verse 6 down through verse 8. Though He was God, He did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, He gave up His divine privileges. He took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being.

When He appeared in human form, He humbled Himself in obedience to God and died a criminal's death on a cross. It's interesting when you trace the Christmas story in the Scriptures, it's different from tracing it on this earth in Christmas cards and in literature we read. For the Bible takes us back to a beginning which really never had a beginning, as we shall see, and carries the story from infinity all the way to the Nativity, ultimately to Calvary, offering for us the love of a Father who had sent His Son on our behalf.

That's the story. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was saved by God. But He gave up His divine privileges.

He took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. The Word was with God and the Word was God in the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God and the Word was God in the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God. The Word was with God. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God. And the Word, and the Word, and the Word was God. Our thanks to the Children's Choir of Stonebriar Community Church, who set up today's message with the appropriate song, The Word Was God.

And now today's message from Chuck Swindoll. Let's start before the beginning. Where does it all begin, this Christmas story? Ask the average individual in our country, and I'm sure the person will say, Bethlehem, it was Mary's baby that came, and the shepherds arrived, and then later the wise men came with their gifts, and the child grew. It all began there, but it didn't.

That wasn't the beginning. In fact, in order to begin at the beginning, we have to start where there is no beginning. So allow me to be your tour guide on this very unusual journey we will take. It's unusual because I've never been to the destination, and you haven't either. In fact, no one on this earth has ever been there. Which adds to the fact that it is not only unusual, it may seem a little eerie, because where we are going, there is no time, no sound.

In fact, the silence is deafening. There is, in fact, nothing as we travel to infinity, eternity past. Now, in order for us to take this tour together, we'll have to take our vehicles, and you have yours and I have mine. We'll need the fuel that will drive the vehicle, and we'll need to keep the fuel lines open so that we have enough to take us there and then back into time as we follow the instructions of the map. Interestingly, we all have the vehicle, but we don't all have the same amount of fuel. Our vehicle that we'll travel in is our mind, and the fuel is our imagination. And some are equipped just naturally with more imagination than another.

So they can travel longer and farther than those with a limited amount of imagination. So I'll try to make the journey interesting enough and short enough that we can take in enough of it for it to make sense. The challenging part of it all is that even if we have the vehicle and the fuel, and even if we arrive at this eerie and unusual destination, we'll not be able to take it all in. It is beyond us. The reason is because in this place where there is no time or creature or even matter, everything we know on this earth is absent.

So it's easy to be disoriented unless we focus on what was there. And in infinity, eternity past, there is only the Trinity. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, co-equal, co-eternal, co-existent. The focus of our attention is on the second member of the Trinity because he becomes the one who leaves the presence of the others and becomes the only member of the Trinity who has a body, a tangible, visible body. God the Father is a spirit and no one has seen God at any time. God the Spirit is such.

But God the Son, when he became a man, took upon himself human flesh. But I'm getting ahead of myself. I need to come back to this map I mentioned.

And you have your copy of it and I have mine. And because it is a reliable map, we'll look to it. Because let's face it, no Christmas card will ever be able to adequately portray infinity.

And no Christmas pageant could ever set forth the scene. So we must rely on the map. And because the directions in the map are limited to words, we'll have to use our vehicle and engage the fuel to picture it as it transpired. In infinity past, in eternity past, there took place what theologians have come to call the Council of Divine Decrees.

Stay with me. At this Council of Divine Decrees, a plan was arranged by the Trinity regarding life, not just life on this planet, but life as a whole, and not just this galaxy, but all galaxies, and every place where the Trinity determined there would be something, then that was in the plan, including on this earth, a plan of salvation. So you see, it did not all begin at Bethlehem. It didn't begin just when the angel said to Mary, you're the chosen one. It didn't begin when she felt that first movement in the womb, the embryo becoming fetus, and ultimately the baby. No, it goes all the way back into infinity, which is where John begins. All of your life, chances are good you thought it all began in Genesis 1. In the beginning, God created the heavens.

No, no, no, no. That's when God created. John 1 goes back before there was anything created.

I told you the journey was going to be a bit taxing, so keep your mind engaged, keep a few lines open, and picture the scene as John records it. In a beginning was the word. John's favorite name for Jesus is Logos.

For lack of a better term, I call it his nickname. Logos is too complicated for me to get into, so we'll just stay with the term word, which is the translation of the Greek Logos, but more importantly than that for a moment is that there is no definite article before beginning in the original text. It simply reads, en arche, in a beginning, en halogos. In a beginning, which really never has a beginning, eternally existed, logos.

If there were a definite article, we could have a point of time like your beginning when you were implanted in your mother's womb and you in fetal form or embryonic form grew into a fetus and finally a baby, but that's not where this begins. We're moving into infinity where there isn't a beginning. There's simply the immensity of space without limits. I put a quick list together to try to get my head around it and stopped after I got beyond my ability to take it in.

Listen to this. The immensity of limitless space, absolute and perfect tranquility, describing eternity past. The absence of any and all conflict between good and evil.

The Godhead existing in uncreated perfection, harmony, and love. In this domain of the divine, words like before and after don't apply. Those are time words. Words like early and late don't fit.

Words like before and after. You see, those are our words that orient us to time, but when you are in infinity, there is no start or finish, beginning or ending, early or late, before or after. There is the ever-present now where the co-equal, co-eternal, co-existing trinity existed in perfect sovereignty, self-sufficient, with a complete absence of frustration and the presence of limitless power. That's the seat of the Council of Divine Decrees. The Father determined that the Son would be the one who would come.

Look at the way the map reads. The Word was with God. The Word was God.

Lest we be confused, we will use the word deity. Logos was deity. There are many people who teach about Jesus, but they deny his deity.

To do so is to deny John 1-1. Right out of the chute, we read that Logos is deity. He existed in the beginning with God. In fact, God created everything through him.

Most people don't know that. We think of the Father as the creator, when in fact it was the second member of the trinity who was given that responsibility in the Council of Divine Decrees. We read that he existed in the beginning and created everything. In fact, to make it clear, John goes on to say at the end of verse 3, nothing was created except through him. There was no alien creation.

There was no surprising event. All planned, all carried out through the limitless power of the second member of the trinity. You're listening to a brand new message from Chuck Swindoll. It's the first in a holiday series designed to prepare us for the Christmas celebration right around the corner. Chuck titled this message, Let's Start Before the Beginning. To learn more about this ministry, visit us online at insightworld.org. We've set aside several minutes at the closing of today's Insight for Living to hear a personal comment from Chuck. But first, we'd like to give you a glimpse of Chuck's teaching schedule in the New Year. In January, we're pleased to tell you that Chuck will begin a comprehensive study through the magnificent Gospel according to Matthew. This first book in the New Testament tells the story of our king from his arrival in Bethlehem to his ascension into heaven. In order to prepare for this brand new series, you may want to secure Swindoll's Living Insights commentary for Matthew. It comes in two hardbound volumes, and it's written in a style that's easy to understand and the format is simple to navigate. These are excellent reference books that belong in the library of anyone who's a student of the Bible. To purchase Swindoll's Living Insights commentary for Matthew, go to insight.org slash store.

If you're listening in the United States and you prefer to call, use this number 1-800-772-8888. Well, 2020 has presented all sorts of unexpected moments, and Chuck, one of those surprises included the tragic loss of your sister. Every brother in this vast world would be fortunate to have a big sister like mine whose name was Lucy. Just a few years my senior, and what an enormous inspiration she was to me, gratefully most of my memories about my sis are filled with hilarious laughter. One spontaneous story after another, Lucy would have our entire family doubled over laughing so hard our eyelids flipped out. And the memory of those lighthearted moments helps us right now, because as most of you know, we lost Lucy just a few weeks ago.

Her three-year decline ended on the 20th of October when she left us and stepped into the gates of glory. I share this personal sorrow with you because I know that you have suffered some losses in 2020 as well. It may not have been the death of your sister, but perhaps you went through a financial setback, maybe a layoff from your job, or even the loss of your health. I want you to know that I see you, I hear you, and I share your sadness.

More importantly, God does. The prophet Isaiah described Jesus as a man of sorrows and acquainted with our deepest grief. And so, this month as we close the books on one of the most challenging years in human history, we do so not in defeat, but in the anticipated joy of heaven's promise. And as we finish the last chapter of 2020 and open a brand-new page to 2021, I invite you to join us in our all-out effort to bring this joy, hope, and comfort to a global audience of men and women, just like you and me. Many are confused by a year of profound losses. With all my heart, I've never felt stronger about bringing joy to the joyless, hope to the hopeless, and great comfort to you who hurt.

And you can do that with me by financially supporting Insight for Living. You know, Lucy inherited a Swindoll trait. Like me, she was, well, kind of loud. She attended the church I pastor every Sunday morning, and I knew exactly where she was sitting. Because of her booming contralto voice, when we would sing those hymns and songs of praises, there was such beauty and fullness in the music because of her voice.

As her brother and the preacher, I'll admit to you, I found solace and great delight in hearing Lucy take the harmony as I would usually take the melody. And now it's your turn. This is your time of the year to harmonize with us. We need your voice, too. Insight for Living has never missed a day of broadcasting in 2020, and as long as God gives me breath, I'll be right here for you every single day of 2021. Please follow God's lead and let us hear from you.

Give whatever amount He has placed on your heart, but do so soon. Together, let's tell the world you're not alone. God hears your voice. Please take this occasion to let your voice be heard.

Here's how to respond to Chuck Swindoll right now. If you're listening in the United States, call 1-800-772-8888. You can also use our convenient mobile app or go directly to our website at insight.org. For nonprofit ministries like Insight for Living, there's no more important month in the calendar year than December, and you can give a year-end donation by calling us if you're listening in the United States, dial 1-800-772-8888 or give online at insight.org.

I'm Dave Spiker. Chuck Swindoll's message titled Let's Start Before the Beginning continues Tuesday on Insight for Living. The preceding message, Let's Start Before the Beginning, was copyrighted in 2019 and 2020, and the sound recording was copyrighted in 2020 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights reserved. All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited.