ExposingThe
Trinity!
Did Jesus Pre-exist?
A Short Study Proving Jesus came into Existence for the First time
at His Birth on Earth!
Nab & Jinane Bebawy
March 3, 2017
My article was research notes written with the help of my wife regarding verses that were unclear to us. I included them here to show that Jesus did not (and couldn't) exist before his earthly birth!
I know how radical such a claim is! But bear with me. I'm only interested in God's truth and nothing more. Not only do I not believe in the Trinity, but I also don't believe that Jesus Christ existed before his birth (except in God's mind to be revealed at the appointed time)!
A casual reading of the verses below could appear to defend Jesus’ pre-existence. But on a closer look, you will see the opposite.
My view is not influenced by any group. This was an issue for me for quite some time. I couldn't voice my opinion back then because of how controversial it was for others and even for myself! Later, through prayer and study, it was finally revealed to me. To my shock and delight, I found out that other Christians have the same beliefs and views.
You might ask, what difference does it make if Jesus pre-existed or not? The best answer came from my wife when she discovered the same about Jesus Christ. With a sigh of relief and sweetness in her voice, she said, "Now! I feel I can relate to Jesus Christ!" This has been her experience and mine ever since.
Most scriptures below are accompanied by very brief comments. Study them carefully and slowly and let the Spirit of Christ guide you!
What Jesus Said About Himself
Matthew 22:41-46
"Jesus asked them a question: “What do you think about the Christ, whose son is He?...If David then calls Him ‘Lord,’ how is He his son?” (Matthew 22:41-46)
Please note that the above passage DOES NOT prove Jesus existed before David! It simply pointed to the exalted role of the Messiah who is David’s Lord.
In reality, Jesus was not David’s Son, but God’s Son. Jesus emphatically pointed out that he is David’s Lord because David called him so by inspiration. Psalm 110 was too familiar, they couldn't argue. They were confounded by Jesus' Lordship over David, making him God's Promised Messiah!
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John 16:28
"I came forth from the Father and have come into the world; I am leaving the world again and going to the Father."
Here, it shows that God is his Father—his source. Jesus came out of the Father and into the world.
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John 6:38
"I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.”
Jesus' origin is from the Father who is in heaven. Heaven (God) is His SOURCE. It's the same as saying "born from above" or "I’m the bread from heaven". A born-again doesn’t descend from heaven but the source of the new birth is from heaven (God)!
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John 3:13
“And no man hath ascended to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man who is in heaven.
[the italicized phrase is not found in many mss].”
Jesus is saying to Nicodemus no one can speak of heavenly things unless he is from above, of God. The phrase ‘came down’ in Greek is the aorist tense ‘descending’ or 'coming down'.
Jesus is also the bread from heaven from His Father that continually comes down to us
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John 6:51
“I am the living bread which came down from heaven.”
Jesus is born of God. His real home is with the Father in heaven, not on earth.
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John 6:62
“What if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before? [His source]”
Jesus is alluding to his ascension to heaven which his disciples will witness. This is where the origin of the Son of Man the 'logos' originated.
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John 8:23
“And he said to them, Ye are from beneath; I am from above; ye are of this world; I am not of this world.”
This indicates his origin is the heavenly Father. Recall that Jesus also said that His believers “are not of this world”. That did not mean they pre-existed in heaven before his prayer!
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John 8:56-58
“Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad.” ‘You are not yet fifty years old and you have seen Abraham!’ Jesus said to them, ‘Verily, verily, I say to you, Before Abraham was, I am.’”
Jesus is saying he’s the Anointed One in whom Abraham put faith. The promises of God before Abraham and after were all fulfilled in Christ.
The “I am” phrase that Trinitarians love to use is not Yahweh. The phrase should not be capitalized either! The expression simply meant ‘I am He’ or ‘I am the One' to mean 'I am the Promised Messiah'.
In John 18:6 the same expression is translated correctly as ‘I am he’. (Translation bias is evident in John 8:58 to support the Trinity.) See the article What Jesus Meant by Saying "I AM"
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John 17:5
(Trinitarians use this one a lot!)
"And now glorify Thou Me, Father, with Thyself, with the glory which I had before the world is with Thee.”
The glory here is not some reward. Don't get me wrong, there were spiritual rewards for Jesus. But, the context pointed to Christ’s imminent death by which God’s plan of salvation was hanging on (just think of the immense weight of that moment). In a few hours, God’s glorious plan was about to be fulfilled for “The hours has come", he said.
Jesus prayed that the glory of God would be manifested through His death and not some reward! That is how the Father and the Son are glorified.
Note how God the Father is glorified in John 15:8, "Herein [by this] is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples." Here, God is glorified when followers of His Son bear spiritual fruits. In the same way, Christ's death was going to bring humans back to God (the Father of all). And this, my friends, glorifies both God and Jesus Christ.
How did Jesus exist before the world? Not literally. He existed only in God’s foreknowledge (in His mind) until the appointed time to reveal Him. God's gift to humanity was a mystery to be revealed later. Christ was the LOGOS, PLAN, BLUEPRINT of God's gospel (the good news) from the beginning. When the logos or the plan of God became flesh, it did not mean that Jesus left His spirit realm to become a human. "The word became flesh" means God's logos (plan or good news) became a reality on earth when Jesus was born for the very first time—ever!
Take for example 2 Timothy 2:9. It shows that each true believer was given grace “Before the beginning of time”. Does anyone think that these believers were previously alive with God? Of course not! All it means is that true believers are born from above by the Spirit of God.
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John 17:24
“Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation [foundation-plan; down-casting, Concordant Greek] of the world.”
Use the same reasoning as in John 17:5 above. Here, Jesus asked the Father to allow Him to show His glory to His followers. What glory is this? True followers can see Jesus as the life-giving Spirit. That God's Holy Spirit is poured out on all flesh. That Jesus directs and walks among all His churches.
What the Apostles Said About Jesus
1 Corinthians 8:6
“Nevertheless for us, there is one God, the Father, OUT OF WHOM all is, and we for Him, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, THROUGH WHOM all is, and we through Him.” (Concordant)
This does not mean Jesus created the physical world in his preexistence in heaven. The verse deals with Christ's role in God's new spiritual creation. It goes something like this:
Everything is OUT OF God (all created things).
Everything is THROUGH Jesus Christ (recreating the old anew)
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1 Corinthians 15:6
“The first man is from the earth, earthy; the second man is from heaven.”
This does not mean he travelled from heaven to earth! It simply means God is his heavenly Father, especially after His death, "Christ glorified not himself...but he that said unto him, Thou art my Son, TODAY have I begotten thee." (Heb 5:5)
It was not only at Jesus' earthly birth that God declared Him begotten. Jesus became a 'truly begotten' of God after his death. Just think, how could Jesus become 'the second man' unless he dies first? This is why Paul wrote the above only after Christ's death and resurrection.
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Colossians 1:16-17
"For by Him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth"
This is how most translations render this verse! Now note the Concordant rendering which is closer to the original:
“For in Him is all created, that in the heavens and that on the earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones, or lordships, or sovereignties, or authorities, all is created through Him and for Him, and He is before all [preeminence], and all has its cohesion in Him."
The Concordant Translation renders in the aorist tense [past action being perfected presently] "For in Him is all created...all is created through Him...all has its cohesion in Him." Although Christ's death was in the past, it's still recreating everything.
The above text has nothing to do with Christ's preexistence but rather his preeminence! Christ's new creation is so divine, that it cannot be compared with Adam's old creation.
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Hebrews 1:2
"Through whom [Christ], He [God] made the universe."
Let's read how the above verse is rendered more accurately in the Concordant translation:
“In the last of these days speaks to us in a Son, whom He appoints enjoyer of the allotment of all, through whom He also MAKES the eons [ages, not world or universe].”
It simply means that everything is continually being created anew, through the Son, from the Day of Pentecost to this day and beyond!
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Micah 5:2
"Out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting."
The word ‘eternity’ or ‘everlasting is a mistranslation! The Hebrew word ‘Olam’ means long duration, an age, ancient time, age lasting. The Messiah, the Son, was God’s PLAN or the LOGOS in His mind for a long time. It does not mean he existed for eternity!
Here's Micah 5:2 translated more accurately:
"Whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.” (NIV)
"Coming forth is from of old, from ancient days." (ESV)
"His comings forth are of old, From the days of antiquity.” (YLT)
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Hebrews 10:5-7
“When Christ came into the world, he said: “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; with burnt offerings and sin offerings, you were not pleased. Then I said, ‘Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll—I have come to do your will, my God."
The writer is simply applying OT prophecies concerning Jesus coming into the world for the first time as God's plan (the logos) to save humanity. He came in a body of flesh and blood, not pretending to be human, or an illusion to be sacrificed. Christ was willing to do all that according to the Father’s will.
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Hebrews 2:7
“What is man, that You remember him? Or the son of man, that You are concerned about him? You have made him for a little while lower than the angels”
This doesn't prove that Jesus preexisted and was later made lower than angels. Rather it proves that Jesus was born [for the first time] as a Son of Man, fully human. But for a little while — during his earthly life — Jesus was of a lower status than the angels, as all humans are. After his death and resurrection, the Father gave him a status above anyone and over everything in heaven and on earth.
True believers will follow the same pattern since the promise in verse 10 says, “Bringing many sons to glory; are of the same family; not ashamed to call them brothers.”
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1 Peter 1:10-11
“As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful searches and inquiries, seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow.”
God's LOGOS, PLAN was revealed gradually through the prophets who were looking eagerly for the promised Messiah. The Spirit of Christ is the same as the Spirit of God. It does not mean pre-existence. The Spirit of God was at work in the prophets, inspiring them to pin down God’s Plan in the scriptures concerning His Christ.
Do you think Elijah's spirit was any different from the Spirit of God? Was Elijah operating in his own spirit or by the Spirit of God upon him? (Luke 1:17) Was the Spirit of John the Baptist any different from the Spirit of God working through John? (Luke 1:15)
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1 Corinthians 10:4
“And all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them ['them'; not in the Greek text]; and the rock was Christ.”
This is how the ROCK symbolized Jesus Christ:
Paul said “The rock was Christ”, or typified Christ (see v. 6)
"These things were our examples ['types' in Greek]" (v. 6)
Paul was helping the brothers to see that God was giving types and hints of His coming Messiah. For example, the "Manna" from God typified Christ who is "The bread of life." (John 6:35) The water provided by God typified Christ as the "Living Water." (John 4:14)
The spiritual rock 'following' doesn't mean it travelled along with them. It could simply mean Christ 'came later in time' or 'knowledge of the Messiah' was always with them. It might be why Paul said, "I would not that ye should be ignorant [agnoeó: not knowing]." (v. 1)
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Revelation 3:14
“These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning [Gk. Archē: beginning, origin] of the creation of God”
"The beginning" here is not about preexistence, but preeminence. Jesus Christ is the beginning (the head) of God’s New Creation, the beginner and the firstborn through whom everything is created anew.
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I hope our research will encourage you to search the scriptures more boldly and prayerfully to find the real Jesus and not "another Jesus", whom God had laboured in love to offer for us!