| SUNDAY | April 6 |
His Preexistence—What It Means to Us
Why should we be concerned about Christ's preexistence? What has it to do with salvation? What hint(s) toward an answer do you find in Hebrews 1:1-4 and Colossians 1:15-20?
For all of us, our existence began when we were born (or, as some argue, it began when we were conceived). Christ was different. He did not come into existence in Mary's womb. He was before that, eternally so. That is what we mean by His preexistence. He was there before all time.
How do the following texts give us hints about Christ's preexistence?
Mic. 5:2 (compare Matt. 2:1-6)
The word mosa'ah (KJV: "goings forth"; RSV: "origin") in Micah 5:2 is not easy to translate. But the other part of the verse clearly refers not only to the preexistence of the coming Ruler, but also to His eternal preexistence "from everlasting". (See The SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 4, p. 1025.)
Isaiah 9:6 teaches the eternal preexistence of this special Person Who was to come into the world. It is an extraordinary claim that this One would be called, among other titles, "Mighty God, Everlasting Father." It is all the more significant when we remember that the prophecy was addressed to an audience decidedly monotheistic; and the fact that Isaiah could refer to this Son as "Mighty God, Everlasting Father" was nothing short of astonishing, nothing short of a Divine revelation breaking through the prophet's own accustomed way of thinking. The son is the Father, "the Everlasting Father"? Talk about having to live by faith!
| What other aspects of our beliefs, contrary to accepted norms, customs, and ways of thinking, do we have to take on raw, naked faith and nothing else? Is there something wrong with having to do that? |
| MONDAY | April 7 |
The Witness of the New Testament
Other evidence exists, now in the New Testament, that reveals the preexistence of Jesus. Perhaps some of the most interesting ones come from the mouth of Jesus Himself, as He says things that imply that He, Himself, was aware of His own preexistence.
We find both direct and indirect indications that Jesus was, indeed, conscious of His own history. As a possible example of an indirect allusion to His preexistence, He said in Luke 19:10 that "the Son of Man came to seek and save what was lost" (NIV). For example, if someone says: "I came to London to work at the House of Commons," the person implies that she was somewhere else before. The person who has been living in London all along does not use that expression. An explicit statement from Jesus came in the words of His great Passion Week prayer when He asked His Father to glorify Him "with the glory I had with you before the world began" (John 17:5, NIV).
How do the following passages reveal not only the preexistence of Christ but His own awareness of that preexistence?
"Before Abraham was, I am" (John 8:58). The "I AM" expression in this text and elsewhere suggests the idea of everlastingness, of eternal preexistence. Jesus' audience, understanding this point very well, took up stones to kill Him for what they saw as outrageous blasphemy (vs. 59).
"In speaking of His pre-existence, Christ carries the mind back through dateless ages. He assures us that there never was a time when He was not in close fellowship with the eternal God. He to whose voice the Jews were then listening had been with God as one brought up with Him"—Ellen G. White, in Signs of the Times, Aug. 29, 1900.
How does Ellen G. White's quote above, along with the texts we have just looked at, help us to better understand the incredible sacrifice made in our behalf at the Cross?
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