Did Jesus Christ walk this earth before He was born?
I
would like to premise what I share with this statement. Many believe God
is 3 persons. If you hold to that view your going to get a different
answer than what I will share.
I believe there is only one "person" of God and His name is
Jesus. I use "person" loosely because even scriptures do not
refer to Him as such, but as an invisible (Col. 1:15) Spirit (John 4:24)
without flesh and bones (Luke 24:39).
The question is somewhat tricky because you ask, "Was Jesus Christ walking
the earth before He was born?" Well you just said He was born, so if I
interpret what you mean as His humanity, His manifestation in the flesh,
then I would say no. The manifestation of God in the flesh as we know Him
in history, never walked the earth beforehand. For It is Written...
quote:
Galatians
4:4,5 -
But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth
his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them
that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.
"The
fullness of time," is a term used by God in the scriptures to mean
"at the appointed time" or "at the scheduled time".
Which means He already knew beforehand when He would manifest in the flesh
in man's history. The Son is a term God used to designate His
manifestation in the flesh. Why did God do this? His whole plan was to
redeem His children who were under law, to live by faith in Him.
To give a better understanding of what I am sharing, also understand that
Jesus Messiah, had two natures that cannot be denied. He was both fully
(100%) God, because of the Spirit which indwelt Him, and fully (100%) man,
because of the flesh and bones that housed His Spirit.
{This belief of "100%
God and 100% man" or "dual nature" has actually been refined and corrected
since this dialogue took place. I'll share this in another writing.}
When you read the scriptures you must determine, when its talking about
Jesus, whether it is referring to His flesh (humanity - man) or is it
referring to His Spirit (Deity - God). When Jesus' is speaking, is He
speaking as man or as God?
quote:
Colossians
2:9 -
For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
He had a dual nature unlike anything we have or could ever experience. He
was both God and man. Never in history before "the fulnes of
time" did God enrobe Himself as man the way He did in Jesus Messiah.
The man of Jesus Messiah did not exist before His incarnation as the Son.
However, the Spirit, who was God, that indwelt the body, always existed
before the foundations of the world.
A suggestion: search the scriptures and share with us where it uses
these words "eternal son" or "God the Son". I
happen to think you will find that these words and terms are never used in
scripture, but everyone uses them as if they were there.
quote:
Colossians
1:15 - Who is the image of the invisible God,
The
Son was the image, stamp in the flesh, of the invisible God. In
other words, Jesus was the physical expression of the invisible God; the
express image of His person - the character of His substance (Hebrews 1:3)
The Son was made of a woman (Galatians 4:4), the Son was begotten (John
3:16), the Son was born (Matthew 1:21-23; Luke 1:35), the Son suffered
(Matthew 17:12), {interesting note: a person can blaspheme against the Son
(referring to His humanity) but cannot against the Spirit and be forgiven
(for now you are referring to Deity) Luke 12:10}, the Son was crucified
(John 3:14, 12:30-34), and the Son died (Matthew 27:40-54, Romans 5:10).
When Jesus died on the cross, His body died, His divine Spirit never died.
Some believe God died. What an impossibility when you sit back and think
about it. The Son of God died, referring to His humanity, not His Deity.
The word "begotten" means to procreate, to father, or to sire.
Its very meaning indicates a point in time - the point when conception
takes place. The father must always come before the offspring. There has
to be point in time where the offspring doesn't exist and so it is with
the Son, until the appointed time of His existence. If this is not true,
then begotten really has no meaning and God should have never used it. But
He did, so consider His own choice of words.
The role of the Son began when this child was conceived in Mary by
the Holy Spirit - God the Father. Notice what Gabriel said to Mary:
quote:
Luke
1:35 -
And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come
upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall
overshadow thee: therefore
also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the
Son of God.
"...shall
be called the Son of God" is future tense, meaning the Son of God had
yet to exist.
In Daniel 3:25 it says, "like the Son of God", not "the Son
of God." Again, He had yet to exist as the Son of God.
To Flannel Avenger: what you are reading is what many consider a theophany.
I know it's not in the Bible, but I simply use the word to give you
understanding to communicate. It means a visible manifestation of God. The
one invisible God, being omnipresent, can manifest Himself at any time in
any shape or form He chooses and has done so several times in the Old
Covenant. However, He had never incarnated (or was ever birthed) as a man,
enrobing Himself in the flesh, until the conception of Jesus the man.
Many thoughts and ideas were paraphrased from David Bernard's book The Oneness of God.
Last Edited: 11/02/2010