John 1:1-5
"In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He existed in the beginning with God. God created everything through Him, and nothing was created except through Him. The Word gave life to everything that was created, and His life brought light to everyone. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it."
Revelation 1:8
“I am the Alpha and the Omega—the beginning and the end,” says the LORD God. “I AM the One Who is, Who always was, and Who is still to come—the Almighty One.”
[emphasis mine]
In your lifetime in or outside of a church, you may have heard certain terms bandied about, such as The Trinity, The Triune God or The Godhead. I don't know about you, but those terms were confusing to little Quahana. Many times, I inquired of my mother, "The Holy Spirit? Who is that? Jesus did what? For me!? How are they all God, but separate!? and on and on and on, head spinning, until one day [decades later mind you!] it seemed to click. Simply put, these terms reference the "three-in-one existence" of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit --> All equally God, but distinct in person and function. Largely our recent discussions have centered around God the Father, namely His characteristics and we will continue to do that because He is an inexhaustible subject, as are them all. Now I hope to further explore Jesus the Christ and the Holy Spirit individually; because let's face it, you can't discuss one without discussing all three.
Overall, the Book of John is seeking to encourage a belief in Jesus and does so in several ways. One way is by highlighting the revelation of God the Father in Jesus the Son as is so beautifully introduced in the above Scriptural passage. John, the Apostle and writer, does this not only by demonstrating Jesus' divinity [spoiler alert - Jesus is the Word, He is from Heaven and He is also God] but by using Jesus' own words about Himself. Leaving no doubt that Jesus is who He says He is; God incarnate [in human form] on earth.
The study of the person, life, work and ministry of Jesus [aka the Christ, the Messiah] is called Christology. You have probably jokingly heard someone taunt, "You need Jesus!" Well, you really do and so do I. Jesus is the linchpin upon which Christianity is founded and operates. He was sent specifically to walk this earth fully human while still being fully divine to die for the sins of humankind. Who sent Him? His Father God. Was it planned? Yes, from before time. Did it work? Yes, because death, Sin and the grave were conquered.
Remember the family we talked about last week that Father God longed for but had to repair? Well, Jesus was the fixer [a repairman that pays the price for the customer, is on time, does a perfect job and cleans up the customer's mess?!]. When Sin separated humanity from God a whole lot of things happened. An old man and his wife had a boy whose seed produced a chosen nation that was subsequently enslaved, freed, rebellious, forgiven and prosperous but still in need of a Savior. These were the Jews and later would enter the Gentiles [non-Jews]. In unfathomable generosity, God decided to send His only begotten Son, Jesus to be that Savior by implanting the Holy Spirit seed in the womb of a young Jewish virgin named Mary, who would physically carry and birth this child. This gift of Jesus as the God-Man would walk the earth for 33 years as a human while remaining fully divine in the ultimate display of service and humility by restraint of power and status.
But before He took human form and came to earth, we refer to Jesus as Preincarnate [pre-human form] because He preexisted and furthermore is eternal. Let's back up a bit and talk about these themes called "Preexistence" and "Eternality". A preexistence of Christ means that He existed before His birth, before Creation and thus before time. Moving one step further, eternality upholds that yes, He existed before His birth and before Creation and furthermore always did and always will. Why is grasping these two concepts so important? Because if they are not fully understood as part of foundational Christianity this means the claims surrounding Jesus and Christianity are false; in effect that He lied and there is no Trinity or full Deity in Him.
However, Scripture provides us with ample evidence that Christ most certainly preexisted and is eternal. Even though we can't get into the extensive discourse here, lots of Scripture is ahead in some vital highlighted references. First, we read of His Heavenly origins prior to birth in John 3:13 and 31, “No one has ever gone into Heaven except the one who came from Heaven—the Son of Man” and “The one who comes from above is above all…” respectively. Second, in addition to today's verse, Colossians 1:16 states “For in Him all things were created…” and Hebrews 1:2 “…His Son… and through whom also He made the universe”. Third, Christ’s equal relationship with God in nature, glory and eternality before the world is read about in John 10:30; 17:5 and Philippians 2:6 respectively. Fourth, the Deity of Christ is evidenced in Colossians 2:9 “…in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form.” A fifth and final evidence supporting the preexistence of Christ falls squarely upon His relation to John the Baptist, who himself states in John 1:15 and 30 that Christ existed “before” him [literally “first of me”] in relation to Christ’s superiority over him.
So, the Preincarnate Christ preexisted and in so being also possesses eternality. For example, since God is divine and eternal and Hebrews 1:3 indicates that Christ is the “exact representation” of God that means Christ also possesses eternality and divinity because He is God as stated both in the Old and New Testament by the prophets and by Jesus Himself. Like God, Jesus can be seen referring to Himself as "I Am", the Greek word eimi, who not only participated in Creation, but who continues to sustain it all, implying a past continuous existence. Said another way, “In the beginning the Word was continually existing”, i.e., as far back as one goes. Hebrews 1:8 specifically points to “the Son...who is forever and ever…” and Isaiah 9:6 calls Him the “Eternal Father” not by suggesting He is the distinct person of God the Father of the Trinity but that He possesses the title of God and thus is eternal and pre-existed.
Now listen, the Preincarnate Christ wasn't sitting around knitting booties for the masterpieces He knew were coming. He was busy with significant Angelic activities [that notably stopped after His Incarnation] as the mysterious and oft debated the Angel of the Lord (aka the Angel of Yahweh): Part of the Trinity, speaking for God, identifying as God and exercising the prerogatives of God, yet remaining distinguished from God. The Angel of the Lord's ministries are showcased in Scripture as Messenger, Guide, Protector, Judge and Refresher. Though the Preincarnate Christ undertook many activities this does not preclude the necessity of the Incarnation that would fully reveal His glory and grace as our Messiah and Savior. Meaning, we still need Jesus!
Biblical times often employed covenants; a binding agreement between two parties that is sealed, often times, with blood. The Abrahamic Covenant was given through that old man I spoke of, Abraham, by circumcision and sprinkled with instructions and promises. And later God used another old man, Moses, to further build upon it --> more instructions, more promises and this time a set of laws. The New Covenant came through Jesus. This New Covenant perfectly and completely fulfilled all the requirements of its predecessors and added a bigger and better set of promises on top of it, like God dwelling within Christians and no animal sacrifices needed, etc. However, getting to that point required some painful and irrevocable steps. In order for sin to be forgiven a permanent and perfect sacrifice had to be made.
The Old Testament saw the priests standing as proxy and using the blood of sacrificed animals to pay for the people's sins and receive God's forgiveness. It was a relationship separated by a man and a curtain in the Tabernacle/Temple housing God's presence. The New Testament is Jesus being both the Priest and the Sacrifice by dying on the cross, shedding His blood and paying for the sins of all people once and for all. In return, the people [Jew and Gentile], that's you and me, receive forgiveness of sin, His indwelling Holy Spirit and right standing with God by repenting, believing and accepting Him as Lord and Savior. Why is it better? Not because the Old Covenant was bad. It simply was incomplete and couldn't accomplish what Jesus did. Think of Jesus as all that AND a bag of chips, PERIOD! Stay tuned as we move into what Christ did during and after His time here on earth and how that impacts us.
Takeaways for you to remember:
#1. Trinity/Godhead/Triune God – 3 in 1 equal yet distinct existence of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.
#2. Christology - Study of the person, life, work and ministry of Jesus.
#3. Covenant – Binding agreement with promises between 2 parties; sealed in some way.
Yours in Christ!
Dr. Quahana
Want to enjoy some of the Scriptures inspiring this entry? [NLT version unless otherwise noted.]
References:
1) Enns, Paul. The Moody Handbook of Theology. Moody Press. Chicago. 1989.
2) Erickson, Millard. Who’s Tampering with the Trinity? An Assessment of the Subordination Debate. Kregel. Grand Rapids, MI. 2009.
3) Hawthorne, Gerald. The Presence and the Power: The Significance of the Holy Spirit in the Life and Ministry of Jesus. Word. Dallas. 1991.
4) Lewis, C.S. Reflections on the Psalms. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World.1958.
5) Packer, J.I. Knowing God. Intervarsity Press IVP Books. Downers Grove, IL. 1973.
6) Ryrie, Charles. Basic Theology: A Popular Systematic Guide to Understanding Biblical Truth. Moody Press. Chicago. 1999.
7) Shedd, William G.T. Dogmatic Theology, vol. 2, 2nd ed. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, repr. 1980.
8) St. Bonaventure in Excurses VII.
9) Stoner, Peter W. and Newman, Robert C. PhD. Science Speaks. Moody Press Chicago. 1958.
10) Strobel, Lee. The Case for Christ. Zondervan. 2016.
11) Strong, J. Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible. Abingdon Press. 1890.
12) Thayer, J. Thayer’s Greek Lexicon. Hendrickson Publishers. 1995.
13) Thiessen, Henry C, revised by Doerksen, Vernon D. Lectures in Systematic Theology. Eerdmans. Grand Rapids. 1979. pp. 216-217.
14) Walvoord, John F. Jesus Christ Our Lord. Moody Publishers. 1969.
15) Ware, Bruce. The Man Christ Jesus. Theological Reflections on the Humanity of Christ.
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