The Preexistence of Jesus Christ John 8:58, “Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.’” This statement by our Lord to the Jews clearly affirms that His preincarnate state or preexistence as the eternal Son of God. It will be noted that Christ’s existence prior to becoming a human being is nowhere in Scripture argued as a doctrine, but is everywhere assumed and used as the basis of the doctrines of the incarnation, hypostatic union and atonement for sin. Our Lord’s birth in Bethlehem 2000 years ago was not His origin, only His incarnation. There could be no incarnation and hypostatic union without our Lord having a previous existence. To deny the preexistence of our Lord renders the incarnation and hypostatic union impossible. To go back further, could there be a Trinity were there no preexistent Son of God? The one necessarily presupposes the other. Christ’s preexistence is not a matter of purely academic interest but in fact it is the foundation on which the whole superstructure of the Christian faith rests. If our Lord is not preexistent, He cannot be God, and if He is not God, He cannot be Creator or Redeemer. Jesus was unique among men in that His birth did not mark His origin, but only His appearance as a man on the stage of time. Of no other person would it be possible to distinguish between His birth and His origin, or to say that His life did not begin when He was born. He was the meeting place of eternity and time, the uniting of deity and humanity, the junction of heaven and earth. His origin was not related to His birth, or His nature dependent only on human ancestry. His nature was derived from His eternal being. The Lord Jesus Christ did not become God’s Son at the incarnation or when He rose from the dead. His resurrection in fact demonstrated that He was the eternal Son of God who has no beginning. He is God, supreme and without beginning. Our Lord was conscious of a previous existence. He spoke of the glory He had with the Father before the foundation of the world. John 17:5, “Now, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.” He claimed preexistence in explicit and unmistakable terms. John 16:26-28, “In that day you will ask in My name, and I do not say to you that I will request of the Father on your behalf; for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me and have believed that I came forth from the Father. I came forth from the Father and have come into the world; I am leaving the world again and going to the Father.” Our Lord’s first appearance on earth was not when born of His virgin mother. Every other man in history entered life as the result of a biological process and as a 2010 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries

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new being, but the Lord Jesus knew neither beginning of days nor end of life (Heb. 7:3). The Lord appears many times in the Old Testament and is called the “Angel of the Lord.” These appearances in the Old Testament are called in theology, “theophanies” or “Christophanies.” A “theophany” or “Christophany” is a theological term used to refer to either a visible or auditory manifestation of the Son of God before His becoming a man permanently in Bethlehem. Genesis 3:8, “They heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.” Genesis 32:29-30, “Then Jacob asked him and said, ‘Please tell me your name.’ But he said, ‘Why is it that you ask my name?’ And he blessed him there. So Jacob named the place Peniel, for he said, ‘I have seen God face to face, yet my life has been preserved.’” Exodus 3:2, “The angel of the LORD appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of a bush; and he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, yet the bush was not consumed.” Exodus 19:18-20, “Now Mount Sinai was all in smoke because the LORD descended upon it in fire; and its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked violently. When the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and God answered him with thunder. The LORD came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain; and the LORD called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.” Josh 5:13-15, “Now it came about when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing opposite him with his sword drawn in his hand, and Joshua went to him and said to him, Are you for us or for our adversaries? He said, ‘No; rather I indeed come now as captain of the host of the LORD.’ And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and bowed down, and said to him, ‘What has my lord to say to his servant? The captain of the LORD'S host said to Joshua, ‘Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.’ And Joshua did so.” Daniel 3:26, “He said, ‘Look! I see four men loosed and walking about in the midst of the fire without harm, and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods!’”

2010 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries

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Old Testament Prophets Testimony of the Preexistence of Christ The Old Testament abounds in references to our Lord’s preexistence or preincarnate state. The first appears in Genesis 1:1 where He is presented as the Creator of the heavens and the earth. Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” “In the beginning” refers to eternity past when there was only the Trinity and no creation or creatures. A comparison of Genesis 1:1 with other Scripture clearly teaches that all of creation is the work of the second Person of the Trinity, God the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Colossians 1:15-17, “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, {both} in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities-- all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.” John 1:1-4, “In eternity past the Word has always existed and the Word has always existed face to face with the God (the Father) and the Word has always existed as God. He was in eternity past face to face with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.” (My translation) The preincarnate Christ appeared to the patriarch Abraham (Genesis 18:1) and his Isaac (Genesis 26:23-25), and Isaac’s son Jacob whose name was later changed to Israel (Genesis 28:10-22; 31:10-13; 32:24-32; 35:1). The Lord also appeared to Moses (Exodus 3:2) and his successor Joshua (Joshua 5:13-15). It was the Lord who was in the fiery furnace with Daniel’s three friends (Daniel 3:19-30). The prophet Isaiah presents His testimony concerning the preexistence of Christ in Isaiah 9:6-7. Isaiah 9:6-7, “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. There will be no end to the increase of {His} government or of peace, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this.” The expression “the Everlasting Father” means that Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God in human flesh (Jn. 8:58). The prophet Micah also testifies to the preexistence of Christ. 2010 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries

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Micah 5:2, “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.” “From the days of eternity” is an obvious reference to the fact that the baby named Jesus by Mary in Bethlehem existed from eternity past.

2010 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries

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The Apostle John’s Testimony of the Preexistence of Christ In the very first paragraph of his gospel, the apostle John testifies to the fact that Jesus of Nazareth, the incarnate Word of God, existed from eternity past. John 1:1-4, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.” (My translation) John 1:14, “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.” The prepositional phrase “in the beginning” that appears in John 1:1-2 refers to eternity past. “Word” is the noun logos, which is one of the many titles for the Lord Jesus Christ. It denotes the fact that He reveals God to men, thus He is the perfect and complete revelation of God. He is the perfect manifestation of the Trinity. The Word is the personal manifestation of deity and the life of the Trinity, which is eternal. The noun logos indicates that the Lord Jesus Christ is the Creator and Sustainer of the universe (John 1:3, 10; Col. 1:16-17; Heb. 1:3, 10). It expresses His divine omnipotence, thus, the word indicates that the Lord Jesus Christ is the author, sustainer and giver of life. Notice, that the Word of God who existed from eternity past became a human being according to John 1:14, thus making clear the preexistence of Jesus Christ. In 1 John 1:1-4, the apostle John teaches concerning the preexistence of Christ. 1 John 1:1-4, “What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life and the life was manifested, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us, what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ. These things we write, so that our joy may be made complete.” “What” is the relative pronoun hos, which should be translated “who” and not “what” since it is a personal reference to the unique theanthropic person of history, the Lord Jesus Christ. The figure of speech called constructio ad sensum is in effect here where sense agreement supersedes tactical agreement. Therefore, even though the neuter gender of the relative pronoun does not agree with the masculine gender of logos, “Word,” and the feminine gender of zoe, “life” it is a personal reference for the Lord Jesus Christ. This is confirmed by the fact that John is 2010 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries

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stating that he heard someone speak, witnessed with Him with his own eyes, observed and even touched with his own hands. “Was” is the verb eimi, which is used in an absolute sense meaning “to exist.” The imperfect tense of the verb is a customary imperfect tense, which can be used to indicate a regularly recurring activity in past time (habitual) or a state that continued for some time (general). Here in 1 John 1:1 the latter is in view. The customary imperfect here refers to an ongoing state. The customary imperfect tense of the verb eimi in 1 John 1:1 indicates that the Lord Jesus Christ has always existed from eternity past. The active voice of the verb is a stative active voice indicating that the subject (the Lord Jesus Christ) has always existed from eternity past. The indicative mood of the verb is a declarative indicative used to present John’s assertion is a dogmatic statement of fact or absolute truth of Bible doctrine. “From the beginning” is composed of the preposition apo, “from” and the genitive feminine singular form of the noun arche, “the beginning.” The preposition apo, “from” is used in a temporal sense. It is employed with the genitive of time arche, which refers to eternity past. The preposition apo plus the genitive arche does not emphasize kind of time but rather the extent of time. Together, they answer the question as to how long the Lord Jesus Christ has always existed. This prepositional phrase declares that He has always existed from eternity past. So we could translate 1 John 1:1 as follows: “Who has always existed from eternity past, who we have heard, who we have witnessed with our eyes, who we observed, even our hands touched concerning the Word who is the life (of God).” In this passage, the apostle John mentions the first two of three states or spheres of existence experienced by the Lord Jesus Christ: (1) Pre-incarnate: Eternity past as the second person of the Trinity, the Son of God. (2) Incarnate: Virgin birth through the first advent to the resurrection. (3) Glorified Incarnate: Resurrection and on into eternity future. 1 John 2:13-14, “I am writing to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I have written to you, children, because you know the Father. I have written to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.” Revelation 1:8, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord God, Who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” 2010 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries

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Revelation 21:6, “And He (the Lord Jesus Christ) said to me, it is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.” Revelation 22:13, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”

2010 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries

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The Apostle Paul’s Testimony Concerning the Preexistence of Christ The apostle Paul teaches in Philippians 2:6 that Jesus Christ existed from eternity past. Philippians 2:5-11, “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name, which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” The apostle Paul in Philippians 2:6-11 presents a three-fold division of Christ’s career: (1) His preincarnate state as the Son of God in eternity past. (2) His incarnate state as the “Theanthropos” functioning under a self-imposed kenosis during His first advent. (3) His glorified state as resurrected humanity. This passage consists of two main sections, which are built up in parallel style. The first section is contained in verses 6-8 and forms the “catabasis” of our Lord meaning His gradual descent from existence in eternity past to His substitutionary spiritual death on the cross. The second section is contained in verses 9-11 and forms the “anabasis” of our Lord meaning His gradual ascent from resurrection out from the dead to the Great Genuflex at the conclusion of human history. Philippians 2:5-11 expresses the true humility of the Lord Jesus Christ in hypostatic union functioning according to a self-imposed kenosis. The passage emphasizes the obedience of Christ as the Last Adam in contrast to the disobedience of the first Adam. It records a succession of events from our Lord’s preexistence in eternity past to the incarnation, the cross and culminating in His glorification. Let’s look at Philippians 2:6 in greater detail since this passage contains a verb that denotes our Lord’s preexistence. Philippians 2:6, “who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped.” “Although He existed” is the nominative masculine singular present active participle form of the verb huparcho. This verb occurs as early as Homer in the eighth century B.C. It is a compound word composed of the preposition hupo, “under,” and arche, “a beginning.” The preposition hupo is often prefixed to other words to intensify or alter their meaning. The prepositions apo, ek, para, and hupo all denote “issuing, proceeding 2010 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries

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from.” As we noted in 1 John 1:1, the term arche means “eternity past.” Huparcho is a word use to denote existence, which proceeds or issues from eternity past. Paul does not use the simple verb of being here which is eimi but instead employs the stronger huparcho to denote existence, which proceeds or issues from the beginning. In Philippians 2:6, huparcho denotes the inherency and expression of the divine attributes by our Lord in His preincarnate state. It refers to eternity past in which our Lord functioned as infinite and eternal God. The verb expresses the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ prior to entering the human race permanently in Bethlehem was the eternal Son of God, and who expressed all the attributes of deity. Lightfoot commenting on the word, writes, “The word denotes ‘prior existence,’ but not necessarily ‘eternal existence.’ The latter idea however follows in the present instance from the conception of the divinity of Christ which the context supposes” (St. Paul’s Epistle to the Philippians, page 110). Vincent commenting on the word’s usage in our passage, writes, “Huparchon has a backward look into an antecedent condition, which has been protracted into the present. Here appropriate to the preincarnate being of Christ, to which the sentence refers. In itself it does not imply eternal, but only prior existence.” (Vincent’s Word Studies of the New Testament, volume III, page 430). Vine states that huparcho “denotes to be, to be in existence, involving an existence or condition both previous to the circumstances mentioned and continuing after it. This is important in Philippians 2:6, concerning the deity of Christ. The phrase ‘being (existing) in the form (morphe, the essential and specific form and character) of God,’ carries with it two facts of the antecedent Godhood of Christ, previous to His Incarnation, and the continuance of His Godhood at and after the event of His birth” (Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, pages 400-401). Kenneth Wuest makes the following excellent comment, he writes, “The time at which the apostle says our Lord gave expression to His essential nature, that of Deity, was previous to His coming to earth to become incarnate as the Man Christ Jesus. But Paul, by the use of the Greek word translated ‘being,’ informs his Greek readers that our Lord’s possession of the divine essence did not cease to be a fact when He came to earth to assume human form. The Greek word is not the simple verb of being, but a word that speaks of an antecedent condition protracted into the present. That is, our Lord gave expression to the essence of Deity, which He possesses, not only before He became Man, but also after becoming Man, for He was doing so at the time this Philippian epistle was written. To give expression to the essence of Deity implies the possession of Deity, for this expression, according to the definition of our word ‘form,’ comes from one’s inmost nature. This word alone is enough to refute the claim of Modernism that our Lord emptied Himself of 2010 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries

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His Deity when He became Man” (Word Studies in the Greek New Testament, volume II, page 63). In Philippians 2:6, the verb huparcho is what we call a concessive participle, which is used by Paul to call attention to the fact that God the Son did something for us under unfavorable circumstances, i.e., He became human! He became for a little while lower than the angels (Heb. 2:9). 2 Corinthians 8:9, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.” Hebrews 2:7-8, “YOU HAVE MADE HIM FOR A LITTLE WHILE LOWER THAN THE ANGELS; YOU HAVE CROWNED HIM WITH GLORY AND HONOR, AND HAVE APPOINTED HIM OVER THE WORKS OF YOUR HANDS; YOU HAVE PUT ALL THINGS IN SUBJECTION UNDER HIS FEET.” The Creator left heaven where He received the worship of angels in order to become a human being and to suffer the humiliation of dying as a criminal on a cross as well as spiritual and physical death! God the Son condescended by becoming human.

2010 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries

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