"To say that Jesus was physically with God in the beginning is to read into the verses in the Gospel of John, theology that is simply not there."
I wasn't making this point, but a different one: that Jesus was God.
That's what it says. Word = God. Word became flesh in Jesus. Word = Jesus. Therefore, God = Jesus.
The temporal sequence of who and when it not my concern, but rather to demonstrate the basic truth, which seemed to be in the original questioner's question, that Christian religion does not consider Jesus to simply be a very holy prophet, or merely the son of God like you or me, but actually God incarnate, unlike you are me.
In other words, to put it directly, Jesus is God, and Christians specifically worship Jesus. They don't worship God THROUGH Jesus. They worship Jesus, because Jesus is The One True God.
Christian theology can then parse out the mystery of the three persons of the Trinity and their interrelationship and temporal existence. But that's "High Theology" which can be indulged in only after one has accepted the central premise: Christianity is the direct worship of God Jesus.
That's why Jesus was executed for blasphemy. At least in John's account he said he was God. In the other accounts, he is more elusive..."The Son of Man". In John, Jesus outright applies the divine name, the Great I Am, to his own person: "I tell you, that before Abraham was I AM."
Jesus said he was Yahweh.
Can't get more blasphemous (or flippin' insane) than THAT.
Unless he was.