The Pre-Existence of Christ

We're looking at what the Bible teaches about Christ. If you weren't with us last week, you may think that I just made a mistake because we've been talking for a long time about what the Bible teaches about God. But last week we began a new study on what the Bible teaches about Christ. And so we're involved in what I believe to be one of the most fascinating studies in all of the scriptures. And that is to find out the different truths about our Savior found in the Bible. Now last week we introduced this study by talking about the 11 different areas of study that we will survey as we go through what the Bible teaches about Christ. Beginning with his pre-existence, which we will do tonight, or at least start tonight, then we'll talk about his deity, his incarnation. The fact that he became man through the virgin birth, his humanity, his sinless life, his person, the two natures of Christ, both God and man in one person. What that's all about. We'll talk about his death, his resurrection, his ascension, and his present ministry in heaven as he intercedes for us and represents us in the presence of God. So we begin tonight with the pre-existence. Remember we talked about the fact that the various topics we're going to cover in a sense. We're taking them chronologically or sequentially beginning with what we would think of as the earliest truth about Christ. And that would be his pre-existence. Now remember what we talked about last week, but we have the pre-existence of Christ. What does that mean? We talk about pre-existence of Christ. What are we talking about? He has always been. Okay? Yes. Very good. Anything else? Existed before time. Yes. And there's even a little more than that. You've got the right ideas here. More specifically, it means that Christ existed before he came to earth. Before he came to earth in Bethlehem's manger as a baby, he existed before that. Which means yes, he's eternal and he existed before time, but he also existed in the Old Testament and we'll see him appear in the Old Testament a number of times. Hopefully we'll get that far in our study tonight. We'll do that next week. But it's important to understand that the life that Christ's life did not begin at Bethlehem anymore that it ended at the cross. His life did not end at the cross. He continued to live after that through the resurrection, his ascension into heaven, but it did not begin at Bethlehem either. His life started. His life never started. His life stretches back, I should say, all the way into eternity past. And that's what we're going to be looking at tonight. The pre-existence of Christ. What I want to do this evening is first of all establish that truth from the New Testament because the New Testament is the main teaching part of this kind of thing. We'll see this truth really fleshed out and taught in many ways in the New Testament. Then what we will do is go back to the Old Testament and see some of the appearances of Christ in the Old Testament. Not just prophecies about Him, but actual appearances of Christ where He showed up on planet Earth before His birth in Bethlehem. But let's begin with establishing the truth of the pre-existence of Christ from the New Testament. And you may be thinking, well, what in the world does this have to do with the way I live on Monday through Friday? Well, actually has a lot to do with that. Bible doctrine is always applicable to the way we live. And let me just suggest one of the ways this can be very helpful to you. It will give you an arsenal of truth to use when you are challenged about what you believe. For instance, in many Kingdom halls throughout this nation, there are Jehovah's Witnesses that gather at least twice a week for training in what they believe so that they can come to your house and try to confuse you about what the Bible teaches about Christ. Okay, we better be ready to answer folks like that or if you come up against someone at work or in your neighborhood who does not believe what the Bible teaches about Christ, you need to be able to stand up for what you believe. And so what I would suggest you do is hang on to these studies and if someone comes to your house and say, hang on just a second. I've got 40 pages of stuff here. I want to go through with you and just pull out your notes from what the Bible teaches about Christ. Okay, they probably won't stay very long. All right, pre-existence of Christ. Let's talk about how it's found in the New Testament. A number of testimonies to his pre-existence in the New Testament. The first is the testimony of John the Baptist. It's found in John chapter 1 and verse 15. So let's open our Bibles there. You may already have your Bible open to John 115. Notice what John said about Jesus as he is answering the religious leaders who have come to ask him about what he's doing and who he is. Verse 15, John testified concerning him. He cried out saying, this is the one I spoke about when I said he who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me. That wasn't too long ago that we looked at this passage on Sunday morning. So you may recall what John is saying. But notice he says three things about Jesus in verse 15. He says, first of all, he who comes after me. Now what's he talking about there? What's he mean by he who comes after me? It could be. I don't think that's specifically what he has in mind here, but certainly that's true. They did chronologically it does his birth came after John's. His ministry. Okay. I think that's really what John more has in mind here, both are true. Both would fit, but John is about ready to introduce the Messiah. He's been preaching about him already. He's about ready to introduce him to the nation as the Lamb of God. And so Jesus is the one that in his ministry is coming after John. John introduces him. John proclaims that the kingdom is at hand that the king is coming and then comes Jesus on the scene. And so the one who comes after me has surpassed me. What do you think he means by that? His knowledge certainly his knowledge has surpassed John's. He's sendless. That would put him in a different category than John and any other human being. Okay. Anything else? And it's probably that he's just about. He's. So maybe that's. Yeah, I think that's included the fact that John is is preaching about him introducing him. Jesus is the fulfillment of that. It's like John is talking about him, but Jesus is the Messiah. And in addition to all of those things, I think he also means that Jesus has a higher rank, a higher position. He has surpassed me in importance. He's. You know, I'm just the messenger. I'm just the voice as he'll go on to say Jesus is the word. I'm just the one introducing him. He's the real topic of conversation. He's the real Messiah, the Son of God. And so he has surpassed me in the sense that he has a higher rank, higher position. He's more important than I am. And that's why John will say later when his disciples remember in chapter three, get a little bit out of shape because Jesus is. And his disciples are starting to baptize more people. And and John says he must increase, but I must decrease. Why? Because he's more important than me. I'm not the one to be looking at. He's. He's once more important. So he comes after me. His ministry starts after mine. I'm introducing him, but he's got a higher rank than me. And now here's. Here's the reason. The third thing he says about him because he was before me. What do you think he means by that? Yes, summer. He's always been. Always existed. Yes. Yes. How do we know that Jesus or that John is not talking about the fact that Jesus was born before him? How do we know that that's not what he means? Because exactly Jesus wasn't born before John. And that's clear from the verse on your screen. Luke 136 when the angel comes to marry to announce that she's going to have Jesus. He's going to be born. He says this even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age. And she who is said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. Okay, Jesus. This is the announcement of the angel to marry that Mary is going to have a son. That's the time at which Jesus was conceived in her womb by the Holy Spirit. Well, Elizabeth is already six months along in her pregnancy. And so obviously John is born first. So if you're just talking about who was born first, John the Baptist was born first. So obviously John has to mean something else. He can't mean I was Jesus was born before me, but the fact that he existed before me that must mean that Jesus existed six months before he was conceived in Mary's womb. He was already in existence. Well, obviously that establishes his pre existence that he existed before the incarnation before he became human. Okay, so the testimony of John the Baptist pretty clear, isn't it? In what he says. Any questions about that before we move to the testimony of Christ himself, which is just super abundant in the gospels. Any question about the testimony of John the Baptist. Yes, what? I think the minute you left the last meal and the pre existence. Okay, on what pre existence means. Well, I was thinking specifically before Jesus was in the womb. And before John and before John too. Because John says he was before me, but he wasn't born before John. And he wasn't conceived before John. So if he existed before John, he had to exist before he was conceived in his mother's womb. Exactly. Yes. Yes. So when John says he existed before me, he was before me, you have to go back Jesus existed before he was in the womb. Yes. Yeah, that's it. That's it. I probably I was about to confuse myself there. Thanks for helping us clear that up. Well, okay, anyone else? All right, let's look at the testimony of Jesus testimony of Christ himself. Let's begin with John chapter six. We're going to look at a lot of verses just in John. John chapter six where Jesus is amazing. Jesus has just fed the 5,000. Okay, it's important to get the background here. Jesus had just fed the 5,000 because the crowd has been fed. They wake up the next morning. They want to make him king. Let's get him down to Jerusalem. Man, this kind of, you know, food program that'd be good for our whole country. So let's make him king. And so Jesus goes across the sea of Galilee to get away from the crowd. When he lands on the other side, they've already caught up to where he lands and they're ready for him again. And so what Jesus does is he preaches this amazing sermon to drive the crowd away. Literally, that's what he did. He preached a sermon for the express purpose of driving the crowd away. And the reason for it was they were about ready to forcibly take him and make him king. Obviously, that's not what he's come for, not to be made king that way. And so he must disperse this crowd before it gets out of control. So he preaches a very hard sermon about who he is. And at the end of this sermon, the whole crowd will go away. And Jesus looks at his 12 disciples. The only ones that are left and says, are you going to go away also? And you remember what Peter said? To whom shall we go? You alone have the words of life. That was one of Peter's greatest statements because he got who Jesus was. The crowd didn't. But in the midst of this scathing sermon, this harsh sermon about who he is and that he's not going to be somebody's king with the food program. In the midst of all this, he uses the analogy of bread, which he's just fed the 5,000 with. He uses an analogy from bread to say, I'm not talking about, I'm bread, but I'm not talking about the kind of bread that Moses fed you or that I fed you yesterday. Notice what kind of bread I'm talking about and here come the verses one after another. He says this over and over again, verse 33. Well, let's go back and figure 32. Jesus said to them very truly, I tell you it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my father who gives you the true bread from heaven for the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. So he says, I've come down from heaven. I'm the true bread and I've come down from heaven. He says it again in verse 38. For I have come down from heaven not to do my will, but to do the will of him who sent me. Now look at verse 41. At this, the Jews there began to grumble about him because he said, I am the bread that came down from heaven. They said, is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph whose father and mother we know how can he now say, I came down from heaven. Now here's a clue to the importance of what Jesus was saying. What is Jesus talking about when he says, I came down from heaven? What do they understand him to be saying and they think it can't be true? That he's God, yes. Think about this. Yes. Yes. Something very close to that. If Jesus says, I came down from heaven and they're saying, that can't be true. We know he's father and mother. We know where he was born when he was born. Yes. So Jesus basically is saying, isn't he? I existed before I was born. You see, they think his life started when he was born and they think they know who his father is. They think it's Joseph. But he's saying, I came down, my father sent me from heaven. I came down from heaven and that's confusing them because they're thinking in terms of Mary and Joseph and being born in Bethlehem and growing up in Nazareth. But what Jesus is saying, no, no, no. I came to this earth from heaven, which means I existed in heaven before I came down here. So see, his very statement means his pre-existence that he existed before his birth. Now they're thinking in terms of his birth, but Jesus is saying, no, no, no. I came from another place. I'm an alien. I came from another place down to this earth. I came from heaven to this earth. And so they're nonplussed by this. They're so confused. How can he now say I came down from heaven? They understood that he was talking about. He had existed before he was born. See, that's what's troubling them. Well, Jesus just keeps on pounding away at this. Look at verse 50. But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. Okay, Jesus is making it abundantly clear time and time and time again. My life did not start in Bethlehem. It did not start in Mary's womb. I came to this earth. Yes, through birth, but I came here from another place. So I existed in that place before I came here pre-existence of Christ. I existed in heaven before I came to this earth is what he is saying over and over and over again. And then skip down to verse 62. He says it one more time. Where verse 61, where the disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, does this offend you? Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before? Okay, what if you see me going back to where I came from, where I was before I came from heaven. I'm going to go back there someday. You think that's hard to understand that I came from there. Wait till you see me go back there. Well, he's got a really confused now, but he is stating once again, I came here from another place and where I was before, I'm going to go back to and that is in heaven. And when he says in verse 62, where he was before the word before is literally a Greek word, which means in former times, where I was in former times, former times being before this life, before I existed as a human being on this earth, I came from heaven. I existed in heaven. So Jesus is making strong, strong claim to his pre-existence. And by the way, one of the reasons why this is so important is because a claim to pre-existence means that he is not only a man. If he existed in the eternity past, he's also God. It's a claim to deity as well. It's not just a claim to pre-existence, it's a claim to deity. And that's why it's so important. So Jesus himself testifies that here in John 6. Now look at John 8, where he does again in a little different fashion. John 842. Jesus said that, and this is a controversy he's having with the Pharisees about who his father is and who their father is. He's claiming his father is God, their father is the devil. Well, they don't like that too well. In verse 42, Jesus said to them, if God were your father, you would love me for I have come here from God. I have not come on my own. God sent me. Clear claim to pre-existence, right? God sent me here from heaven. Then down in verse 58, this is an amazing verse. He talks about Abraham. They say they're the father of Abraham. And basically Jesus says, well, if you were the father of Abraham, you would rejoice to see me because Abraham rejoiced to see my day. Of course, he's talking about fact Abraham looking forward in faith, rejoiced at the promise of the Messiah, the seed that would come from him. And even in heaven now, Abraham looking down, seeing that fulfilled in Christ, he was joyful to see that. Well, notice the Pharisees response in verse 57, you are not yet 50 years old. They said to him, and you have seen Abraham. They just don't get it. Do they? You mean you're older than Abraham? You're not even 50 years old yet. What are you talking about? And Jesus response is absolutely stunning. Verse 58, very truly, I tell you, Jesus answered before Abraham was born, I am. That sounds like incorrect English, doesn't it? Shouldn't Jesus have said before Abraham was, I was. He didn't, and it was not incorrect English. If Jesus had said that, he would still be making a strong statement about his pre-existence because he would be saying, I existed before Abraham. Before Abraham was, I was. But that's not quite far enough. That could simply mean that he existed at some point in the Old Testament. Maybe he came to life before Abraham. Maybe the days of Noah or something like that. That could be taken to mean that. So Jesus doesn't say that before Abraham was, I was. He said before Abraham was, I am. I am pure and timeless existence. I am. It's an expression used in the Bible by God, the Father, to describe His self-existence. Remember when we talked about what the Bible teaches about God? We saw that that's a term which basically means God is self-existent. He does not require anything like we do to exist. He was not brought into existence. He's always existed. He does not require nourishment, protection, anything to keep Himself. He is existent, totally in and of Himself. And the word I am is a way to express that. It's just the eternal present tense. I am before Abraham was, I existed. I am eternally. But not only is it a claim to pre-existence, it's also a claim to deity. Because this is the term, the name that God uses of Himself in Exodus chapter 3, the verse on the screen. God said to Moses, when Moses said, Lord, who do I tell them sent me to Egypt to deliver the people of Israel? God said to Moses, I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites, I am has sent me to you. So it becomes the name of God, the name which identifies God as the one who just is. He never began. He will never end. He just is. He has always existed eternally. And Jesus stakes that name for Himself. You say, well, John, are you stretching it a little bit to say that's a claim to deity that he's really claiming he's the same as God the Father who said that in Exodus 3. Isn't that stretching it a little bit? No? Because that's exactly how the Jews interpreted it. And we know that's how they interpreted it from verse 59. Look at verse 59. At this, at that claim, before Abraham was born, I am. At this, they picked up stones to stone him. But Jesus hid Himself slipping away from the temple grounds. Now, why would they try to stone Him? Blast for me. Yes. They believe he is guilty of blasphemy, which is a capital offense and is punishable according to the mosaic law by stoning. Now, they believe he's guilty of blasphemy because they know that what he has just said is a claim to being equal with God. Okay. So when Jesus says before Abraham was born, I am. It's a claim not only to pre-existence, but eternal existence, which makes him equal with God. And the Jews who were hearing him knowing their Old Testament, knowing Exodus 3, they picked up on that real quick and they said, you're claiming to be God. And they thought he was blaspheming and we're going to kill him. Strong claim to pre-existence. Couple more. And John 16, John 16 verses 28 to 30. I came from the Father and entered the world. That's pretty clear, isn't it? Okay. So it means he existed with the Father before he entered this world. I came from the Father and entered the world. Now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father. Okay. That's clear too. Jesus is saying this the night before He's crucified. And He's warning us the disciples in the upper room. I'm leaving and I'm going to go back to heaven to my Father. Verse 29, then Jesus disciples said, now you're speaking clearly and without figures of speech. Now we can see that you know all things that you do not even need to have anyone ask you questions. This makes us believe that you came from God. Okay. So the disciples are beginning to understand what Jesus is saying. Okay. Look at John 17 verse 5 in the high priestly prayer of Christ. The prayer he prays right before he goes to the cross. 17.5 he says, and now Father glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began. Could it be any clearer? Glorify me with the glory that I had where in your presence in the presence of God before the world began before creation. Jesus was in the presence of God in glory. Very clear claim to that. And in verse 24, he makes the same claim in the same prayer. Verse 24, he says, Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. So again, Jesus makes very clear claims to his pre-existence to his own deity in fact. Okay. Those are just samples from the gospel of John which has the greatest testimony to this truth. Any questions about Jesus claims to pre-existence? Yes, Greg? Yes, I have a question. Greg, and both are true. They are equal in nature. In fact, that both are God. They both have the same power, same knowledge. But Jesus, when he became man, voluntarily became submissive to the Father and his will took on a human body and lived as a human in submission to his father until he went to the cross and did exactly what the Father had planned in salvation. And so although there is an equality in nature in person, there is what we call a functional submission in order to carry out the plan of salvation, that function, the son willingly submitted himself to the Father's will. And so in that sense, the Father was above him, but not in nature. And by the way, that very thing, those very two truths are used by Paul in 1 Corinthians 11 to describe the relationship between a husband and a wife. Paul says, for God is the head of Christ, Christ is the head of the man, the man is the head of the woman. Now, the fact that a husband is in a place of leadership over his wife and his wife is to be submissive to her is in the same sense that Christ is submissive to God. They are equal in nature, equal in person. But in order to carry out the plan of redemption, Christ is submissive to the will of the Father. In order to carry out God's plan for the home, the wife is to be submissive to her husband. It doesn't mean she is in the less of a person though. You are equal as far as personhood is concerned. In fact, some of your ladies would probably argue that you are more than equal than your husband. But you have pointed out a great truth, Greg, and that is that both are true. But the submission to his father being under his father is just for the purpose while he is here on earth of carrying out the plan of redemption. To make him look Christ-like? Yeah. You are here to show him the secret of salvation. Exactly. He is our model, our pattern. Exactly. Good point. Just as he is submissive to his father, we are to be submissive to our father. He sets the example. And that is part of the whole purpose for the incarnation to serve as a model. An example for us is to how we should live. In Jesus' prayer, the way he is talking about how the father loved him before the end of the year, he is here. And things should be very close to relationship. The family should be special moments, but in time, as far as we are concerned. Yes. Yes. Very true. Yes, John? I think that is the only way that we can see his father being in the world. That is the puzzle. Isn't it? John is so confident in his ministry that this is the Messiah. And then later, when he is in prison, he questions it. And the only way I know to explain that, and by the way, Jesus responds to John in that setting. It is described in Luke 7. Jesus responds to John is very gracious. He turns to the crowd and says, there has been none greater born among women than John. And he is building him up. And he says, where did you go out in the wilderness to see? A bruised reed, a reed shaken, bent by the wind? No. No. You saw a strong soldier, that kind of thing. And the reason he did is because John was doubting at that point. But probably the reason why is because he is in prison. I think John has already been a man in the wilderness and he has been free to preach. I think John may have been suffering from depression. I think he may have been questioning a lot of things. Like maybe any of us would. As strong as John the Baptist was, he was a man who was not above getting down and discouraged and beginning to question things. And I think maybe if I were in his shoes, I would maybe not have done as well as he did. I think that may be the explanation for it. And I think that's the reason Jesus was so gracious with him and did not take him to task and tell his disciples. You go back and tell him never to doubt me. He should know better than that. He doesn't do that. He is very gracious with him. And I think it's because I go back to one of my favorite passages in Psalm 103. He knows that we are bit dust. He remembers our frame. And he knew that John was just a man who was in very difficult circumstances. And we might all be tempted to doubt in those circumstances. I think that may be the answer to it. But that is a great insight, John, as to how those two could fit together in the same man. Yes. Yes. He told us John's disciples. He just actually didn't answer them at first. He just started doing miracles. And then he told them, go tell John what you've seen. And that would bolster John's faith because what Jesus did is he performed the kinds of miracles that are prophesied of the Messiah in Isaiah 35. You can see almost everyone listed in Luke 7 is listed in Isaiah 35. And John would know that. John would say, he healed the lame. He calls the blind to see. He cast out demons. Oh, that's Isaiah 35. Yes. He is the one. And that would bolster John's faith. Just another example of how gracious our Lord is. Okay. Our time is up. And we need to go. We'll finish the New Testament testimony next week. Father, thank you for your son and our Savior, the Lord Jesus. Thank you that you did send him, that he did come down. And although Lord, we have focused mainly tonight on the fact that that means he existed before he came to this earth. Lord, we want to also rejoice tonight in the fact that he did come. And you did send him. And we know the reason for that was to die for us so that we might be saved. And so Lord, thank you that he did come to this earth, that he did obey you in your plan for our salvation. Without his coming down, the bread of heaven coming down to this earth, we would not be saved. Thank you for what we have in him because he was willing to come down in Jesus name. Amen.