Answers to Questions

Where the Scriptures are silent, we are silent. Where the Scriptures speak, we speak. We cannot say much about Jesus before he got equality with God because the Scriptures say little about who Jesus was in those times. Still, whoever wishes to understand the history of Jesus will have questions—and questions deserve answers.

One such question, a legitimate one, is “Did Jesus have a different nature (like an angelic nature) or did he already have the divine nature when God gave him glory?” That is, when God gave Jesus equality with him, what was Jesus’ status? To answer this question, we must consider three points:

1) Prior to the Creation, Jesus created the angels, so he must have had a nature superior to theirs.

2) The only nature we know of superior to an angelic nature is a divine nature.

3) We presume that Jesus had a divine nature at the time he created the angels.

What else can we say with certainty? If Jesus surrendered his equality with God for the 33+ years he was in the flesh, emptying himself of the divine nature (as Philippians 2:6 tells us), it’s because the divine nature was not a permanent aspect of Jesus’ being.

No Fixed Nature

That which is permanent about Jesus is not his nature, but his faithfulness to God. That’s what never changes about Jesus. He is always faithful to his God and Father. When the apostle tells us that Jesus is ‘the same yesterday, today, and forever’ (Hebrews 13:8), he speaks of Jesus’ dependability. Jesus always does exactly what God requires of him, so we can count on Jesus.

The Incarnation proves that Jesus’ divine nature could be set aside. And, of course that’s exactly what the Incarnation is, a setting aside of Jesus’ divine nature to take on the human nature of sin. Of course, Jesus will have the divine nature forever; but Jesus didn’t have it for +33 years.

To deny that he surrendered the divine nature a denial of the Incarnation, a denial that Jesus was the sacrifice for our sins, a denial that he is our example, and a denial of salvation. Without ‘the Word became flesh and dwelt among us’ (John 1:14)—the Incarnation—you and I have no Savior.

Beginning of the Beginning

Bible scholars have never been able to pinpoint a beginning to Jesus’ existence. Those who have attempted to pinpoint a beginning for Jesus on a timeline for Jesus promptly discover that none is defined in God’s Word. Rather, they have found that Jesus is the Beginning.

Try asking yourself “What was the Beginning’s beginning?” It’s a divergent question with little hope of an answer—and that’s the point. The question gives ypu a sense of the difficulties you'll face as you investigate Jesus’ beginnings.

If Jesus is called the Alpha and the Omega (the Beginning and the End), then we can’t identify a beginning for him. Alpha is the first letter of the Greek alphabet. It means beginning. So Jesus’ very identity is the Beginning. Can you identify the beginning of someone whose identity is the Beginning?  No.

Shroud of Mystery

Neither can we pinpoint the time when God gave Jesus equality with him, can we? The pre-Creation epochs are shrouded in mystery for now. What we do know about those epochs is that there was a time when God actually gave Jesus equality with him, and that that instant in time occurred sometime before the Creation of the Universe.

Why should you be so interested in knowing Jesus’ past? Outside of the fact that he’s the most important person in history, you should want to know who Jesus is. Paul, inspired by the Spirit, wanted that. He said:

… that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings (Philippians 3:10; NASB).

Humility Before Glory

The Cross is the key to knowing our Lord Jesus. It informs us about Jesus’ pre-Creation past because every person’s future performance is best predicted by past behavior. The Cross tells us that Jesus humbled himself to the lowest possible degree—becoming weak, despised, and even dying. Does it not?

Well, if we believe that Jesus humbled himself to the lowest degree while as a man, why would it be blasphemous for us to investigate whether at some time before Creation, Jesus did not have divine glory? If we suggest the possibility, and we're called "blasphemers," wouldn't that make everyone else who teaches the Cross worse blasphemers for suggesting that Jesus could have been humbled unto death?

[Precisely, this is why the Cross is so abhorrent to Muslims. They esteem Jesus so highly that it's beyond their capability to imagine that he would have ever had to have suffered such humiliation. Muslims deny the Crucifixion and say that it was not Jesus but Judas Iscariot on the Cross. Is the Cross abhorrent to you too? Is it incomprehensible for you to imagine Jesus' humiliation unto death?]

Doesn’t the Cross demonstrate to believers that Jesus obtained the highest honor by humbling himself to the lowest degree? It does. That's the lesson of the Cross.

And isn’t humility before glory a law established by God for all who serve him—angels, people like us, and Jesus? Yes, Jesus who is also subject to the laws of God, became human and embodied this law. Or is Jesus not to be counted among those who serve God? Of course he is! Not only does God call Jesus my Servant (Isaiah 42:1), but God made Jesus the primary example of service for people everywhere. Jesus shows us how to obtain glory through service.

Scandal and Loss of Freedom

A Libyan Church elder named Arius born in the late third century became very influential in Christendom because, in an attempt to explain that there is One God, the Father, he spoke much about Jesus prior to Creation. Among church leaders and their congregations his doctrine became very popular in Britain, North Africa, the Middle East, and especially in Germany. He was declared a heretic after his nemesis Athanasius made arguments for the doctrine that the One God is "Three Persons" at the Council of Nicea (325 AD). At the time, Arius was 75 and Athanasius was 27.

Emperor Constantine sided with Athanasius and ordered all of Arius’ books to be burned. Anyone found with his writings would have their house burnt to the ground by order of the newly formed Roman Catholic Church.

Without a single surviving example of his writings, we have very little information on what Arius actually said, but one of his sayings has come down to us intact: “There was a time when Jesus was not.” In other words, Arius taught that Jesus was created by God at some point. He believed that God created Jesus long before the Creation of the World, and that Jesus did not exist before the day that he was brought forth. He used numerous Bible verses to support this idea, but one of his favorites was:

Yahweh possessed me, the first of his ways, before his acts of old. From Eternity, I was set up from the first, from the Beginning of the Earth. When there were no depths, I was brought forth, when there were no springs of abounding water (Proverbs 8:22-24; LEB).

We do not agree with Arius that this passage proves that Jesus was created, but we refuse to be like Athanasius who made it taboo to question what Jesus was like prior to the Creation of the World. We refuse to suppress study. We refuse to force Christians into fear. We won’t cancel people’s curiosity by calling them heretics or burning down their houses.

Every believer must be free to investigate the truth about who their Lord Jesus is and was. To know him and to know God is eternal life!

… this is eternal life, that they may know you, the Only True God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent (John 17:3; NASB).

A Balanced Response

The Bible does not affirm Arius’ teaching that Jesus was created, but the Bible does demonstrate that there was a time when Jesus did not have the glory he enjoys today. So, the proper response to Arius’ investigation into the history of Jesus is not to be reactionary and to throw out his propositions as heresy. No. Technically, heresy is when someone contradicts a fundamental doctrine or basic Truth. No basic Truths are in play when we talk about who Jesus was in the times prior to Creation. The basic truths about Jesus you need for sound doctrine are: 1. He came in the flesh. 2. He was crucified, died, and was buried. 3. He is the One Lord now.

We refuse to impose upon believers the Trinitarian dogma that Jesus always had a divine nature. We would sin if we forced on believers the dogma that Jesus is the One God, or teach that he is not subordinate to the Father. Of course he is subordinate to the Father! What was the testimony of Jesus about himself? That he got his glory from God.

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 of the World (John 17:24).

In other words, what Jesus has now (the divine nature, authority, power, glory) was given to him by God. The words you just read are our Lord's own words, uttered in prayer to God.

If God gave Jesus glory (the verb have given indicates a completed action), this proves that God indeed did something special for Jesus at a singular point in time in history. That is, according to Christ’s own words, God gave him glory at a certain undefined moment in history. According to Jesus, God gave him glory. God did that because he loved Jesus (and loved is also a verb in the past tense). When did God love Jesus in this way? Before the foundation of the World--in the past. Jesus talks about what it was like to be with God at the Creation Event:

I was there when he set the heavens in place, when he marked out the horizon on the face of the deep... Then I was constantly at his side. I was filled with delight day after day, rejoicing always in his presence, rejoicing in his whole World and delighting in mankind (Proverbs 8:27-31).

Fearless Research

We are seeking to know exactly who Jesus is. We are researching fearlessly. To discover the truth about Jesus, we cannot be afraid to ask challenging questions. Will Jesus be upset that we ask questions? Is he hiding anything? Does Jesus have anything to be ashamed of? Certainly not.

We have no reason to fear what the Bible will reveal to us about Jesus because the Bible is true, and the Truth always brings blessings. The Truth sets us free, and the Bible always gives light.

The Thought Police

More importantly, we must not fear the contradictory opinions of churches and their theologies. Many so-called “Christians” are deeply offended by questions, research, and the Bible’s answers regarding who Jesus was prior to Creation. For many of them, asking about Jesus’ nature sounds blasphemous. Why? Quite simply because they’ve lived under the oppression of a theological framework that produces fear.

Their theology says that Jesus and the Holy Spirit are co-equal and co-eternal with the Father, and that they are not subordinate to the Father. They will not tolerate anyone who thinks deeply about Jesus’ past. They will not tolerate anyone who is free from their theological framework.

These “thought police” want everyone to conform to the teachings of men, men like Athanasius. For them, the Bible is not a book to explore. They do not promote meaningful times of reflection in the Word. They are afraid they might have to modify their man-made theologies, and conform to the Truth. They are scared of the Bible verses we’re discussing here.

Worse off, the “thought police” are self-confident—they think that they know enough already. But they don’t have the most basic Christian foundations. Foundational passages of Scriptures like Hebrews 6:1-2 and Ephesians 4:3-6 are foreign to them. Teaching these passages of Scripture is offensive to them.

The Enemy Within

Another impediment to the study of Jesus before Creation is that our flesh resists a true understanding of Jesus. Did you know that along with Satan and the World, your flesh is one of your greatest enemies? Know thy enemy. You might be your own worst enemy if you are fleshly and carnal. Be warned: Your flesh resists all that is spiritual.

A knowledge of Jesus Christ comes through the study of Scriptures, but our nature of sin (Romans 8:3) doesn’t like Scriptures and it doesn’t want us to humble ourselves. Jesus did humble himself. He overcame his fear of being tested. He overcame his fear of death, but most of us haven’t overcome these fears yet. We’re afraid to sacrifice our lives, so we resist the knowledge of the Cross. We resist self-denial.

Be Brave, Be Comforted

What you will find as you look deeper and deeper into the history of Jesus is that Jesus is worthy of our trust. You’ll notice that from the times prior to the Creation of the World, Jesus was worthy of God’s trust. And you’ll conclude that we can trust Jesus today. Why shouldn’t we trust Jesus if God entrusted him with the salvation of the World? Any Bible study will always prove that Jesus never failed to accomplish God’s will.

You’ve already known that Jesus didn’t fail God at Calvary, but you probably never considered how Jesus never failed God before that. Now you know.

You probably never spent any time reflecting on Jesus’ relationship to God before his incarnation, and never imagined that God would have tested him. But he most certainly did. God tested Jesus with the maximum degree of humiliation at Calvary where Jesus suffered a shameful and disgraceful death.

Know Him, Trust Him

God intended that the information available to us about Jesus’ past would be comforting to us. Information on Jesus’ past gives us a broader picture of the man we know as our Savior. Knowledge of him is salvation.

… I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that Day (2 Timothy 1:12; NASB).

Do you know the One in whom you have believed? Have you gotten to know Jesus well? Have you been brave enough to ask questions and research his history, or are you afraid you might wind up uncovering something different from what you’ve heard in church? Maybe you're afraid you might discover that you’ve been deceived by your pastors and your concept of Jesus is wrong.

But don't fear. Put your trust in Jesus, the Jesus of the Bible. With our salvation in Jesus’ hands, we should feel at ease. He has proven himself again and again—not only at Calvary, but from as far back as the periods of time prior to the Creation of the World! Jesus was faithful to God then, and he will always be faithful. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Son of Man, Offspring of Eve

Are you comforted by the fact that the Messiah has come? Jesus is the long-promised Son of Man. Look at what God said about the arrival of this most special of all human beings, the Son of Man. Look at what God promised to the Devil:

I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he [the offspring of Eve, the Son of Man] will crush your head, and you will strike his heel (Genesis 3:15).

Jesus is the one God promised would be born of Eve. He the Son of Man, the Offspring of Eve. Jesus has overcome death through the Resurrection. With that victory, he has crushed the head of the Serpent, Satan. Won’t you trust him today? He’s been trustworthy since way back when, and he’ll be worthy of you trust forever.