Do you ever pay attention to how a book begins? What is the opening statement? Paying attention to how the story begins can be very insightful.
Listen to how the Gospel of John begins: “Before the world began, the Word was there. The Word was there with God. The Word was God (John 1:1 ERV).”
The beginning of the Gospel of John is an interesting way to start a story, but it is also very insightful. John is saying that God’s message existed before anything else, as we know it, existed. We know it is true because God’s message is Jesus!
When God wanted human beings to know more about him, when he wanted to show them how he loved and forgave them, when he wanted to give them the good news about salvation, he sent Jesus into our world. Jesus is the good news. Jesus is the message of God to us. This message was with God before the world began. He is by nature God, Immanuel, God with us. Jesus is God who came to us, in human flesh and blood.
