Pre-Existence of Christ
Notes
Transcript
Intro; As we opened this study of “Journey To the Cross”, we looked at the culture of Palestine under the rule of Rome at the time Christ would come on the scene. We gathered that it was much like our culture is today.
Our government is set up like theirs was and it doesn’t have a lot of respect for the unwanted children as ours doesn’t have for the unborn.
Religion was a lot like it is today. Everybody served their own god, hypocritical, and not many truly sought after the One Holy God.
Immorality was not just a fad, but a life that most lived. It was empty, perverse and suicide was prevalent because there seemed to be no real hope.
4 But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law,
5 to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.
Tonight we want to begin a look at the Person who comes from heaven to earth at this time to change the world that is steeped in their sin! But to study the life of Christ, we have to go back farther than Him being born in a manger. We have to look at eternity past, the “Pre-existence of Christ”.
Text; John 1:1-18
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 He was in the beginning with God.
3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.
4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.
5 And the light shined in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.
6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.
7 This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe.
8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.
9 That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.
10 He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.
11 He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.
12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:
13 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
15 John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.’ ”
16 And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace.
17 For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
18 No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.
In this passage John reveals three important facts about Jesus from eternity past up to His birth; His relationship to God the Father, the material world and to mankind.
1. Jesus’ Relationship to the Father; 1-2
1. Jesus’ Relationship to the Father; 1-2
Words are used to reveal, communicate or describe our heart, feelings and mind to others. John is using words to describe to us who Jesus is.
Word- [logos] message, revelation, speak intelligently, [Jewish literature “Divine Creative Word”]
Jesus is the Word that reveals the heart of God to men!
“In the beginning”- always existed
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.
13 No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven.
38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.
58 Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.”
5 And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.
1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life—
2 the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us—
3 that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.
There has never been a time that Christ has never existed! He has always been and always God! John is saying, “Jesus is God manifest in the flesh, and His words and deeds are those of the God-Man.”
2. Jesus and the Material World; 3
2. Jesus and the Material World; 3
Jesus is the Creator of all things that ever exist!
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
2 The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
3 Then God said, …
In these verses we see 2 Persons of the Trinity, God and the Spirit. We also know that God spoke creation into existence. But how God spoke in creation is what we need to understand.
6 By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, And all the host of them by the breath of His mouth.
9 and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ;
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.
1 God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets,
2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds;
6 yet for us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and through whom we live.
The Father and the Son had two distinct functions in creation yet worked together to bring about the cosmos/worlds. God spoke and Jesus brought them into existence and the Spirit gives it life.
3. Jesus and Mankind; 9-14
3. Jesus and Mankind; 9-14
Incarnate Word- deity embodied in flesh. Jesus became flesh and dwelt in the world He created for the purpose of being the Light of men to lead them to repentance to become the children of God and not die as the sons of disobedience!
[v. 11] He came to the Jew first [people and place], His chosen people and they rejected Him.
Jesus was born in Bethlehem, raised in Nazareth, came to the temple as a young boy, celebrated the feasts of God, baptized in the Jordan by John Baptist, ministered from Galilee to Jerusalem fulfilling the Word of God teaching in the synagogues, and His own people who were looking for their Messiah missed Him.
[v. 14] But He also came for the whole world [mankind] and He came full of grace and truth.
Full- with abundance
Grace- favor we do not deserve [forgiveness of sin]
Truth- revealed will of God. In this instance it is the condemnation of sin
Truth indicts the sinner; while grace invites the sinner
Truth demands death for sin; while God’s grace declares a pardon for sin
1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life—
2 the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us—
3 that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.
Close;
To truly appreciate God’s plan of redemption for us, we have to go back beyond creation into eternity past, to the pre-existence of Christ before His incarnation and understand His Relationship with the Father, His Part in Creation and His Plan of Salvation for Mankind.
