In John's Gospel he doesn't start the story with Jesus' birth, but takes us back even farther: "In the beginning was the Word..."  We are introduced to Jesus as this powerful Word, eons before His incarnation and even before creation itself. Before the beginning of time, Jesus was already there. He was with God, and, mysterious as it may seem, He also actually was God. In Jesus, the True Light of the world, is life, and darkness is dispelled before Him. Jesus, the very Word of creation, is even now releasing the "new creation" of His eternal life in and through us. Through Him, now we too are shining the light of His good news into our world.