LOC 002 Pre-Existence

LOC 002: Life of Christ: Pre-existence

Last week we looked at the unique type of literature called a Gospel, we also looked at the purposes for which the four Gospels were written, we also defined the parameters for our study on the Life of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The basic source of our material will be these four evangelistic tracts called Gospels.  However, sometimes we will need to go elsewhere to see the fuller picture. Often the Gospels give us a glimpse into an idea that is found with greater detail elsewhere. 

This morning we will look at the existence of our Lord Jesus Christ prior to the incarnation.  In doing this, we must remember how special Jesus is:  As God he is special or unique because he became man. As man he is special because he is also God. And, as God and man he came to be the Christ, the Messiah.

We call Jesus by many titles.  In the name, The Lord Jesus Christ, Lord is used to show his divinity.  He is ruler over all.  Jesus is the name that shows forth something of his humanity.  He was given a real name by his human parents.  A name representing his work--to save his people from their sins.  The name Christ shows his unique position as the Messiah sent from God as promised hundreds of years before the actual birth of Christ. 

In one sense to talk about the pre-existence of Jesus is absurd.  As God, there was never a time when he was not. What theologians seek to explain by this term is the existence of Jesus either prior to creation or prior to his incarnation.  Actually, pre-existence is a contradictory term.  Something would have to exist before it is. But, that is another story.

The Apostle John is the one Gospel writer who points us to this idea we are to consider.  In the introduction, or prologue to his Gospel, in Chapter 1, verses 1-5.  Here John gives us a glimpse into an important concept.

John 1:1-5 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

In verse 1, John uses the same sort of introduction used by Moses in Genesis.  Under the inspiration of God’s Spirit he asserts something about this thing called the Word. This Word, thought, or reasoned purpose, was in existence at the first times.  In it’s existence it had intimacy with God and is to be identified with God himself.

In verse 2 we learn that it is not just a thing, but it is a person.  John summarizes, He, this Word, was in the beginning with God.

Verse 3 connects this person to the power of God present at and remaining in the creation.  All things that were made by him as was was intimately involved in the work of creation.

Verse 4 expands to tell us that in this Word, or reasoned purpose of God manifest is life itself.  This is an ontological statement.  That is, it is about the very makeup and being of this person. A defining attribute or quality is life.  This Word present at and active in the creation has the power of life in himself.  The creation exists because of him and for him. This life was the light of men.  There is something about the quality of life given to men that enlightens them.

Verse 5 qualifies this light giving life as John makes a statement about the Word. Changing to the present tense to show present reality and relevance in a contrast, John wrote, 5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.  The life-giving light shines into the darkness, but the darkness did not comprehend it. 

We usually thing of comprehension in the sense of understanding.  In the Greek mind, comprehension also meant containment.  The Apostle John may be saying both of these in a brilliant way.  This Word is a bright light that the darkness does not understand.  This is true.  But, he is also saying that this Word is so bright that the deep seeming impenetrable darkness was dispelled.  The darkness of this world could not contain the glory of this light. 

Throughout John’s Gospel we find both contrasts. The world does not understand in their unbelief and the darkness cannot hold back the glory of this Word.  Notice, we haven’t even identified who this Word is. . . .

In the next three verses, John directs our attention to another John who pointed men to the light.

John 1:6-8 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. 8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.

This John was sent from God.  John the Baptist didn’t just happen to be in Palestine preaching.  There was divine timing and purpose behind this, as there is in all things.  God sent this man to bear witness or point to the Light.  Why did God send him? Verse 7b, that all through him might believe.  John’s purpose for writing is introduced.  Remember John 20:31 but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name. As John is writing his evangelistic pronouncement of the good news, the gospel, he frequently comes back to the need to believe contrasted with the futility of unbelief.  God sent John to point to the light that men might believe. John 1:8 [John the Baptizer] was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.

John then goes on to give greater details about the Word and the Light.  John 1:9 That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.

The true light implies a false or wrong light.  This one of whom he writes is the true lights who accomplishes his divine revelatory purpose. Men know there is a God through nature and their own makeup.  This light has come to all in the world.

John is the one who links this divine illumination to creation, 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.

This Word giving Light was already alive and active in the World from the creation.  Yet, the world did not know.  The world did not want to know him. Then John makes a specific statement about the coming of this Word.

    John 1:11 He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.

Those who should have known what and who this Word was were the ones who rejected him.  An foretaste of tragedy. Then John turns from those who rejected the Word to those who took it.  He wrote:

    John 1:12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:

His own rejected him. Others received him as they were given the right to be children of God. John continues to explain what this means.  To understand the concept is to examine the concept.  Many people have memorized John 1:12 as a proof text to show that it is men who must receive the one given.  However, verse 13 explains what is really behind verse 12.  This is how they came to believe and have the new birth, it says speaking of those who received “HIM” and were given the right to become the children of God,  JOH 1:13 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

God is the one who must give life.  This one who has been intimately tied to God throughout the chapter is the one who must will for those who become God’s children.  It is according to the purpose of this one that men are rightly born unto God.

This is to those who believe in the name John has not yet given to his audience.  John is building tension to be resolved with a grand introduction of the identity of this Word and Light.

The Word gives light and life.  He gives the right to be children of God to those who believe in him.  Who is this one?  With what we know so far, we must conclude it is God himself.  But John goes on.

John 1:14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

The Word incarnate.  This light from God dressed himself in flesh. He is the unique son of God.  His glory was revealed.  The glory of the Word incarnate was understood by those around him, though not all in its fullness. And his glory was beheld. The body of this world could not contain it. It was manifest as he revealed something of the Father, as he was full of grace and the embodiment of truth.

God had become a man. A new experience for both kinds of beings.  As a man, this word was special being God and as God, uniquely tied to a human nature.  What a glorious thing to be seen and believed. This one who revealed God among men in a special way  --    John adds 1:18 No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.  This Word, this Light, was God’s Son.

It isn’t until verse 25 that the idea of Messiah is even introduced.  In verses 29 and 36 we have this special one, the Word incarnate called by the sacrificial term, the Lamb of God. In the first of those verses we get the identity of the Lamb, the Word, the Light of men, Jesus.

In an overview, Jesus pre-incarnational life was caught up with the being and business of God himself. 

We have already mentioned one of these in the creation of all things.  Also, this business, however, included some visits to earth for other various reasons.  In John 1 we read of Jesus’s incarnation.  But, before the incarnation, Jesus had visited earth to do God’s work among men.

First, some background--Angels, who are created beings lower than God but above men were created to be God’s warrior messengers. They as a class are not to receive worship themselves. That would be idolatry.  They direct the tendency of men to worship what they do not know and cannot readily explain towards the being and work of God. 

The proof--Angels deflect worship from themselves to God.

The most striking example of this comes at the end of the Revelation of Jesus to John.  In Chapter 22, after John has seen all of the wonderful things that will transpire, he makes a mistake.  It is recorded in the text.

Revelation 22:7-9 "Behold, I am coming quickly! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book." 8 Now I, John, saw and heard these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who showed me these things. 9 Then he said to me, "See that you do not do that. For I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren the prophets, and of those who keep the words of this book. Worship God."

John was overwhelmed.  He knew the Lord Jesus had appeared in the ancient times as an angel. He bows to worship the one delivering Jesus’s message to him.  The angel corrects him and points him to worship God. Angels do not take worship to themselves, well, not elect or rigteous angels anyway. 

If one of God’s holy angels accepts one’s reverence, or worship or if one of God’s holy angels appears to be acting as God, these ocurrences must be explained in some way, lest those worshipers be found to be in idolatry and the angels full of pride.  There are many OT examples of these very things.

In Isaiah 63, the people are praying to God.  They start by praying to God about God--a right thing to do.  They are remembering all that God did to deliver and save them.  These are the words of reflection in prayer as recorded in Chapter 63, starting at verse 7

God and his Saving Work for his People

    Isaiah 63:7-11 I will mention the lovingkindnesses of the LORD And the praises of the LORD, According to all that the LORD has bestowed on us, And the great goodness toward the house of Israel, Which He has bestowed on them according to His mercies, According to the multitude of His lovingkindnesses. 8 For He said, "Surely they are My people, Children who will not lie." So He became their Savior.

God’s Sympathy for his People

        9 In all their affliction He was afflicted, And the Angel of His Presence saved them; In His love and in His pity He redeemed them; And He bore them and carried them All the days of old.

God’s People Provoke Him

        10 But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit; So He turned Himself against them as an enemy, And He fought against them.

God intervenes in Grace

        11 Then he remembered the days of old, Moses and his people, saying: "Where is He who brought them up out of the sea With the shepherd of His flock? Where is He who put His Holy Spirit within them,

The prayer is about God and his gracious activity towards his ancient people.  The first addressed is God as father. Mercy and love are fatherly attributes.  The second aspect of God mentioned is the Angel of His Presence, or literally, the Angel from his Face.  The third aspect of God brought into the picture is the Holy Spirit whom his people grieved in verse 10 and by whom they were indwelt in verse 11. 

The activity of the Angel in verse 9, is that which is rightly God’s to do.  The angel is more than a representative or a messenger sent to do God’s bidding.  The Word says, “And the Angel of His Presence saved them.”  The operative and effective means by which deliverance came to God’s people was through the mediatorial work of this angel. 

Verses 8 and 9 talk about the love of God for his people. Love, election, redemption, salvation and nurture are all there to be found.  This angel coming from the Face of God is the one who is doing the work described in the passage. Works that angels do not do.

Couple this with a theological argument that says, God as Father and God as Holy Spirit are active in this passage, does this give us any hint as to who the angel from God’s face may be? Well, let’s look at the NT and the Trintarian nature of Divine Love, election, redemption, salvation and nurture are all there to be found.

    Luke 11:13 "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!"

    Acts 2:33 "Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear.

    Galatians 4:6 And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, "Abba, Father!"

    Ephesians 2:18 For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.

    1 Peter 1:2 elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace be multiplied.

The angel active in the prayer of Isaiah 63 is the second person of the eternal trinity--the Lord Jesus Christ. At many places in the OT, we meet the Lord Jesus Christ as The Angel of the Lord.  Before his incarnation, from before the creation to the incarnation, Jesus was active with the Godhead doing all that God had done and was doing.

Therefore, the Lord Jesus Christ in his pre-incarnate existence was active in bringing to pass God’s eternal purposes. When we read the OT and see God’s hand, we should remember that God has always been a Trinity, one God, revealed in three persons.  Whenever we see God, we see the Lord Jesus Christ.  When God acts, all of him acts--Father, Son and Holy Spirit. 

Why is this important?

The Unity of Scripture--it tells of the one and living God.  Jesus is the one who reveals God to men. To see him is to see the father. We should not compartmentalize God’s revelation.  One God in the OT, another in the NT.  The revelation of God in the NT is based squarely upon the Old.  These OT books were what the Apostle Paul was referring to as being uniquely inspired by God in 2 Tim 3:16.

The Unity of God’s Being--To see him is to see the father. The Lord Jesus Christ, the Father and the Spirit are an indisolvable unit. We can distinguish among aspects of their work, but we must remember, when one works the others are in full agreement.  Who was it that purposed to create man?  Let us make man in our image.  It was the Godhead. That is the image stamped on man. 

The Unity of God’s Work--even in the OT, salvation was by grace through faith. True obedience to God was only possible due to a work of God’s Spirit. Jesus came to seek and to save that which was lost.  However, he did because of the eternal counsels of God as he was sent by the Father to accomplish redemption and then sent the Spirit to regenerate and empower.  We distinquish the activities of the persons, while seeing the work of God in man is trinitarian.  As God’s creation finds the Father, Son and Eternal Spirit at work, so does recreation needed for man to be alive to God found with Faith. 

Jesus is more than a man, he was God become man.  Taking on the likeness of our kind, was a humiliation for him to bring Trinitarian exaltation to us.  He alone can bring men to heaven. It is his name in which men must believe. As Go, the LORD Jesus Christ, is special or unique because he came from heaven to become a man. As man he is special because The Lord JESUS, is also God. And, as God and man he came to be the Christ, the Messiah--the savior of all who believe.