For those of you that have a problem with the interpretation [a] before God, our reasoning is simple; this passage contains an example of a noun without an article as explained earlier. Here is another example:

Grammatically, there are three possible ways to interpret qeoV in this verse:

"And the word was God" - the translation found in most traditional Bibles.

"And the word was a god"

"And the word was divine"

Since Greek grammar permits each of these meanings, the whole premise of how it is interpreted is usually based on a belief system (church doctrine). If you do not understand the relationship between God and His Son, you will probably find it easier to remove the [a] and continue happily on your way. The problem with this approach is that it causes interpretational problems with a multitude of other scriptures as you will see. These are paramount to understanding what the bible is trying to tell us. In fact to blindly follow system based interpretations of Greek or Hebrew text will limit our ability to harmonize them with other scriptures. Continuing:

All things came into existence through him, and apart from him not even one thing came into existence. What has come into existence by means of him was life, and the life was the light of men (John 1:1,4).

If only we could understand just these four verses of the bible completely, then we could begin to say that we are approaching the spiritual comprehension of the apostle John. For even though prophets in general do not understand what they are saying, We believe that John did in these verses (and we may of course be wrong).

We have tried and failed many times before with this one. But now, we think we have it right thanks to Gordon and his efforts, the Holy Spirit for guidance and of course God for His loving kindness and mercy, for none of this would be available without His help! The first scriptures to consider are these:

27 For [God] subjected all things under his feet. But when he says that 'all things have been subjected,' it is evident that it is with the exception of the one who subjected all things to him.
28 But when all things will have been subjected to him, then the Son himself will also subject himself to the One who subjected all things to him, that God may be all things to everyone (1 Corinthians 15).

4 What is mortal man that you keep him in mind, And the son of earthling man that you take care of him?
5 You also proceeded to make him a little less than godlike ones, And with glory and splendor you then crowned him.
6 You make him dominate over the works of your hands. Everything you have put under his feet (Psalm 8).

From these two it is apparent that the global phrases 'everything', or 'all things', need to be taken in context. The reader must remember that Hebrew has no word for 'except'. So that if everyone in a city celebrated except the Chelsea supporters, then the bible would say: And everyone in the city celebrated. But those in the city who supported Chelsea did not celebrate. In other words one has to qualify the phrase 'everyone' with the surrounding context.

Returning now to John 1:1; it is apparent for example that God did not come into existence through the Word. OK, now we make the big connection which Gordon had been struggling with for 9 years, ever since he tried to persuade a Rabbi that he was no longer one of God's chosen people with an argument similar to the one below. This is a great example of Gods modus operandi!

Abraham's firstborn son Ishmael lost his birthright to the second born Isaac

Isaac's firstborn son Esau lost his birthright (for a bowl of soup) to the second born Jacob

Jacob's firstborn son Reuben, lost his birthright (due to his taking his father's concubine) to the 11th born Joseph

Joseph's firstborn son Manasseh lost his birthright to the second born Ephraim.

So to cut a long story short, every major patriarch starting with Abraham in the bible had a firstborn son who lost his birthright to a more deserving later born son. So what does all of this mean in the greatest fulfillment??

Well, did God not say: Israel is my son, my firstborn (Exodus 4:22)?

But Israel was not originally the firstborn of Isaac (whose father was Abraham whose father was ... whose father was Adam whose father was God). Israel was Jacob who was the second born. But Israel became the firstborn of Isaac and of God due to his spirituality. Likewise did his prophet not say:

9 For I have become to Israel a Father; and as for Ephraim, he is my firstborn (Jeremiah 31)?

But of course Ephraim was not the firstborn or Israel or of Joseph, Manasseh was.

So the question being begged is: Did this thing that happened with all of the patriarchs in the Old Testament happen also with the great Patriarch himself, YHWH?? Why the elaborate plan to demonstrate this concept throughout the bible unless the point needed to be driven home!

So then, just who is the Messiah? Who is God’s son? Who is this mystery entity we are always talking about? Well there are a number of scriptures that give us this answer if we are willing to search the matter out. Have you forgotten God’s commandment; keep on seeking and you shall find, keep on looking and it will be given to you, keep on knocking and the door will be opened. Consider the following two groups of scriptures, one group set before Jesus died and the other after:

17 Look! Also, there was a voice from the heavens that said: This is my Son, the beloved, whom I have approved (Matthew 3).

5 While he was yet speaking, look! a bright cloud overshadowed them, and, look! a voice out of the cloud, saying: This is my Son, the beloved, whom I have approved; listen to him. (Matthew 17).

11 And a voice came out of the heavens: You are my Son, the beloved; I have approved you (Mark 1).

7 And a cloud formed, overshadowing them, and a voice came out of the cloud: This is my Son, the beloved; listen to him. (Mark 9).

22 And the holy spirit in bodily shape like a dove came down upon him, and a voice came out of heaven: You are my Son, the beloved; I have approved you (Luke 3).

Nowhere in the gospels or before this did the true God say of Jesus: You are my firstborn son, the beloved, I have approved you...

And what about what the Jews murmured about Jesus when He said He was the bread coming down out of heaven:

42 And they said, Is this not Jesus the son of Joseph, of whom we know the father and the mother? How does this One now say, I have come down out of Heaven?

43 Then Jesus answered and said to them, Do not murmur with one another (John 6)

Yes, Immanuel/Jesus was the son of Mary and Joseph; however, the Christ who came down out of heaven was someone else! Who was this Spirit that descended like a dove into Jesus at his baptism as described by John.

30 This is He about whom I said, After me comes a Man who has been before me, for He was preceding me.
31 And I did not know Him; but that He be revealed to Israel, for this reason I came baptizing in water.
32 And John witnessed, saying, I have seen the Spirit coming down as a dove out of Heaven, and He abode on Him.
33 And I did not know Him, but the One sending me to baptize in water, that One said to me, On whomever you see the Spirit coming down and abiding on Him, this is the One baptizing in the Holy Spirit.
34 And I have seen and have witnessed that this One is the Son of God. (John 1)

This witness only came after the spirit descended.....After me….he was preceding me??? What does all of this mean??? Let’s harmonize more of the scriptures and try to figure this out….

5 Hence when he comes into the world he says: 'Sacrifice and offering you did not want, but you prepared a body for me (Hebrews 10).

Prepared a body? Are we not told in John:

It is the spirit that is life-giving; the flesh is of no use at all. (John 6:63)

Well one thing is certain, Jesus has certainly given us an abundance of clues to help us piece it together if we really want to use our minds! After Jesus spoke to them of these things at Capernaum, his disciples said "This speech is shocking; who can listen to it!" (John 6:60)

And what an incredible answer from Christ when His disciples murmured about what He was saying to them:

61 When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said to them, Doth this offend you?

62 [What] and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before? (John 6) 

For no one has ascended that hasn't descended first!  

5 For let this disposition be in you, which is in Christ Jesus also,

6 who, although he was existing in God's form [as a divine spirit being as an angel], gave no consideration to a seizure, namely, that he should be equal to God. (Phil 2) [unlike Satan who did try],

7 but nevertheless empties Himself [out of that angelic soul], taking the form of a slave, coming to be in the likeness of man [entering into Jesus the son of Joseph and Mary], (Phil2)

3 For the Law being powerless, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and concerning sin, condemned sin in the flesh,
4 so that the righteous demand of the Law might be fulfilled in us, those not walking according to flesh, but according to Spirit.

So we know that God sent someone (His own Son)…now let’s get this strait, first a body was prepared for Him (the body of Immanuel/Jesus) then this scripture says He sent His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh!  The question is: Who is that someone, who is His Son? Let’s piece it together.

15 For we say this to you in the Word of the Lord, that we the living who remain to the coming of the Lord will not at all go before those who have fallen asleep.
16 Because the Lord Himself shall come down from Heaven with a commanding shout of an archangel's voice, and with God's trumpet. And the dead in Christ will rise again first. (Thes 4)

An archangels voice indeed!

15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation (Colossians 1).
18 And he is the head of the body, the congregation. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that he might become the one who is first in all things (Colossians 1).

So it is obvious that He was not first in all things in the beginning. He has become the firstborn in all things not by his human ransom but by His angelic ransom as you will soon come to understand. (for proof of the Angelic Ransom Covenant click here or check the index later). We again harmonize the scriptures with Hebrews:

6 But when he again brings his Firstborn into the inhabited earth, he says: And let all God's angels do obeisance to him (Hebrews 1).

This was carefully worded.  Note is says "again", this means that there was a time when his firstborn was in the earth before Jesus.  That firstborn was Lucifer who was the "anointed" one covering as you will see below.  

Now one of the common arguments to Jesus being God and not an angel is because of this verse:

5 For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son? (Heb)

They profess that this verse means that He was not an angel but that is not what it says at all, Jehovah is asking the question so that you might reason out the answer as to "which" angel it was!  To verify this we only need to read a little bit further:

9 Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, [even] thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy partners (metocouV - meaning sharer)

So when God anointed this angel who was to enter Jesus above His partners who were also angels they too were required to do obeisance to Him because He was now their Archangel or "chief of the angels", the CEO of the heavenly administration.  The change of heavenly authority is explained again in Acts.

20 For it has been written in the scroll of Psalms, Let his [Lucifer's] estate become forsaken, and he not be living in it [by casting him down to the earth]. And, "Let another [who we shall prove is Michael] take his overseership [in the heavens]." LXX-Psa. 68:26; Psa. 108:8; MT-Psa. 69:25; Psa. 109:8 (Acts 1)

Can you not see the beauty in all of this? "his estate" is in reference to Satan who was first in all things until "unrighteousness was found in him".  It was Satan's deceptive works in the Garden of Eden of which he was covering as the first anointed cherub that kicked off the "founding of the world", the one we now are living in.  So the one taking his (Satan's) "overseership" is the archangel with the "commanding shout".   Why Michael you ask? Well, it is given to us in a number of scriptures:

7 And war occurred in Heaven, Michael and his angels making war against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels made war, (Rev 12)

Of course Michael and his angels represent the Christ who is the Archangel and and all the the holy angels who follow Him and the dragon and his angels presents Satan and the fallen or un-holy angels who follow him. This war took place already as "occurred" is past tense and in fact it happened when they were cast out to the earth where Satan is to rule until the Kingdome of God is established.  But we also know that when the Kingdom is established our "great ruler" will stand up and deliver us from evil.

1 ¶ And at that time, Michael shall stand up, the great ruler who stands for the sons of your people. And there shall be a time of distress, such as has not been from the being of a nation until that time. And at that time, your people shall be delivered, everyone that shall be found written in the Book.
2 And many of those sleeping in the earth's dust shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to reproaches and to everlasting abhorrence. (Dan 12)

This symbolic drama is described for us in Ecclesiastes.  The foolish king is Lucifer who we know was the first born son (angel) of God.  After the battle described above in Rev 12, he was imprisoned for a 1,000 years but was let loose again hence:

13 Better [is] a poor and a wise child than an old and foolish king, who will no more be admonished.

14 For out of prison he cometh to reign; whereas also [he that is] born in his kingdom becometh poor.

15 I considered all the living which walk under the sun, with the second child that shall stand up in his stead. (Ecl 4)

This second child is Michael who stands up in his stead in Jesus! Now you are only beginning to see and understand the real and incredible magnitude of His sacrifice.  Jesus (Michael), however did not become "first in all things" until he had sacrificed, died, and ascended to the Father.  This is evident in Jude when Michael was still considered the "chief messenger" of God. 

9 But Michael the archangel, when contending with the Devil, he argued about the body of Moses; he dared not bring a judgment of blasphemy, but said, "Let the Lord rebuke you!" Zech. 3:2 (Jud 1) 

Now this event of course happened before Michael had entered Jesus, before he became first in all things.  In Hebrew, Michael means He who is like God!  Before this He dared not bring a judgment, but afterwards he had authority to do just that!

To ease your thoughts on angelic possession of men consider this:  After Jesus gave the morsel to Judas, we all know that Satan entered him.  It was then that Jesus told him to do what he was going to do more quickly.  Jesus knew that Satan was going to have him tortured and killed. 

So, now that we have grown up a bit and have come to realize that Michael (Jesus) has now become the firstborn in all things…we must clarify "Lucifer" שחר - shakh'-ar (or "son of the dawn") as being the original firstborn.  Immanuel (Jesus) and Judas were both surrogate human bodies for the spirit beings that came into them as a means of accomplishing God's plan.

We know that "Lucifer" was God’s original firstborn from Genesis, Ezekiel and Isaiah.  "Lucifer" was the anointed Cherub covering Eden (here it is again)!  

13 In Eden, the garden of God, you proved to be. Every precious stone was your covering, ruby, topaz and jasper; chrysolite, onyx and jade; sapphire, turquoise and emerald; and of gold was the workmanship of your settings and your sockets in you. In the day of your being created they were made ready.
14 You are the anointed cherub that is covering, and I have set you. On the holy mountain of God you proved to be. In the midst of fiery stones you walked about.
15 You were faultless in your ways from the day of your being created until unrighteousness was found in you (Ezekiel 28).

After Lucifer fell from heaven he lost not only his original position but his name as well (he is not referred to as Lucifer after this but as the devil, Satan, etc..).

12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O "Lucifer" (shakh'-ar), son of the morning [meaning first]! [how] art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! (Isa 14)

Basically, "Lucifer's" biggest mistake was trying to be equal to or higher than God, however his treatment of Adam who was also God's own son, was the final straw.  Adam was a son created by God alone and the most important addition to the family. Satan had the top job of looking after him because this job was the right of the firstborn through whom everything would have been done according to the Modus operandi of God, who gives his firstborn covenanted rights to be his CEO. Michael and Gabriel were also cherubs, but were not covering Eden since neither of them was the firstborn and in fact Michael was a 42nd generation angel.

20 And the cherubs must be spreading out their two wings upward, screening over the cover with their wings, with their faces one toward the other. Toward the cover the faces of the cherubs should be (Exodus 25).

These two were later covering the Ark of the Covenant. Daniel reveals this great secret: 

13 But the prince of the royal realm of Persia [Satan] was standing in opposition to me for 21 days, and, look! Michael, one of the foremost princes, came to help me; and I, for my part, remained there beside the kings of Persia (Daniel 10).

One of the foremost princes? yes, but the foremost prince? no. Paul explicitly declares it:

18 and he is the head of the body, the congregation. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that he might become the one who is first in all things (Colossians 1).

He became the firstborn angel of God at his resurrection from the dead (not as a human but an angel)! Again, we must harmonize this with proverbs:

22 Jehovah himself produced (קנני) [meaning to "erect" or "purchased"] me as the beginning of his way, the earliest of his achievements of long ago.
23 From time indefinite I was installed, from the start, from times earlier than the earth (Proverbs 8).

The beginning of his way, and the earliest of his achievements relates to the creation of a loyal and righteous character not to creation itself as God knows how everything will end before its beginning.  This was in anticipation of the events to come.  Michael aspired to be like His father in every way:

30 then I came to be beside him as a master worker, and I came to be the one he was especially fond of day by day, I being glad before him all the time (Proverbs 8).

Had Michael been the firstborn then he would not have come to be the one he was especially fond of, he would have always been that one.

9 For this very reason also God exalted him to a superior position and kindly gave him the name that is above every [other] name (Philippians 2).

There is no position superior to God's firstborn angel. So Jesus (Michael) earned this position by his sacrifice.  In order that you may know that the paramount sacrifice was Michael's angelic soul which was the corresponding ransom for what Adam had lost, and not Jesus' physical body (although that too was used to sacrifice for those with faith but are not baptized into a true church) consider this scripture:

23 That Christ should suffer, [and] that he should be the first that should rise from the dead, and should shew light unto the people, and to the Gentiles. (Acts 26)

5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the first-born out of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth; to him who did love us, and did bathe us from our sins in his blood, (Rev 1)

Well, we all know that Jesus wasn't the first resurrected from the dead physically because during his ministry he himself resurrected Lazarus!  So to understand the "deep things of God" we must use our powers of reason without prejudice. So yes Michael  became the first resurrected angel of God. The first to be "born out of the dead" in angelic terms.  It is further emphasized in Colossians. 

18 And himself is the head of the body-the assembly-who is a beginning, a first-born out of the dead, that he might become in all things-himself-first, (Col 1)

So He did not become first in all things until after he was resurrected as an angelic being.  It was shortly after that He became a God to be worshipped.  It occurred when he received a name higher that any other and was given to have life in himself, just as the Father does!

26 For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself; (Jon 5).

14 And to the angel of the congregation in Laodicea write: These are the things that the Amen says, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation by God (Revelation 3).

This is the same statement as: Israel is my firstborn. This is: Jesus (Michael) who is the firstborn. He is, but not by birth. He is the beginning of creation by God, but not by originally being the beginning of creation by God, rather by becoming this beginning.  Before this, we had no beginning because we were all condemned to death due to Adam's transgression, however the Christ when He vowed to be a ransom for Adam gave us a new beginning in that we now had life again through Him.  Now this getting "life in himself" was much like any salvation covenant in that it is done through an anointing process. We only have to look in Mark to see that Jesus did speak to His apostles about this very thing. 

38 Yet Jesus said to them, "Not aware are you what you are requesting. Are you able to drink the cup which I am drinking, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am being baptized?"

39 Yet they say to Him, "We are able."  Yet Jesus said to them, "The cup indeed which I am drinking shall you be drinking, and with the baptism with which I am being baptized shall you be baptized. (Mk 10)

It is obvious from this statement that Jesus (Michael) was telling them that He would get this further anointing after His resurrection and ascension.  Not only that He has made them aware that they too would get the same anointing as His wife and Holy Spirit in that they also would have life in themselves.   

We are given another witness to this event and when it took place in Acts:

32 And we are declaring unto you the good news, about the promise which was made unto the fathers,

33 God hath fully fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus; even as it is written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee.

34 'And that He did raise him up out of the dead, no more to return to corruption, he hath said thus-I will give to you the faithful kindnesses of David; (Ac 13)

So again, we are reminded that it was not until after He was raised up from the dead that He fulfilled this covenant (vow) He made with Jehovah when He agreed to sacrifice for us.  That is the day Jesus was begotten and became a God like His Father (verified by getting a name higher than any other at His further anointing).  This vow was explained to us in the story of Jonah who symbolizes Jesus in Tartarus (in the belly of a whale) where judicially dead angels used to go before Gehenna:

9 But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay [that] that I have vowed. Salvation [is] of Jehovah. (Jonah 2)

In fact, knowing that Michael is the angel of the Lord whom Moses spoke to in the form of a burning bush by the proclamation in Exodus:

AV Ex 3:2 And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush [was] not consumed.

Gives us a major piece of this jigsaw puzzle for in Exodus 3:8 we are told that He is "descending to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians".  To further clarify who is actually descending we have the answer given to us after Moses asks who he should tell the sons of Israel who has sent him:

CLV Ex 3:14 Then Elohim spoke to Moses: I shall come to be just as I am coming to be. And He said: Thus shall you say to the sons of Israel, I-Shall-Come-to-Be has sent me to you.

So now we can revisit the majestic words of John

In the beginning the Word was and the Word was with God and the Word was [a] god. This one was in the beginning with God. 

All things came into existence through him, and apart from him not even one thing came into existence.
What has come into existence by means of him was life, and the life was the light of men (John 1:1,4).

Incidentally, the fact that 'was' is used everywhere in John 1:1, indicates that the status of 'the Word' has changed since the 'beginning' referred to by John. And since the status of God almighty cannot change, the Word cannot be God almighty himself.

In the literal meaning we have the Word of God, who is Michael (Jesus). 'In the beginning' he is said to be 'with God'. But what 'beginning' is John referring to here? Is it the beginning of creation by God? Is it the beginning of Genesis 1:1 in the literal meaning? Well it cannot be the beginning of creation by God or the beginning of Genesis 1:1 because 'All things' did not come into existence through Jesus after those beginnings. All things came into existence through Satan after those beginnings. The only beginning after which all things came into existence by means of Jesus was the beginning of the world. The beginning of the world is when Adam sinned.

Once Adam had sinned, then without Jesus' agreement to the ARC (Angelic Ransom Covenant), everything would have ground to a halt. So after the fall of Adam, everything came into existence through Jesus because of His vow or "covenant" with Jehovah. What came into existence by means of him, by means in fact of his agreement to the ARC, was life, everlasting life in fact. So now we finally understand John 1:1. Jesus was the way the truth and the life, and the life is the light of men today. Jesus is our light, for he is the word of God.  

So to understand John 1:1, one has to realize that the Michael (Jesus) is the word, that the beginning is the beginning of the world, and that the world would have ended as soon as it began were it not for the ARC. The ARC gave the world a permanent future. So everything, after the world began, came into existence through the ARC, which is through the mediation of Michael (Jesus). This is why the scripture says both that all things came into existence through him and that what came into existence by means of him was life. His giving us the opportunity for everlasting life was necessary in order that the World would have a purpose.

If you say that Jesus was the firstborn angel and everything in the whole universe came into existence through him, since he had the firstborn master covenant, then you nullify the scripture which says: What has come into existence by means of him was life. But once you realize that Satan was the firstborn, and that everything physical came into existence through him, including the whole world, but that the world only continued in existence because of Jesus' (Michael’s) agreement to the ARC, then the scripture: What came into existence by means of him was life, is simply a correct explanation of the scripture: All things came into existence through him. Of course, what came into existence by means of Satan was death.

The word symbolic meaning of these verses is as follows:

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