The Pre-existence of Christ
There is considerable misunderstanding of this subject at times and so a special series of three in-depth articles has been specially written by Bro. John and Sis. Sally Palmer to explain and also answer some of the verses which are raised on this issue.
PART TWO
So, how can we understand some of the Bible verses that seem to say that Jesus DID exist before his birth? We will look at some of these in detail later, but first we must understand about the foreknowledge of God. This simply means God knowing things before they happen. God is omniscient ? this means that He knows everything. He knows our thoughts, what will happen to us in 10 years? time and He even knew us before we were born. Psalm 139 is a beautiful psalm that talks about how much God knows each one of us. This is hard for us to understand because we think that we know everything about ourselves, but we don?t ? our knowledge is limited, we cannot see into the future to know what we will say or do, but God can and does.
Ephesians 1:4 ??for He chose us before the creation of the world? .?
So God knew that I was going to be born even before He created the world! What a wonderful thing ? that God chose me to be a Christian over 6000 years ago before creation. I was in His plan for the world. He wanted me to be one of His spiritual children. And this is the same for all the baptised believers of God. They have been chosen to do God?s work. God said the same to Jeremiah:
Jeremiah 1:5 ??before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I set you apart, I appointed you as a prophet to the nations? .?
God had chosen Jeremiah to do this work of a prophet for Him before he was ever born. Maybe this can help us to understand the way that God speaks about Jesus, because Jesus was the most important part of God?s plan for the world. Jesus had been chosen for the most important work of saving humans from sin and death. Look at Revelation 13:8:
??the Lamb WHO WAS SLAIN (or killed) FROM THE CREATION OF THE WORLD.?
Jesus is the Lamb of God and here it says he died before creation. Now we know that Jesus didn?t die before creation ? he died about 4000 years after creation, so what does this verse mean? It must mean that in GOD?S PLAN, He knew that His son, Jesus, would have to die to save people from their sins. It wouldn?t happen for many years but it was part of God?s plan and everything was working toward this. Now we would never say that you or I or Jeremiah existed before the creation ? so why do people say that Jesus did? God is using the same language to talk about you, me, Jeremiah and Jesus, all in God?s plan before the world was created.
Read the lovely words in Romans 8:29,30. These are difficult verses, but basically they are saying that God knew from the beginning who would accept Jesus (foreknew) and so worked in the lives of those people to bring them to a knowledge of His son (predestined). He put them through experiences so they would learn about Christianity (conformed to the likeness) and then gave them the opportunity to follow Jesus (called). If they accepted and became baptised, their sins were washed away (justified) and if they keep following Jesus they will be in the Kingdom of God (glorified).
Remember, too, that God has foreknowledge (He knows what will happen in the future). When God says something is going to happen it ALWAYS happens. So God sometimes speaks about things as though they HAVE already happened because He knows they will happen!! For example, in Genesis 15:18, God says to Abraham, ?I have given you the land? , yet we know that Abraham never received the land in his lifetime, and won?t until Jesus returns to the earth and raises him from the dead. In Genesis 17:5, God says to Abraham ?I have MADE you a father of many nations? ? but Abraham didn?t have any children when he said this! But God can speak like this because NOTHING can make Him break His promises. We may think sometimes that God?s promises are like ours. If I make a promise I may have to break it because I fall sick or have an accident or run out of money ? but these things can?t happen to God. It is impossible for God to break His promise and so we always know that what God says is going to happen.
Romans 4:17 ??the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were ?
Isaiah 46:10,11 ??I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come...I say, My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please?what I have said, that will I bring about: what I have planned, that will I do.?
These verses are showing that when God says something will happen nothing will stop it, even though it may not happen for a long time. There is no doubt that it will happen eventually. So God can talk about something that has not happened as if it has already happened because with His foreknowledge He knows it will happen.
Because God was so certain that He would have a son who would die for our sins, He sometimes speaks in the Old Testament as if it had already happened. But we know that Jesus didn?t exist or die before his birth ? this was just in God?s plan for Jesus.
1 Peter 1:19-20 ??Christ?was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake??
These verses explain clearly how Jesus was in God?s plan from the beginning but he didn?t exist until he was born, when he, the Son of God, was revealed to the world. Finally read Hebrews 1:1,2 .
??in the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days He has spoken to us by His son whom He appointed heir of all things and through whom He made the universe.?
God created the earth with the purpose of everlasting life (Titus 1:2). This was His wise plan and He knew that as part of His plan a Saviour would be needed to bring that everlasting life. So God spoke to men and woman through prophets in the Old Testament but when the time was right, He created His son who the prophets had talked about ? and sent him to speak to the people (Galatians 4:4-5).
