Rather than start with a description of his historical research like Luke, John begins his Gospel by describing the pre-existence and incarnation of Jesus Christ. John pulls back the curtain of eternity and reveals to us the fact that Jesus has always existed. He is God. John describes the pre-incarnate Jesus as “the Word,” the absolute and perfect expression of deity. John tells us that “the Word,” Jesus, was “with God.” Jesus was with God the Father long before He entered into His human existence. This means that Jesus had an eternal, face to face relationship with God the Father. Furthermore, John declares that “the Word,” Jesus, was and is Himself “God.” Here we have an indication of the triune nature of God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Jesus was with God, and He is God. He was not created but created all things. He possesses life in and of Himself, and He has given us life. However, even though Jesus created us, we have rejected Him. We’ve turned away from God through sin. Therefore, God enacted His eternal plan of rescuing us from our sin. As the second member of the mysterious, triune Godhead, Jesus became a human being. He who is truly God became truly human. This act of Jesus Christ in becoming human is called the incarnation. Jesus took on a human nature, minus human sin, and lived among us. He did so in order to die for our sins and restore us to eternal life. Jesus opened the way for us to return to a relationship with God. But we, as John tells us in his magnificent prologue to the fourth Gospel, must receive Jesus, believing that He is truly God, that He truly died for our sins, and that we can truly and eternally be forgiven and restored to a relationship with Him. This is, indeed, good news, very good news, the gospel of Jesus Christ!
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