Eternity Stepped Into Time

Now, with this, there’s scholarly speculation that many of the visions of God in the Old Testament what scholars call “theophanies,” or visible appearances of God, were actually what they call “Christophanies,” or visible appearances of Jesus.

We could cite many additional examples from the Old Testament, but whether you believe some, or all of these theophanies were actually the pre-incarnate Jesus, this passage from John makes it clear:

Isaiah saw Jesus before Jesus was born.

The next passage of scripture I’d like to spend a few minutes looking at is

John 17:5 And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.

This is a part of what is often referred to as Jesus’ high priestly prayer, His prayer to His heavenly Father in advance of His suffering, death and resurrection.

Here’s Jesus, anticipating these events. Expecting His return to the glory He had with His heavenly Father, before the incarnation... before His life on earth as a man. It tells us something of what Jesus set aside to come to make His dwelling among us.

It tells us He was in the presence of God the Father. It tells us He was glorified. It tells us this was His state before the world began. Did He begin in Bethlehem? Did He become the son of God, or was He always the son of God? This verse makes it absolutely clear.

Before the world began – in eternity past, Jesus existed. He was in glory we cannot even imagine. And He gave it up for 33 years, to live among us, to suffer,

to die, for the forgiveness of our sins, and then rise again to return to His glory.

Jesus, in His prayer here, is saying: “God, restore us to the glorified relationship we had before I came to earth, before I stepped out of eternity, into time.”

William McDonald wrote of this passage:

“Before Christ came into the world, He dwelt in heaven with the Father. When the angels looked upon the Lord, they saw all the glory of Deity. To every eye, He was obviously God. But when He came among men, the glory of Deity was veiled. Though He was still God, it was not apparent to most onlookers. They saw Him merely as the carpenter’s Son. Here, the Savior is praying that the visible manifestation of His glory in heaven might be restored. The words “glorify Me together with Yourself” mean “glorify Me in Your presence in heaven. Let the original glory which I shared with You before My Incarnation be resumed.” This clearly teaches the pre-existence of Christ”

Before we prepare to sum this up, let’s look at one more verse from John. It’s in the same chapter, 17, as the verse we just reviewed.

John 17:24 "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.

This is an important passage in relation to the pre-existent Christ, because it reveals in a new way His heart for you and me. Jesus could have stopped at verse 5, which we just read. He could have said, OK Father, I’m ready to be restored to my rightful place, I’m ready to leave this place where my glory is veiled. I’m ready to come home.