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The Pre-existant Jesus.
by Jack Earl When did your life begin? Was it at the moment of your first breath after birth? Or was it earlier while in your mother's womb. I think we would have to agree that it really began before birth. Not only was our heart beating, but we were able to hear the voice of our mother. For Jesus, life began long before He became a living being inside the womb of His mother, Mary. John tells us that "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning." (John 1:1,2) He uses the term "Word" because he was writing to a Gentile world that had a concept of this "Word" and he later identifies this "Word" as Jesus. John further describes this pre-existent Jesus as the Creator. "Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made." (John 1:3) Before His birth, Jesus was the all knowing, all powerful, all present God of the universe. It is important that we understand this fact to appreciate the great cost to Him to become flesh and make His dwelling among us. (John 1:14) Paul describes it in these words, "Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death, even death on a cross!" (Philippians 2:6-8) Think about this for a moment. This all knowing, all powerful, all present Jesus, temporarily gave up all his power and knowledge to take upon Himself the body and mind of a mere infant. In His earlier life, Jesus never had to sleep or rest or take a nap. He never had to fuel his body with nourishment or water. He never had to travel from one place to another. But when He took upon Himself a human body, He started out as an infant that needed His mother's care or He would have died. What a demotion! What a humbling experience! Paul prefaces this description of the humbling of Jesus by saying that is the way we are to be. "Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus, Who..." (Philippians 2:5) I was talking to a young man who was having trouble finding a job. I suggested to him that he should be willing to start at the bottom and take whatever was available even if it didn't have any prestige. I just happened to mention that he might even consider getting a job as a garbage collector. But he strongly objected to this suggestion with the comment that God would never expect a Christian to take such a lowly job. Well, he had apparently never read Philippians 2. Since then I have come across numerous Christians who have had a similar view. They looked upon themselves as king's kids deserving of the only the best. Anything less was beneath them. They had to have the best jobs, best homes, and best cars. This view is a far cry from the example of Jesus. Jack Earl is a retired Christian Bookstore manager, a graduate of Moody Bible Institute. He now lives in the Seirra Nevada Mountains in central California. He may be reached at [email protected] Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com |