V-20. Proverbs 8:22-31 Does NOT PROVE Jesus PRE-EXISTED! 

V-20. Proverbs 8:22-31 Does NOT Prove Jesus Pre-existed! 

The first rule of “interpreting” Scripture is that whatever “interpretation” that a Christian concludes that a passage of Scripture means then that “interpretation” MUST AGREE with the REST of God’s word. So then, IF a Christian “interprets” Proverbs 8:22-31 to mean that Jesus “LITERALLY” preexisted in the eternity past as a separate person from Almighty God the Father then that literal preexistence “interpretation” must agree with the “INTERPRETATION” of the New Testament verses of Scriptures that Jesus is the CREATOR of all THINGS. In other words, IF a Christian “interprets” John 1:1-3; Hebrew 1:2,3; Revelation 3:14; Revelation 4:11; Ephesians 3:9, and Colossians 1:15-17 to mean that Jesus is the CREATOR of the entire universe, then that “interpretation” must agree with the “interpretation” of Proverbs 8:22-31 as Jesus LITERALLY pre-existing as the CREATOR. And if those “interpretations” do NOT agree then they are NOT the CORRECT interpretations.

Let us take a close look at Proverbs 8:22-31 to see IF Jesus “literally” pre-existed and if Jesus CREATED the earth. And as you read this passage of Scripture I want you to pay close attention as to WHO is the creator, designer, planner, architect, and the one actually doing the creating. The Hebrew word of tetragrammaton “YHWH” translated as LORD in all capital letters refers to Yahweh, the ALMIGHTY God, who we as Christians know as the FATHER in the New Testament. I will emphasize all the pronouns that refer to Yahweh in orange and all the pronouns referring to Jesus in yellow. Other highlighted words are to draw your attention to them.

Proverbs 8:22-31.

“The LORD possessed me in the beginning of His way, before His works of old. 

23.  I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was. 

24.  When there were no depths, I was brought forth; when there were no fountains abounding with water. 

25.  Before the mountains were settled, before the hills, was I brought forth: 

26  While as yet He had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust of the world. 

27.  When He prepared the heavens, I was there: when He set a compass upon the face of the depth: 

28.  When He established the clouds above: when He strengthened the fountains of the deep: 

29.  When He gave to the sea His decree, that the waters should not pass his commandment: when He appointed the foundations of the earth: 

30.  Then I was by Him, AS ONE (Or as if I was one) brought up with Him: and I was daily His delight, rejoicing always before Him; 

31.  Rejoicing IN the HABITABLE part of His earth and my delights were with the sons of men.” 

Now, I myself did NOT see Jesus lift one finger to CREATE ANYTHING, according to Proverbs 8:22-31. It is Yahweh Himself who created the earth to be HABITABLE once again. Notice that Jesus was always rejoicing before Yahweh IN the HABITABLE part of the earth WHILE Yahweh had not YET restored the earth to be habitable. So I myself “interpret” Proverbs 8:22-31 as Jesus being in the MIND and PLAN of Yahweh BEFORE Yahweh ALONE and BY Himself recreated the earth that BECAME void and empty. Let us read Proverbs 8:22-31 again so we can look up some of the meanings of the Hebrew words so you can see that Messiah Jesus was PLANNED before the foundation of the earth and that God’s Son did NOT LITERALLY preexist. But rather, Jesus existed in the mind and plan of Yahweh to be brought forth into existence as the human Son of God at the virgin birth.

Proverbs 8:22-31.

“The LORD (Referring to Yahweh the Lord God Almighty, who we know is the FATHER alone) possessed ME (Speaking of Jesus. The word POSSESSED means acquired, bought, purchased redeemed, brought forth into existence, and formed His SON) in the beginning of HIS way, (All of these meanings of God ACQUIRING His SON teach us that Jesus not only had a BEGINNING but also they teach us that this passage of Scripture is PROPHECY of yet a future fulfillment concerning Jesus and NOT teaching us of a literal PREEXISTING Jesus. In other words, God acquired the THOUGHT of one day having a Son and God FORMED that thought within Himself as an IMAGE)  before HIS WORKS of old. (The meaning of the word “WORKS” here LITERALLY means PRECEDING His CONTRIVANCES of old. And this word contrivance means that God had His Son in MIND preceding His CLEVERLY DEVISED ingenious PLAN.  God’s cleverly devised ingenious PLAN of SALVATION was to have an INNOCENT MAN be SLAIN without cause so He could JUDGE Lucifer and the fallen angels and also redeem or buy back His creation called the HUMANS that He has not yet created PRECEDING the foundation of the world. 

You see dear children of God, creating a NEW species of being called the humans a little lower or inferior to His previous creation the ANGELS was so God could JUDGE the fallen angels. For you see, 1/3 of the angels had rebelled against God under the leadership of Lucifer who is now known as Satan or the Devil. And PART of God's ingenious plan is to prove that He created Lucifer perfect in all his ways. And thus, God will clear His own name for His own sake that was being defamed by the false accusation from Lucifer BLAMING God for Lucifer’s own prideful sin saying God created him evil and it was not his fault. Therefore, God has no right to destroy him. So then, God created an inferior species of being called the humans in order to JUDGE Lucifer and the fallen angels as GUILTY as charged. For you see, if an INFERIOR human can live without sin then that proves God created Lucifer and the fallen angels perfect in the day that He created them. Please read the study “UNDERSTANDING WHY?” for the BIG picture and all the verses that answer many, many questions Christians have such as WHY does God allow evil in the world? 

Please understand that this verse like all verses must be interpreted in the LIGHT of the WHOLE word of God and AGREE with the rest of God's word. If one interprets this verse alone and apart from the rest of God's word it may SEEM that Jesus was brought forth BEFORE the foundation of the world and was LITERALLY by the side of God as a SECOND person or being as God's Son. However, in the light of the WHOLE word of God which you will see that the correct meaning of this verse is that Jesus is God's FIRST DESIRE WITHIN himself to have a SON BEFORE God begins creating or preparing a PLACE FOR his Son, which is the restored world. You see dear child of God, it is like proud EXPECTING parents awaiting their unborn child that PREPARE a room for their YET COMING child)

23.  I was SET UP (This word has several meanings which are #1 God INAUGURATE His yet future Son or APPOINTED His human Son to be highly exalted to become a King of kings. And Yahweh ordained this in His MIND and PLAN) from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was. (Also, this word translated as set up in the King James Version also carries the meaning of being POURED OUT as a drink offering is poured out. So when we take this meaning and compare it to the Scriptures that teach us that Jesus is the LAMB that was SLAIN from BEFORE the foundation of the world then we can see that Proverbs 8:22-31 is a PROPHECY about a YET FUTURE fulfillment from the time it was SPOKEN by God. The word of prophecy was then written down by men of old who SPOKE these prophecies for generations. 

Now, we all KNOW that Jesus was NOT LITERALLY SLAIN BEFORE the foundation of the world. And in the same way, Jesus did NOT LITERALLY PREEXIST by the side of God BEFORE the foundation of the world. But rather, the SON OF God dwelt in God's MIND as an IMAGE WITHIN God before the foundation of the world. So then, it was AS IF His Son was BY his side where God had WITHIN Himself as an IMAGE of His yet FUTURE Son before the foundation of the world. You may not agree as yet to this interpretation of the Scriptures, so I ask that you please humor me as you continue to read these verses so you can see God as a proud parent EXPECTING His yet UNBORN child. At least try and see these verses as God preparing a place, the world, FOR or FOR the SAKE OF His yet future unborn SON, who is yet to be brought into existence at the time of this PROPHECY)

24. When there were no depths, I was BROUGHT FORTH; (The LITERAL meaning of this word “brought forth” means TRAVAILED as a woman in labor pains about to BIRTH a yet unborn child. This word also means to WAIT PATIENTLY or to look for. Again, the meaning of this Hebrew word teaches us that Jesus, the SON OF God, was still yet WITHIN Yahweh’s THOUGHTS who was anxiously AWAITING His Son to be brought forth or born of the Virgin Mary. And then, the FIRSTBORN from the dead would forever be God's ETERNAL Son by His right-hand side LITERALLY. 

So all these words teach us that Jesus was BEING brought forth into existence in the MIND of God as part of God's CONTRIVANCE to prove to Lucifer, the fallen angels and to the good angels that ALL that God creates is PERFECT and he has every right to judge Lucifer and the fallen angels. And all this is taking place in God's MIND BEFORE the re-creation of the earth that was destroyed or made waste in the WAR between God and the fallen angels who were trying to take over God's throne. Again, please read the study “UNDERSTANDING WHY?” for all the verses that show what I am saying about this war or rebellion of Lucifer and the fallen angels. But for now, please understand that God was TRAVAILING or if you will PREGNANT with His yet unborn SON) when there were no fountains abounding with water.

25. Before the mountains were settled, before the hills, was I  BROUGHT FORTH: (And even if you just use the meaning of the English words “brought forth” these words still mean that Jesus was brought into existence where he never existed before. So I interpret these words to means that Jesus was yet in the womb of God's MIND and deep DESIRE WITHIN Himself BEING FORMED as to how His yet future Son will be like. Either way, Jesus was brought forth into existence. Remember Exodus 3:14 where God says “I AM THAT I AM”? That verse  LITERALLY means “I SHALL BECOME WHO I AM BECOMING”)

26. While as yet HE (Almighty God) had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust of the world. (Now, the Christians who teach the PRE-EXISTENCE of Jesus also teach that Jesus HIMSELF CREATED ALL things. But, according to ALL the verses in the Old Testament, we can CLEARLY and PLAINLY see in SIMPLICITY that Almighty God Himself ALONE and BY HIMSELF created ALL things. Please read the study “EPHESIANS 3:9 DID JESUS CREATE ALL THINGS?” for sound Biblical teaching letting the Bible speak for ITSELF to clearly show that Almighty God HIMSELF created ALL things FOR or FOR the SAKE of His yet future SON Jesus just like Proverbs 8:22-31 is teaching us)

27. When HE (Almighty God Himself) prepared the heavens, I was there, (Meaning the Jesus was there in his THOUGHTS and DESIRES WITHIN Yahweh Himself as if His yet unborn Son was literally by His side while HE was PREPARING a place for ME. Remember that God is prophesying these words TO His yet future Son so that when the Son of MAN read these words he would know how much his God and Father LOVES him. To me, that is why this passage of Scripture is written in the first person as if Jesus was actually there speaking these words. Also, the Hebrew word translated as “there” comes from the root word “asher” that is used in Exodus 3:14 as the WHO or WHAT Yahweh SHALL BECOME. And, as you will see in a moment by the CONTEXT, Jesus was NOT actually brought into existence yet) when HE set a compass upon the face of the depth, (The LITERAL meaning of God setting a COMPASS upon the face of the deep is “INTO DELINEATE OF HIM”. This means that God is drawing out, sketching out, making a blueprint, designing WITHIN Himself in His THOUGHTS, and IMAGINING how He will prepare this place for His yet unborn SON. This word DELINEATE also means to PICTURE as WORDS or to PORTRAY in WORDS. To say this another way, God was PICTURING in His MIND within Himself by FORMING words WITHIN Himself to portray the IMAGE that was WITHIN Himself to bring it forth into existence. God kept adjusting the image until He formed the perfect image of His yet future Son, Yahweh’s yet unborn Son was the CENTER of this IMAGE that God had within Himself. God was designing a PORTRAIT of the IMAGE within Himself to CREATE)

28. When HE established the clouds above: when HE strengthened the fountains of the deep:

29. When HE gave to the sea HIS decree, that the waters should not pass HIS commandment: when HE appointed (DESIGNED or delineated in Himself ) the foundations of the earth: (Clearly, Yahweh ALONE and BY Himself created the earth. And, therefore, John 1:1-3; Hebrews 1:2,3; Ephesians 3:9; Colossians 1:15-17, and Revelation 4:11 must be interpreted to mean BECAUSE of Jesus the ALL of WHOSOEVER BELIEVE are CREATE by Yahweh IN Jesus Christ. Jesus is NOT the creator of the entire universe but God used His human Son, Jesus, as the means by which Yahweh reconciled the world back to Himself. Clearly, Jesus was in the THOUGHTS of Yahweh before Yahweh alone and by Himself restored the earth to be inhabitable once again. Please read the study “WHAT DOES THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD TRULY MEAN?”)

30. Then I was BY Him, AS ONE brought up with Him (Now these last two verse clearly teach us that this passage of Scripture is a PROPHECY of the future fulfillment of God's SON being brought forth into existence and that it was AS IF Jesus was by his side WHILE God was PREPARING the world FOR or FOR the SAKE OF His yet unborn Son. The Hebrew word translated as “BY” Him carries the meaning of JOINING Him. And the Hebrew word translated as “brought up” carrying the meaning of TRAINING up a child in the way he should go. And the words “with Him” are NOT in the original text. Also, please notice in the next verse that Jesus was REJOICING IN the habitable part of the EARTH that had NOT YET been created as yet, but was still yet in the MIND and PLAN of God WITHIN himself yet to be brought forth into existence) and I was daily His delight, rejoicing always before Him;

31. Rejoicing IN the HABITABLE part of His EARTH and my delights were with the sons of men.”

Again, these last two verses, verses 30 and 31, clearly teach us that Proverb 8:22-31 is a PROPHECY of God's yet coming Son because we see Jesus rejoicing in the EARTH that has NOT YET been CREATED. Or more precisely, we see the yet future Jesus rejoicing in the HABITABLE part of the RESTORED earth that BECAME void and empty during the WAR waged by Lucifer and the fallen angels which is WHY we are HERE. God created the human race to JUDGE Lucifer and the fallen angels. And ONLY those of us humans who BELIEVE unto the end will inherit the world to come WITH our fellow brother, Jesus.

Let us take an even CLOSER look at the LITERAL meanings of some of these words in these last two verses. The LITERAL translation of Proverbs 8:30,31 says the following.

The LITERAL translation of Proverbs 8:30,31,

“And I was beside him FOSTER CHILD and I was delectation day day one GAMBOLING to faces of him all of time.

31. One GAMBOLING inhabiting of earth of him and delectation of me the sons of humans.”

So then, ALL OF THE TIME WHILE God was PREPARING the world for His yet unborn SON Jesus, God was PORTRAYING or painting a portrait in His MIND PICTURING His yet future unborn SON GAMBOLING in the EARTH that God was still yet PREPARING FOR or FOR the SAKE OF His yet unborn FOSTER child DELIGHTING over His yet coming into being, unborn SON.

Let us consider the meanings of these words so we can see that PICTURE or portrait that God was painting in His MIND forming the IMAGE of what He DESIRED to BE brought into existence.

First of all, the word “beside” has another meaning other than being BY the side of God. When we consider the abundant GREAT JOY and delight that was WITHIN God picturing His Son yet to BE, then the English word “beside” can take on the meaning of being beside oneself, which means out of one's MIND with EXCITEMENT or anticipation having extreme agitation. Now, this meaning agrees with verse 24 of Jesus being brought forth as in God was TRAVAILING or birthing His Son WITHIN Himself. This word “travailing” also has the meaning of being extremely agitated with excitement, as in, shaking or vibrating with excitement. But the Hebrew word means to JOIN beside Him.

Next, we see Jesus as being a FOSTER child. The word “FOSTER” means to raise up a child that is NOT OF your own blood. And in this case, a child that is NOT own God's OWN DIVINE NATURE as yet. For you see, the first estate of Jesus was being made a little lower than the angels to be made a human Son of MAN. The word was made FLESH first and then the Son of Man, Jesus was GIVEN the divine nature of immortality AFTER the cross. You see dear children of God when Almighty God Himself brought His Son into existence God stripped His divine spoken word of ALL ITS DIVINE nature to take on HUMAN NATURE. Please read the study “WHAT DOES GOD INCARNATE TRULY MEAN?”  and “PHILIPPIANS 2:6-11 PROVES PREEXISTENCE!” for what the BIBLE ITSELF teaches and NOT what the mainstream churches teach. 

But for now, please know that Jesus did not take on the divine nature of his God the Father by becoming IMMORTAL until AFTER his death and resurrection which is when his God and Father GAVE His human SON Jesus immortality or eternal life, the same LIFE that the Father has always possessed in Himself. Please read the study “WHEN DID JESUS BECOME GOD'S ETERNAL SON?”. But again, for now, please read John 5:26,27 so we can stay focused on this study at hand.

John 5:26,27.

“For AS the Father HAS life IN himself; SO HAS He GIVEN TO the Son TO HAVE life in himself; 

27.  AND has GIVEN him authority to execute judgment ALSO, BECAUSE he is the Son of MAN.”

NOT because Jesus IS Almighty God HIMSELF, and NOT because Jesus is the SON OF Almighty God, but rather, BECAUSE Jesus was the Son of MAN. Let us get back on the topic of closely examining Proverbs 8:22-31 where we see God delighting over his Son. The root word from where this Hebrew word translated as “DELIGHTING” in the original text means to DANDLE. And the word “dandle” means to bounce up and down on one's knee, or to bounce in one's cradled arms that brought so much JOY and LOVE to God picturing His yet coming Son WITHIN Himself. God truly LOVED His yet unborn Son BEFORE the foundation of the world just as we read in John 17:24.

John 17:24.

“Father, I will that they also, whom you have given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which you have given me: for you LOVED me before the foundation of the world.”  

Human parents love their yet unborn children BEFORE they are born. So this verse does NOT have to mean the Jesus preexisted in order to be loved by his God and Father before the foundation of the world.

This excitement within God I can envision that he had for His yet unborn FOSTER son. Now, it was only during the days of his FLESH being the Son of MAN that Jesus was God's FOSTER child. God's ways are NOT our ways. To us, a foster or an adopted child can never be a biological child. But with God NOTHING is impossible. Jesus did not actually become God ETERNAL DIVINE Son until AFTER the cross when Jesus ascended into heaven and God gave to His human Son the divine NATURE of IMMORTALITY.

The only verse in the entire Bible that speaks of DIVINE NATURE is 1 Peter 2:14 where WE are given the promise to PARTAKE of the DIVINE NATURE, which is ETERNAL LIFE of IMMORTALITY.

2 Peter 1:4.

“Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these YOU (Or WE) might be partakers of the DIVINE NATURE, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”

Jesus says that God loves us because we have loved him and I have FELT the loving arms of God's presence giving me a big hug that overwhelmed me so much that I began to cry out loud trembling with joy, praise, and love for God. It was during a church service and I was worshiping God with my whole being and I did not want the worship service to stop. And when the singing and praise stopped then we all sat down. But WITHIN myself I kept on worshiping God enjoying His presence and that is when his presence INCREASED BEYOND what I had ever felt before.  I could literally feel His arms around me squeezing me, as if, He was giving me a HUG showing HIS excitement of my worship to Him. Please read the study “ALMIGHTY GOD LOVES YOU SO MUCH!”

I could talk all day about the presence of God but we had better get back to the study at hand. Then we see Jesus GAMBOLING in the earth. The word “gamboling” means dancing around skipping and playing in the EARTH that God has NOT YET prepared FOR or FOR the SAKE OF His yet future Son Jesus. And to me, the meanings of these Hebrew words clearly and plainly teach us that Jesus did NOT LITERALLY PREEXIST by his God and Father's SIDE as a separate divine eternal Spirit being in the eternity past. The topic at hand right now is whether or not the Word in John 1:1 is called God the SON who is CLAIMED to be the one who created ALL things by those who teach the doctrine of the Trinity, is the creator as they claim. In other words, the topic under discussion is NOT about if Jesus “preexisted” as a divine spirit being called the Word like the Jehovah’s Witnesses teach. All Christians who teach a “preexisting” Jesus ALSO teach that Jesus IS the CREATOR himself or that God the Father created the entire universe THROUGH or BY His PREEXISTING Son. And Proverbs 8:22-31 CLEARLY teaches us that Jesus did not lift one finger to create anything even if one INTERPRETS Proverbs 8:22-31 as Jesus LITERALLY preexisting.

So then, in TRUTH, we clearly see right here in this passage of Scripture that the DESIGNER, architect, builder, and CREATOR of all things is Almighty God Himself HAVING his SON in His MIND while Yahweh was doing all of this FOR or for the SAKE OF His yet future SON Jesus.

And thus, one can readily see from this passage of Scripture that Jesus himself is saying that Almighty God the Father was behind all that was created and that he, God's Son was there with his Father BEFORE the FOUNDATIONS of the EARTH as God's DELIGHT WITHIN God PICTURING this IMAGE of His yet future SON rejoicing before Almighty God IN the habitable part of the EARTH that had NOT YET been CREATED.

So clearly, to ME, Jesus as God's SON was with God at this time before the foundation of the world ONLY in God's THOUGHTS. For you see, HOW could Jesus rejoice before his God and Father IN the habitable part of the EARTH when the earth had NOT yet been created as yet EXCEPT in the MIND and the PLAN of ALMIGHTY God.

So you see dear children of God when Jesus said glorify me with the glory I had with you before the world began means one of two things. To me, that verse of Scripture can mean that Jesus was praying to his God and Father saying something like, “I am getting ready to go through a tough time very shortly, Father. And when I take on the sins of the world I know from your word that you are going to turn your back on me. So I pray that you glorify me to the glorious delight that you had for me in your mind and plan before the world began and that you PROPHESIED about me before I was ever BORN.” 

I myself believe that Jeremiah 1:5 is a PROPHECY of Jesus.

Jeremiah 1:5.

“Before I formed you in the belly I knew you, and before you came forth out of the womb I sanctified you, and I ordained you a prophet unto the nations.”

Not just to the one nation of Israel but to the NATIONS. You see, Jesus knew the Scriptures spoke of him. Jesus knew that he was the chosen one sent by Almighty God to become that sacrifice for mankind because the Spirit of God taught him morning by morning from the Scriptures. Jesus saw the END from the Scriptures but he still had to BELIEVE. And because of the JOY of being glorified and JOINING with Yahweh on His throne that was set before Jesus, he endured the cross for us knowing that his God and Father is FAITHFUL to perform His spoken word of PROPHECY. 

So then, because Jesus became obedient even unto death on the cross Almighty God HIGHLY EXALTED His human Son and GAVE him a NAME that is above every name. This is a NEW NAME which only Jesus knows for sure. But we can certainly take an educated guess from the Scriptures that the new name that Jesus was given after the cross is “Yah” a contraction of Yahweh. There is no other name higher than Yahweh and the name Yah is the second-highest name. Please read the study “WHAT DOES TAKE THE LORD’S NAME  IN VAIN TRULY MEAN?” 

This brings us to the other meaning of the verse in question where Jesus said glorify me with the glory I had with you before the world was. Some Christians INTERPRET John 17:5 to mean that Jesus MUST have preexisted as a second person of a Godhead Trinity God. They argue what else could that verse possibly mean? But when you give them ANTHER possible meaning they accuse you of changing the word of God to fit your own personal interpretation. So SOME Trinitarian Christians do not want to hear the TRUTH of the WHOLE word of Almighty God.

I pray that you are not one of those hardcore Trinitarian Christians that are unteachable to anything that goes against what they already have chosen to believe.

The TRUTH is that John 17:5 in the LITERAL Greek can be translated in a number of ways. First, let us read this verse again from the King James Version.

John 17:5.

“And now, O Father, glorify you me with your own self with the glory which I HAD with you BEFORE the world WAS.”

Please notice that I have emphasized three words. The word that is translated as “I HAD” is the Greek word “ECHO”, Strong's # G2192, which means to hold, to keep, or to be as a possession or as a condition. In other words, in the light of the rest of God's word Jesus is asking his God and Father to glorify him with the glory which God had promised and that God is holding in store for him as his reward for obeying all of His God and Father’s WILL even to die on the cross for the sins of the world. Thayer's Greek to English Lexicon defines this word to mean to have in store. Hebrews 12:1-4 teaches us that Almighty God set something that brought JOY in view before His human Son Jesus which gave His SON strength to ENDURE the suffering of the cross.

Hebrews 12:1-4.

“Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

2. Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who FOR (Or BECAUSE OF) the JOY that was SET BEFORE him ENDURED the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. (How many times have we faced hard times and kept the PROMISE of ETERNAL LIFE at the forefront of our minds to ENDURE through those hard times?)

3. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest you be wearied and faint in your minds.

4. You have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.”

Now, we as Christians have a PRIZE that is set before us to strengthen us to ENDURE unto the end that is RESERVED in heaven for us. So why is it so hard for SOME Christians to see that Jesus was simply praying and asking God to glorify his Son with the glory that was being RESERVED in heaven for him? 

The word that is translated as “BEFORE” can also mean “previous” and the word that is translated as “WAS” also means “TO BE”. Now, some Bible scholars interpret John 17:5 to mean that Jesus was asking to be glorified with the glory which Almighty God the Father was HOLDING IN STORE for his triumphant HUMAN Son to enjoy “prior to the world to come”. And this interpretation does agree with the truth of the whole word of God which teaches us that Jesus is in heaven NOW in his glorified state sitting at the right hand of his Father on his Father's throne BEFORE the world yet to BE. Please read the study “HOW DID JESUS PRE-EXIST?” which covers the verses of PROPHECY showing HOW Jesus became God's ETERNAL DIVINE, Son, one step at a time.

Below is a list of the studies I mentioned within this study along with all the other studies that I have related to this subject of HOW did Jesus PREEXIST. We all agree that Jesus pre-existed in some form so the question is not IF Jesus pre-existed, but rather, in what form as to HOW Jesus pre-existed in eternity past.