"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made." {John 1:1-3} In these first three verses, the apostle John makes a strong assertion concerning the nature of the one called Jesus Christ. Let us take a few moments to closer examine these thought.

The Word was in the beginning. This agrees with the Genesis account. "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters." {Genesis 1:1,2} Other writers agree with John's assessment. "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 before all things, and in Him all things consist." {Colossians 1:16,17} "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last." {Revelation 22:13} John even places Him before Abraham! "Jesus said to them, Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM." {John 8:58} This shows His eternal character.

Was with God. This shows a relationship with the Father. "I and My Father are one." {John 10:30} Jesus understood well His special relationship with the Father. "And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was." {John 17:5} "That they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one." {John 17:21,22}

Was God--Deity! The scriptures clearly show that Jesus was Deity and that He was part of the Godhead. "But Jesus answered them, 'My Father has been working until now, and I have been working.' Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God." {John 5:17,18} "Therefore, God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." {Philippians 2:9-11} He knew, and the world should have understood, that He "was God among man" (Matthew 1:21).

Was in the beginning with God. He had a part in the creation of this world. "Has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high." {Hebrews 1:2,3} In all of God's creation, only Christ has first place! (Colossians 1:15-18)

In Him was life. "In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it." {John 1:4,5} He is the source of life. Of course, this is speaking of eternal life. Without Christ's work and His coming to earth, man would have no hope of a life to come.

"Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life." {John 5:24} To have hope for eternal life, one must accept the fact that Christ is Deity. He spoke this truth in a very plain way. "...I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." {John 14:6} In two other chapters in John, He told them He was the "living water" (John 4) and the "true bread from heaven." (John 6) His light invaded a world that was spiritually dark to shine out the path to eternal life. The darkness could not withstand or defeat His light--not then, not now! "That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him." {John 1:9,10} He showed Himself to the world, and even His own did not receive Him! But, they who do are blessed. "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." {John 1:12,13} Those who accept are commanded to be "born of the water and spirit." (John 3:1-5) Those who obey receive the right to become God's children. (Galatians 3:26,27)

He became flesh and dwelt among us. "And the Word became 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 1:14} For a brief time, mankind could behold God's glory. Jesus was the ONLY begotten of the Father--one of a kind. No other is or has been like Him. He gave us a brief glimpse of Deity. "...Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, 'Show us the Father'? Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves." {John 14:9-11}

He was full of grace and truth. Unmerited favor poured from Him to all mankind, and truth became a living person. "For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ." {John 1:17}

He declared God to man. "No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him." {John 1:18} No man has seen God, and without help, we cannot understand who He is or what He asks of us. The help God gave was His Son! "Then they said to Him, Where is Your Father? Jesus answered, 'You know neither Me nor My Father.' If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also." {John 8:19}

These passages introduce the subject matter in the gospel of John, and the rest of the book sets forth truths that reinforce these thoughts. John wrote that all might take his book in hand and examine the evidence he presented to prove Christ's role among men. Never forget that this apostle wrote by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. God's design was to present His case and allow us to make up our own minds regarding the validity of the writers' words. Good luck in your study!