In speaking of Christ’s pre-existence, we will see together five aspects of his pre-existence: his position on creation; his creative power; his providence that controls everything, his presence in the Old Testament and his pre-eminence over all things.
The pre-existence of Christ is part of the foundation of the Christian faith on which all other doctrines depend. It is a necessary reality to believe in the divinity of Christ. It is so fundamental that its rejection affects the rest of Christology (the doctrine Christ) and the total understanding of salvation history.
The Gospel of John begins differently from the others. From the beginning he presents a pre-existing Jesus (The Word): “In the beginning was the Word”. This beginning does not refer to Genesis, but well before the creation of the world. It refers to Eternity. Jesus has always existed.
By virtue of this, we must observe three things with regard to His position above all creation. First, Jesus is the revelation of the invisible God. Look at John 1:18, “No one has ever seen God.” He’s invisible. But Jesus revealed Him: “He who has seen me h”as seen the Father” (John 14:9). “To the King of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God” (1 Tim. 1:17). God is invisible, but Jesus presented him to us as he is. Jesus is God to us. “He is the image of the invisible God” (Col. 1:15). Second, He is the complete representation of the invisible God. Hebrews 1:3 clearly states that Jesus is: “radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being”. Another translated version: The exact reproduction. The third thing about His position above all creation is that He is the very reason for creation. Why was the creation created? Because God needed to love someone? No, God is not alone, he is one in three, and love reigns within the trinity and fellowship within the trinity is perfect. No, the Lord created us for his own good pleasure. He created us so that we could glorify God and enjoy His person.
Colossians 1:15 says that Jesus is “the firstborn of all creation.” What does that mean? Does this mean, as Jehovah’s witnesses who, refuting the doctrine of the trinity, say that Jesus is a god created by God? No, of course not. Let’s try to understand what Paul is saying. The word “firstborn” is the word ‘prototokos’ in Greek, and is used nine times in the New Testament. This word does not have the same meaning as when we say nowadays: “I am the first born of the family”, which is another way of saying that you are the eldest child. But this is not the meaning of ‘prototokos’, which takes on a completely different connotation for us when we read Romans 8:29, where Jesus is called “the firstborn among many brothers”, namely the believers. ‘Prototokos’ does not speak of temporality but of position. That is, He is the most important. No one takes his place, and that is why God says: “May all the angels of God worship him”. The Bible says that the one who is at the head of the Church is the firstborn, namely the first of the NEW creation. For Jesus, in a way, by rising from the dead became the first to be ‘born again’. He is pre-existing to any creation in this world, but as far as the New Creation is concerned, He is considered the firstborn, that is, the most important, the one who has paved the way for each of us. The concept of the firstborn is also a transferable title. For example, God says of David that he will make him “the firstborn (Psalms 89:27), the highest of the kings of the earth”. Note: ‘highest’. David was not the eldest son of his family. He was actually the last one. But God says he will make him the highest of kings. This is what it means to be the firstborn of all creation.
There is only one person who leads to the father, namely Jesus Christ
So, what do we learn from His position on creation? He is the revelation of the invisible God. Through his position on creation, he declares, shows and reveals who God is, because God is invisible. For us, God has become visible in Christ to show who God is. Second, He is the complete representation of the invisible God. It is by virtue of his privileged position as God’s representative that we must not look elsewhere, as some think, by saying that all religions lead to the father. No, all religions lead to God in the sense that all religions will one day be accountable to God on the day of the last judgment. But there is only one person who leads to the father, namely Jesus Christ. In the end, it is the context that always determines the meaning, and when the Bible says that Jesus is the firstborn of all creation, it speaks of his pre-eminence, his position of authority and superiority over it. Again, we know that this is the case because Colossians, 1:16 says that he is the creator of all things.
Everything is found in Christ. The final message of the Bible is that when you come to Jesus, you have found the Father. “All the fullness of God dwells in Him.” When you honor Jesus, you honor the Father.
