Was Jesus in the Beginning?

As a boy, I loved to listen to my parent’s old radio/phonograph player. It was set in a beautiful wooden cabinet, and I was often fascinated by the glowing tubes that warmed up to receive radio signals or the stack of records that dropped one at a time so the arm could gently place the needle on that record.

One of my favorite songs of the day was called “I’m My Own Grandpa.” It was a humorous ballad about a man who, through a variety of marriages and family relations, became his own grandfather.

That seems absurd to us. But how many Christians believe that Jesus is his own Father? One of the arguments for such a belief is that Jesus was with God in the beginning, and that Jesus “came down” from heaven. But is that what the Bible teaches?

God, In the Beginning

The first verses of the Bible are very clear.

Genesis 1:1,2:
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

There is no mention of Jesus here. God, the Creator, was in the beginning. Here in Genesis, God calls Himself “the Spirit of God.” And it was Jesus who later explained that God is Spirit (John 4:24).

Was Jesus in the Beginning?

There are a few Bible verses that have been translated so that it appears Jesus was with God in the beginning.

Ephesians 3:9:
And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ.

This appears to say that God created all things with the help of Jesus in the beginning. The only problem is that the phrase “by Jesus Christ” is in none of the original Greek texts of the Bible.

Colossians 1:15-18:
Who [Christ] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn [prōto, first in time] of every creature:
For by [en, in] him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by [dia, by means of] him, and for [eis, unto] him:
And he is before [pro, ahead of in position] all things, and by [en, in] him all things consist.
And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning [archē, first in authority], the firstborn [prōto, first in time] from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.

Both Ephesians and Colossians were written to show that Jesus Christ is the preeminent one. He alone is Lord. At his name, every knee should bow (Philippians 2:9-11). Here in Colossians, Christ is described in a few ways:

1. the firstborn [prōto, first in time] of every creature
2. by [en, in] him were all things created
3. all things were created by [dia, by means of] him, and for [eis, unto] him
4. the beginning [archē, first in authority]
5. the firstborn [prōto, first in time] from the dead

These truths are simple and clear in light of the original language and in the context of the New Testament.

1. There is no doubt that Jesus was the firstborn of God—he is God’s only begotten Son. Since Pentecost, people can become sons of God with the new creation of God’s spirit within them.
2. All things regarding the Body of Christ, the church, are created “in” Christ.
3. All of God’s riches are “by means of” Christ (I Corinthians 8:6), and we are “unto” him.
4. Jesus is the archē, first in authority. This Greek word refers to his position as lord, not that he was in the “beginning” with God.
5. Jesus Christ was the first raised from the dead. That is what we believe to get born again (Romans 10:9,10).

Did Jesus “Come Down” from Heaven?

There are two places where Jesus uses this expression, and both are in the Gospel of John. The focus of this gospel is to show that Jesus is God’s Son. The first is in John 3.

John 3:13:
And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.

Jesus spoke these words to Nicodemus who came to him by night. In the first ten verses of John 3, Jesus told him of the new birth, and was surprised at Nicodemus’ lack of understanding. Jesus then went on to explain.

John 3:11-16:
Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness.
If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?
And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:
That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

The word “heaven” is used in the Gospels to refer to God and His authority. The terms “Kingdom of God” and “Kingdom of Heaven” are used in different gospels for the same records. Jesus said that he would one day ascend to his Father, just as the Father had sent him.

He was the “son of man”—a human being—but he was in the Father. The whole context of Jesus’ words to Nicodemus is about the new birth. When Jesus later ascended, people could be born again.

The second place is John 6. Here, Jesus had fed a multitude, and they wanted more free handouts. But Jesus knew why the Father had sent him. He was the bread of life.

John 6:38,41,42,51,58:
For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.
The Jews then murmured at him, because he said, I am the bread which came down from heaven.
And they said, Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? how is it then that he saith, I came down from heaven?
I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.
This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.

Jesus did not say that he was up in heaven and came down to earth as a man. He told these people that just as God had provided manna to Moses and the children of Israel in the wilderness, so God now provided His only begotten Son to provide for the need of all mankind.

Jesus offered eternal life to those who would “eat” of what he made available. The people did not understand, and they wondered how he could literally come down from heaven if they knew his earthly stepfather and mother. Many Christians are still confused by what Jesus said.

Did Jesus Descend to the Earth?

We know that Jesus Christ rose from the dead and ascended to the Father’s right hand in heaven. This is what the Old Testament prophecies promised would happen. It also said that he would be of the line of Abraham and David. He would be a man. Ephesians speaks of his being born as a man.

Ephesians 4:7-10:
But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.
Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.
(Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?
He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.)

How did Jesus come to earth? Was he the son of David, and of the line of Abraham?

Matthew 1:1:
The book of the generation [genealogy] of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

Jesus was of the lineage of both Abraham and David through his mother, Mary. Her espoused husband, Joseph, was also of David’s line (Luke 3:23). God told Joseph how Jesus would come to earth.

Matthew 1:20:
But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of [ek, out from] the Holy Ghost.

Jesus is the only begotten Son of the Father. He is out from God, Who is the Holy Spirit. An angel also explained to Mary how Jesus would come to earth.

Luke 1:34,35:
Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?
And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon [epi, at rest upon] thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow [episkiazō, to cover at rest upon] thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

Before the Foundation of the World

God created life in Mary so that nine months later Jesus was born. Was Jesus in the beginning with God? Did he always exist with the Father? The Bible says otherwise. In fact, Jesus prayed that we as born-again believers could be with him. He knew that the Father loved him before the foundation of the world. The Father also loved us before the foundation of the world.

John 17:24:
Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.

Ephesians 1:4:
According as he [God] hath chosen us in him [Jesus Christ] before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love.

God, the Creator, Who is now our Father, has foreknowledge. He knows the end from the beginning (Isaiah 46:9,10). God says that He foreknew those who would believe on Jesus Christ and be born again.

Romans 8:29:
For whom he did foreknow [proginōskō, known beforehand] he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

In the same way, God knew in advance that Jesus Christ would be born someday. There are many Old Testament prophecies about the birth of Jesus. Genesis 3:15 says that God would send the seed of the woman. A woman has no physical “seed,” so this is a figure of speech that shows Jesus would be born of divine conception, not by sexual intercourse. This is further explained in the Book of Hebrews.

Hebrews 2:14:
Forasmuch then as the children are partakers [koinōneō, to share fully] of flesh and blood [egg and sperm], he [Jesus] also himself likewise took part [metechō, to take only a part] of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil.

All other humans have been born by conception between an egg and a sperm provided by the parents. But Jesus only “took part.” Mary provided an egg, but God created life in her womb. Joseph was not Jesus’ father. God is his Father. God foreknew that Jesus would be born.

I Peter 1:20
Who [Jesus Christ] verily was foreordained [proginōskō, known beforehand] before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you.

That’s when Jesus was manifest, when he came into existence—in these latter times for us. When the fullness of time had come, Jesus was born of a woman under the law (Galatians 4:4).

It took the freewill believing of many people for generations to get to the point where Mary could believe the promise and bear God’s only begotten Son. That’s how Jesus came down from the Father, when God (the Holy Spirit) put that life into Mary, and nine months later Jesus was born.

None of us can every really be our “own grandpa.” And God is just as logical in His Word when it comes to the greatest subject of all time—His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ.