Who Was Christ?

Fred R. Coulter—June 29, 1990

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• Who was Jesus before He became a human being?

OR

• Was Jesus first created when God the Father selected Mary to have Jesus Christ?
• There are people who believe that Jesus was created and that He was not God!
• There are other people who believe that Jesus was God before He became human!
• What is the Truth on this?
• What does the Bible teach us?

Let's look at some of the statements in the Bible and see where these different teachings come from. Rev. 3 tells us clearly, referring to Jesus Christ:

Revelation 3:14[transcriber's correction]: "…These things says the Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Beginner of the creation of God."

• What does that mean?
• Does that mean that Jesus was created the very first thing that God ever created?
• Does this mean that Jesus was the Creator?
• Does this mean that this Jesus was the beginning of the creation of God in reference to the sons of God?
• What does this mean?

Let's see what Heb. 1 tells us, because we find a very interesting statement about Jesus being made. If He was made:

• How could it be that He's lived forever?
• How could it be that He could have been God if He were made?

Hebrews 1:4—referring to Jesus: "Having been made so much greater than any of the angels, inasmuch as He has inherited a name exceedingly superior to them."

• Was Jesus made?

OR

• Was He God?

Now, here's a contradictory statement; and here is something that really seems to be a cross purposes with the first statement that I just read:

Hebrews 2:9: "But we see Jesus, Who was made a little lower than the angels…"

• Was Jesus made a little lower than the angels?
• Was He made so much better than the angels?
• Was He the beginning of the creation of God?
• Was He the Beginner of the creation of God?
• When He was resurrected out of the tomb, was that when Jesus became God?

OR

• Was Jesus God before that?

OR

• Was He God before He became human?

We're going to look into this today and answer the questions directly from the Bible.

Here's where part of the problem stems from in trying to understand about God, Isa. 45. Here we find a statement that is made that still some people today cannot understand in relationship to God. They cannot understand how there can be God the Father and the Son Jesus Christ.

Isaiah 45:5: "I am the LORD, and there is none else. There is no God besides Me…" People say if that is so then how could Jesus be God before He was human, if God said that He is God and 'there is none else besides Me.'

Verse 22: "Turn to Me, and be saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is none else." Even the Jews are in a quandary:

• How can there be God?

and

• How can there be another God, if God says that there is no other God besides Him?

Therefore, they reject the Divinity of Jesus Christ!

• But is this what the Bible says?
• Is this what the Bible means?

Oh, these statements are true, and we will prove that these statements are true, but it can refer to more than one being who is God!

Let's go back to the beginning. We're going to see another reference later on referring to Gen. 1:1:

Genesis 1:1: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." It doesn't say that in the beginning God created His first expression Jesus Christ. It means exactly what it says, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."

Let's see something very interesting, which has to do with the creation of man; v 26: "And God said, 'Let Us… [He didn't say, 'Let Me…'] …make man in Our image, after Our likeness…'"

How on earth can you have God—Who people believe is singular—have a statement where He says, 'Let Us…' The answer lies inherently in the Hebrew word for God: 'Elohim,' which means more than one, because the 'im' on 'Elohim' means plural, much like the word family, church or group. But that group or church or family has many members in it.

In this case the Bible reveals that there are two Who are called God! We will see that as we follow through all the way.

God: Who is Elohim… Let's see more about God and what He says. There are many different names of God referring to the different attributes of God, which we've gone over in the past. {Note sermon series: Names of God}

In this particular case we want to delve into the names that God has revealed Himself to Israel. When Moses was called to take the children of Israel out of Egypt, God sent him on his way to go. Moses says, 'Who will I say as sent me?' (Exo. 3).

Exodus 3:14: "And God said to Moses, 'I AM THAT I AM.' And He said, 'Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, "I AM has sent me to you."'"

I AM THAT I AM has the broad meaning that I am, I have been and will be and shall continue to be! I want to zero in on the words I AM, because that becomes very important later on.

God is the only One Who is the ever-living, self-existing, life-inherent Being: I AM! Human beings have somewhat of a different thought. There's one philosopher who says, 'I think, therefore, I am.' That's a wrong statement, and it shows the illogic of human reasoning. You are, therefore, you think!

If you didn't have an existence and a mind, you couldn't think. You don't come into being because you have a mind. You come into being because you were created.

God is different! God is saying, 'I AM, the ever-living One!' Yes, 'Elohim' means more than one God! So, how are we going to resolve this, and how does this show that Jesus was God before He was a human being?

Let's take this one step further, and here is quite an important statement that we need to realize. At different times God reveals Himself to different people under different names! That becomes very important! One of the most important names in the Old Testament is the Hebrew term 'Yahwah' meaning the Eternal Ever-Living One! When the children entered into their covenant, they entered into it with 'Yahwah' Who also said, 'I AM THAT I AM.' That means that I AM THAT I AM is part of 'Elohim' because God said, "Let Us make man in Our image after Our likeness."

Now when we come to the historical point of God revealing Himself to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, here is what we find:

Exodus 6:3: "And I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as God Almighty [El Shaddai]…."

He did not appear to Isaac and Jacob as 'Yahwah.' He did not appear to them as 'Elohim.' In the creation of Adam and Eve, God was to them 'Elohim.' But to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob He was 'El Shaddai' or God Almighty!

To Israel, He is going to reveal Himself as 'Yahwah' [Jehovah] the Covenant God! Someone reads that and start a brand new church and we're going to call it The Jehovah Witnesses. See how people get off all 'half-cocked' and their brains kind of crossed, because they don't follow the Word of God. They want a doctrine and a conclusion. They start with a conclusion and go back and find what they want, and then they create something all new, which was never there, and God never intended it.

"…But I was not known to them by My name JEHOVAH" (v 3). But He did reveal Himself to Israel as Yahwah. The same One Who was the Creator, that same One Who said, 'Let's make man in Our image, in Our likeness.' Now He's revealing Himself ans 'Yahwah.'

Verse 4: "And I have also established My covenant with them…" That's why 'Yahwah' means the Covenant God!

In the Old Testament, we have what people like to call monotheism, one God! But that's now quite exactly true. God calls Himself Yahwah, El Shaddai and Elohim, and in Exo. 20 we want to look at a word in the Hebrew, which is 'elohim,' but is translated differently than 'Elohim'—singular God. In this particular case it is translated 'gods' in the plural, the way that 'elohim' should be properly translated.

Exodus 20:1: "And God… [Elohim] …spoke all these words, saying, 'I am the LORD your God [Elohim], Who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods [elohim] before Me'" (vs 1-3).

One of the things that people can conclude is that God reveals everything all at once to everybody at the same time. We just saw that that wasn't so. God was not known by Abraham, Isaac and Jacob by the name Yahwah; He was known as El Shaddai. Adam and Eve knew God as Elohim.

Here God says, 'I am the LORD [Yahwah] your God [Elohim]…. You shall have no other gods [elohim—plural] before Me."

• What else does the Old Testament reveal about God?
• Does it show more than one God?

or

• Is that something that is revealed a little later?

Here is a Scripture that even the Jews did not understand, and Jesus brought this out to them. They couldn't answer the question.

Psalm 110:1: "The LORD [Yahwah] said unto my Lord [Yahwah], 'Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies as Your footstool.'"

• Are there two Yahwahs?

or

• Does it confirm the fact that Elohim means more than one and we are dealing with two in the Godhead?

Not three as some people would like to have it with the Holy Spirit, or four by adding Mary into it! Here the Bible reveals that " The LORD said unto my Lord…" So, when Jesus was talking to the scribes and Pharisees, He ask them:

• Who is the Christ?
• Whose Son is He?

They answered, proudly, that He's the son of David! Then Jesus asked:

• Tell Me, how then does David, in the spirit, call Him LORD—referring to "the LORD said unto my Lord…" if He's the son of David?

They couldn't answer it, because they're not willing to believe the Scriptures! There are a lot of people who claim to believe the Bible. There are a lot of people who claim to believe in God, but they want to believe in God their own way!

• Not the way that God says!
• Not the way that God has revealed Himself!

I want you to think on this: If you tell God what you will or will or not do, then you become 'God' because you make the standard!

• Do you think that God is going to submit to you because you want to tell God what you're going to do?
• Can God remain God if He submits to human will?
• NO!

The Bible says that every knee is going to bow! So, we need to rid of

• ourthoughts
• our human logic
• our pet little doctrines that we want to hold onto, which makes us different and exclusive

God makes us different and exclusive enough!

Here's the second Scripture in the Old Testament, Dan. 7, that reveals and shows that there is more than one God being. But it also reveals that there are two: "The LORD said unto my Lord…" and in this case,

Daniel 7:13: "…One like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of Days…"

We know that "…the Son of man…" refers to the One Who became Jesus Christ. So, we have two revealed in the Old Testament, but only in two Scriptures. There are a lot of people who say, 'The more Scriptures there are about this, the more it proves it.'

• Does it really?
• If God says it once, is that not sufficient?
• If God says only one thing one time, does that mean because you don't find it again that it's not valid?

That's the way a lot of people reason! If God says it one time, that true, because God said it, and God cannot and will not lie!

Let's see one of the reasons why Jesus Christ came. One of the very basic Scriptures is in Matt. 11. One of the most important things to understand when studying the Bible is that you study the Bible for what it's going to teach you!You don't study the Bible to find out what you want to justify as your doctrine! I can take through many different things in the Scriptures, where if you take part here and part there, you never come up with the full Truth.

So, you have to go to the Scriptures and use the Spirit of God that God gives you, if you have the Spirit of God, and let the Word of God teach you and show you! Then you will come to the right conclusion. Never bring your own pre-conceived notions to the Bible so that you will find what you want to find! You will find what you want to find, which is not what God wants you to learn!

If you don't understand that, just think on it!

Now, after talking to John the Baptist and people, who didn't understand about John the Baptist and what Jesus was doing:

Matthew 11:25: "At that time Jesus answered and said, 'I praise You, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent, and have revealed them to babes.'"

That is so true! It's not the intelligent in the world, not the wise of the world, not the philosophers in the world. It's those who are willing to believe God!

• Are you willing to believe God?
• Are you willing to accept what God teaches?

Verse 26: "Yes, Father, for it was well pleasing in Your sight to do this. All things were delivered to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son…" (vs 26-27).

No one can say, 'I know Jesus.' You only know Jesus because God the Father has revealed Him to you!

"…no one knows the Son except the Father; neither does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son personally chooses to reveal Him" (v 27).

You can't understand about God the Father unless Jesus Christ reveals it to you! You can't do it by human reasoning; it has to be revealed by God the Father through His Holy Spirit to you!

Remember when the disciples were walking along and Jesus said, 'Who do men say that the Son of man is?' Some of the disciples said, 'Well, some say You're Jeremiah or one of the prophets.' Jesus turned to them and said, 'But whom do you say I that the Son of man is?' Peter said, 'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God!'

Jesus turned to him and said, 'Blessed are you Simon Bar-jona—that is Simon, the son of Bar-jona—for flesh and blood has not revealed this unto you, but My Father Who is in heaven has revealed this to you' (Matt. 16). So, the Father has to do the revealing. Christ reveals the Father, and the Father reveals Christ!

Let's see something that is absolutely true. I was talking to a man who said, 'If you can show me that we're going to be able to be continually expanding as spirit beings in knowledge and understanding, and that God has not put a finite cap around what we will be doing for eternity, then I will believe you.'

He will never believe, because—as I explained to him—you don't start with something you don't even comprehend, yet. That in the realm of something that God has to reveal and show. I said, 'You have to start where you are, and with what you understand. And you have to start with the basic, simple things that God wants you to do.'

1-Corinthians 2:6: "Now we speak wisdom among the spiritually mature… [the converted] …however, it is not the wisdom of this world…"—not the philosophy, logic or wisdom of this world, because:

• you cannot find God by your own reasoning
• you cannot find God by thinking on it
• you cannot find God by examination and investigation

because that's the wisdom of man!

Verse 7: "Rather, we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom that God foreordained before the ages unto our glory, which not one of the rulers of this world has known…" (vs 7-8)—none of the leaders of this world today or then knew or understood!

"…(for if they had known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory); but according as it is written, 'The eye has not seen, nor the ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him'" (vs 8-9).

I could give a whole sermon just on that alone! What our relationship needs to be to God. But the thing is:

• you're not going to find it by your reasonings
• you're not going to find it by taking a Scripture here or there

You're going to find it by putting it all together and by the Spirit of God, because we're talking about the things that are spiritually revealed!

Verse 10: "But God has revealed them to us by His Spirit…" There has to be the added dimension that only God can give, that can give you the understanding that God has to give, IF you're willing to accept the basic, beginning principles of God. We're covering today one of the very first basic, beginning principles.

"…for the Spirit searches all things—eventhe deep things of God" (v 10).

So, the gentleman I talked to cannot understand the deep things of God, because they have to be revealed spiritually! Paul says that 'We look through a glass darkly.' So, we don't know all of those things that we're going to be doing for eternity. We don't know how we're going to function and be, other than what God has revealed in His Word, and by His Spirit. Then we will know! When the resurrection comes and we're in the Kingdom of God, then we will know, and we will see God has He is for we will be like Him!

Just think on that! That's a tremendous statement, indeed!

Verse 11: "For who among men understands the things of man except by the spirit of man, which is in him?…."

So, the only thing that a man can know is just the physical things. But he has the spirit of man that needs to have the Holy Spirit of God unite with that to be a complete and whole person so that they can understand the spiritual things.

"…In the same way also, the things of God no one understands except by the Spirit of God. Now, we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit that is of God, so that we might know the things graciously given to us by God" (vs 11-12).

This becomes the very important beginning place to understand Who and What Jesus was before His human birth!

John was the last apostle to write. He had an overview of:

• all the problems that were ensuing in the Church
• all of the false doctrines that were coming along
• all of the false teachings that were taking place

So, John was going to set the record absolutely straight!

John 1:1: "In the beginning…" Didn't we start at the beginning? In the beginning God created… So, John is taking us right back to the beginning, because that is the place that is important to be!

"…was the Word… [Greek: 'Logos'] …and the Word was with God…" (v 1)—'Elohim'—plural—created the heavens and the earth, and said, 'Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness.'

"…and the Word was God" (v 1). Can anything be clearer than that? He wasn't made greater than the angels. He was made 'lower' than the angels, and after His resurrection He was made greater than the angels.

God had to give up something! God had to give up Himself, the One Who 'Logos' Who was God had to become human in order to be that perfect sacrifice for all human beings. The whole mystery and understanding of what God is doing, and what Jesus Christ did, is absolutely fantastic.

• the more that you understand it
• the more that you yield to God
• the more that you let God's Spirit guide you and lead you
• the more that you're going to understand the magnitude of what God has done through Jesus Christ!

"…and the Word was God" (v 1). Very clear! Before His birth, Jesus was God! Nothing can be clearer than that!

Verse 2: "He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him…"—by the 'Logos,' because the 'Logos' is the Word, the Spokesman! God is so fantastic in His ability, God is so great and profound in what He does, that God merely speaks and it is! Think on that for a while!

If you think you're big, strong and tough and you know everything in the world, or that you're confident and have self-esteem, self-love and kick God out, you think on that for a minute! If you think you're big and powerful, you think on that for a minute!

Can you speak and command and it happens? God spoke and said let there be light and there was light!

Read all the first chapter of the book of Genesis. Even Jesus—when He was a human being on the earth—commanded the winds in a raging storm to stop, and it was calm as could be, because the Word of God is true! That's why He's called the Word! The Word of God is powerful and spiritual!

Verse 14 is where we talk about what Jesus was made, what Jesus did, because God had to do a fantastic and a tremendously humbling act with the One Who became Jesus Christ. The Father had to do a tremendous and powerful work to make it happen, for Jesus—Who was God—to become human, a pinprick of life and be born as a human being!

Verse 14: "And the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us…" Jesus Christ, the Word, the Spokesman, the Logos Who was with God, Who was God, Who created everything that there is, was made flesh!

Philip. 2 will verify and substantiate that Jesus Christ was God before He became a human being!

Philippians 2:5: "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus." People today like to talk about:

• all their mental abilities
• the ingenuity of man
• all of scientific and technological advances
• how great man is
• how great our minds are

That's just so much puff! What kind of thinking process do you and I need? We need the mind of Christ!

Verse 5: "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus; Who, although He existed in the form of God… [He was God] …did not consider it robbery to be equal with God" (vs 5-6).

All human beings are equal in the level of existence of having human life. Every human being has human life! Absolutely true! So, Jesus was equal with God in God life! He said in John 14 that 'My Father is greater than I,' because there can only be one in charge, even though it is the God Family!

Verse 7: "But emptied Himself…" He gave up His name of Elohim, El Shaddai, Yahwah! Gave up His name as The Word, the Spokesman! Gave up everything that He was, and made Himself of no reputation!

• How humbling was this for God?
• How humbling was this for the One Who became Jesus Christ?
• How humbling was this for the One Who stood in the vastness of the universe and called the heavens and earthy into being?
• How humbling was this for the One Who made all the stars, created them and spread the heavens out like a curtain and calls everyone of the stars by name and number?

To become a pinprick of life so small that the human eye cannot see it!

• Have you ever humbled yourself?
• Do you think you've gone through humbling circumstances?

Then to see what Jesus did, to see what He let His creation do to Him because of sin! We need more of the mind of Christ!

Verse 7: "But emptied Himself, and was made in the likeness of men, and took the form of a servant… [a slave] …and being found in the manner of man… [all of the bodily human functions that we have, Jesus had; it was necessary that He did] …He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross" (vs 7-8).

There isn't any human being that's going to come and say, 'God, look what I suffered for You.' You need to look at what Jesus suffered for you, "…even the death of the cross."

Verse 9: "Therefore, God has also highly exalted Him and bestowed upon Him a name, which is above every name; that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of beings in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father" (vs 9-11).

In that is a tremendous amount of spiritual knowledge and understanding that needs to be working in your mind through the Spirit of God.

Let's see what the book of John reveals to us about Jesus before He became a human being. Now, this is John the Baptist talking about Jesus Christ:

John 3:31: "He Who comes from above is above all. The one who is of the earth is earthly, and speaks of the earth…." This is clearly saying in talking about Jesus that He came from heaven to this earth!

You can read the account in Luke 1 about the begettal of Jesus Christ. The reason that the Bible calls Him the only begotten Son of God was because He was the only begotten Son of God where there was God the Word Who became the pinprick of human life for the impregnation within the womb of Mary to be born as a human being. He was the only One that God the Father had in that manner, for a purpose for us!

When it talks about Jesus being the Firstborn from the dead, the Greek is 'prototokon' that means to be born from the dead! But the Only Begotten—Greek: 'monogenes' means the only, sole, single one—that God the Father has begotten. He is from above, but the rest of us are from the earth, earthy and speaks of the earth.

"…He Who comes from heaven is above all" (v 31).

John 5:19: "Therefore, Jesus answered and said to them, 'Truly, truly I say to you, the Son has no power to do anything of Himself…'"

• How much did Jesus love the Father?
• How much was Jesus obedient to the Father?

Jesus said that He 'did nothing of Himself,' He did nothing of His own initiative!

"…but only what He sees the Father do…." (v 19). That' s a very interesting statement here, if you understand it. This gives us a little understanding of the kind of communication that went on between God the Father and Jesus Christ when Jesus Christ was a human being on this earth. But it also refers back to what God the Father was doing before Jesus became human.

Verse 37: "And the Father Himself, Who sent Me, has borne witness of Me. You have neither heard His voice nor seen His form at any time."

This verse tells us clearly that the One Who spoke to all the different human beings in the Old Testament was not God the Father, because no one has heard His voice nor has seen His shape at any time!

But they did see God, the One Who became Jesus as Elohim, El Shaddai and Yahwah! That's why Jesus had to reveal the Father!

John 6:38—showing where Jesus came from: "For I did not come down from heaven to do My own will, but the will of Him Who sent Me."

• Jesus was in heaven
• Jesus was God before He became human

Verse 51: "I AM the living Bread, which came down from heaven…" He speaks an enigma, which is spiritually understood, that the Jews didn't understand! And there are a whole lot of other people who don't understand it today!

"…if anyone eats of this Bread, he shall live forever; and the bread that I will give is even My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world" (v 51)—that's another whole topic! The point I want to emphasize is the He was the living Bread Who came down from heaven!

John 8:23: "And He said to them, 'You are from beneath… [talking to the religious leaders there] …I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world."

As strange as it may seem, I heard someone say that Jesus was of this world. Jesus said, "…I am not of this world." Just because someone:

• sounds religious
• looks religious
• acts religious
• quotes Scripture
• tells you a statement

How are you going to know it's true unless you get into the Word of God to understand it? Jesus said:

"…I am not of this world. That is why I said to you that you shall die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I AM, you shall die in your sins" (vs 23-24).

Didn't we cover that earlier in Exo. 3? 'Who shall I [Moses] say has sent me?' I AM that I AM, say that I AM has sent you!So, Jesus is telling the Jews very clearly that unless you believe that I AM you're going to die in your sins! Jesus is saying Who He was! I AM!

Verse 25: "Then they said to Him, 'Who are You?' And Jesus said to them, 'The One that I said to you from the beginning.'"

I want you to read all of John 8. Jesus said of the spiritual leaders of Judaism that they were of their father the devil! If they were really honoring God the Father, they would do the works of Abraham and not seek to kill Jesus.

Verse 47: "The one who is of God hears the words of God.…" That's important for each one of us individually.

• Do you say that you are of God?
• Do you say that you belong to God?
• Do you say that you believe in Jesus Christ?
• Do you say that you are willing to go to the death for Jesus?

Even Peter said, 'Lord, far be it from You that You're going to be crucified. I'll go to the death with You!' "The one who is of God hears the words of God.…"

• Are there things in the Bible that upset you?
• Are there things in the Bible that you won't do?
• Are there commandments of God that you don't agree with?

Then you're not of God! Because Jesus said that 'he who is of God hears God's Word!'

"'…For this reason you do not hear, because you are not of God.' Then the Jews answered and said to Him, 'Are we not right in saying that You are a Samaritan… [because He was born in Nazareth] …and have a demon?' Jesus answered, 'I do not have a demon. But I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me. Yet, I do not seek My own glory; there is One Who seeks and judges. Truly, truly I say to you, if anyone keeps My words, he shall not see death forever.'" (vs 47-51).

Verse 52: "Then the Jews said to Him, 'Now we know that You have a demon. Abraham and the prophets died; yet, You say, "If anyone keeps My words, he shall not taste of death forever." Are You greater than our father Abraham who died? And the prophets, who died? Who do You make Yourself to be?'" (vs 52-53).

Isn't this the accusation that people have toward God in many ways even today?

Verse 54: "Jesus answered, 'If I glorify Myself, My glory is nothing. It is My Father Who glorifies Me, of Whom you say that He is your God. Yet, you have not known Him; but I know Him. And if I say that I do not know Him, I shall be a liar, like you. But I know Him, and I keep His Word'" (vs 54-55).

Those are very strong fighting words, because right after this episode they sought to kill Him right on the spot! But it wasn't His time!

Verse 56[transcriber's correction]: "'Abraham your father was overjoyed to see My day; and he saw it, and rejoiced.' Then the Jews said to Him, 'You are not even fifty years old, and You have seen Abraham?' Jesus said to them, 'Truly, truly I say to you, before Abraham was born, I AM'" (vs 56-57). The Jews clearly understood that was the name of God! I AM! He told them very clearly Who He was!

John 10:29: "'My Father, Who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one has the power to seize them from My Father's hand. I and the Father are one'" (vs 29-30).

Verse 32: "Jesus answered them, 'Many good works I have showed you from My Father. For which of them are you about to stone Me?' The Jews answered Him, saying, 'We will not stone You for a good work, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a man, are making Yourself God'" (vs 32-33).

If He wasn't the Son of God, if He was not God before He became human, then it would be blaspheme! But it wasn't blaspheme, because it He was God before He became a human being!

Verse 34: "Jesus answered them, 'Is it not written in your law, "I said, 'You are gods'"? If He called them gods, to whom the Word of God came' (and the Scriptures cannot be broken), 'why do you say of Him Whom the Father has sanctified and sent into the world, "You are blaspheming," because I said, "I am the Son of God"?'" (vs 34-36).

John 13:3: "Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God"—because He was going back to God after the crucifixion!

John 14:28—where Jesus says: "…My Father is greater than I."

John 17 becomes a very important foundational part of answering the question: Who was Jesus before He became human?

John 17:1: "Jesus spoke these words, and lifted up His eyes to heaven and said, 'Father, the hour has come; glorify Your own Son, so that Your Son may also glorify You; since You have given Him authority over all flesh, in order that He may give eternal life to all whom You have given Him. For this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, Whom You did send'" (vs 1-3).

That's a profound statement! Let's think on this with what we already know with the Scriptures:

• in the beginning 'Elohim'—more than one
• you shall have no other 'elohim'—more than one—before Me
• the LORD said unto my Lord
• One like the Son of man came unto the Ancient of Days

Now Jesus becomes a pinprick of life—a human being—and He's praying to the Father. In heaven, how many Gods are there? Because Jesus revealed the Father, the One Who became the Son was on earth! How many Gods were there in heaven at the time Jesus was praying? One!

That's why He said here, "…the only true God, and Jesus Christ, Whom You did send. I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work that You gave Me to do. And now, Father, glorify Me with Your own self, with the glory that I had with You before the world existed" (vs 3-5).

So, you have to conclude that Jesus was God before His human birth. God the Father and Jesus Christ the Son are the only two revealed Gods that we have in the Bible. When Jesus was on earth as a human being, there was one left in heaven: God the Father! That's why He was"…the only true God…" at that time! Jesus Christ was resurrected, and He also is God!

Verse 24: "Father, I desire that those whom You have given Me may also be with Me where I am, so that they may behold My glory, which You have given Me; because You did love Me before the foundation of the world."

So, we put all of these Scriptures together:

• in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God
• Jesus came from heaven
• He emptied Himself and became a human being
• it was not robbery to be equal with God, because He was
• the glory that He had with Him before the world existed
• God the Father loved Him before the foundation of the world

There's absolutely no getting around it whatsoever that Jesus was God before He became a human being!

Let's see what Titus says about Jesus Christ being God; Titus 2:13: "Looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our Savior and great God Jesus Christ."

Let's see where it talks about Jesus Christ being the Firstborn. There was an operation that happened, and that was with the death of Jesus Christ being in the grave three days and three nights. When He was resurrected out of that grave, there was a new creation of God, which we are to follow. Jesus Christ, in that sense, is called the Firstborn from among the dead!

Colossians 1:15—talking about Christ: "Who is the image of the invisible God, the Firstborn of all creation"—meaning the Firstborn of everyone created into the God Family by the power of the resurrection!

Verse 16: "Because by Him were all things created… [John 1] …the things in heaven and the things on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether they be thrones, or lordships, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by Him and for Him. And He is before all… [the preeminence] …and by Him all things subsist" (vs 16-17).

It says that Jesus upholds the creation by the word of His power (Heb. 1).

Verse 18: "And He is the Head of the Body, the Church; Who is the Beginning, the Firstborn from among the dead…" That's the difference between the only begotten Son of God—'monogene'—and the firstborn—'prototokon'—which means the firstborn out of the grave, from the resurrection of the dead!

"…so that in all things He Himself might hold the preeminence. For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell; and having made peace through the blood of His cross, by Him to reconcile all things to Himself; by Him, whether the things on the earth, or the things in heaven" (vs 18-20).

This is what becomes exciting, because if God—which He did—emptied Himself and became a human being and then says, 'I have forgiven all of your sins through My sacrifice, and now I want you—as many as He will call—to enter into the same kind of life that I have through the power of the resurrection from the dead.'

Revelation 1:5: "And from Jesus Christ, the faithful Witness, the Firstborn… ['prototokon'] …from the dead…" So that we know without a doubt that:

• Jesus—before He became a human being—was God
• He emptied Himself of all His power and glory and Divinity
• He lived a perfect life—though He was completely human—yet, filled with the Holy Spirit
• He suffered on the cross, died and was in the grave three days and three nights
• He was resurrected out of that grave as the Firstborn from the dead

That becomes very important for us to understand!
Rom. 8:28 is something to really hang onto. Ask God to help you grow in the grace, knowledge and understanding as God reveals it through His Spirit to you.

Romans 8:28: "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose, because those whom He did foreknow He also predestinated to be conformed to the image of His own Son, that He might be the Firstborn among many brethren" (vs 28-29). That's what is so fantastic about it!

God is saying to you:

• Come! Enter into My Family!
• Come! Accept the sacrifice of Jesus Christ!
• Come! Let me resurrect you at the end of the age so that you will be just like I am!

This becomes the whole goal, the whole purpose of what God is working out here on this earth! This is the very reason for our existence, and why it is so shallow to have all of the terrible and silly arguments over doctrine! Let's get our eyes and mind on the goal! On the things in heaven above, not just the little flim-flam things here on the earth.

1-John 3:1: "Behold! What glorious love the Father has given to us, that we should be called the children of God! For this very reason, the world does not know us because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are the children of God, and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be; but we know that when He is manifested, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him exactly as He is" (vs 1-2).

That's why Jesus was God before He became a human being, so that He could bring many sons unto glory and fulfill and complete the plan of God!

Scriptural References:

• Revelation 3:14
• Hebrews 1:4
• Hebrews 2:9
• Isaiah 45:5, 22
• Genesis 1:1, 26
• Exodus 3:14
• Exodus 6:3-4
• Exodus 20:1-3
• Psalm 110:1
• Daniel 7:13
• Matthew 11:25-27
• 1 Corinthians 2:6-12
• John 1:1-2, 14
• Philippians 2:5-11
• John 3:31
• John 5:19, 37
• John 6:38, 51
• John 8:23-25, 47-57
• John 10:29-30, 32-36
• John 13:3
• John 14:28
• John 17:1-5, 24
• Titus 2:13
• Colossians 1:15-20
• Revelation 1:5
• Romans 8:28-29
• 1 John 3:1-2

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• Matthew 16
• Luke 1
• Hebrews 1

Also referenced: Sermon Series: Names of God

FRC:bo
Transcribed: 10-23-18