The Origins of Jesus Christ, Part 2

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The Origins of Jesus Christ
PRE-EXISTENCE OF JESUS CHRIST: PART 2

With the review in Part 1 in mind, let’s look at Scriptures that scholars admit suggest there was a beginning to the Son of God before His incarnation (cf. Jn 1:1 en arche, in a beginning and as in Gen 1:1).

PSALM 2
We begin with the strongly messianic Ps 2 attributed to David in Acts 4:25.

Ps 2:4-6 He (i.e., the Father) who sits in the heavens shall laugh; the LORD shall hold them in derision. 5 Then He shall speak to them in His wrath, and distress them in His deep displeasure (for the Father is furious that the truth about Him and His only-begotten Son is denied by most of religious humanity. The Father says to all): 6 “Yet I have set My King on My Holy Hill of Zion.”

The denials include the role and end purpose of the Son’s being sent. The God and Father of Jesus Christ is extremely angry that so many deny the rule of Christ in the Church though all profess to have Him in their churches. If we confess Jesus Christ in our lives, do we lie if we do not accurately represent Him?

In verse 7 we have Jesus’ response to His Father: I will declare the decree: The LORD has said to Me, ‘You are My Son, today I have begotten You (cited in Heb 1:5; 5:5).

In verses 8-9 the Father responds: Ask of Me, and I will give You the nations for Your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for Your possession. 9 You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel.

The Father and His Son are in perfect agreement. The Father wills certain things should happen and the Son is determined that these will be done. The Father speaks prophetically to the whole world:

10-12 Now therefore, be wise, O kings; be instructed, you judges of the earth. 11 Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. 12 Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish in the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him.

Surely we note that these prophetic demands of Ps 2 are in full accord with the NT! Just as we are asked to “Kiss the Son” and to trust Him, so we are asked to kiss the brethren (Rom 16:16; 1Cor 16:20; 2Cor 13:12; 1Thess 5:26; 1Pet 5:14). Godly relationships, those built on sincerity and truth, are filled with mutual trust and excellent respect. The Father trusts the Son and the Son trusts the Father. Christ trusts His Bride and the Bride trusts her Bridegroom. Do Christians trust fellow Christians?

Prov 30:4 Who has ascended into heaven, or descended? Who has gathered the wind in His fists? Who has bound the waters in a garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is His Name, and what is His Son’s Name, if you know?

God the Father, through His Son, has done these things. The Son descended and ascended by the Will and Power of His God and Father. The Son descended and ascended many times but once in the incarnation. As in Ps 2, one is confronted with the problem that few know the true Christ for there are many christs and many lords (1Cor 8:5). At the end, in the last days, the whole world will turn against the true Christ (Mt 24:5,24; Mk 13:6,22; Lk 21:8; Rev 19:11-19; Dan 7:21-27; 2Thess 2:3-9). It is distressing that so many apparently faithful and sincere people refuse to examine, or cannot examine these things because they fear questions about the nature of Jesus Christ. Why is that? Answers affect behaviour and status! Why are so many people afraid of questions based on Scripture? Why prefer to hold fast to dogmas learned from false shepherds and false prophets (Dt 13:1-5; Jer 23:1-40; esp. 2Tim 3:13; 2Pet 2:1-3)?

Quite a number of first chapters of the NT deal with the nature of God and His Christ, e.g., Mt 1; Lk 1; Jn 1; Rom 1; Eph 1; Col 1; 2Thess 1; Rev 1; and Heb 1 which we’ll consider now.

Heb 1:1-5 The God (and Father of Jesus Christ), at various times and in various ways (in theophanies, visions, dreams) has spoken in times past to the fathers (leaders of Israel) by the prophets, 2 has in these last days spoken to us (who have ears to hear) by (sending) His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things (which is an act of promotion by a superior), through whom also He made the universe (Heb 2:10; Eph 3:9; Col 1:16), 3 who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become so much better than the angels (which suggests He was one of the entities in the divine realm; an elohim; Ps 86:8; 89:6-8; 95:3), as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they (another statement of promotion). 5 For to which of the angels did He ever say: “You are My Son, today I have begotten You”? (cited from Ps 2:7. This statement by the Father suggests that a selection was made from among others). And again: “I will be to Him a Father, and He shall be to Me a Son”?

This is also cited from 2Sam 7:14 which is a promise to David of the birth of Solomon who would build the Temple (2Sam 7:12-14). More importantly, this is a prophecy of the birth, from David’s lineage, of the Messiah, whose throne would be forever and who would build the spiritual Temple. The angels were created, and so we are left with an implication that Christ was a member of the Divine realm sent as a Son of that realm to become the only-begotten of all the sons of God (see Job 1:6; 2:1)—i.e., through the incarnation.

The context of the quotation from Ps 2:7 is amplified in verses 8-9, where we have the Father speaking to Jesus Christ:

Ps 2:8-9 Ask of Me, and I will give You the nations for Your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for Your possession. 9 You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel.

We’re left with the thought that Christ was promoted to a position of total trust by His Father.

Heb 1:6-8 But when He again brings the Firstborn into the world (So has the Father brought Him into existence twice—firstly into the divine realm, then into the realm of humanity [Gal 4:28; Heb 11:17-19; Gen 17:15-21]?), He says: “Let all the angels of God worship Him” (Rev 5:9-13 is an example of the angelic realm praising Christ). 7 And of the angels He says: “Who makes His angels spirits and His ministers a flame of fire.” 8 But to the Son He says: “Your throne, O God (cited from Ps 45:6; elohim; a title and description used of the Father and the Son; see Ex 23:21-23), is forever and ever; a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of Your Kingdom.”

The Father has put authority and power into His Son’s hands for He trusts Him to decide, to speak, to act and complete His Will and all that He has taught Him. God calls His Son a God (Elohim). The 24 elders about the Father’s Throne, the cherubim, seraphim, archangels, angels are the sons of God in heaven, as Job 38:7 calls the entire angelic host (all the sons of Elohim shouted for joy). Again, we note a statement of promotion of Christ by His God and Father.

Heb 1:9 You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; therefore God (elohim), Your God (elohim), has anointed You with the oil of gladness more than Your companions (see Ps 45:6-7).

Jesus had been tempted in all things, had overcome without sin, had lived in the flesh by perfect faith and was raised in rank above His companions, who quite evidently are in the angelic realm. Jesus is revealed as having God the Father as His God. Heb 1:8-9 quotes from Ps 45:6-7. It is wonderful to note more of the context which records the Father’s words about His Son.

Ps 45:2-4,17 You are fairer than the sons of men; grace is poured upon Your lips; therefore God has blessed You forever. 3 Gird Your sword upon Your thigh, O Mighty One, with Your glory and Your majesty. 4 And in Your majesty ride prosperously because of truth, humility, and righteousness; and Your right hand shall teach You awesome things. 17 I will make Your Name to be remembered in all generations; therefore the people shall praise You forever and ever.

The praise of the Father for His Son is profound. Salvation is by no other name than the Name the Father has given to His Son (Acts 4:12; 10:43; Phil 2:9; Eph 1:21; Ex 23:21).

In Heb 1:10-14 (the Father continues to speak): “You, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands. 11 They will perish, but You remain; and they will all grow old like a garment; 12 like a cloak You will fold them up, and they will be changed. But You are the same, and Your years will not fail” (cited from Ps 102:25-27; see the whole Ps). (Verse 13 comes from Ps 110:1) But to which of the angels has He ever said (which may suggest the Father could have said such a thing to others, but He didn’t. Ishmael and Esau could have, by legal birthright, been given the special promises given to Isaac and Jacob. But that was not possible, for the omniscience of God foresaw what Ishmael and Esau would become by the outcome of their choices. So to which of the angels did the Father say): “Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool”?

That promise was only to Christ though Lucifer desperately lusted for it (see Is 14:12-13; Ezk 28:14-19) and such lust was typified in Cain, Ishmael, Esau.

14 Are they not all ministering spirits (the angels) sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?

The angels, who preceded mankind in origin, are the divine servants and protectors of those who will be transformed in the resurrection and who will rule with Jesus Christ. Envy and pride destroy those who refuse God’s omniscient and gracious purpose. It seems that Lucifer’s pride had its origins in this knowledge—that Jesus Christ was chosen and anointed for the royal and high priest role, that He would gather all the saints in the resurrection, that He, with all the resurrected saints, would be elevated higher than all in the angelic host.

Zechariah, chapters 9-14, is the most quoted of the prophets in the NT Gospels. In Mt 26:31 and Mk 14:27 Jesus Christ identified the Shepherd of Zech 13:7 as being Himself.

Zech 13:7 “Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, against the Man who is My Companion,” says the LORD of hosts. “Strike the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered; then I will turn My hand against the little ones.”

Zechariah says that the Shepherd is the Man who is the Father’s Companion (Heb amit; LXX, polites; citizen, fellow, neighbour, associate). In Heb 1:9 (where God speaks of anointing His Son “with the oil of gladness more than Your companions”), the word for companion is metochos which means fellow, a companion who shares or partakes (see also Heb 3:1,14; 6:4).

Again, we are left with the thought that Jesus Christ had pre-existence with the Father before His incarnation and was the Lamb foreordained before the creation of the universe (1Pet 1:20; 2Tim 1:9; Tit 1:2). He is the Son of the Man in whose image mankind is created (Gen 1:26-27; Col 1:15; 3:10; Heb 1:2-3).

ISAIAH has wonderful things to say on the nature and origin of Jesus Christ. In the First Song of the Servant, we hear the Father speaking about His Son.

Is 42:1-4 “Behold! My Servant whom I uphold, My Elect One in whom My soul delights!”

“My Elect One” or “My Chosen One” in Is 41:8-9 refers to Israel as chosen and servant as if to make allusion to Christ. Dt 7:6-11 deals with the nation as being the singular example to the nations of the world. The Father says of His Son:

I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles. 2 He will not cry out, nor raise His voice, nor cause His voice to be heard in the street (i.e., Jesus’ ministry did not have self-advertising nor elements of shouting to dominate). 3 A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not quench (i.e., the growing flax-reed that is bruised, which would blemish the finished linen, He does not break and throw away for He is healer and restorer; the spread-out flax that is bleached in the hot sun might be getting burnt, but He does not attack the problem for He is the restorer and healer); He will bring forth justice for truth. 4 He will not fail nor be discouraged (despite many losses and desertions), till He has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands shall wait for His Law” (for He shows in His words and deeds how the Law of His Father is magnified and spiritually perceived).

The losses and desertions I refer to are covered in examples such as the Parable of the Sower (Mt 13:1-23; Mk 4:1-21; Lk 8:1-15); Christ’s question in the context of His return, Will I find faith on the earth? (Lk 18:8); The righteous are scarcely saved (1Pet 4:18); and descriptions as in 2Thess 2:9-12 and Dan 11:31-33.

Having praised His Son, the God and Father of Jesus Christ comments on His commission. And since all the saints are to be perfect as the Father is, these verses also apply to the saints.

Is 42:5-9 Thus says God the LORD (El YHWH), who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread forth the earth and that which comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it, and spirit to those who walk on it: 6 “I, the LORD, have called You in righteousness (i.e., He was anointed from among others as Abraham, Moses and David were, and as all firstfruits experience) and will hold Your hand (‘never leave you nor forsake you’); I will keep You and give You as a Covenant to the people (Jesus Christ is the means of ratifying the agreement that makes it possible for others to receive eternal salvation), as a Light to the Gentiles (as a Light to all the world; Lk 2:32; Acts 10:45; 13:47; Gal 3:14), 7 to open blind eyes, to bring out prisoners from the prison, those who sit in darkness from the prison house (Lk 4:18; Is 61:1-2). 8 I am the LORD, that is My Name; and My glory I will not give to another, nor My praise to carved images. 9 Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them.”

Surely we cannot fail to recognize the relationship between the Father and His Son appointed as the means of salvation and the Light of God the Father to the world.

The Third Song of the Servant describes Christ’s experiences and reactions to what His Father has asked Him to do. It is stunning to consider that Isaiah wrote details about Jesus’ suffering as if he knew what Jesus would say in certain situations. It’s a most unfashionable approach Isaiah had compared to many scholars who find it difficult to believe in divine inspiration by the Spirit of God (cp. Jer 2;13 and its context).

Is 50:4-6 The Lord GOD has given Me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him who is weary. He awakens Me morning by morning, He awakens My ear to hear as the learned (for He increased in knowledge; Lk 2:52; Is 11:2). 5 The Lord GOD has opened My ear; and I was not rebellious, nor did I turn away. 6 I gave My back to those who struck Me, and My cheeks to those who plucked out the beard; I did not hide My face from shame and spitting.

These prophetic references to Christ’s scourging and crucifixion are enlarged in Is 53:1-12 and Ps 22:6-24.

Is 50:7-11 continues: For the Lord GOD will help Me; therefore I will not be disgraced; therefore I have set My face like a flint, and I know that I will not be ashamed (for His will insisted on His Father’s Will). 8 He is near who justifies Me (cf. Ps 22:24 nor has He hidden His face from Him); who will contend with Me? Let us stand together (for the Father and Son are one in will and purpose and spirit). Who is My adversary? Let him come near Me (Satan did come near but his attempts failed: Mt 4; Lk 4). 9 Surely the Lord GOD will help Me; who is he who will condemn Me? Indeed they will all grow old like a garment; the moth will eat them up. 10 Who among you fears the LORD (i.e., the Father)? Who obeys the voice of His Servant (all must obey Jesus Christ!)? Who walks in darkness and has no Light (which is Christ in you)? Let him trust in the Name of the LORD and rely upon his (Christ’s) God (i.e., rely on the God and Father of Jesus Christ). 11 Look, all you who kindle a fire, who encircle yourselves with sparks: Walk in the light of your fire and in the sparks you have kindled; this you shall have from My hand: You shall lie down in torment.

Those who do not have the Sun of Righteousness (Mal 4:2), who are not guided by the Light of this world, who do not experience the work of the Lamp of the LORD (Prov 20:27; Ps 132:17; 119:105; 18:28), create their own fires to vainly push back their darkness. This should remind us of those who create their own illusions of having the Spirit of God, about which Jeremiah speaks (Jer 2:11-13)—for they have their own sources of spiritual water.

The Second Song of the Servant (Is 49:1-13) has the Son of God speaking about His origin. Scholars say this refers to His human predestination (e.g., Henri Blocher, Songs of the Servant [London: IVP, 1975], p 36).

Is 49:1-2 “Listen, O coastlands, to Me, and take heed, you peoples from afar! The LORD has called Me from the Womb (cp. Ps 139:13-16; Jer 1:5; Gal 1:15; Eph 1:4) from the matrix of My Mother He has made mention of My Name (see Rev 12:1-3; Gal 4:22-31). 2 And He has made My mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of His hand He has hidden Me, and made Me a polished shaft; in His quiver He has hidden Me.”

It appears that that it was not initially known among the angelic realm that the pre-existent Christ was foreordained as the Lamb and Messiah. See our paper Satan and History for more details about the Cain-like envy and pride of Lucifer toward the future Morning Star (Rev 22:16). Similarly, the saints are not initially aware of their calling and most people do not recognize someone as called by the Father and hearing and heeding the Voice of the Good Shepherd. Let’s look at Ps 22 which uses similar language to Is 49:1.

Ps 22:1-2 introduces us to the words of Christ cited in Mt 27:46 and Mk 15:34:

My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? Why are You so far from helping Me, and from the words of My groaning? 2 O My God, I cry out in the daytime, but You do not hear; and during the night—I am not silent.

Jesus Christ was prophesied as being always dependant on His Father’s help. Here His words cry out His humanity and deep emotional responses to His horrendous anguish. But He did know the outcome. The crucifixion context continues:

7-8 All those who see Me ridicule Me; they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, 8 “He trusted in the LORD (or, He lived for the LORD), let Him rescue Him (Mt 27:43; Lk 23:35), let Him deliver Him, since He delights in Him (or, if He cares for Him)!” (see Ps 91:14-16).

History shows, as does prophecy, that the saints suffer many trials (Acts 14:22; Dan 11:32-35). Verses 9-10 are controversial in terms of interpretation. Let’s consider what they mean:

9-10 But You are He who took Me out of the Womb; You made Me trust while on My mother’s breasts. 10 I was cast upon You from birth. From My Mother’s Womb You have been My God.

Is this speaking only of Christ’s birth to the virgin Mary? We should recall major poetical descriptions of birth to see if and how they might have bearing on interpretation of Ps 22:9-10. These descriptions include the following topics for consideration some of which are quite complex in that we are left wondering and may ask ourselves, What does this really mean?

THE BARREN WOMAN WHO GIVES BIRTH
Is 54:1-17 speaks of the once barren Wife of her Husband and Redeemer. Israel was married to a heavenly entity just as the Church, the spiritual Body of Christ, will be. Scripture intends that the Church should think of the relationship and Divine Marriage in anthropomorphic language rather than in philosophically-speculative terms. She is promised children who will inherit the nations (Is 49:20-23,25). Ps 2:8 says Christ will inherit the nations. Rev 2:26, 3:21, and 5:10 show that the saints will rule the nations with Christ. The One who married OT Israel, who later divorced her, is now courting the Israel of God (e.g., Is 50:1; Jer 3:1,8; Hos 2:2,19).

Is 66:7-11 has overtones to Revelation 12 which we must also consider. Those who tremble at the Word of God (66:2,5), who are hated by their brethren and are cast out (v 5; as with Cain and Abel, Ishmael and Isaac; and as prophesied in Jn 16:2; Mt 10:21-22; 24:10; Mk 13:9,12-13; Lk 21:12-17), these are the ones who have the divine hope described in:

Is 66:7-11 Before she was in labour, she gave birth; before her pain came, she delivered a Male Child.

This Child is the Lamb of God and the Messiah foreordained before the creation of the universe (1Pet 1:20; Tit 1:2). And so was the beginning of the end of the curse upon the Woman who prophetically would have birth problems and barrenness (Gen 3:15-16; Is 54:1-2). Just as Adam foreshadowed the Second Adam (Rom 5:14; 1Cor 15:21-22,45-49), so Eve foreshadowed Sarah, the symbol of the barren Woman typifying the difficulties of giving birth to and raising children of promise (Gal 4:22-31).

8 Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Shall the earth be made to give birth in one day? Or shall a nation be born at once? (i.e., spiritual Israel; Rev 7:1-8; 14:1-5; 1Pet 2:4-5,9-10. Yes, the birth of that nation will be at the resurrection of the firstfruits [Rev 14:1-4]). For as soon as Zion (the Church of Rev 12) was in labour, she gave birth to her children (firstly Jesus Christ, then the church of the firstborn [Heb 12:23]). 9 “Shall I bring to the time of birth, and not cause delivery?” says the LORD. “Shall I who cause delivery shut up the womb?” says your God. 10 “Rejoice with (the New) Jerusalem (the Mother of us all; Gal 4:26; the spiritual Mother of Christ is the Mother of Christians, as Rev 12 shows), and be glad with her, all you who love her; rejoice for joy with her, all you who mourn for her; 11 that you may feed and be satisfied with the consolation of her bosom, that you may drink deeply and be delighted with the abundance of her glory.”

Readers might ask in considering Rev 12, “Is the birth of Christ limited to the prophecy of His human birth to Mary, or is the prophecy multi-faceted?” In view of other Scriptures one would think that a multi-purposed meaning is intended.

Ezk 16:1-63 describes Jerusalem, poetically and in history, as the spiritual daughter of an Amorite father and a Hittite mother. Israel had been told not to absorb Canaanite gods (Ex 23:32; 34:11-17; Jer 10:2), but she adulterized with foreign gods (Dt 31:16). History shows that ancient Jerusalem was Jebusite (Josh 15:8). The Canaanite inhabitants are listed in Ex 33:2 and the first two tribes are the Amorites and Hittites who were the more powerful peoples (also see Ex 23:28; 34:11). We know that before Joshua, Abraham had come to Jerusalem to see Melchizedek, the king of Jerusalem and priest of the Almighty God (Gen 14:18-20; Ps 110:4). Were not the people of Jerusalem under Melchizedek’s reign Gentiles? It’s a complex historical story and prophetic parable in need of additional exposition.

Hos 2:1-23 reveals Israel as the mother of the people, who was the wife of the LORD (v 2), but who was divorced because of persistent harlotries (3:1; 4:1-2). Completely transformed, she is to be restored as Wife (vv 16-20), come through the Door of Hope (v 15; Jer 14:8-9; 17:13; Col 1:27), and accept her LORD God (vv 20,23; 3:5). Spirit-rejecting Israel forfeited the covenant to be a kingdom of priests to the LORD (cf. Ex 19:4-6). Yet we know that the Israel of God (Gal 6:16) is to be both Bride/Wife to the LORD and a Kingdom of Priests (Rev 1:6; 5:10). The preamble to the OT covenant in Ex 19:4-6 is a promise to faithful Christians.

Gal 4:22-31 makes the parabolic analogy between the Jerusalem which is Hagar and Mt Sinai and the Jerusalem which is Sarah and Mt Zion, the Jerusalem above, the Holy City, which was and still is barren (v 27; cf. Is 54:1). The children of Sarah are children of promise and children of Abraham (Gal 3:29; Rom 9:6-8), as was Isaac, not Ishmael (cp.the Quran, Sura II.124-136). The New Jerusalem is the Mother of us all (Gal 4:26), not the present Jerusalem. Similarly, the blessings of Lev 26:1-13 and Dt 28:1-15 are largely millennial and spiritual.

Rev 12:1-17 speaks of the painful birth of Jesus Christ to the Woman whose Child is attacked by Satan. Several allusions connect Mic 4:10 to Rev 12.

Mic 4:10 Writhe, groan, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in labour; for now you’ll go forth from the city and camp in the open country; you’ll go to Babylon (Rev 18:4). There you will be rescued, there the LORD will redeem you from the hands of your enemies.

After Jesus’ death and resurrection (v 5) the Woman, i.e., the Bride of Christ, scatters but is under God’s protective care (vv 6,14). Satan’s hatred always seeks to persecute the Woman who gave birth to Christ (vv 10,12-17). Her Remnant keeps the commandments of God, bears prophetic witness of Jesus Christ in their lives, suffers (v 17; 19:10; 1Pet 2:12), and is saved.

BIRTH OF GOD’S SERVANT
With that summarized background, we return to Is 49:

Is 49:3-5 And He said to me, ‘You are My Servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified.’ 4 Then I said, ‘I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and in vain; yet surely my just reward is with the LORD, and my work with my God.’ 5 And now the LORD says, who formed Me from the Womb to be His Servant, to bring Jacob back to Him, so that Israel is gathered to Him (For I shall be glorious in the eyes of the LORD, and My God shall be My strength).

Israel is Prince, Overcomer, and Ruler with El (the Almighty; God; Gen 32:28; Hos 12:4). Jacob, father of the 12 sons and father of the nation, typifies Christ who is the Prince over the Israel of God (Ex 19:4-6; Gal 6:16; 1Pet 2:5,9-10; Rev 1:6). The One who worked with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and OT Israel is the same Servant working with today’s elect. This same One was Christ, formed in the Womb, long before His incarnation which the NT Gospels and Phil 2:6-11 describe.

Glorification is by God through Jesus Christ and includes the work Christ does in those who are God’s children (Is 61:3,5; Rom 8:30; 1Pet 4:11,14). There is emotional despair because the losses are so enormous. This was prophesied in the apostasy of Adam and Eve and the murder of righteous Abel by a brother whose religious beliefs and practices typify the ignominious history of most of Christianity.

Is 49:6-9 gives the Father’s words with respect to the work of salvation His Son does.

Is 49:6-9 Indeed He says, ‘It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved ones of Israel (which Christ was and is doing); I will also give You as a Light to the Gentiles, that You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth’ (which again identifies Christ. And verse 7 gives us the Father’s words about His Christ:) 7 Thus says the LORD, the Redeemer of Israel (since God has done the redemption through His Son He has the title of Redeemer also), their Holy One, to Him whom man despises (for the true Christ is hated, whereas false christs are loved), to Him whom the nation abhors, to the Servant of rulers: “Kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship, because of the LORD who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel; and He has chosen You” (Christ is the Chosen of His Father). 8 Thus says the LORD: “In an acceptable time I have heard You, and in a day of salvation I have helped You; I will preserve You and give You as a Covenant to the people, to restore the earth, to cause them to inherit the desolate heritages; 9 that You may say to the prisoners, ‘Go forth,’ to those who are in darkness, ‘Show yourselves.’ They shall feed along the roads, and their pastures shall be on all desolate heights.”

It is crucial that we all understand who is speaking, who is being spoken to, and what is being said. For example, Ps 110:1 says,

The LORD said to my Lord, ‘Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool.’ (The Father is speaking to the Son. The LORD is speaking to the Lord).

Three accounts of this verse are given in the Gospels with Jesus Christ asking the religious leaders to explain who was speaking to whom (Mt 22:41-46; Mk 12:35-37; Lk 20:41-44). Since they did not know God nor the pre-existent Son of God, they could not comprehend that the Father was addressing His Son and that David knew the Son as his own Lord (Adonai) and addressed the Father as the LORD (Yahweh).

Is 51:1(a) asks us to: Listen to God, you who follow after righteousness (the saints, disciples, followers of Jesus Christ), You who seek the LORD (the God and Father of Jesus Christ): Look to the Rock from which you were hewn!

How are we cut from the Rock and from which Rock are the saints cut? In Moses’ poetic song in Dt 32, Israel is rebuked for not remembering the Rock who begot them and the God who gave birth to them (Dt 32:18). The following list of Scriptures indicate that the Rock is Christ, but may also refer to the Father: Dt 32:4,15; Ps 18:2,46; 28:1; 62:7; 78:35; 89:26; Is 8:24; Hab 1:12; Rom 9:33; 1Cor 10:4; 1Pet 2:8. However, rocks come out of a quarry.

Is 51:1b continues: And look to the quarry (maqqebet; TDOT, VIII.531-2; TWOT, 1409c,d) of the pit (bore; TWOT, 194a,d,e; well, pit, cistern, fountain) from which you were dug (naqar; TWOT, 1418; TDOT, IX.551-3).

What and where is the Pit from which the Rock and living stones are/were cut for the spiritual Temple of which Christ is the Cornerstone and Foundation Stone? The poetry of Is 51:1b alludes to the solidarity of God’s elect, and their being all of one origin and place—from the fountain of Life, from the LORD who is our Rock, and from Jesus Christ who is also our Rock of Salvation (Ps 89:26; 95:1; 1Cor 10:4). Since the firstfruits are to be formed into a spiritual Temple of living stones (1Pet 2:5), allusions to the Rock and source Pit are used figuratively (see Mt 13:9-13).

Is 51:2-3 Look to Abraham your father, and to Sarah who travailed in birth for you (for the saints are children of Abraham and Sarah); for I called him alone, and blessed him and increased him. 3 For the LORD will comfort Zion, He will comfort all her waste places; He will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the Garden of the LORD; joy and gladness will be found in it, thanksgiving and the voice of melody.

The Hebrew noun maqqebet derives from the verb naqab, which means “to bore a hole” (2Ki 12:9). The noun neqeba, derived from the same verb, refers to a female (Jer 31:22), and may also mean “to deflower.” Perhaps we see allusions and puns on words in terms of being cut out, coming out of the Womb in birth—Christ the Rock, we the living stones; Christ born of the Woman in Rev 12, the children of God born of the Woman (Rev 12; Is 54).

Just as you might be struggling to fully understand, so I also try to grasp the grandeur of spiritual birth expressed in varying poetical ways: the birth of the nation of Israel, the birth of the Israel of God, the offer of birth—salvation to mankind, and the origin/birth of Christ—for He is inextricably involved in all of it.

Ps 89:26-29 is messianic with overtones to the Rock of Israel in the OT and NT.

In v 26 the Father is speaking of His devotion to His Son and includes the Son’s response: He shall cry to Me, ‘You are my Father, My God, and the Rock of my salvation.’

Surely we’re reminded of many similar expressions in the NT, as shown earlier in this paper.

27 I will make him My Firstborn (the Father says that the One who already exists is to become firstborn), the highest of the kings of the earth (King of kings and Lord of lords). 28 My mercy I will keep for Him forever, and My Covenant shall stand firm with Him (i.e., the Son is to be firstborn and to be the Messenger of the New Covenant). 29 His seed also I will make to endure forever, and His throne as the days of Heaven.

Heb 2:13 quotes Is 8:18 where Christ speaks of what His Father has asked: “Here am I and the children whom God has given Me!” The brethren and friends of Jesus Christ are also regarded as Christ’s children. We are children of Abraham (Gal 3:7,29; 4:28,31). The apostle Paul considered himself a father to the brethren, his begotten children (see 1Cor 4:14-15).

BORN TO BE THE LAMB OF GOD—WHEN?
It has been shown in previous papers and in material given above that Jesus Christ existed as an entity in the heavenly realm before the creation of the universe. We may have seen that He had a prophesied birth as the only-begotten God of His God and Father (Jn 1:18). Ps 80 is another prophecy of Jesus’ birth.

Ps 80:14-19 Return, we beseech You, O God of hosts; look down from Heaven and see, and visit this vine (i.e., Israel which is the vine growing out of the root stock which is Jesus Christ; Jn 15:1-8; Jer 2:21-23; 6:9-10; Hos 10:1) 15 and the vine root stock which Your right hand has planted, and the Son (Heb. ben; as in Is 7:14, 9:6, which means son) that You made strong for Yourself (GOD has taken a Son and made Him strong because the Son wholeheartedly devoted Himself to His Father’s Will).

We know that Christ prayed for help, strength, intervention, power, wisdom. His prayers were always answered. But what about the planting of the root stock? Where and when was that? Ps 80:8-9 answers in part: The Shepherd of Israel (v 1) has brought a Vine out of Egypt, has caused it to take deep root and it filled the Land. We have a parallel in Is 11:1,10—

There shall come forth a Shoot from the stock of Jesse, and a Branch (Heb. netser, branch; not ben, son) shall grow out of his roots.

And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse who shall stand as a banner to the people; the Gentiles will seek Him, and His resting place shall be glorious.

Ps 80:16-19 tells us what happened to the Vine of Israel and how it is saved:

16 It is burned with fire (the Vine), it is cut down (Christ went through the fire of trials and was cut down); they perish at the rebuke of Your countenance. 17 Let Your hand be upon the Man of Your right hand, upon the Son of Man whom You made strong for Yourself. 18 Then we will not turn back from You; revive us, and we will call upon Your Name. 19 Restore us, O LORD God of hosts; cause Your Face to shine, and we shall be saved!

The Man at the Father’s right hand was sent, was crucified, will be restored to rule on earth!

Scripture reveals that the Lamb of God and the promises of grace and eternal life were given before the creation and before time began. Measurable time began when the universe began:

The Lamb of God was foreordained before the foundation of the universe (1Pet 1:20);
Grace was given to us in Christ before time began (2Tim 1:9);
Eternal life was promised by God before time began (Tit 1:2).

Since the pre-existent Christ and Servant of the Father would fulfill these prophecies, do we see the Almighty GOD, who prophesied the end from the beginning (Is 46:10; Acts 15:18)?

THE BIRTH OF WISDOM
The birth of Wisdom is addressed in Prov 8 where Wisdom, in verses 1-21, is personified as a biblically beautiful woman. Verses 22-36 do not express feminine associations except in that Wisdom is born. As we look at these verses we should recall the extraordinary statement by Paul in 1Cor 1:24 which says that Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God (sophia in the NT and the LXX). Christ is the revelatory manifestation of all that we can know of the Father. “If you’ve seen Christ, you’ve seen the Father,” we’re told in John 14:9.

We read in Prov 8:22-36:

22 The LORD possessed me (i.e., Wisdom and its future manifestation. In Christ is the perfect reflection of the Glory of the Father; Col 1:15; Heb 1:3)—at the beginning of His way (before His works of old, i.e., before the creation of the universe the omniscient GOD purposed His Plan of creation, redemption, eternal salvation and it began to be manifested; Jn 1:1; Gen 1:1; Is 48:16; Col 1:17; & Prov 3:19 The LORD by wisdom founded the earth; by wisdom He established the heavens).

The NKJ translates Prov 8:22 as, The LORD “possessed” me. It may be better understood as, “The LORD created me (created in LXX, Syriac, Targum, RSV, NRSV, NEB, NJB; from the Heb qana; also purchased, recovered)” [TWOT, 2039; TDNT, III.1007]). The same word is used in Gen 14:19,22 in the title, the GOD Most High, the Possessor (or better, Creator, Purchaser, Recoverer) of heaven and earth. Qana, is used in Ps 139:13 in parallel with weave or knit:

(NJB) Ps 139:13 You created my inmost self, knit me together in my mother’s womb.

If I accept that Christ was a creation of His Father then I’m left with the thoughts that Prov 8:22 adds to the consideration, together with other references, that the LORD in His foreknowledge took His Son from among His brethren (Ps 45:7; Heb 1:4,9; 2:6-8; Ps 8:4-6) to create the manifestation of the Father’s Wisdom, to create the universe (Heb 1:2; Eph 3:9), and then, in His omniscience and foreknowledge, to cleanse and redeem things on earth and in Heaven (Col 1:20).

Prov 8 continues:

23 I have been established from everlasting, from the beginning, before there was ever an earth. 24 When there were no depths I was brought forth (i.e., before the creation of the universe Wisdom was brought into manifestation. Wisdom is eternal and without beginning, as is the Father), when there were no fountains abounding with water (The mystery of how spirit beings were created is perhaps greater than the mystery of how the incarnation was done. We know it was done by the Power of God, the Holy Spirit). 25 Before the mountains were settled, before the hills, I was brought forth (from chul, i.e., in birth as in NJB; see TDOT, IV.345-7; Dt 32:18; Prov 25:23; 26:10; Mic 5:3); 26 while as yet He had not made the earth or the fields, or the primeval dust of the world. 27 When He prepared the heavens, I was there, when He drew a circle on the face of the deep, 28 when He established the clouds above, when He strengthened the fountains of the deep, 29 when He assigned to the sea its limit, so that the waters would not transgress His command, when He marked out the foundations of the earth, 30 then I was beside Him as a Master Craftsman (i.e., the Son of Man, Jesus Christ); and I was daily His delight, rejoicing always before Him, 31 rejoicing in His inhabited world, and my delight was with the sons of men (Christ saw the purpose of the Father and wholeheartedly delighted in the future salvation being worked out; see Is 8:16-18; Heb 2:13).

GOD’s wisdom is integral to Him, so it is without beginning. The Father purposed that His Wisdom should be revealed through an executive agent. That had a beginning. It seems evident that just as the Spirit-inspired daily conduct of the saints is not well perceived until the Day of Visitation (see 1Pet 2:12), so likewise the manifestation of the increasing wisdom of God’s Son of promise is not fully perceived until the Second Coming or beyond. We tend to be slow to see and hear. The beginnings of the calling and the beginnings of the work of the Holy Spirit in any of the begotten children of the Father are also not well perceived. Please recall how Christ’s ministry with the apostles was poorly recognized—yet He delighted the Father! It would also appear that when it became clear to Lucifer that the Son of Man would eventually reign supreme under the Father it was then that his envy and lust were aroused.

Though Justin Martyr (114-165AD), one of the Catholic fathers, was already in doctrinal error so early after the death of John (about 98?), he expressed belief in Christ’s pre-existence. In his famous discourse with a Jew named Trypho, Justin said:

It is again written by Moses, my brethren, that He who is called God and appeared to the patriarchs is called both Angel and Lord, in order that this you may understand Him to be the minister to the Father of all things. …. I consider it necessary to repeat the words to you which narrate how He who is both Angel and God and Lord, and who appeared as a man to Abraham, and who wrestled with Jacob, was seen by him when he fled from his brother Esau (Dialogue with Trypho, LVIII; ANF, Vol 1; [Eerdmans, 1987]; pp 225-226). Justin refers to many scriptural examples of Christ’s pre-existence including Prov 8.

“I shall give you another testimony, my friends,” said I, “from the Scriptures, that God begat before all creatures a Beginning, [who was] a certain rational power [proceeding] from Himself, who is called by the Holy Spirit, now the Glory of the Lord, now the Son, again Wisdom, again an Angel, then God, and then Lord and Logos” … The Word of Wisdom, who is Himself this God begotten of the Father of all things, and Word, and Wisdom, and Power, and the Glory of the Begetter, will bear evidence of me, when He speaks by Solomon the following: ‘If I shall declare to you what happens daily, I shall call to mind events from ever-lasting, and review them. The Lord made me the beginning of His ways for His works. From everlasting He established me in the beginning, before He had made the earth’ (Dialogue, LXI; pp 227-228).

We continue with Prov 8:32

Now therefore, listen to Me, my children, for blessed are those who keep my ways (as taught by Jesus Christ). 33 Hear instruction and be wise, and do not disdain it. 34 Blessed is the man who listens to Me (Jn 10:16,27; 8:43,47; Dt 18:18-19; Acts 3:23; Heb 12:25), watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors. 35 For whoever finds Me finds Life (for Christ is the Life and Light of the world), and obtains favour from the LORD; 36 but he who sins against Me wrongs his own soul; all those who hate Me love death (cp. 1Jn 4:20-5:5).

The apostle Paul tells us, in Col 2:3, that “in Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge of God.” Oh how consistent this is with what Prov 8:22-36 reveals!

THE WOMB OF THE MORNING
“Scholars do not usually attribute sufficient importance to the fact that statements about the exaltation of Christ to the right hand of God [see Phil 2:9]… formally go back to this psalm,” i.e., Ps 110, so said Oscar Cullman in his Christology (pp 222-223). “We find [reference to Ps 110] in Rom.8.34; ICor. 15:25; Col. 3.1; Eph. 1:20; Heb. 1:3; 8.1; 10.12f.; IPeter 3.22; Acts 2.34f.; 5.31; 7.55; Rev. 3.21; Matt. 22.44; 26.64; Mark 12.36; 14.62; 16.19; Luke 20.42f.; 22.69” (p 223). All these verses speak of Christ being elevated to sit at the right hand of His God and Father just as the firstfruits will in the resurrection (Rev 3:21; Mt 19:28; & see Rev 21:7-14). With Ps 110:1 as probably the most quoted OT verse in the NT, we ought to look at its stunning context.

Ps 110:1-3 The LORD (Yahweh) said to my Lord (Adonai) [the Father is speaking to the Son], “Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool.” 2 The LORD shall send the Rod of Your strength out of Zion (i.e., the Father says He will send His Son out of Zion). Rule in the midst of Your enemies! 3 Your people shall be volunteers in the day of Your power; in the beauties of holiness, from the Womb of the morning, You have the dew of Your youth. 4 The LORD (the Father speaking of His Son) has sworn and will not retract, “You are a priest for ever of the order of Melchizedek.” 5 The Lord at Your right hand (i.e., Christ at the right hand of the Father) will shatter kings when His anger breaks out. 6 He judges nations, heaping up corpses, He breaks heads over the whole world. 7 He drinks from a stream in the Way, and therefore He holds His head high.

Our concentration needs to focus on verse 3 with its extraordinary words—from the Womb of the morning, You have the dew of Your youth. I’ll consider a number of translations. Leopold Sabourin, S.J., in The PSALMS, Their Origin and Meaning (New York: Alba House, 1974), says verse 3 “is notably difficult, possibly because the original text is not well preserved” (p 359). He proposes another scholar’s translation:

—(J. Coppens) Ps 110:3 To you the princely power on the day of your birth!
On the sacred mountains
from the womb of dawn like dew
I have begotten you (p 359).

—The LXX has: With You is dominion in the day of Your power, in the splendours of Your saints: I have begotten You from the womb before the morning.

—The NAB has: Yours is princely power from the day of your birth. In holy splendor before the daystar, like the dew I begot you.

—The NEB: At birth you were endowed with princely gifts and resplendent in holiness. You have shone with the dew of youth since your mother bore you.

—The NJB interprets it as: Royal dignity has been yours from the day of your birth, sacred honour from the womb, from the dawn of your youth.

In a short and difficult essay in the Journal of Biblical Literature (SBL; Vol 117/1, 1998; pp 93-98) William P. Brown (Union Theological Seminary, Richmond, Virginia), offers this translation (p 96):

—In holy splendor (On the mountains), out of the womb, towards the dawn go forth! Like (the) dew, I have begotten you.

Brown admits that “In holy splendor” could be translated as “On the mountains” for that is the case in 83 Masoretic manuscripts, as well as with Symmachus [who produced a Greek version of the OT about 170AD], and Jerome [who was asked by Pope Damascus to revise the Latin versions about 382; the Vulgate was the result]. On the mountains in Ps 110:3 harmonizes with Ps 87:1 (Canticle to Zion) founded by Him on the holy mountains (from Sabourin, p 212). Brown suggests that the Womb could refer to the Temple and/or Zion which is frequently cast in material images as, e.g., in Is 66:7-9 (see p 17 of this paper); Pss 84:4; 87:4-6 (also 87:7). The dawn connotes Divine presence, as in Hos 6:3; Is 60:1-3; and Dt 33:2-The LORD came from Sinai and dawned on them (also see 2Pet 1:19; Rev 2:28; 22:16).

It is nevertheless apparent that the Father reveals that He has begotten the Son. The poetical language used suggests that the birth is other than the one recorded in the Gospels through the virgin Mary.

COLOSSIANS 1:15-18
We are left with the thought, in view of the context of Ps 110, that Christ, the Son of God, existed before the creation (cf. Brown, pp 133-141), and had a pre-incarnate beginning. Does the NT indicate this? Paul’s epistle to the Colossians begins with a Christology that includes Christ’s subordination to His Father and with mediator and executive roles in establishing the Kingdom of His God and Father.

Col 1:1-3 gives characteristic NT greetings:

Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the Will of God, and Timothy our brother, 2 To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ who are in Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 3 We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you.

Col 1:12-14 continues with Paul’s understanding of the relational nature in the Godhead:

We give thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the Light. 13 He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the Kingdom of the Son of His love, 14 in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.

Col 1:15-18 brings verses together about which scholars argue endlessly:

He is the image of the invisible God (all mankind was made in the image of Elohim [Gen 1:26-27]), the firstborn of all creation (and the spiritually firstborn from among mankind, Christ and His brethren, are in His image; Eph 4:24). 16 For by Him all things were created that are in Heaven (This needs clarification, for if taken literally it contradicts Heb 1 and 2, which cannot be) For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers (At a later date I’ll show that this creation of spirit beings by Christ refers to His creation of organization in the angelic realm and according to the Father’s Will). All things were created through Him and for Him. 17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. 18 And He is the Head of the Body, the Church, who is the beginning, the firstborn (arche prototokos; a beginning firstborn?) from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.

Raymond Brown suggests possibilities which include: “Or he [Christ] could have been a deity before he took on flesh. And even in that last possibility he could have been brought into being by God the Father as the first born of all creation (see Col 1:15), or he could have been uncreated and with the Father forever” (Christology, p 4). “Does “firstborn of all creation” similarly imply [as Phil 2:6-11 does, Brown asks] that the Son was created first and then through him others? If so, this would be a preexistence dating back to the moment of creation. I Cor 8:6 speaks of everything existing through Jesus Christ but again leaves unsettled the idea of creational or precreational preexistence” (pp 135-136).

Murray J. Harris in his Exegetical Guide to the Greek New Testament — COLOSSIANS & PHILEMON (Eerdmans, 1991) presents specialized linguistic knowledge to interpreters. The phrase, the first-born of all creation (as in the NJB), is prototokos pases ktiseos in Greek. He says that “The “firstborn” was either the eldest child in a family or a person of preeminent rank. The use of the term to describe the Davidic king in Ps. 88:28 (LXX; =Ps. 89:27, EVV), “I will also appoint him my firstborn [prototokon], the most exalted of the kings of the earth,” indicates that it can denote supremacy in rank as well as priority in time” (p 43). Harris also comments that ktiseos means creation or creature, and pases ktiseos has the meanings every creature, every created thing, the whole of creation, all creation, supreme over all creation, or prior to all creation. And when considered with proto- the meanings may be begotten before all creation, or first(born) among all created things (pp 43-44). So Col 1:15, the firstborn of all creation, can mean that Christ was born, was begotten before the creation of the universe, and being the Son of promise, like Isaac, is firstborn of all the created beings in Heaven. The NT Greek does allow for this interpretation.

Having looked at numerous sources regarding some difficult questions dealt with in this and companion papers, I continue to be surprised that many scholars, though recognizing multiple meanings in vital phrases and words, are often insistent that meaning must be limited to their ideology and other views are excluded or dismissed with flawed arguments. James D.G. Dunn in his Christology in the Making is a prime example of this. Why can’t we allow Col 1:15 to have a number of meanings without them being mutually exclusive? For example, Jesus Christ was firstborn in a family (i.e., within the Council of God; see Eph 3:15 from whom the whole family in Heaven and earth is named). He is firstborn as Isaac was firstborn in Abraham’s family (Heb 11:17-19; Gal 3:29; 4:28-31). Jesus Christ was foreknown among His companions, as was Isaac, by the omniscient Father (Heb 1:8-9; Ps 45:6-7; Heb 2:6-8; Ps 8:4-6; 2:2,7-8). This Son of God, this Son of Promise, was recognized as the One who would become supreme over all creation, for He, by the Will of His Father, created the universe, was sent as the means of redemption of the creation, and will give all, when completed, to His God and Father, as 1Cor 15:24 & 28 unmistakably say.

Dunn devotes pp 187-194 to Col 1:15-20 and says:

“The basic movement of thought also seems clear enough — from Christ’s (pre-existent) role in creation [He otherwise strongly denies pre-existence except perhaps in a Philonian sense] (first strophe) [i..e., the first complete thought] to his role in redemption (second strophe), from his relationship with the old creation (protology) to his relationship with the new (eschatology). But whether these first impressions are wholly accurate will depend on what our exegesis of the main clauses and concepts reveals” (p 188). He goes on to ask the question whether “‘The firstborn of all creation’ (Col 1:15b)” refers to “Christ as a creature, the first created being (cf. v. 18b; Rom. 8:29, or to describe Christ’s sovereignty over all creation (cf. Ps. 89:27)” (p 189). He then says that “most modern interpreters” have opted for “first over creation rather than first created being” (p 189).

Though Jesus Christ is gathering sovereignty over all creation (for Satan is still the ruler of this world), He will give it all to His Father (1Cor 15:24,28). But do we notice that this scholar, a scribe and lawyer of the Scriptures (cp. Lk 11:44-54), admits to the simple flow of argument by Paul in Col 1:15-20? — Christ is the firstborn of all creation and is in the image of the invisible Father; all things were created through Jesus Christ (v 16; Heb 1:2); Christ is before all things, is Head of the Body, the Church; He is the beginning and firstborn from the dead (vv. 17-18); it is the Will of the Father that the fullness of the Plan of Salvation should be in Him and that He was the means of reconciliation of all things on earth and in Heaven through the blood of the cross (vv 19-20)?

REVELATION 3:14
Rev 3:14 uses a description that is as controversial as Col 1:15. The NKJ translates the verse:

Rev 3:14 And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, ‘These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God’(also KJV, RSV, NASB, Phillips, Rheims, Revised Berkeley Version).

James Dunn uses the key phrase as the NKJ does. He says it “probably alludes to Prov 8.22 - ‘The Lord created me as (or in) the beginning of his way” (p 297). Of course he cannot agree that it might mean what it really says in the light of so many other biblical references.

The encyclopaedic scholar and Bible translator, James Moffatt (1870-1944), believed Rev 3:14 means “the active source or principle of God’s universe or creation,” for supposedly, arche [as in Jn 1:1,2; Heb 1:10; 1Jn 1:1; Rev 22:13] is from Greek philosophy and Jewish wisdom-literature. Is it not more likely that John in using the word arche was also attacking pagan ideas associated with the word as is typical of the Jewish gnostic, Philo (see TDNT, I.479-480)? Moffatt nevertheless says: “John ascribes to him here .. that pre-existence which … has been predicated of the messiah in Jewish apocalyptic (cf. En xlviii)” (The Expositor’s Greek Testament [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, n.d.], Vol V, p 370). Some eminent scholars recognize that John and much of the NT were influenced by 1Enoch.

Moffatt was aware that 1Enoch speaks consistently of the Son of Man, the Chosen One, the Messiah, the Righteous One “as a preexistent heavenly being who is resplendent and majestic, possesses all dominion, and sits on his throne of glory passing judgment upon mortal and spiritual beings” (see 1En 48 and Pseudepigrapha, Ed., James H. Charlesworth [New York: Doubleday, 1983], Vol 1, pp 8-10).

The Interpreter’s Bible (Vol 12, p 396, [New York: Abingdon Press, 1957]) asks: “Does John think of Christ as Paul did when he described him to the church of Colossae as the “first-born of all creation” (Col. 1:15), through whom all things were created in heaven and on earth? Or is he using the words in an eschatological sense to designate Christ as the creator of the new age, the new creation which is to replace the old? It could be that he has both ideas in mind, for they are complementary, not mutually exclusive.”

Dunn makes the passing comment: “In Revelation we may compare Rev. 3.14 with Prov. 8.22” (p 166). The Greek for “‘the beginning of the creation of God’ (3.14) [he arche tes ktiseos] probably alludes to Prov.8.22 - ‘The Lord created me as (or in) the beginning of his way … It cannot be excluded altogether that the phrase [he arche tes ktiseos] means ‘the beginning of creation’ = the first created being (cf. Gen. 49.3 [Reuben is firstborn and the beginning of God’s strength]); Deut. 21.17 [the firstborn of an unloved wife is the beginning of the father’s strength]” (Dunn, p 247). Dunn sees the possibility in Rev 3:14, but would regard it as improbable, because he is avowedly trinitarian, that Christ pre-existed His incarnation and was created by His Father.

CONCLUSION
Scholars admit that the NT and early catholic fathers believed in the pre-existence of Jesus Christ. In 1925, theologian Sydney Cave, quoted a French scholar: “Ménégoz has argued that the writer [of Hebrews] sees in Christ a supernatural, and yet a created Being, and cites in proof of this the passages which seem to speak of Him as pre-existent, but not eternal” (The Doctrine of the Person of Christ [London: Gerald Duckworth, 1956], p 56).

In The Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society (31/1; March 1988), Larry Hellyer, in reference to Col 1:15-17, Rom 8:18-23, and Prov 8:22, says: “There [with respect to he ktisis = the creation in Rom 8:19-22] Christ is unambiguously declared to be the pre-existent mediator of all creation. As Martin observes [author of Lord and Liberty]: “If the pre-incarnate Lord was the agent of all creation, and pre-existed before everything, it leads to the conclusion that only God can satisfactorily account for Christ’s being.” (p 63). Hellyer concludes his essay with: “We thus conclude that in Col 1:15 the phrase prototokos pases ktiseos is predicated of [speaks of] the pre-existent Christ. Its thrust is to ascribe to him a primacy of status over against all of creation. This status is summarized by saying that he is God’s heir par excellence. The heirship is predicated upon [is the result of] his role in creation, preservation and teleology. Behind the predication [proclamation] lies Paul’s theological conception of Christ as the second Adam” (p 66).

“The predication of Christ as firstborn in the NT offers a challenge to Christologies ancient and modern. One cannot help being impressed by the scope of this title [prototokos; firstborn]. At his incarnation (Luke 2:7) Jesus is designated as Mary’s firstborn, an appellative connoting his consecration to God and possibly his rightful claim to the Davidic throne. By his glorious resurrection, in which he was victorious over sin and death, he has become the “firstborn from among the dead” (Col 1:18) and now exercises sovereign sway over his redeemed as the “firstborn from the dead” (Rev 1:5). As the head of a new, redeemed humanity destined in the eschatological transfiguration to bear the impress of his image, he is the “firstborn among many brothers” (Rom 8:29). But the conception moves not only forward toward consummation but also, in the thought of Paul, backward into the realm of protology (Col 1:17 [He is before all things]). In Paul’s view all creation finds its reference point with respect to the “firstborn over all creation,” “the heir of all things” (Col 1:15; Heb 1:2,6). Indeed, in the eschaton Christ is the integration point for all things (Eph 1:10). A Christology that falls short of this all-encompassing affirmation does not do justice to the Scriptural data” (p 67).

With the weight of evidence from earlier papers, the weight of so much Scripture in this paper, we are left with the conclusion that Jesus Christ had pre-existence within the heavenly realm as a Divine being before His incarnation and was, from the beginning, a wholeheartedly faithful Son, Servant, Lamb of His God and Father. Since Christ is not co-equal, and therefore not co-eternal with the Father, we must ask questions such as, “When, and how did the pre-incarnate Christ come to be?” The Father’s purpose for the Lamb was redemption and salvation; the timing was before the creation of the universe; and the means was incarnation for the One whom the Father chose from among the angelic host.

We have considered Scriptures which many scholars recognize as indicating a beginning. There is a beginning to pre-creational existence for the Son of God. Christ had a divine pre-creational birth, then an incarnational birth, His life of overcoming, and exaltation in resurrection. This process parallels human birth, the spiritual birth in baptism and a life of overcoming, then the exaltation of the firstfruits in their resurrection as a Kingdom of priests under the High Priest of GOD to whom all worship is directed.

We should see that just as the Son of God, the Son of Man, became the firstborn among many brethren (Rom 8:29), so the children in this world who are called, chosen and faithful, who have overcome as He overcame, become children of the Father through baptism and then resurrection at Christ’s return.

The last days’ rumblings of a revolution in Christology and in understanding the nature of the Godhead seem to have begun. The follies of trinitarianism and binitarianism, developed as schemes to alienate man from real relationship experiences with the Almighty GOD and His Christ (Ps 2:1-3,11-12), will become universally evident and religious animosities will reach a climax that will flood across the earth (see Rev 6:9; 12:17; 20:4; Dan 11:32-39; 12:7-13)—when a deranged world government will resist the establishment of Christ’s rule on earth (Jer 25:16; 51:7; Ps 2:10-12).

May the power and spiritual gifts of God, the grace and peace of His Christ be with all who seek His Will in all things—who walk as Christ has shown how to walk in the Way of Life.

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