In the beginning…
John starts his letter with the same phrase that Genesis starts with, “In the beginning…”
This is not a coincidence. John is pointing us back to Genesis in order to show us that Jesus is the author of life.
John calls Jesus the Word, which points us directly to the words that God spoke as He spoke the universe into existence.
In the beginning was the Word. The Word is the declarative force that brought all of creation into existence.
The Word was with God and the Word was God - in the same way that God created the heavens and the earth and the Spirit of God moved over the surface of the waters. These are the persons of God, the essence of God in distinct manifest forms, that are revealed to us from the very beginning of the Bible.
The Word is the manifestation of the creative will of God - in the same way as you manifest your own creative will through thinking, acting, and becoming. Your manifestation of your creative will is not separate from you, but an outpouring of who you are. So is the Word the creative manifestation and outpouring of who God is.
Just as you take pride in your ability to conceive and manifest your own creations, God loves His Son - who is the outward manifestation of His own creative and authoritative Will; not separate from Him, but rather Himself revealed.
God is the creative and authoritative Will. God is the Spirit. God is the Word. All things came into being through Him. He is the creator, author, and definer of all things.
The Light
John 1:4-5 (NLT) In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend [overcome] it.
The first words that God spoke were “Let there be light.” Jesus is the Light that gives life to all of God’s creation.
The earth started out in total darkness, and God’s first act in that dark world was to introduce Himself as the Light that will redeem all of His creation out of darkness.
The darkness cannot comprehend or overcome God, and His first act after creating the earth was to show His supreme authority over it by covering it with His Spirit, and defining the boundaries of day and night - light and darkness - good and evil. God’s first act of redemption was to define what is good in His sight, and what is not. And from that foundation He created, formed, and defined everything else. And from that basis He governs and judges everything He created.