Gospels Part 051
As we saw last time, both John 1:1 and Genesis 1:1 reveal the existence of more than one divine Being. Now we’ll further explore Their relationship with one another.
What is the relationship between the two Beings mentioned in Genesis 1:1 and John 1:1? The Bible doesn’t explicitly tell us in these two verses. It only reveals that both are divine and both are “God.”
Are they in a relationship of Father and Son at the time of these verses? No, they are not. Let’s notice Daniel’s remarkable vision recorded in Daniel 7:13-14:
“I was watching in the night visions, and behold, One like the Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him. Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed.”
This should sound familiar to anyone familiar with Bible prophecy. Who is it that receives an everlasting kingdom that will never be destroyed or pass away? A kingdom that includes all people, nations and languages? Obviously, this is a prophecy of Jesus the Messiah. And here He is referred to as “One like the Son of Man.” The same title Jesus Christ uses in referring to Himself 77 times in the Gospels, “The Son of Man.” When Jesus applies this term to Himself, He is quoting from this prophecy in Daniel 7:13-14 and speaking of Himself.
If the Being whom we know as Jesus Christ is given an everlasting Kingdom that will not be destroyed, who gives Him that Kingdom? As stated here, a Being called “the Ancient of Days.” And that is what the wording literally means. If the “Ancient of Days” gives the Kingdom to the One we know as Jesus Christ, who is the “Ancient of Days”? That is the One we know as God the Father.
Why doesn’t Daniel call them God the Father and the Son? The answer is simple—They were not in a Father-Son relationship yet.
Keep in mind that Daniel saw this vision about 550 B.C. Jesus Christ was born as the Son of God around 4 B.C. That’s about 550 years after Daniel’s vision. Daniel doesn’t see Them as Father and Son in 550 B.C., because They would not be in the Father-Son relationship until more than five centuries into the future. When Jesus was begotten in the womb of Mary, that is when that Father-Son relationship began. God the Father became the Father, and the Son became the Son.
This came about through the human birth process, one in which Mary divinely conceived through the miracle-working power of the Holy Spirit as we read about in Luke 1:30-35:
“So, the angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God! Listen: You will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High . . .’ Mary said to the angel, ‘How will this be, since I have not been intimate with a man?’ The angel replied, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the child to be born will be holy; he will be called the Son of God’” [(New EnglishTranslation (NET)].
We see the archangel Gabriel telling Mary that her Son will be called “the Son of the Most High” and “the Son of God.” He wasn’t the Son yet because He hadn’t been conceived in human form or physically born as a son yet.
Let’s also notice the description of Melchizedek, who lived on earth as a priest of God during the time of Abraham. Notice how He is described in Hebrews 7:3:
“[Melchizedek was] without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, remains a priest continually.”
Notice that He has no physical parents or physical lineage, but had “neither beginning of days nor end of life . . .”
How do you have a Being who had no “beginning of days nor end of life?” This can be hard for us to understand! How do we wrap our minds around a Being who did not have a beginning? In the same way, how do we conceive of a Being who existed before the beginning? Yet that is what we are told here in these passages.
This Being, who is described as “made like the Son of God,” who “remains a priest continually” even though He lived in the time of Abraham about 4,000 years ago, had no “beginning of days.” In other words, He was uncreated, just as God the Father was uncreated. Those two Beings existed and continue to exist outside the physical dimension of time and space. They live in a dimension of spirit existence in which they have no beginning or end and are not limited by time and space. That existence is vastly different from our physical human existence!
We’ll dig deeper into these awesome concepts more next time to further comprehend who and what Jesus Christ was before He was born in the flesh as a human being.
© 2026 Scott Ashley. All rights reserved. Used with permission.
UYA Team | uya@ucg.org
United Young Adults (UYA) primarily serves the 18–32-year age group for the United Church of God. There are three main areas of contribution to the lives of the young adults: Promoting Spiritual Growth, Developing Meaningful Relationships and Making the Most of Your Talents. The Know Your Sword series is a daily expository message introducing God’s Word from a trusted perspective.
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Scott Ashley
Scott Ashley was managing editor of Beyond Today magazine, United Church of God booklets and its printed Bible Study Course until his retirement in 2023. He also pastored three congregations in Colorado for 10 years from 2011-2021. He and his wife, Connie, live near Denver, Colorado.
Mr. Ashley attended Ambassador College in Big Sandy, Texas, graduating in 1976 with a theology major and minors in journalism and speech. It was there that he first became interested in publishing, an industry in which he worked for 50 years.
During his career, he has worked for several publishing companies in various capacities. He was employed by the United Church of God from 1995-2023, overseeing the planning, writing, editing, reviewing and production of Beyond Today magazine, several dozen booklets/study guides and a Bible study course covering major biblical teachings. His special interests are the Bible, archaeology, biblical culture, history and the Middle East.
