God has been pleased to give us several portions in Scripture which teach us something about the life of the Lord Jesus Christ BEFORE He was born into this world. We will look at a few of them.

1) In John 1:1 we read, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” This verse actually takes us back BEFORE TIME BEGAN when God alone existed. We know that “the Word” is referring to the Son of God because in verse 14 it says, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth” (NKJV). This verse teaches us that the Son of God was eternal, which means He had no beginning and thus he had no “heavenly mother.” It also teaches us that He had a distinct personality AND that He was God, co-equal with the Father and the Holy Spirit.

2) In Proverbs 8:22-31 we get another glimpse of Him before His incarnation. In verses 22-26 we see His eternal existence before creation, just as we saw in John 1:1. In verse 27 we learn that He was present during creation, for it reads, “When He prepared the heavens, I was there.” And then in verse 30a we see that He was an active Agent in Creation, “Then I was beside Him as a master workman” (NASB). This reminds us of John 1:3 which states, “All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made.” In verse 30b we are told, “And I was daily His delight, Rejoicing always before Him.” This is a marvelous revelation of “Jesus’ life in heaven before He was born,” for we see that the Father took great delight in His Son AND the Son found His joy in the Father. What intimate and blissful fellowship there was between the Father and the Son! When we think of this we marvel that the Father was willing to send His Son to this earth to provide salvation for lost and guilty man and that the Son was willing to come. Yet we see why in verse 31, for it says, “Rejoicing in the world, His earth, and having My delight in the sons of men.” The Son of God was also rejoicing in the earth that He created AND in the sons of men! Does this not magnify God’s grace that He would set His heart’s affections on those who were rebellious sinners? Yet He did, and thus in time He was born into this world to redeem sinners such as us!

3) In Isaiah 6:1-3 the curtains of heaven are drawn aside once again, revealing to our hearts another incident in the life of the Lord Jesus Christ before He was born. They tell us, “In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called out to another and said, ‘Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory” (NASB). Isaiah was given the blessed privilege of beholding a vision of the pre-incarnate Christ! How do we know this? The answer is found in John 12:41 where Jesus refers to the portion in Isaiah with these words, “These things Isaiah said because he saw His glory, and he spoke of Him.” Isaiah saw Him as the Object of angelic praise and worship; the One whose glory filled the whole earth. Is it not humbling to realize that the Son of God was willing to leave the highest place in glory to come down to this planet in rebellion in order to save sinners? Philippians 2:6-8 says He was “in the form of God” and yet He took “the form of a servant…and being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.”

May we meditate often on these passages that reveal the amazing life of the Lord Jesus before His miraculous incarnation. As we do, we will be compelled to offer Him the praise and adoration of our hearts for loving us and giving Himself for us. (188.7)  (DO)