A Christmas Message that keeps on Giving - Pre-existence.
Intro:
1. It is not possible to stress the importance of knowing who Jesus Christ is too much. He is the basis of our faith. I thought it would be good to go beyond a little baby Jesus sermon and in the coming messages give you the truth about just who Jesus Christ really is.
2. A Prolonged Christmas Message - Pre-existence.
I. The PASSAGES:
A. Jn.1:15
"John *testified about Him and cried out, saying, "This was He of whom I said, 'He who comes after me has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.'" John 1:15
The only reasonable explanation for this passage is that Christ was "before" John in priority of existence.
"They only sense which these words will bear is because He was before me, ie, He existed, was in being, before me" [Alford].
As a man, Jesus was born 6 months after, John the Baptist - yet he existed before John.
B. Jn. 8:58
"57 So the Jews said to Him, "You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?" 58 Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am." John 8:57-58
Here the Lord affirms His pre-existence not only in relation to John, but also to Abraham. And uses the divine name in the process!
"14 God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM"; and He said, "Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'" Exodus 3:14
Note: The distinction in the verbs - "Before Abraham WAS, I AM." It is even more forceful in the Greek text, "Before Abraham came into existence, I am [the always existing One]."
C. Jn.1:1
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." John 1:1
In this passage we see that Christ existed not only before John and Abraham but in the beginning! Compare Jn.1:3,14/ Gen.1:1/Heb.1:2
Side note for the cults:
"You are correct in saying that in John 1:1 the Greek word for God is not preceded by a definite article. However, good Greek scholarship agrees that this does not mean the word should be translated "god" with a small "g".
The definite article is omitted because of a somewhat technical rule of Greek grammar. A definite predicate nominative which precedes a verb does not have the Greek article. The order of the Greek words in the last clause of John 1:1 is "God was the Word" (theos en ho logos). The subject of the sentence is "the Word", the verb is "was", and the predicate nominative is "God".
Usually the predicate nominative follows the verb, but in this case it precedes it; and since it precedes the verb no article is necessary. When a Greek writer wanted to stress the quality of a person or thing which was in the predicate nominative case, he would put it before the verb rather than after it. This is what John did to stress the fact that the Word (Christ) possesses the qualities of Godhood. This fundamental principle of Greek grammar thus supports the deity of Christ and gives no support whatsoever to the translation, "The Word was a god". The intent of John
could be rendered in English, "The Word was fully God".
May I point out, too, that even your New World Translation does not always follow it's "no article - small 'g' rule. For example, in John 1:6, 12, 13, the word "God" does not have the article in the Greek, but it does have a capital "G" in the New World Translation. It is correct to use the capital in those verses but it is inconsistent with the New World Translation of John 1:1.
You might also be interested in noting that in John 13:3 the word "God" occurs twice, each time with a capital "G". But in the Greek the first occurrence of the word does not have the definite article and the second occurrence does. Since both obviously refer to the same person - God the Father - it would again be wrong to assume that the alleged "no article - small 'g'" rule has any validity in Greek grammar.
Another observation is that without the article, theos signifies divine essence, while with the article theos suggests divine personality (see Dana and Mantley, A Manual Grammar of the Greek New Testament, p. 139).
Also theos is a definite noun and therefore cannot have the indefinite article "a".
It is important to keep in mind that when John 1:1 states that "the Word was God", it does not mean Jesus is God the Father, nor "Jesus is the Trinity". The Jehovah's Witnesses' booklet, "The Word", Who is He?
According to John (p.6), erroneously tries to suggest that this is what non-Jehovah's Witnesses mean by their translation, "the Word was God". But this is not the case at all! As already shown, this clause stresses the divine quality of the Word. John is telling us that in the beginning the Word existed, was with God the Father and possesses full deity.
You should know to that there are verses clearly referring to Christ in which the word "God" does have the definite article ("the"), thus showing that Jesus is "the God", that is, Jehovah. (Matthew 1:23, for example, which states that Jesus is Immanuel, in the Greek is rendered "with us is the God". Jesus is therefore Jehovah God.
You say that Christ is "a god" according to the New World Translation of John 1:1 - one who was created by Jehovah. How could Christ be "a god" when in Isaiah 43.10 Jehovah say that there is no god before Him or after Him? No god would ever be created by Jehovah because, as He stated, "Before me there was no god formed, and after me there continued to be none" (New World Translation) .
John 1:1 states that the Word (Christ) was with God. And yet in Deuteronomy 32:39 Jehovah states, "There is no god with Me". If Christ is not God but "a god", then Deuteronomy 32:39 is contradicted." [Quotation]
D. John 17:5,24
"Now, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was." John 17:5
"Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world." John 17:24
This prayer of Christ takes us to eternity past, beyond the creation of the world and time. Even then He existed as Son in the glory of the Father.
E. Isa. 9:6/Mic.5:2
" For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace." Isaiah 9:6
"But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Too little to be among the clans of Judah, From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, From the days of eternity." Micah 5:2
These prophecies clearly demonstrate His eternal pre-existence because they ascribe to Christ eternity in the absolute sense.
F. Phil. 2:5-11.
"5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. 8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." Philippians 2:5-11
Here we have His pre-existence and equality with the Father (v.6) before His humiliation, when He became man.
G. Col. 1:15
"He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation." Colossians 1:15
This does not mean that Chrsit was a creature, or a part of creation. On the contrary He was the Creator as verse 16 reveals. The phrase means "firstborn before all creation."
This is the Biblical way of speaking of eternity. The Greek means firstborn - not first created.
Boettner, "The phrase may convey no intimation of coming into being, but merely assert priority of existence." Compare Prov.8:23-26 and Heb. 1:2-3.
Another Cult Alert:
"What about Colossians 1:15-17? Jehovah's Witnesses refer to this passage to support their teaching that Christ was created by Jehovah (e.g., Let God Be True, p. 35). This is based primarily on the words, "the firstborn of all creation", in verse 15.
However, if this verse were teaching that Jesus Christ is the first created being made by Jehovah, the word "first-created" would have been used of Christ, not the word "firstborn". These are two different words in the Greek, with two different meanings. "First-created" is protoktistos, and "firstborn" is prototokos. Colossians 1:15 does not use the word protoktistos, "first-created". Instead it uses prototokos. The latter word means an heir, a begotten one, the first in rank. The teaching of Colossians 1:15, then, is that Christ is first in rank above all creation; He is the heir of all things. He is prior to all creation and superior over it as the Lord.
Your New World Translation adds the word "other" four times in Colossians 1:15-17, so that the passage states that Christ created "all other things", that is, everything except Himself. However, there is no basis for adding the word "other". It does not occur in the Greek manuscripts. The translators of the New World Translation admit this by putting the word "other" in brackets. Obviously this is done in order to comply with the assumption that firstborn means first-created. But, as we've seen, this is not the meaning of firstborn, and therefore it is wrong to add the word "other". There is no verse in the entire Bible that states that Christ was created by Jehovah!
Some might raise a question about Revelation 3:14. This passage wrongly translated in the New World Translation, "the beginning of the creation of God" should be rendered "the source (or origin) of God's creation". The Greek word for source or origin is arche. This is consistent with the statements in Colossians 1:16 and John 1:3 that all things were made by or had their origin or source in Jesus Christ. Since all things were made by Christ (John 1:1) and all things were made by Jehovah (Heb.3:4), both persons possessing this omnipotent creative power are God with full deity." [Quotation]
II. APPEARANCES:
Were talking about appearances before His incarnation - that's what I'm talking about!
A. Appearances of "The Angel of Jehovah." in the O.T.
1. Identified as Jehovah Himself.
Gen.16:7-13; 22:11-18 [note v. 12, "from me"]; 31:11-13/Ex.3:1ff/Judges 6:11-23, esp. 22-23.
2. Presented as a distinct Person from Jehovah.
Gen.24:7,40/1 Chron.21:15-18.
In this connection we need to remember that the name Jehovah is applied sometimes to the Father and sometimes to the Son. Hence those verses do not disprove the idea that the Angel of Jehovah is Christ (Zech.3:2).
B. Other appearances of Christ in the O.T.
Gen.18:1ff; 32:24-32/Ex.33:9-23/Josh.5:13-15/Ezk.1:1-28, esp. vv. 26-28.
C. Christ is the Angel of Jehovah.
1. Visible God in the N.T. is Christ.
Therefore it is strong evidence that this should be the case in the O.T. also.
2. The lack of mentioning the Angel of Jehovah in the N.T.
While there are many appearances of the Angel of the Jehovah in the O.T., He is not mentioned in the N.T. There as "an angel of the Lord" but not one reference to "The Angel of the Lord." That is significant!
So there you have it for all honest seekers to embrace - the Pre-existence of Christ.
Johnny Palmer Jr.
StrugglingThruScriptures.ning.com
