Jesus Christ: The Being Who Eternally Is

Sam Shamoun

30 Mar 2026

Ben Sirach asked the question as to who has been able to see God so as to describe him:

“Because of him his messenger finds the way, and by his word all things hold together… Who has seen him and can describe him? Or who can extol him as he is?” Sirach 43:26, 31 Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (RSVCE)

The inspired New Testament documents provide the answer: Jesus Christ.

Christ is the uniquely begotten Son of God who is the exact imprint of God’s infinite, uncreated substance, being the divine Agent of creation who personally sustains all things by his powerful word:

“In the past, God spoke to our forefathers by the prophets at many times and in many ways.In these last days, he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe.The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact imprint of the divine nature. He sustains all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he took his seat at the right hand of the Majesty on high.” Hebrews 1:1-3 Evangelical Heritage Version (EHV)

Interestingly, Jesus does what Sirach ascribed to God Almighty, namely, preserving and holding all things in place by his word.

Since Jesus perfectly and fully possesses the divine nature, he alone is capable of comprehending God in all his fullness. This explains why he alone is qualified to reveal God’s true character:

“At that moment Jesus himself was inspired with joy, and exclaimed, ‘O Father, Lord of Heaven and earth, I thank you for hiding these things from the clever and the intelligent and for showing them to mere children! Yes, I thank you, Father, that this was your will.’ Then he went on, ‘Everything has been put in my hands by my Father; and nobody knows who the Son really is except the Father. Nobody knows who the Father really is except the Son—and the man to whom the Son chooses to reveal him!’” Luke 10:21-22 J.B. Phillips New Testament (PHILLIPS) – Cf. Matt. 11:27-30

The Apostle John provides a further explanation why Christ alone is able to truly and completely make God known:

“No one has ever seen God; the only-born God, the One being (ho on) in the bosom of the Father— that One expounded Him.” John 1:18 Disciples’ Literal New Testament (DLNT)

Amazingly, John ascribes to Jesus the very phrase, which the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible (referred to as the Septuagint [LXX]) employed to render the verb ehyeh (“I WILL BE/I AM”) in a key text that describes the timeless existence of YHWH:

“And God spoke to Moses, saying, I am THE BEING (ego eimi ho on); and he said, Thus shall ye say to the children of Israel, THE BEING (ho on) has sent me to you.” Exodus 3:14

Since Christ is identified as the Ho On, this means he is that very timeless Being who eternally exists in the bosom or heart of his Father, which is the closest imaginable relationship one can have with God.

In other words, the phrase Ho On is meant to convey the fact of Christ having always existed in the closest, most intimate union with the Father. To put this in simpler terms, there has never been a time when the Son has not been in this loving relationship with God, and there will never be a time when this union will cease to be.

It is this timeless communion between the Father and Son which makes Christ perfectly qualified to explain the character and nature of God. And since this union is timeless, the Son has always been the One making God known to all mankind from Adam’s creation and onwards.

This explains why Christ could say that he remains in the Father and the Father in him, even while on earth in his physically embodied state:

“If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; but if I do them, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, so that you may know and continue knowing that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father.” John 10:37-38 Legacy Standard Bible (LSB)

“‘If you have come to know Me, you will know My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him.’ Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Have I been with you all so long and have you not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, “Show us the Father”? Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak from Myself, but the Father abiding in Me does His works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise believe because of the works themselves.’” John 14:7-11 LSB

“‘On that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.’ Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, ‘Lord, what then has happened that You are going to disclose Yourself to us and not to the world?’ Jesus answered and said to him, ‘If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our dwelling with him.’” John 14:20-23 LSB

“And I am no longer in the world; and yet they themselves are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me, that they may be one even as We are… I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me. The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me.” John 17:11, 20-23 LSB

Since Christ eternally resides in the bosom of the Father, there can never be a moment when such a union could cease to be so.

There are other texts which employ the present participle On to speak of Christ being God’s Son or being rich, even in his incarnate state on earth:

“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though being (on) rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.” 2 Corinthians 8:9 LSB

“Even being (on) God’s Son, He learned to obey by the things He suffered.” Hebrews 5:8 New Life Version NLV

This all makes sense if the Son is eternal by nature, and therefore never ceases to be what he has always been.

This point is further substantiated by the following verses:

“He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.

“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He IS (estin) before all things, and in Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.

“For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.” Colossians 1:13-20 New King James Version (NKJV)

Here’s another rendering of the specific verse:

“And he is ahead, prior to all else and in him all things hold together;” Colossians 1:16 New Testament for Everyone (NTFE)

Note that Paul says Christ IS before all things, not was, highlighting both his timeless existence and transcendence over all creation.

“Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.” Hebrews 13:8 Authorized King James Version (AKJV)

Here, the inspired author uses a verbless clause to hammer the fact of Christ being unchangeable in respect to his divine nature, a point which he makes clearer in what he writes earlier in his epistle:

“But God said about his Son, ‘Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. The scepter in your kingdom is a scepter for justice. You have loved what is right and hated what is wrong. That is why God, your God, anointed you, rather than your companions, with the oil of joy.’

“God also said, 'Lord [the Son], in the beginning YOU laid the foundation of the earth. With YOUR own hands YOU made the heavens. They will come to an end, but you will live forever. They will all wear out like clothes. They will be taken off like a coat. YOU will change them like clothes. But you remain the same, and your life will never end.’” Hebrews 1:8-12 Names of God Bible (NOG)

The writer has the Father taking the following Psalm, which glorifies YHWH for being the immutable Creator and Sustainer of all creation,

“Long ago you laid the foundation of the earth. Even the heavens are the works of your hands. They will come to an end, but you will still go on. They will all wear out like clothing. You will change them like clothes, and they will be thrown away. But you remain the same, and your life will never end.” Psalm 102;25-27

And attributing it to his Son!

Describing Jesus as that very YHWH whom the Psalmist magnifies as the unchangeable Creator and Sustainer of the entire heavens and earth, simply reinforces the fact of Christ existing as the Being who is, i.e., the Ho On Who always is and always will be.

Finally, Christ’s eternal existence as God, a mode of Being that remained even after he became a Man, is also affirmed from what Paul wrote to the Philippians:

“Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus, who, existing (hyperchon) in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be exploited. Instead he emptied himself by assuming the form of a servant, taking on the likeness of humanity. And when he had come as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death— even to death on a cross.” Philippians 2:5-8 Christian Standard Bible (CSB)

Here’s a different rendering of the key text:

“Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;” Philippians 2:6 New International Version (NIV)

The Apostle uses the word hyperchon, which is a present active participle pointing to an abiding, ongoing action or state of existence. Paul’s employment of this participle stresses Christ’s ongoing, abiding existence in the form and nature of God.

Once again, this further confirms that the NT writes taught that there has never been a time when the Son ceased to be what he has always been. The fact is that the consistent teaching of the NT is that Jesus has been existing in the divine mode of Being from before the creation of all things, and has never stopped and will never stop existing in that mode.

What the Expositors Say

I quote a few commentators that bring out the significance of Jesus being called Ho On in the context of John 1:18, which relates this expression to Jesus exegeting or explaining the Father. All emphasis will be mine.

No man hath seen God at any time (θεον ουδεις εωρακεν πωποτε). "God no one has ever seen." Perfect active indicative of οραω. Seen with the human physical eye, John means. God is invisible (Exodus 33:20; Deuteronomy 4:12). Paul calls God αορατος (Colossians 1:15; 1 Timothy 1:17). John repeats the idea in John 5:37; John 6:46. And yet in John 14:7 Jesus claims that the one who sees him has seen the Father as here.

The only begotten Son (ο μονογενης υιος). This is the reading of the Textus Receptus and is intelligible after ως μονογενους παρα πατρος in verse John 1:14. But the best old Greek manuscripts (Aleph B C L) read μονογενης θεος (God only begotten) which is undoubtedly the true text. Probably some scribe changed it to ο μονογενης υιος to obviate the blunt statement of the deity of Christ and to make it like John 3:16. But there is an inner harmony in the reading of the old uncials. The Logos is plainly called θεος in verse John 1:1. The Incarnation is stated in verse John 1:14, where he is also termed μονογενης. He was that before the Incarnation. So he is "God only begotten," "the Eternal Generation of the Son" of Origen's phrase.

Which is in the bosom of the Father (ο ων εις τον κολπον του πατρος). The eternal relation of the Son with the Father like προς τον θεον in verse John 1:1. In John 3:13 there is some evidence for ο ων εν τω ουρανω used by Christ of himself while still on earth. The mystic sense here is that the Son is qualified to reveal the Father as Logos (both the Father in Idea and Expression) by reason of the continual fellowship with the Father.

He (εκινος). Emphatic pronoun referring to the Son.

Hath declared him (εξηγησατο). First aorist (effective) middle indicative of εξηγεομα, old verb to lead out, to draw out in narrative, to recount. Here only in John, though once in Luke's Gospel (John 24:35) and four times in John 10:8; John 15:12; John 15:14; John 21:19). This word fitly closes the Prologue in which the Logos is pictured in marvellous fashion as the Word of God in human flesh, the Son of God with the Glory of God in him, showing men who God is and what he is. (Robertson's Word Pictures in the New Testament (A.T. Robertson))

Verse 18

John 1:18 . θεὸν οὐδεὶς ἑώρακεν … ἐξηγήσατο . This statement, “God no one has ever seen,” is probably suggested by the words διὰ Ἰησοῦ χριστοῦ . The reality and the grace of God we have seen through Jesus Christ, but why not directly? Because God, the Divine essence, the Godhead, no one has ever seen. No man has had immediate knowledge of God: if we have knowledge of God it is through Christ.

A further description is given of the Only Begotten intended to disclose His qualification for revealing the Father in the words ὁ ὢν εἰς τὸν κόλπον τοῦ πατρός . Meyer supposes that John is now expressing himself from his own present standing point, and is conceiving of Christ as in His state of exaltation, as having returned to the bosom of the Father. But in this case the description would not be relevant. John adds this designation to ground the revealing work which Christ accomplished while on earth ( ἐξηγήσατο , aorist, referring to that work), to prove His qualification for it. It must therefore include His condition previous to incarnation. ὁ ὤν is therefore a timeless present and εἰς is used, as in Mark 13:16 , Acts 8:40 , etc., for ἐν . εἰς τὸν κόλπον , whether taken from friends reclining at a feast or from a father’s embrace, denotes perfect intimacy. Thus qualified, ἐκεῖνος ἐξηγήσατο “He” emphatic, He thus equipped, “has interpreted” what? See John 8:32 ; or simply, as implied in the preceding negative clause, “God”. The Scholiast on Soph., Ajax , 320, says, ἐξήγησις ἐπὶ θείων , ἑρμηνεία ἐπὶ τῶν τυχόντων , Wetstein. (The Expositor's Greek Testament (William Robertson Nicoll))

1:18. No-one has ever seen God, John writes, as if to remind his readers not only of a commonplace of Judaism, but also of the fact that in the episode where Moses saw the Lord’s glory (Ex. 33–34), to which allusion has just been made (1:14), Moses himself was not allowed to see God (Ex. 33:20). ‘We should perhaps say, less anthropomorphically but equally metaphorically, that Moses saw, so to speak, the afterglow of the divine glory’ (Bruce, p. 44). In that diminished sense, God speaks with Moses ‘face to face’, and Moses ‘sees the form of the Lord’ (Nu. 12:8). The vision of the Lord seated on his throne that Isaiah saw was so vivid and terrifying, so close to the ‘real thing’, even though it was but the hem of the Lord’s garment that filled the temple, that he could cry, ‘Woe to me!… I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips … and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty’ (Is. 6:5). Such language is so startling that the translators of later Judaism toned it down. The fact remains that the consistent Old Testament assumption is that God cannot be seen, or, more precisely, that for a sinful human being to see him would bring death (Ex. 33:20; Dt. 4:12; Ps. 97:2). Apparent exceptions are always qualified in some way.

But, John adds, the unique and beloved one (the term is monogenēs: see notes on 1:14), [himself] God, has made him known. That is probably the correct text (see Additional Note). What it means is that the beloved Son, the incarnate Word (1:14), himself God while being at the Father’s side—just as in v. 1 the Word was simultaneously God and with God—has broken the barrier that made it impossible for human beings to see God, and has made him known. This prepares the way for 6:46 and 14:9: ‘Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.’

The words translated who is at the Father’s side in the niv might more literally be rendered ‘who is in the bosom of the Father’. A similar expression is found elsewhere: Lazarus is in Abraham’s bosom (Lk. 16:22–23), and John rests on Jesus’ bosom at the last supper (13:23). It apparently conveys an aura of intimacy, mutual love and knowledge. ‘No-one has ever seen God’, John has told us, but he will go on to add, ‘except the one who is from God’ (6:46), the one who is in the bosom of the Father. It is this intimacy that makes it possible for Jesus to know and speak about heavenly things (3:12–13; cf. Mt. 11:27). This Word-made-flesh, himself God, is nevertheless differentiable from God, and as such is intimate with God; as man, as God’s incarnate Self-expression, he has made God known. Ben Sirach could ask who could describe (ekdiēgēsetai) God (Ecclus. 43:31); John declares that the incarnate Word made him known (exēgēsato). From this Greek term we derive ‘exegesis’: we might almost say that Jesus is the exegesis of God. Elsewhere in the New Testament the verb means ‘to tell a narrative’ or ‘to narrate’ (Lk. 24:35; Acts 10:8; 15:12, 14; 21:19). In that sense we might say that Jesus is the narration of God. ‘As Jesus gives life and is life, raises the dead and is the resurrection, gives bread and is bread, speaks truth and is the truth, so as he speaks the word he is the Word’ (C.H. Dodd in oral tradition: cf. Beasley-Murray, p. 10).

The emphasis of the Prologue, then, is on the revelation of the Word as the ultimate disclosure of God himself. That theme is dramatically reinforced by the remarkable parallels between v. 1 and v. 18, constituting an inclusio, a kind of literary envelope that subtly clasps all of 1:1–18 in its embrace. Thus ‘in the bosom of the Father’ is parallel to ‘with God’; ‘the unique one, [himself] God’, is parallel to ‘was God’; and to say that this unique and beloved Person has made God known is to say that he is ‘the Word’, God’s Self-expression.

The Prologue anticipates many of the themes and terms in the rest of the book. If ‘Word’ itself does not recur in this Christological sense (though cf. Rev. 19:13; perhaps 1 Jn. 1:1), it is probably because the Evangelist consciously looked for a term that neatly summed up his principal Christological emphases. A term that recurred throughout the Gospel might well have been taken as merely one title amongst many, rather than a summary of the whole. To use the language of Paul, Jesus is the visible ‘image of the invisible God’ (Col. 1:15).

It is important to note that the closest conceptual parallels in the New Testament to the Prologue are probably the so-called ‘Christological hymns’ (e.g. Phil. 2:5–11; Col. 1:15–20), material almost universally dated early, and certainly widely scattered. This suggests that John’s Prologue is less innovative than some have thought. The form of the presentation is fresh; the underlying Christology is not. And that in turn argues that John and his circle are not ‘sectarians’ fundamentally out of touch with the rest of the church (so Meeks). The connections between the Prologue and other parts of the New Testament are intuitively picked up in Christian hymnody, as in this hymn of praise by Josiah Condor (1789–1855):

Thou art the everlasting Word,

The Father’s only Son;

God manifestly seen and heard,

And Heaven’s beloved One.