Why do we read of only one?
As we read of Christ’s birth in Bethlehem and the successive events in His life, the gospel story presents a straightforward picture of how our salvation was accomplished. We meet a man prophesied in the Old Testament to be the Messiah, a man chosen from the beginning to make God known to the world. No one can read of the words he spoke and what he did without questions and wonder, true followers spending a lifetime growing in a fuller appreciation of the gospel.
While we may readily relate to his humanity, even though it surpasses our own, the deity so often attributed to him is a different matter. Is he God or man or both, a god-man, as so many believe? Is he the second person of the Godhead, that is, God the Son, equal with God and existing before his birth in Bethlehem? The Creeds state that Christ was begotten of God before the world began, which raises questions. So apart from other aspects of his deity, discussed elsewhere, let us discuss this issue of his “birth before his birth.”
Actually, scripture has nothing to say about this first birth, unlike the manifold detail about the one we celebrate on Christmas. yes"> No, this first birth of Christ as God is merely an assumption invented by theologians to answer scriptures inferring his eternality. It is beyond the purpose here to examine all these various passages and verses in detail. Instead, a brief examination of a few key scriptures hopefully will inspire you to pursue the study on your own.
Let us look first at the most influential verse of all--John 1:1“In the beginning was the Word, and the word was with God and the Word was God.” If the Word used here is limited solely to Christ at his first advent, the case for his pre-existence appears airtight. But is that necessarily so? It all depends on what is meant by the Greek word Logos, translated as Word. It is used in a diversity of ways but the most customary meaning, as defined in Strong’s Bible dictionary, appears to be a thought or plan and/or its expression. It may legitimately be regarded, as Israel apparently did, as the grand scheme of God from the beginning to the end of His creation, Christ being the centerpiece of it in the appointed time. God’s Word would encompass His total plan—the creation of the heavens and the earth, Eden, Adam’s sin, Lawlessness, The Flood, Babel, Abraham, Israel, Moses, the Law, finally the advent of Christ, his life, crucifixion, ascension, the Church, His return, the Tribulation, the Millennium, Final judgment and the new heavens and earth in the Day of God. Understood in this light, John 1:1 points more broadly to God’s plan to reconcile the world to Himself. Consider how it might be translated in this sense:
In the beginning was the plan, and the plan was with God, and the plan was God. [From the beginning, God’s plan was to reveal Himself by Christ, that He would be known by His Son. The plan could not be separated from God, and it spoke of his very essence revealed in his Son. He was in it every step of the way right up to the time of Christ on the Cross and beyond.]
(To better appreciate how the word Logos became more narrowly centered only on Christ’s first advent, a familiarity with the history of the early Church is imperative. It is essential to discover the impact that Greek culture and philosophy had upon theological thought of that day. Rather than to digress here, a brief review of the word logos is only a mouse-click away should you be interested.
When the Logos or the Word is understood in this broader light, other comments by Christ take on a new significance. For instance, John 17:5 “…the glory which I had with You before the world was.” Instead of referring to a glory he possessed in the past, his words can be seen to speak of the glory he knew had been prophesied he would receive after his finished work on the Cross.
Other verses in John’s gospel deserve a second look. Christ himself in John 3:13 claims to have “ascended to heaven.” Linked to this thought is a group of verses in chapter six that affirm he “came down” from heaven (see 6:31-33, 38, 41-43, 50-51, 58). Our first impressions must be that he surely had to have been in heaven before coming to earth, but we need to be careful about making snap judgments. Consider first John 3:13:
John 3:13 And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, [even] the Son of man which is in heaven. [Theologian Albert Barnes comments: “‘Which is in heaven’. This is a very remarkable expression. Jesus, the Son of man, was then bodily on earth conversing with Nicodemus; yet he declares that he is at the same time in heaven. This can be understood only as referring to the fact that he had two natures--that his divine nature was in heaven, and his human nature on earth. Our Savior is frequently spoken of in this manner.” Comp. John 6:62; 17:5; 2Co 8:9. As Jesus was in heaven—as his proper abode was there—he was fitted to speak of heavenly things, and to declare the will of God to man.]
Note that Barnes confirms the dual nature of Christ when he states, “his divine nature was in heaven, and his human nature of earth.” Does his remark not confirm that he was in living union with God the Father who indwelled his human nature? (Remember how in addressing Nicodemus, Jesus used not the singular “I” but the plural “we’ pointing to his union with His Father in heaven). We must be careful what we read into such verses that speak of “ascending to” and “coming down” from heaven. Most often heaven is regarded as a place, and surely it is rightfully described as such. Still, what is heaven? Is it not where God dwells? We are told in Acts 17:28 that “in Him we live and move and have our being.” Ephesians 1:3 and 2:6 speak of we believers being “seated in heavenly places.” In many verses, such as in Colossians 1, we are spoken of as having been risen with Christ. We might say any separation of ours from heaven is bridged by faith rather than by mileage. When in prayer we enter into his courts, we enjoy a bit of it here and now, though we look forward to one day dwelling there in new glorified bodies.
Of one thing we are convinced. There is no reason why Christ had to be God or exist before his birth in Bethlehem rather than in the mind and intention of God from the beginning. Note his own words such as in John 14:10 and others, as well as scriptures written of him such as II Corn. 5:19, “God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself.” Yes,to identify the man Jesus Christ as God is to risk separating our identification with him. His divinity arises not from himself but from God the Father who indwelled him as His Anointed.
Truly we can worship Christ as God, as we are commanded, because he is the express image of our Father (God incarnate if you will). As God’s Anointed, Christ is the firstborn of many brethren whose lives are rooted in him and share so much in common:
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We both have been born by the Spirit of God.
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We both are spoken of as ordained by God from before creation (I Pet. 1:20 and Eph. 1:4).
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We have been made one with God just as Christ was (John 17:21 and Gal. 2:20
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We are in Christ and he in us just as he was in the Father and the Father in him (John 14:10 and John 17:21-23).
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Believers will also be glorified (John 17:22).
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Just as Christ confessed his complete dependence upon God, remarking that he was “meek and lowly” so are we called to walk as he walked, that is, in a confident dependence upon his God and our God.
How do we relate to Christ? Is our eternal hope when we enter heaven to be like God or to realize the significance and wonder of our humanity gloriously revealed in Christ? “We know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.” (I John 3:2b). There we will meet our Lord and Savior who suffered for us on the Cross—still fully man though in a glorified body, ever praising God with us whom he is not ashamed to call his brethren.
Mistakes happen when we confuse Christ with His Father. Though they are one in purpose, they play separate roles in accord with their opposite natures. Each needs the other. Father/Son, Deity/Humanity, the sufficiency of the Father, the obedience of the Son unto whom is given all power and authority.
Study and meditate on the scriptures here presented and search out others that are related in a new light. Prove for yourself whether these things be so.