It is ascribed also to the SON of God. The evangelist John asserts in very express terms the Divinity of Jesus Christ, of the truth of which he designed his whole Gospel should be a proof. "In the beginning was the <<Logos>> Word." By the <<en archê>> _beginning_, here, we are to understand the beginning of the creation, not the beginning of the gospel state, as the Socinians say. We have the authority of Grotius, that <<en archê>> is taken from **br'shyth** _Bereshith_, Gen. i, 1, translated by the Septuagint <<en archê>>, and consequently must signify, from _the beginning of the creation of God_. It is not said, that _he_ was _made_ in the beginning, but that he _was_ in the beginning, did exist when the world began, which is of the same import as if he said, he was from eternity; for he that did exist in the beginning, never did himself begin to be. The personal Wisdom of God says, "The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old."--"And the Logos," or "Word, was with God." He could be with no creature, because there was no creature in being; and therefore it is very properly said, that he "was with God," the Father; and his being with him shows, that he is a distinct person or subsistence from the Father.--"And the Logos," or "Word was God." Though he is a person distinct from that of the Father, yet he is of the very same essence with him. He that was with God, was God; and if he was God in the beginning, that is from eternity, he is the same still, he cannot cease to be what he was. Here then the evangelist asserts the eternal existence of Christ, his personal co-existence with the Father, and that he is of the very same undivided nature and essence with him. Though he is a person distinct from the Father, yet he is of the same substance, equal with him in all divine perfections; not a _secondary_ God, inferior to the Father, as the Arians assert. "All things were made by him." All things, from the highest angel to the meanest worm, were made by him, not as a subordinate instrument, but as a co-ordinate agent, as a joint efficient cause, co-operating with the Father in this work. 'To say that Christ made all things by a delegated power from God, is _absurd_; because the thing is impossible. Creation means, causing that to exist that had no previous being: this is evidently a work which can be effected only by _omnipotence_. Now God cannot delegate his _omnipotence_ to another: were this possible, he _to_ whom this omnipotence was delegated, would, in consequence, become God; and he _from_ whom it was delegated, would _cease to be such_: for it is impossible that there should be _two_ omnipotent beings.' "And without him was not any thing made that was made." This is added for the more certainty, it being usual with the Hebrews, when they would affirm that a thing is so indeed, to confirm by a particular negative what they had before affirmed. Our Lord said to the Jews, "My Father worketh hitherto, and I work." The phrase <<hôs arti>> signifies "to this time," "to the present," that is, in all works whatever. Hence he is no creature, or he must have created himself; and if he created himself, he must have been in existence and not in existence at the very same time, which is both contradictory and absurd. And if every work performed by the Father was equally performed by the Son, the Son must, in all respects, be equal to the Father, in nature and perfections. This our Lord's words signify and imply, and in this sense the Jews understood him--as "making himself equal with God."[14] "He is the image of God," the <<prôtotochos>> "FIRST PRODUCER of every creature: for by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers:" all the angels, however diversified in rank or employment in the heavenly world; and all the rational, animal, vegetable, and inanimate creatures, belonging to this terrestrial abode: "all things were made by him," as the efficient cause, "and for him," as the last end.--"God hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds," i.e. the heavens and the earth. The Father does all by the Son, and the Son does all from the Father. Whatsoever the Father does, that also does the Son likewise. "Unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, oh God, is for ever and ever; a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.