The Pre-existence of Christ
Categories: Sermon Outlines, Topical Sermon OutlinesSermon on the Pre-existence of Christ
INTRODUCTION:
A. Jesus Christ did not begin to exist when He was born in Bethlehem, nor even when He was conceived within the virgin, Mary.
B. Scripture teaches that Jesus Christ, unlike us, existed long before His conception and birth.
1. This is not just an intellectual point or a trivial fact to challenge our imaginations or arouse our curiosities.
2. Rather, the pre-existence of Jesus Christ has a direct bearing on a number of issues that relate to exactly who Jesus is and what He has done for you and for me.
DISCUSSION:
A. PROOF OF THE PRE-EXISTENCE OF CHRIST
1. John 1:15
a. “Preferred before me” has to do with rank – i.e. Jesus out-ranked John
b. “He was before me” has to do with time – Jesus existed before John did (yet we know Jesus was not conceived until about six months after John was conceived within Elizabeth) – thus Jesus existed before His conception or birth
2. Jesus has been since before “the beginning” – John 1:1
a. “The Word” refers to Jesus – John 1:14
b. “The beginning” refers to creation (Gen. 1:1)
3. Thus at the creation Jesus already was!
B. IMPORTANT MATTERS RELATED TO HIS PRE-EXISTENCE
1. His Deity
a. John 1:1 – “The Word (i.e. Jesus) was God”-not a god
b. That Jesus already “was” in the beginning, tells us that He is eternal (one of the attributes of Deity)
c. This is not just an academic matter – if Jesus is not eternal Deity, then He is not the “Son of God”
d. John 8:58
1) “I am” (“not I was” or “I have been”) – this is an emphatic present -“I Myself am”
a) This denotes a timeless existence (eternity)
b) Watchtower perverts it to “I have been”
2) Exodus 3:14, this is exactly what God told Moses he should say if Israel asked what God’s name was (“I am that I am” i.e. He is eternal and self-existent)
e. Jesus’ pre-existence proves He is Deity
2. Jesus as Creator
a. “By Him all things were created” (Col 1:16)
1) This agrees with John 1:3 & Hebrews 1:2
2) Watchtower inserts [other] (other things – not all things) into Col. 1:16 twice, plus twice in v.17 & once in v.20!
b. Since Jesus is Creator…
1) He must be eternal, or He couldn’t have been there to do the creating!
2) He must be God (thus eternal), or He would not have the ability to create!
3. Jesus as the Condescending One
a. Not meaning that He humiliated others or looked down on them, but…
b. He humbled Himself, lowered Himself – in doing so He:
1) Emptied Himself (ASV) – Philippians 2:6-8
a) Unless He was pre-existent, He could not have “emptied Himself” to come to this earth in the form of a man. (We do not say of anyone born today that he “emptied himself” before conception)
b) Had equality with God – thus eternal existence.
2) Became poor – 2 Corinthians 8:9
a) Was rich (before incarnation) – cannot be said unless he pre-existed!
b) Rich in the glory of His heavenly being (which He enjoyed eternally before the incarnation)
3) Gave up glory – John 17:5
a) He had this glory with the Father before the world existed (i.e. prior to creation)
b) If He was not pre-existent, then it could not be accurately said that He gave up His glory, nor would it have been sensible for Him to pray for restoration of such glory.
4. Jesus as the Model of Obedience
a. John 6:38
b. Had He not existed prior to conception, He could not have “come down from Heaven” nor could He have been “sent” by the Father.
c. Had He not been perfectly obedient, He couldn’t have been our once-for-all atonement offering.
d. His obedience serves as a model for us – Hebrews 5:8-9
5. Jesus as Mediator
a. We pray TO the Father in the name of Jesus – John 16:23
1) Note: we do not pray TO Jesus (v. 23a, Jesus specifically said “you will ask Me nothing”)
2) We should realize that Jesus is not the Father and the Father is not Jesus
a) It was not the Father who gave His body and blood on the cross, it was Jesus – the Father endured the agony of witnessing His Son’s suffering.
b) It is true that Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are one God, but they are not one Person – they are distinct personalities and we should refer to them as such.
b. To effectively mediate, Jesus has to be both God and man – and He is – 1 Timothy 2:5
c. To be God (as well as man), Jesus must have existed prior to His incarnation
1) Jesus affirms that He did – John 16:28
2) An understanding of this basic fact is necessary for proper faith and acceptable prayer in His name – John 16:26-27
CONCLUSION:
A. Jesus did not come into being at the virgin conception or the birth in Bethlehem’s stable.
B. He has always been, and always will be.
1. He is eternal Deity.
2. He is our Creator.
3. He emptied Himself, gave up the wealth and glory of Heaven, and took upon Himself a body of human flesh in which He obeyed the Father’s will in absolute perfection.
4. That obedience culminated in His sacrificial death upon the cross.
5. Now He calls us to imitate that obedience by dying to sin and self, and living anew for Him.
6. He ever lives as our mediator to help us accomplish that task.
C. All this is possible because of the Pre-Existence of Christ