Jesus claimed to have existed before he was born in the flesh. In his great prayer to the Father in John 17:5, he says, “Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.” This doctrine is often called the “Pre-existence of Christ.” Morey says, “While the concept of the pre-existence of Christ does not require the deity of Christ, the deity of Christ does require the pre-existence of Christ. If His pre-existence is eternal, then His deity is established.” The Jews rejected Jesus on the basis of His claims, but they should have noted that the Messiah of the Old Testament was supposed to have been pre-existent.
We all know the Christmas passage in Micah 5:2 regarding Bethlehem. It says, “But as for you Bethlehem Ephrathah, too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you One will go forth for Me to be the ruler of Israel. His going forth is from long ago, from the days of eternity.” This Messianic prophecy not only says Jesus will be born in Bethlehem, but it also claims that he existed before, from the days of old. Although in his humanity, Jesus was born in Bethlehem according to the prophecy, the passage also teaches that as to His deity, he eternally existed. Commenting on John 1:1, “in the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God,” Fruchtenbaum points out, “According to this verse, the Son existed in the beginning with God the Father. In other words, as long as God has existed, so also the Son has existed. Since God the Father has existed from all eternity, therefore, the Son must have existed from all eternity as well. John 1:1 is clear evidence that some of the cultic teachings, which claim that the Son was created by God the Father, are wrong. The point of John 1:1 is that as long as the Father has existed, which has been for all eternity, that is how long the Son has existed.”
The eternality of Jesus, though a lofty theological issue, is far from irrelevant to our daily lives. It is a central theme that forms the bedrock of hope for the true believer. Jesus’ existence throughout the past ages and his assurance of existence in all future ages is a source of profound comfort. As Morgan aptly puts it, “Jesus Has Changed the Way We Look at the Future. Humans have been made for hope. Death always appears as an enemy. The prospect of life that ends is alien to us because we were designed for eternity. Hope is, therefore, a part of our makeup. But the Christian alone has reason to believe in a blissful future. The reason is Jesus Christ.”
Martin Lloyd-Jones says, “Because of certain exaggerations, excesses and freak manifestations, and the crossing of the border line from the spiritual to the scientific, the political and the merely emotional, there are many people who are afraid of the doctrine of the Holy Spirit, afraid of being too subjective. So, they neglect it altogether. I would also suggest that others have neglected the doctrine because they have false ideas with regard to the actual teaching concerning the person of the Holy Spirit.”
When Jesus discussed His departure with His disciples, He made a promise to them—and to us as well. First, He said in John 14:1, “Let not your heart be troubled…” Then, in John 14:16, He told them that the Father would send someone to them who would fill the void of His absence. He would petition the Father, and the Father would “give you another Helper, who will abide with you forever.”
Even the most stupid of us have 20/20 hindsight. We often see our mistakes and wish we could do things over. Many of my problems in life come because I act too rashly and don’t think through the implications of my actions. And then, most often, I know I should have done things differently or not at all. Well, as Alexander Pope said, “To Err is human.” But to “make matters worse” is another human specialty. I can do that well. We’re usually better off just not doing anything. I had a friend once who said, “God and six months will take care of every problem you have.” When we act ourselves, we usually just make matters worse. Sarah and Abram learned all about making mistakes and then making matters worse. That’s the lesson we learn from Genesis 16:1 and following.
In Genesis 14, Abraham found himself in a war with neighboring tribes. Despite the odds, he managed to form a coalition that not only defeated the enemy but also freed the captives, including Lot and his family. However, this victory came at a cost. It left Abraham at odds with many of his neighbors. The situation was tense, and Abraham realized that if they were to come for him alone, without his allies’ support, he’d be in grave danger. He was afraid of the potential consequences. Adding to his worries was the fact that he had offended the King of Sodom. The King of Sodom wanted to share the spoils of war with Abraham, but Abraham refused. He did not want to be identified with the Sodomites. This could have potentially alienated Abraham from both his enemies and his allies.
Genesis 12:1-4 recounts the moment when God called Abraham to leave his life in Ur and journey to a new land that God would bestow upon him and his descendants. The essence of this call is simple: ‘Just trust me!’ God pledged to bless Abraham, to make him prosperous, and to bless his descendants. He vowed to make Abraham renowned throughout the world in every generation. He also promised to bless those who bless Abraham and to curse his enemies. All Abraham had to do was trust in God! This same call to trust God is extended to us. He says to us, ‘Just trust me!’
The citizens on the plains of Shinar built a great city and a tower to reach up into heaven. Genesis 11:5 tells us that God “came down to see the city and the tower.” Here again, God speaks to us in human terms. It’s a figure of speech called anthropomorphism. God didn’t literally come down because He’s everywhere! It’s used to arouse attention to the fact that as man wanted to reach God’s abode, heaven, no matter how high he might build God would always have to look down upon it. Boice says, “Here were men attempting to build a great tower. The top was to reach to the heavens. It was to be so great that it and the religion and defiance of God it represented would make a reputation for these citizens of Shinar. There it stood, lofty in its unequaled grandeur. But when God wants to look at it, he comes down. He has to stoop low to see this puny extravagance.”
I’ve spent some time searching for Jesus in the book of Genesis. I’ve reached Chapter 11, where the events on the plains of Shinar take place. The people attempted to work their own way to heaven by building this huge tower called the Tower of Babel. You glean their intentions from their comments. They say, “Come, let us make bricks…” Then again, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heaven” (Genesis 11:1-4). It’s let us, let us. We learned that although Noah built an ark, he did it after God’s design and at God’s instruction. It was a response of Faith in God and trusting His word about the coming judgment and the provision for escape from that judgment. Although there is nothing wrong with building anything, cities or towers included, the heart’s intentions matter most to God.