The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in John 17:5,
"Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began."
Jesus never proclaimed himself to be just a man. In his prayer here to the Father, he claimed to have enjoyed a glory together with God the Father before the creation took place. Mere mortals begin their existence, their life, upon their conception and born some nine months later. Where Jesus Christ was conceived through the miracle wrought by the Holy Spirit within his mother Mary and born nine months later, he existed prior to his conception.
The origin of God is a misconception. "Origin" refers to a beginning and we know the Son of God has no beginning. In reference to Melchizedek, the writer of Hebrews likened his Scriptural heritage to that of the Son of God, "Without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, resembling the Son of God, he remains a priest forever." Hebrews 7:3. Temporal considerations as to when things come into existence do not pertain to God. From our perspective, captured within the dimension of time, God has no beginning and he has no end. God is eternal - he eternally exists.
"Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began."
Jesus never proclaimed himself to be just a man. In his prayer here to the Father, he claimed to have enjoyed a glory together with God the Father before the creation took place. Mere mortals begin their existence, their life, upon their conception and born some nine months later. Where Jesus Christ was conceived through the miracle wrought by the Holy Spirit within his mother Mary and born nine months later, he existed prior to his conception.
The origin of God is a misconception. "Origin" refers to a beginning and we know the Son of God has no beginning. In reference to Melchizedek, the writer of Hebrews likened his Scriptural heritage to that of the Son of God, "Without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, resembling the Son of God, he remains a priest forever." Hebrews 7:3. Temporal considerations as to when things come into existence do not pertain to God. From our perspective, captured within the dimension of time, God has no beginning and he has no end. God is eternal - he eternally exists.
And, where we have a beginning, God invites us into an existence that transcends the dimension of time. He welcomes all who will embrace Jesus Christ in faith to the eternal life he exists in.
We are told Jesus Christ existed as God before the creation and was the author of the creation itself, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made." John 1:1-3. John tells us a few verses later that the "Word" he refers to here is Jesus Christ, "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth." John 1:14. The writer of Hebrews, in addition to what John had to say, tells us that it is Jesus Christ who maintains the order of the cosmos, the creation itself, "in these last days he [God] has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word." Hebrews 1:2-3.
Jesus Christ, the Son of God is God. He existed prior to the creation and is responsible for both creating time and space as well as maintaining it. As such he existed and exists today in an unapproachable glory he has always shared with God the Father, setting it aside for only a brief time when he entered into his own creation as Jesus Christ.
"[Jesus Christ], Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." Philippians 2:6-11.
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.
Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com
We are told Jesus Christ existed as God before the creation and was the author of the creation itself, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made." John 1:1-3. John tells us a few verses later that the "Word" he refers to here is Jesus Christ, "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth." John 1:14. The writer of Hebrews, in addition to what John had to say, tells us that it is Jesus Christ who maintains the order of the cosmos, the creation itself, "in these last days he [God] has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word." Hebrews 1:2-3.
Jesus Christ, the Son of God is God. He existed prior to the creation and is responsible for both creating time and space as well as maintaining it. As such he existed and exists today in an unapproachable glory he has always shared with God the Father, setting it aside for only a brief time when he entered into his own creation as Jesus Christ.
"[Jesus Christ], Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." Philippians 2:6-11.
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.
Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com
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