The Pre-Existence and Deity of Christ John 1:1-3; 17:5, 24

The story of Jesus begins long before He was born as a baby in Bethlehem. Because Jesus is and always has been God's Son, He existed before anyone or anything was created. John wrote that Jesus was with God "in the beginning" (John 1:2), which means before the world was created and before time began. When Jesus was conceived in Mary's womb, He was not created---He just moved from heaven to earth and changed His form into a tiny human being inside Mary's belly. It would be something like shrinking and transforming yourself into an ant in order to visit an ant colony.

Not only was Jesus with God in the beginning, but John also said that Jesus was God. There are three persons who, according to the Bible, can be called God: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus) and God the Holy Spirit. Jesus is just as much God as God the Father is God. We learned today that Jesus helped create everything that exists (see John 1:3).

We also read that Jesus prayed to God the Father just before He died, "Father, bring me into the glory we shared before the world began" (John 17:5). Before the world was created, Jesus lived in heaven, a place filled with God's glory, with His Father. What is God's glory? It is something like sunshine, only much brighter. It radiates from God.

The best part is that everyone who is a follower of Jesus will one day see God's glory in heaven, because Jesus requested that we would. He prayed, "Father, I want these whom you've given me [that includes us] to be with me [in heaven], so they can see my glory" (John 17:24). When we see Jesus one day in heaven, He'll be brightly shining with God's glory. The Bible tells us that His face will shine like the sun (see Matthew 16:27-17:2)!

Q. Where did God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit come from?

A. The answer is that They have always existed. They have no beginning and no end. That is hard for us to understand, but that is the answer. The reason we have difficulty understanding it is because most everything we know has a beginning and an end.

Q. Why did John call Jesus "the Word"?

A. The word word sometimes means "a message." For example, your teacher might say, "I have a word from our principal," meaning a message from the principal. Or you might hear someone on a TV show say, "And now a word from our sponsor," which means a commercial is coming with a message from an advertiser. Jesus is given many symbolic titles in the Bible, such as "Lamb," "Cornerstone" and so on, which all describe something He has done for us. Perhaps He is called "the Word" (or "the Word of God"; see Rev. 19:13) because Jesus was God's message to all people of the world. Isn't it amazing that God had a message prepared for all the people of the world even before He created anyone?

Application: Because we will one day live with Jesus in heaven and see His glory, we should live "in a manner worthy of the God who calls [us] into His own kingdom and glory"(1 Thessalonians 2:12, NASB).