He was in the beginning with God.

John 1:1-28 (NASB)

The Deity of Jesus Christ

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 came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. ⁴ In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. ⁵ The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

The Witness John

⁶ There came a man sent from God, whose name was John. ⁷ He came as a witness, to testify about the Light, so that all might believe through him. ⁸ He was not the Light, but he came to testify about the Light.

⁹ There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man. ¹⁰ He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. ¹¹ He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. ¹² But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, ¹³ who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

The Word Made Flesh

¹⁴ And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. ¹⁵ John *testified about Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.’” ¹⁶ For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace. ¹⁷ For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ. 

While there is a lot of repition in the gospel accounts, we also see each writers unique perspectives come through in their writing. John, who is self described as: ... one of His disciples, whom Jesus loved.(John 13:23) and who is the receiver and writer of The Revelation of Jesus, the final book in the Bible, brings that unique perspective  from the very beginning of his gospel account. Rather than recounting the story of Jesus birth and focusing on Jesus humanity, John emphasizes Jesus deity, emphasizing Jesus eternal existance with God the Father.

John's in the beginning is a reference to the creation account in Genesis 1.    In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. ² The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. ³ Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.....²⁶ Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image...

In the first five verses of today's text John indicates that Jesus was an active part in creation. It was the spoken word of God that caused creation. God didn't think the world into being, He spoke and it was. John refers to Jesus as both the Word and the Light. We will see these characteristics of Jesus recounted later in John's gospel through some of the I am statements of Jesus. Here though, in the beginning of his account John tells us that it was this very Word and the Light of the world who became flesh and dwelt among us.    John emphasizes that Jesus was and is God in flesh. 

In verses 6-13 John, the disciple, makes reference to John the baptist, who came to testify and prepare the way for Jesus ministry and work of redemptiom. John sums up the gospel message in these first few verses of his account saying:

 He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. ¹² But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, ¹³ who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

The rest of John's gospel is written to prove and testify of the reality of who Jesus is and why He came to live as a man. Verse 14 says:  And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

John acknowledges the fact that he and others with him saw Jesus the man. They knew Him as flesh and blood, but it is the deity of Christ that John wants us to know. He wants us to see the glory of Jesus, glory as of the only begotten from the Father. John wants us to know Jesus as God not Jesus as a man.

As we walk through John's gospel account over the next days, that's the message we will see in his writing. The other gospel accounts record the life, the actions and the words of Jesus, giving us a firm foundation on which to build our faith and to model our lives. John wants us to know Jesus. He wants us to have a complete revelation of the character of Jesus. Jesus life as a man lasted only 33 years. If we are to follow Jesus. If we are to truly be His disciples and do the things He did, and do the things He calls us to do, we need to know the eternal Jesus. We need to know the Jesus who was in the beginning, the Jesus who dwelt among us and the Jesus who will return to rule and reign.

Jesus says:  I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”

Only through a revelation of the Spirit of God can our finite minds come to know and comprehend our eternal God, Lord and Savior.

That's the Jesus John wants us to know.