1 "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men."
John 1:1-4
We pass to creation in 3. There is at least a suggestion that creation was in some sense the result of the eternal fellowship expressed in the relation of the Word to God, as Westcott points out. This is a fruitful idea, because the impulse of love is to create. There is an alternative reading for 3b, 4, which alters the punctuation as follows: 'Without Him was not anything made. All that came into existence found its life in Him, and that life was the light of men.' This does not greatly alter the essential meaning of the words, but gives a certain difference of emphasis. As one commentator puts it, 'Life, in all the width and height of its possible meanings, inheres in Him, and is communicated by Him, with its distinguishing accompaniment, in human nature, of light, whether of reason or conscience'. This is the view that Calvin takes, though it is fair to say that others take 'light' to refer to salvation rather than the light of reason or conscience. The point John is making is that nothing in the created order has any life in itself but only through Him Who upholds it and sustains it. This idea is echoed in Paul's teaching in Colossians 1:16, 17, and the conception of both apostles is sublime and exalted. What a tremendous 'build-up' John gives here, as he finally comes to 14 - this only Creator and Sustainer of all life, Maker of heaven and earth, the Eternal Word, He was made flesh and dwelt among us. Surely this is the mystery of all mysteries!