From Bethlehem to Eternity past - Tim's message at the 247 weekend - part 1

I've posted this without permission and don't care! (I know Tim won't mind), It is the message Tim brought to us on Saturday morning.

John Chapter 1 verses 1 – 15
"Was there a Jesus Christ before the manger in Bethlehem?

Before that little baby boy came into the world 2,000 years ago in a dark old stable in the middle east, was there a Jesus Christ?

Did He exist before this? Or was this where and when Jesus began to exist?

Well I’m not going to ask for a show of hands - but I will tell you that I believe Jesus existed long before he was born of Mary on that busy night in the overcrowded city of Bethlehem.

And this morning I want to start here at his birth - and work backwards through time to show you what the Word of God has to say about the existence of Jesus - before his physical birth in the manger.

And so first of all look at verse 15 of John 1

15 ¶ John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, "This was He of whom I said, `He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.'"

Now think about what John the Baptist is saying here:

He says, “He who comes after me {speaking of Jesus’ ministry starting later than his own ministry} is preferred before me {ranks above me {Amp. Bible}}, for He was before me.{for He existed before I did {Amp. Bible}}'"

Why is that so interesting?

Well let’s start travelling back in time about 30 years before John said this to Luke chapter 1.

Luke 1:30-37
30 Then the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.
31 "And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS.
32 "He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David.
33 "And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end."
34 Then Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I do not know a man?"
35 And the angel answered and said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.
36 "Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren.
37 "For with God nothing will be impossible."

This is the angel telling Mary that she is about to conceive {v.31 “you will conceive} a son.

So Mary is not yet pregnant at this point – and then the angel goes on to say in verse 36 “Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren.”

So do you see what appears to be a contradiction here?

Elizabeth is six months pregnant with her first son (John the Baptist) while Mary is only about to become pregnant with her first son (Jesus).

So it doesn’t take a degree to work out that John the Baptist was born first, making him roughly six months older than Jesus.

Yet in John 1 v.15 we have John saying `He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.'"

That would be me saying to Gary that his son Jacob existed before my son Noah – even though Noah was born in December last year and Jacob wasn’t born until April this year.

What John the Baptist said doesn’t make sense humanly speaking, but yet it’s true!

So therefore God had revealed to John that although Jesus was physically six months younger than him, Jesus already existed before John did.

Well now, if Jesus existed before His physical birth to Mary, how long had he existed before that? – and what did He do?
In fact, it appears that He has made many visual appearances on the earth during Old Testament oftentimes referred to as The Angel of the Lord. "