First, we look at Jesus in heaven. This is His PRE-INCARNATE state. Simply stated, Jesus existed in heaven before becoming a man and coming to this earth. We know that, but we need to be reminded of that from time to time. The teaching—that is, the doctrine—of the Bible is that, the coming of Christ into the world the first time is a happening unlike anything that ever happened before, and unlike anything that will ever happen again. It is different from any other event in all of history. Like none other, Jesus came from God, Philippians 2, verses 6 and 7 [“Who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.”]. He was God, not just a revelation of God, as John says in John 1, verses 1 and 2 [“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.”]. (Now that may need a little explanation. We spoke last time, when we were talking about the Doctrine of God, that God has revealed Himself in two ways: in a natural way or in nature, and also through His spoken Word. As God reveals Himself in nature, He has created what we see. As He reveals Himself through His Word, it is through the Word which is recorded for us in the Scripture. That is a revelation of God. But Jesus IS God, not a revelation—not something that God created to represent Him. This is a difficult concept for us to grasp and to understand. We’ll talk more about this.) Jesus was sent into this world with a specific mission, John 6, verse 38 [“For I have come down from heaven, not to do My Own Will, but the Will of Him Who sent Me.”]. Therefore, He is the One Who knows God and speaks for God, John 17, verse 2 [“as You [God] have given Him [Jesus] authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him.”]. See also: 2 Corinthians 8:9; Ephesians 1:4; Hebrews 1:1-5.

There are several passages that relate the fact that Jesus lived with God in heaven before He came to this earth as a man. Let’s look at John, chapter 1, beginning with verse 1: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His Own, and His Own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His Name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” And then verse 14: “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.” The doctrine of the Bible—the teaching—the fact of the Bible is that, Jesus lived with God in heaven before He came to earth.

In this pre-incarnate state, when Jesus was in heaven with God, He had a part in the creation of the world. We saw that in the text of John, chapter 1. Paul will speak about this as well, Colossians 1, verses 16 and 17 [“For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.”]. Paul tells us that Christ “created all things” and “is before all things,” so we have Jesus becoming a part of the very creation that He made. Think about that. He was with God; He was with God as God created; He was part and parcel of that, and then at one point in time, He became a part of what He created. That really boggles the mind when you stop to think about it! He became a part of what He created! He and the Father created mankind, and He became a man. John described Jesus as the “logos” in John 1, verse 1, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

That is the Greek word logos, which means “word.” This Greek word logos was used by Greek philosophers as “the personification of pure reason.” You remember that the Greeks were very much into philosophy, logic, and reason. So, this word “logos” for them represented the personification of pure reason. To John, as he wrote these Words, being inspired by the Holy Spirit, Jesus was not the personification of pure reason, but the personification of one of the God Head. As the logos, as the Word, He was the expression of God’s Will to man, and He revealed to us the Will and the very nature of God. In this sense, Jesus was distinct from the prophets. The prophets of old, those who had gone before, bear witness to the Word given to them. Jesus is the revelation that the prophets of old witnessed to and wrote about, this One Who would come—the Messiah. This Word, and this prophesy, was revealed to them through the power of the Holy Spirit. Many think of Jesus as just being a good man, a prophet, like some of the prophets who had gone before—Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah. Of course, there are many things that distinguish Him from the prophets. And this is certainly one of them: That is, the prophecies of those who prophesied were given to them [through the power of the Holy Spirit]. But Jesus IS the REVELATION of all prophecies. It staggers the mind when we think about these things.