The doctrine of the trinity insists that Jesus is one of three divine “persons” who have existed from all eternity. In fact, the idea that Jesus has existed forever is one of the foundations of trinitarian dogma. The Bible on the other hand tells a different story. Trinitarian creeds demand that you believe Jesus is co-eternal with God and did not have a beginning! Scripture says otherwise so what’s a believer to do? Well dear friend, you need to determine for yourself if Jesus has existed forever.
See for Yourself and Read With Your Own Eyes.
There is nothing in the Bible that says we must accept the archaic opinions of philosopher/theologians who lived in the distant past. We suggest that you read the sacred writ for yourself and while you’re at it you can think for yourself too! After all, the “church fathers” were just men who embraced Greek philosophy and then argued about how to apply it to the Bible. If we tested their Christianity with “by their fruits you will know them” most would fail miserably. They were far too eager to use the power of the Roman empire to banish or kill anyone who disagreed with their opinions and that doesn’t sound at all like the fruits of the Spirit.
What is a Beginning-less Beginning?
Some trinitarian theologians have proposed an “eternal begetting” or a “beginning-less beginning” for Jesus (whatever those things are supposed to mean). These non-sensical and totally incomprehensible ideas were invented in a desperate attempt to support the notion of three co-eternal persons in the Godhead and should not be taken seriously. The Bible presents a clear and understandable alternative to this kind of nonsense and also warns us to “beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit. (Colossians 2:8) If the Bible shows that Jesus did have a beginning the whole notion of His co-eternal status with God would go up in a puff of smoke and the mirage of the trinity would fade away. Once you discard the fanciful idea that Jesus had no beginning you will begin to see the Biblical message of One God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ emerge in glorious clarity.
The Beginning and Birth of Jesus
God prophetically declared to His Christ, “Thou art my Son, this day I have begotten thee.” (Psalm 2:7) God Himself described a beginning in time for Jesus Christ. This event came into focus when the angel Gabriel told Mary “The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Highest will overshadow you, therefore also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God” (Luke 1:35) When Christ was actually born an angel announced His birth to shepherds saying, “There is born to you this day in the city of David a savior who is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:11) These few verses alone reveal that Jesus was not an eternal being but had a definite beginning in time. Christ was in the plan of God from all eternity but his actual life began when Mary conceived and then gave birth in Bethlehem.
PS: Let’s give thanks that scripture offers clear and comprehensible teachings about God and Christ. This is truly a Mystery that God loves to reveal. All we have to do is look and we will see, seek and we will find. We’ll look at Christ’s pre-existence more in future posts. Please come back again and take a look. God Bless.
Copyright 2022 by Bob Shutes
I believe our understanding of God is limited by our inability to imagine His NOW/PRESENCE. God doesn’t LIVE in either past or future tense. And if His Son LIVES, He LIVES Eternally and He IS (in and made subject to His Father’s Spirit) both the Beginning and the End of all things that are affected by the passing and changing ages of time.
Temporal and visible things live with yesterdays and tomorrows…Eternal and Invisible things ARE. The body of Christ’s flesh is forever, but Only the Head of Christ IS Eternal. And isn’t that the miracle of the Son’s Incarnation…that we all may hope to grow up into His Head!
Dear Linda,
Thanks for visiting our site and for your thoughtful comments. God’s “NOW/PRESENCE” is interesting language and I have only a vague idea of exactly what you are trying to convey with it. I completely agree with your opening statement about our inability to imagine this quality (the eternality?) of God. I recall one trinitarian apologist (James R. White) writing “don’t think… in human terms, in a finite creaturely sense, but in an eternal, unlimited and timeless sense.” When I first read this suggestion I laughed out loud and wondered if the author gave lessons in how to do this. NONE OF US can do such a thing! It was essentially a useless piece of advice.
We believe that the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus and that someday we will put on immortality and experience eternality personally and directly. Until then we must confess that we see through a glass darkly and acknowledge that “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard and neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for them that love Him.” An interesting thought here is that our entering into eternity will have a beginning and we do not anticipate saying that as a result we have existed forever. Something akin to the notion that we will inherit everlasting life going forward into an endless future (or NOW) seems in order. We had no real existence in eternity past but lay claim to an eternity God will grant us at the resurrection.
God Bless.
In the beginning God “said” let there be light. In that nanosecond of creation, time and space began. God “spoke” and if we can wrap our heads around what that means, we may begin to unravel the confusion of the God/Jesus relationship. By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth (Psalm 33:6).
The question on the table is “has Jesus existed forever?” Scripture answers, “no.” Has even the Word of God” existed forever? Scripture answers “no.” Scripture states “in the beginning” was the word… neither before, nor after, but at the moment God “spoke.” His word came into being and through His word so did creation.
I wasn’t there in the beginning so hesitate to speak with too much certainty about the eternality (or in your view the beginning) of the Word of God. Honestly, can anyone even begin to wrap his/her head around how God spoke creation into existence? It is all too easy for believers to get emphatic about issues that are properly in the realm of “things that are secret” that belong to God alone. I recall one writer who advised Christians to think about God (in his view the trinity) in eternal and infinite terms instead of temporal and finite ways. WOW! Who except God Himself can possibly do that? I do know and am convinced that Jesus Christ’s actual life began when He was miraculously conceived and then later born in Bethlehem.
There are clues here and there about Jesus’ preexistence before his incarnate status. Numerous passages in the OT describe the angel of the Lord which we know as being Christophanies. But even more basic than that is that “in the beginning was the Word…,” “the Word became flesh,” and “Jesus is the firstborn of all creation….” Taken together these statements point to Jesus’ existence before he was born of a virgin, in the flesh. Jesus had a beginning. He is not coeternal with the Father. “In the beginning” refers back to Genesis 1 when God said, “Let there be light.” That’s when Jesus had his beginning which is why the scriptures describe him as the “light of the world.” Jesus was created by the Father as light out of the darkness, prior to the creation of the world. and subsequently, everything else was created through the agency of Jesus.
Col 1:16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.
Dear Stuart,
Thank you for visiting wonderfultheology.com and for your interesting response to “Has Jesus Existed Forever?” I noted and appreciate your comment that Jesus is not co-eternal with the Father. On this we are in full agreement. Your declaration that Jesus had his beginning when God said “Let there be light” seems like a novel and speculative assertion to me. While we may disagree about this point let me thank you again for visiting and sharing your thoughts with us.