made. 4. In Him was life; and the life was the light of men. 5. And
the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
6. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7. The same
came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through
him might believe. 8. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear
witness of that Light. 9. That was the true Light, which lighteth
every man that cometh into the world. 10. He was in the world, and the
world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not. 11. He came unto
His own, and His own received Him not. 12. But as many as received
Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them
that believe on His name: 13. Which were born, not of blood, nor of
the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. 14. And the
Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the
glory as of the only-begotten of the Father,) full of grace and
truth.'--JOHN i. 1-14.

The other Gospels begin with Bethlehem; John begins with 'the bosom of
the Father.' Luke dates his narrative by Roman emperors and Jewish
high-priests; John dates his 'in the beginning.' To attempt adequate
exposition of these verses in our narrow limits is absurd; we can only
note the salient points of this, the profoundest page in the New
Testament.

The threefold utterance in verse 1 carries us into the depths of
eternity, before time or creatures were. Genesis and John both start
from 'the beginning,' but, while Genesis works downwards from that
point and tells what followed, John works upwards and tells what
preceded--if we may use that term in speaking of what lies beyond
time. Time and creatures came into being, and, when they began, the
Word 'was.' Surely no form of speech could more emphatically declare