Discovering The Biblical Jesus Pt 1

Vision Ministries Bible Study 04/01/09 Discovering The Biblical Jesus The doctrine of Christ may include both a study of His person and His work. If we are going to grow into a meaningful relationship with Jesus we must get to know who He really is, the doctrine of the person of Christ is crucial to the Christian faith. I. THE PREEXISTENCE OF THE PREINCARNATE CHRIST A. The Meaning of Preexistence Preexistence of Christ means that He existed before His birth. it means that He existed before Creation and before time.

__________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________ II. The Importance of Preexistence 1. At birth. If Christ came into existence at His birth, then no eternal Trinity exists. Mic 5:2, John 8:58, 2. Not God. If Christ was not preexistent then He could not be God, because, among other attributes, God is eternal. Ps 139:8, Isa 66:1, 3. Liar. If Christ was not preexistent then He lied, because He claimed to be. Then the question arises, what else did He lie about? Luke 24:5, Isaiah 9:7, John 17:24, Galatians 4:4

III. The Evidence for Preexistence 1. His heavenly origin. Verses that claim heavenly origin for Christ attest to preexistence before birth. Note especially John 3:13 and 31. 2. His work as Creator. If Christ was involved in creating, then, of course, He had to exist before Creation. See John 1:3; Colossians 1:16; and Hebrews 1:2. 3. His relationship with God. He claimed equality of nature with God (John 10:30). He claimed equal glory with the Father before the world began (17:5). Paul also claimed Christ had the same nature as God (Phil. 2:6). These passages are evidences for eternality as well. 4. His attributes. He claimed full Deity, and others attested to it. These claims will be examined later, but for now Colossians 2:9 will suffice—in Christ dwells all the fullness of Deity. 5. His relation to John the Baptist. Though John was born before Jesus, John acknowledged that Jesus existed before him (John 1:15, 30, literally “first of me” but referring to preexistence as the basis for Christ’s superiority over John).

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