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DOES JOHN 1:15 PROVE JESUS PREEXISTED?
Let us begin this study in God’s word by reading John 1:15 out of its context first to see how some Christians INTERPRET this verse to mean that Jesus preexisted as God the Son, the second person of a Trinity Godhead. And then we will read it in its context to see what this verse means in relation to its context.
John 1:15.
“John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that comes after me is preferred before me: for he was before me.”
This last phrase “for he was before me.” is INTERPRETED By Some Christians to mean that Jesus EXISTED BEFORE John the Baptist was born, as in, Jesus preexisted in eternity past. We know that Jesus was miraculously conceived in the womb of the Virgin Mary six months after John the Baptist was naturally conceived in the womb of Elizabeth. So we can safely assume that John the Baptist was born before the Virgin birth of Jesus. And since John the Baptist was born before Jesus was born, then Trinitarian Christians claim that this verse means that Jesus PREEXISTED in all eternity past as God the Son. Their line of reasoning is how else could Jesus be BEFORE Jesus if John the Baptist was BORN BEFORE Jesus?
But is this a correct interpretation of John’s words? What else does John say in the context?
Well, in this verse John is telling us exactly what he means by saying Jesus was BEFORE him where John said that Jesus is PREFERRED before him.
Please read John 1:15 again.
“John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that comes after me is PREFERRED BEFORE me: for (Or BECAUSE) he was before me.”
The Greek word “ginomai” translated as PREFERRED means to cause to be, that is to become, come into being, to bring to pass, to arise, be ordained to be, and to be fulfilled.
In other words, John is saying that this MAN of whom John spoke of earlier was PROPHESIED in Scripture as being ordained to be ABOVE me, speaking of himself, this messenger, John the Baptist.
There are two different Greek words translated as “before” in this same verse. The first Greek word “emprosthen” which is Strong’s #1715 means in front of, in place or in front of in time. And in this context, we can clearly see it means in front of IN PLACE or in position. And the second Greek word translated as before is “protos” which is Strong’s #4413 and it means foremost in time, in place, in order and foremost in importance. It is translated 86 times as FIRST, 10 times as CHIEF, 2 times as BEFORE, 2 times as former, 1 time as BEST, 1 time as CHIEFEST.
The other time that Strong’s #4413 is translated as “before” is in John 1:30 where John is still speaking on this same subject of the Son of MAN, Jesus, being PREFERRED before John the Baptist himself.
John 1:30.
“This is he of whom I said, (Or this is he whom I have been preaching about who would be coming saying) After me comes a MAN which is PREFERRED BEFORE me: for he was before me.”
John 1:15 is saying that same thing.
“John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that comes after me is PREFERRED BEFORE me: for he was before me.”
Only this time in verse 30 the Son of MAN, Jesus, is right there for everyone to SEE with their own eyes. The MAN whom John the Baptist had been witnessing to them that he was coming to be their Messiah, the LAMB, that would be slain for their sins. Jesus was slain in the mind and plan of salvation of God BEFORE the foundation of the world.
What we see here is that John had been teaching his followers of a MAN, who would be coming, who was PROPHESIED to come, to be who is ordained of God to be ABOVE him and therefore John must DECREASE and the prophesied one to come, must INCREASE ABOVE John the Baptist. That is what the CONTEXT is teaching us. In other words, the correct interpretation of the word "before" is that Jesus is before John is POSITION of honor.
Please read John 1:25-37.
“And they asked him, and said unto him, WHY baptize you then, if you be NOT that Christ, nor Elijah, neither that prophet?
26. John answered them, saying, I baptize with water: but there stands one among you, whom you know not;
27. HE it is, who coming after me is PREFERRED BEFORE me, whose shoe's latchet I am NOT WORTHY to unloose. (For he was before me, in that, God has ordained him to be ABOVE me.)
28. These things were done in Bethabara beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing.
29. The next day John SEES Jesus coming unto him, and said, Behold the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world.
30. This is HE of whom I said, (Or this is the MAN that God told me to bear witness of that would be coming after me and that I was to decrease and point my followers to now follow HIM saying to you) After me comes a MAN which is PREFERRED BEFORE me: FOR (Or BECAUSE) he was before me. (Or he was PROPHESIED or he was told to me, by God, that he was ORDAINED by God to be the LAMB of Almighty God who would be slain for the sins of the world. So then, the clear simply meaning of both Greek words that are translated as before is ABOVE me. You See, John the Baptist also said of himself, I must DECREASE while HE must INCREASE.)
31. And I knew him not: but that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water.
32. And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him.
33. And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom you shall SEE the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizes with the Holy Ghost.
34. And I SAW, and bare record that this is the Son of God.
35. Again the next day after John stood, and two of his disciples;
36. And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he said, Behold the Lamb of God!
37. And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.”
So then, according to the CONTEXT, John the Baptist is NOT teaching a PREEXISTING God the Son but rather John is simply testifying that God told him that a MAN was coming after him who God ordained to be ABOVE John and that John was to preach about God’s MESSIAH who was PROPHESIED in Scripture to come. John was told by God that he must DECREASE and point his disciples to Jesus who must INCREASE. And that is exactly what John the Baptist did.
Please read John 3:29-36.
“He that has the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled.
30. He must INCREASE, but I must DECREASE.
31. He that comes from above is ABOVE ALL: he that is of the earth is earthly, and speaks of the earth: he that comes from heaven is ABOVE ALL.
32. And what he has seen and heard, that he testifies; (Referring to Jesus being given visions and hearing the voice of the Holy Spirit to speak only what Yahweh tells him to speak) and no man receives his testimony. (BUT)
33. He that has received his testimony has set to his seal that God is true.
34. For he whom God has sent speaks the words of God: for God gives not the Spirit by measure unto him.
35. The Father loves THE Son, and has given all things into his hand.
36. He that believes on THE Son has everlasting life: and he that believes not THE Son shall not see life; (In other words, we must believe and OBEY whatever Jesus teaches us in the New Testament under the NEW COVENANT or we shall NOT be given eternal life in the world to come) but the wrath of God abides on him.”
Now the ONLY reason for why anyone teaches that Jesus PREEXISTED in eternity past is to try and prove that Jesus IS the ONE TRUE and ONLY ALMIGHTY God HIMSELF. But it goes deeper than this. You see, both Trinitarians and Oneness Christians seem to be compelled to try and prove that Jesus is Yahweh HIMSELF. To me, there seems to be a spirit of lording over others. I say this because both Trinitarian and Oneness Christian claim that they have the ONE TRUE faith. And if YOU do NOT believe that Jesus PREEXISTED and that Jesus IS Yahweh himself then YOU are NOT saved.
Now, IF SO BE this was true then WHY do we not see verse after verse in the Bible ITSELF teaching us this so-called Trinity truth or the so-called Oneness truth in SIMPLICITY? I mean IF our very salvation depends on us believing that Jesus IS the ONE TRUE and ONLY ALMIGHTY God HIMSELF having two natures at the same time then why does the Bible ITSELF NOT state this in SIMPLICITY.
To say this another way, WHY does the BIBLE ITSELF STRESS over and over that we must believe that Jesus is the SON OF the ONE TRUE and ONLY ALMIGHTY God who is ALWAYS clearly identified as being the FATHER, if so be, that we must believe that Jesus is Almighty God himself in order to be save?
Please read John 17:3 and 1 Corinthians 6:8 where the FATHER is clearly identified as being the ONE TRUE God and Jesus is clearly identified as our Lord whom God sent.
John 17:1-3.
“These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify your Son, that your Son also may glorify you:
2. As YOU have GIVEN him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as you have given him.
3. And this is life eternal, that they might know YOU the ONLY TRUE God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.”
The Greek word that is translated as sent here also means to COMMISSION. And the word commission means to GIVE POWER and AUTHORITY to someone in order for them to accomplish the task that they are given to do. But my focus right now is to get you to see that it is almighty God the FATHER that is always identified as the ONLY TRUE God. Jesus HIMSELF clearly teaches us this sound Biblical TRUTH right here in John 17:1-3. And he must have made this truth blatantly clear to his disciples as well because they continue to teach the same thing that the Father is the ONE God all through the New Testament of the Bible.
Please read 1 Corinthians 8:6.
“But to us (Speaking of as Christians) there is but ONE God, the FATHER, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.”
So then, Jesus HIMSELF clearly identifies the ONE and ONLY TRUE God as being his God and Father. And then the disciples of Jesus continue to teach the same thing by clearly identify the FATHER as being the ONE God. But then the council of Nicea came along and said NO, this is NOT what the Bible teaches, according to the way that WE as Trinitarian Christians interpret the Bible. And the Christians contended with each other for hundreds of years over what does the SON OF God truly mean? And it took centuries to form what we know today as the doctrine of the Trinity.
You see at first, the second centuries Christians were only contending about what the term the SON OF God truly means. They had not yet considered the Holy Spirit as to WHO IS the Holy Spirit. So at first, they were only trying to figure out if the term the SON OF God means the ADOPTED Son of God, or if the term the SON OF God means the literal Son of God. And then THEY decided that if it means the literal Son of God then that must surely mean that Jesus is of a divine nature? And thus, they concluded that all Christians who believe that Jesus is the ADOPTED HUMAN Son of God are heretics. BUT, in truth, the Bible ITSELF teaches us that Jesus is a human adopted Son of God who was highly exalted and GIVEN the divine nature of immortality AFTER the cross.
It was not until a brother in the Lord name Tertullian came along that the term Trinity was first used by Christians. Then over the next two hundred years, the doctrine of the Trinity was formed. And here is what the Romans Catholic Church defines their doctrine of the Trinity to state. There is but the one true God who is THREE separate distinct persons, in the one Godhead. And these three persons in the one God are God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. And these three separate distinct persons in the one true God are co-eternal and co-equal.
And according to the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church, the term co-eternal means that none of the three persons of the one true God ever had a BEGINNING. And the term co-equal, according to the teachings of the Roman Catholic, means that none of the three persons of the one Godhead is greater than or less than the other in any way. They are all fully the Almighty God.
And then the Roman Catholic Church decreed that ALL Christians are to SUBMIT to THEIR Trinity doctrine or be called a HERETIC. And if one is found to be a heretic that refuses to recant their denying the doctrine of the Trinity then they were excommunicated from the church.
Well, if believing exactly what the Bible itself teaches means that I am a HERETIC, according to the council of Nicea, then I am a heretic. HOWEVER, I am not a heretic to what the Bible ITSELF teaches us in SIMPLICITY. But rather, Orthodox Christianity labels every Christian to be a heretic IF they deny the their DOCTRINE of the Trinity. And because I can no longer believe in their man-made, false doctrine of the Trinity Godhead, then to THEM I am a heretic.
The SIMPLE and clear truth of the Bible is that Jesus is God’s SON, whom God made to be both Lord and Christ. There is no reason to define what it means to be God’s SON. And most certainly it is WRONG to split the church into thousands of different church denominations over such a matter when the Bible ITSELF does NOT STATE as a FACT that being God’s SON means that Jesus was the fully divine Almighty God HIMSELF having TWO natures at the SAME time.
Now some Christians use John 3:31 and John 17:3 to try and prove that God the Son was SENT DOWN from heaven to become flesh. BUT the Son of man, Jesus, REMAINED the FULLY Almighty God himself and thus Jesus had TWO natures at the SAME time, one divine and one human.
Have YOU ever read such a verse from the Bible ITSELF? Of course the answer must be a NO because there is no such verse in the Bible teaching us that Jesus had TWO natures during the days of his flesh.
Most all the verses used to TRY and prove that Jesus preexisted as God the Son, the second person of a Trinity Godhead, come from the Gospel of John. But we know that John would NOT contradict his own words in John 17:1-3 which we just read with what he wrote in John 20:31.
John 20:31.
“But these are written, that you might believe that Jesus is the CHRIST, the SON OF God; and that believing you might have life through his name.”
John does NOT say that we must believe that Jesus is ALMIGHTY God himself. But rather all the Apostles teach us that we are to believe that Jesus is the CHRIST and that he is the SON OF the living God.
Below is a list of all the verses that are used to TRY and prove that Jesus preexisted as God the Son, the second person of a Trinity Godhead. I have given you, the reader, an alternate interpretation of all those verses which do not contradict any other part of God’s word. For you see, the Trinitarian interpretations of those same verses do indeed contradict other parts of God’s word.
Thanks for reading, and may God bless you richly as you continue to seek the TRUTH of the WHOLE word of Almighty God.
And to me, the truth concerning who Jesus TRULY is, according to the Bible ITSELF, is the Biblical Unitarian view of Jesus.
Once Christians, Jews, Muslims, and even atheists understand the REASON that Yahweh CREATED the Son of MAN, Jesus, was to have DOMINION over the work of Yahweh’s hands.
And after you understand that the REASON that Yahweh did that is to STILL His ENEMIES, Satan and the fallen angels.
Then you can understand that God made His human Son to become “a” Lord, “a” King, and “a” God, under and subject to his God and Father in order to JUDGE Satan and the fallen angels.
For a deeper understanding of this WAR that Lucifer and one third of the angels waged against the throne of Almighty God, please read the studies under the subject category called ** Q-0 Why Are We Here? Is God at WAR? **.
More studies are coming in this SHORTER Biblical Unitarian view of who Jesus is according to the WHOLE word of God.
If you have a PARTICULAR verse of Scripture that you would like to know the sound Biblical Unitarian meaning, then please email me at MarkatAMatterOfTruth@Gmail.com and let me know.
For further and more in-depth studies on this subject of Jesus being created to STILL the enemies of Yahweh, please read the studies called D-25. A NEW LOOK at JOHN 1:1, In the BEGINNING!
And also read the study called D-28. The PRE-ADAMIC LUCIFERIAN FLOOD!
At the top of my homepage, there are subjects or categories which contain compiled lists of ** ALL Studies! ** I have written on that particular subject. So, if a link within a study is broken, then click on ** ALL Studies! ** to find the suggested study.
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Thanks again for reading, and may God bless you richly as you continue to seek the TRUTH of the WHOLE word of Almighty God.
And to me, the truth concerning who Jesus TRULY is, according to the Bible ITSELF, is the Biblical Unitarian view of Jesus.
And again, for ALL of the studies on the Biblical Unitarian view of Jesus, please click on the subject heading ** D-0 The BIBLICAL UNITARIAN VIEW of Jesus! **
And for the SUBJECT on the true foundation of the church, please click on the subject heading ** C-0 The TRUE FOUNDATION of the Church! **
This way you can just send ONE link to those who you want to share the TRUE sound Biblical FOUNDATIONAL teachings of the church that Jesus and his Apostles taught in the first century church.
Your brother in our Lord Jesus Christ,
Brother Mark.
My heartfelt prayer is that all Christians RETURN to the TRUE FOUNDATION of the church that is taught by the very Apostles of Jesus in the first century.
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