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Wenstrom Bible Ministries Marion, Iowa Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom wenstrom

Wenstrom Bible Ministries Marion, Iowa Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom www.wenstrom.org. Sunday February 6, 2011 The Unique Person of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ Series: The Preexistence Of Our Lord And Savior Jesus Christ Lesson # 2. Please turn in your Bibles to John 8:58.

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Wenstrom Bible Ministries Marion, Iowa Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom wenstrom

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  1. Wenstrom Bible MinistriesMarion, IowaPastor-Teacher Bill Wenstromwww.wenstrom.org

  2. Sunday February 6, 2011The Unique Person of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ Series: The Preexistence Of Our Lord And Savior Jesus ChristLesson # 2

  3. Please turn in your Bibles to John 8:58.

  4. Last month we presented an introduction to a new study that we will conduct the first Sunday of each month, namely a study of the unique person of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

  5. This morning we will continue with this study by noting the preexistence of our Lord.

  6. John 8:58, “Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.’” (NASU)

  7. This statement by our Lord to the Jews clearly affirms His preincarnate state or preexistence as the eternal Son of God.

  8. It will be noted that Christ’s existence prior to becoming a human being is nowhere in Scripture argued as a doctrine, but is everywhere assumed and used as the basis of the doctrines of the incarnation, hypostatic union and atonement for sin.

  9. Our Lord’s birth in Bethlehem 2000 years ago was not His origin, only His incarnation.

  10. There could be no incarnation and hypostatic union without our Lord having a previous existence.

  11. To deny the preexistence of our Lord renders the incarnation and hypostatic union impossible.

  12. To go back further, could there be a Trinity were there no preexistent Son of God?

  13. The one necessarily presupposes the other.

  14. Christ’s preexistence is not a matter of purely academic interest but in fact it is the foundation on which the whole superstructure of the Christian faith rests.

  15. If our Lord is not preexistent, He cannot be God, and if He is not God, He cannot be the Creator or Redeemer.

  16. Jesus was unique among men in that His birth did not mark His origin, but only His appearance as a man on the stage of time.

  17. Of no other person would it be possible to distinguish between His birth and origin, or to say that His life did not begin when He was born.

  18. He was the meeting place of eternity and time, the uniting of deity and humanity, the junction of heaven and earth.

  19. His origin was not related to His birth, or His nature dependent only on human ancestry.

  20. His nature was derived from His eternal being.

  21. The Lord Jesus Christ did not become God’s Son at the incarnation or when He rose from the dead.

  22. His resurrection in fact demonstrated that He was the eternal Son of God who has no beginning.

  23. He is God, supreme and without beginning.

  24. Our Lord was conscious of a previous existence.

  25. He spoke of the glory He had with the Father before the foundation of the world.

  26. John 17:5, “Now, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.” (NASU)

  27. He claimed preexistence in explicit and unmistakable terms.

  28. John 16:26, “In that day you will ask in My name, and I do not say to you that I will request of the Father on your behalf;

  29. 27 for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me and have believed that I came forth from the Father.

  30. 28 I came forth from the Father and have come into the world; I am leaving the world again and going to the Father.” (NASU)

  31. The Old Testament abounds in references to our Lord’s preexistence or preincarnate state.

  32. In these appearances He is often called the “Angel of the Lord.”

  33. They also are called in theology, “theophanies” or “Christophanies,” which are theological terms used to refer to either a visible or auditory manifestation or both of the Son of God before His becoming a man permanently in Bethlehem.

  34. The first of these appears in Genesis 1:1 where He is presented as the Creator of the heavens and the earth.

  35. Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” (NASU)

  36. “In the beginning” refers to eternity past when there was only the Trinity and no creation or creatures.

  37. A comparison of Genesis 1:1 with other Scripture clearly teaches that all of creation is the work of the second Person of the Trinity, God the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

  38. Colossians 1:15, “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.

  39. 16 For by Him all things were created, {both} in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities-- all things have been created through Him and for Him.

  40. 17 He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.” (NASU)

  41. The preincarnate Christ appeared to the patriarch Abraham (Genesis 18:1) and his son Isaac (Genesis 26:23-25), and Isaac’s son Jacob whose name was later changed to Israel (Genesis 28:10-22; 31:10-13; 32:24-32; 35:1).

  42. The Lord also appeared to Moses (Exodus 3:2) and his successor Joshua (Joshua 5:13-15) and it was the Lord who was in the fiery furnace with Daniel’s three friends (Daniel 3:19-30).

  43. Isaiah presents His testimony concerning the preexistence of Christ in Isaiah 9:6-7.

  44. Isaiah 9:6, “For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; and the government will rest on His shoulders; and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.

  45. 7 There will be no end to the increase of {His} government or of peace, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this.” (NASU)

  46. The expression “the Everlasting Father” means that Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God in human flesh (Jn. 8:58).

  47. The prophet Micah also testifies to the preexistence of Christ.

  48. Micah 5:2, “But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity.” (NASU)

  49. “From the days of eternity” is an obvious reference to the fact that the baby named Jesus by Mary in Bethlehem existed from eternity past.

  50. In the very first paragraph of his gospel, the apostle John testifies to the fact that Jesus of Nazareth, the incarnate Word of God, existed from eternity past.

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