Two: Pre-Existence of the Son of God
The Virgin Birth of
Jesus draws us to the Savior because of His humble circumstances, but the
miraculous arrival of the promised Messiah points to His divinity as well. No
person in history was both God and man, born of a woman and yet conceived by
the Holy Spirit. The pagans often wrote about god-like men and women, but no
one thought of them as real, historical persons. Jesus lived and walked among
us. God became man. Jesus is still both God and man.
The
Bible teaches us that the Son of God has always existed. The Gospel of John
starts with the same words as Genesis—In the beginning—reminding us that the
Son of God has always existed and was the creating Word in Genesis.
John 1:1-2
1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with
God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God.
Think of a great church bell calling people to worship. The
three-fold tolling of the bell—
The Word—reminds us that the Son of God is a member of the
Holy
Trinity:
In the
beginning was The Word And The Word was with God, And The Word was God.
The Word, the Word, the Word. The majestic opening of
John’s Gospel teaches us that the Son of God existed from the beginning, that
He was with God the Father, and that He was God.
The divinity and the
pre-existence of Christ are under attack from many sides. Anti-Christian cults
like the Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses deny the Trinity and the divinity of
Christ. Liberal religious leaders deny the Virgin Birth of Christ. The Bible is
perfectly clear about Jesus being the eternal Son of God, born of the Virgin
Mary.
The opening of
John’s Gospel directs us to Genesis and to Creation by the Word:
John 1:3
1:3 All things were made by Him; and without Him was not
any thing made that was made.
One little girl understood this better than most adults.
She pointed at the stars in the sky at night and said, “See Mommy, Jesus made
all the stars!” There is nothing in this universe we can see or touch that is
not from Jesus, the creating Word.
The eternal Son of God is the creating Word in Genesis,
when God commanded, And God said:
Genesis 1:3-26
First Day
1:3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was
light.
Second Day
1:6 And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst
of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the
waters.
Third Day
1:9 And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be
gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. 10 And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together
of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good. 11 And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the
herb yielding seed, and the fruit
tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.
Fourth Day
1:14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament
of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and
for seasons, and for days, and years:
Fifth Day
1:20 And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly
the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.
Sixth Day
1:24 And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living
creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth
after his kind: and it was so. 25 And God made the beast of the earth after his
kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth
after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them
have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over
the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth
upon the earth.
People seldom think about the meaning of this passage –
Jesus created everything we enjoy, from the plants and animals of this
beautiful planet to the milky expanse of stars in the sky. The little girl who
pointed at the evening sky and said, “Look, Mommy. Jesus made the stars” helps
explain why those who believe in Creation have such a great appreciation for
all forms of life: the unborn child, the birds flocking to the feeder during a
winter blizzard, the flowers blooming in a well kept garden.
O Word of God Incarnate
O Word of God Incarnate,
O Wisdom from on high,
O Truth unchanged, unchanging,
O Light of our dark sky – We praise Thee for the
radiance
That
from the hallowed page, A lantern to our footsteps, Shines on from age to age.
The Church from her dear Master
Received
the gift divine, And still that light she lifteth O’er all the earth to shine.
It is the golden casket
Where gems of truth are stored;
It is the heaven drawn picture
Of Christ the living Word.[1]
