Seeing The Son Before The Incarnation

During our family worship last week, as we discussed the eternality of God, my children proceeded to ask me, “Dad, if Jesus was born from Mary, how can he be eternal?” What a beautiful question, and an important one too! I was reminded of this question again on Sunday when we read the first part of Colossians 1:17 – And he is before all things. With these six simple words, Paul invites us to lift our eyes beyond the boundaries of time and creation, and see who Jesus truly is as the eternal Son of God.

In Luke 24, When a resurrected Christ walked with the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, we read: Beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. (Luke 24:27). This brings me to the question of this blog – Where was the Son of God before the incarnation?

Christ did not appear in the Scriptures for the first time in Bethlehem. Time and time again the New Testament highlights that the eternal Son was actually active throughout the Old Testament as well. In this blog, I’d like to highlight five major ways that the Old Testament reveals Christ. With Christmas on the horizon, and as our thoughts are filled with thoughts of the Incarnation, let us not forget to read the Old Testament with the eyes of faith. May we see that the Old Testament is not a separate story, but instead the same story in seed form, unfolding the mystery of Christ and God’s plan of salvation step by step.

1. Christ Eternal Preexistence

Any consideration of Christ before the incarnation must begin with eternity past. This is what Pastor Mike highlighted for us on Sunday. In the New Testament, we see this most clearly in John 1:1, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” John intentionally starts his gospel here. That phrase “In the beginning” is meant to make the reader think of Genesis 1:1. Before the beginning of time, the Son of God both existed with God and is God. To be with God is to speak of the distinctness of persons, whereas to be God speaks of the unity of essence.

But are there any Old Testament verses that speak of Christ's eternal existence? Indeed there are! In Genesis 1:26, there is a subtle reference to the preexistence of Christ when the Triune God says “Let us make man…” (Gen. 1:26). We also see this in other places. Micah 5:2 speaks of the Lord’s anointed one coming from Bethlehem whose origins are “from days of eternity.” Isaiah 9:6-7 also speaks of Christ’s eternal existence. This passage begins, “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given…” (Is. 9:6). This child is one born of a woman, and yet he is a son that was given from eternity. This same verse goes on to say that this child who is born is both “Mighty God” and “Everlasting Father.”

2. Christ in the Promises and Covenants

Not only does the Old Testament demonstrate that Christ is eternal, as soon as man fellow in the garden, God promised a coming redeemer who would come to crush the head of the serpent. As the rest of the Old Testament unfolds, this “seed motif” begins to come into clearer view. It would not be Cain, the first-born of fallen man. He would go on to slay his brother Abel. But the storyline really begins to pick up with Abraham. God promised Abraham that in his seed all nations would be blessed. Ultimately, as we trace Abraham’s lineage, Paul identifies Christ as that ultimate seed in Galatians 3:15. Later in the Old Testament, one of Abraham’s descendants named David also received a promise. God promised David that one from his lineage would sit on the throne forever. The New Testament declares that Christ is the true Son of David who reigns forever. The entire Old Testament covenant story (Noahic, Abrahamic, Mosaic, and Davidic) progressively reveal what was promised in Genesis 3:15 and culminate in Christ in the new covenant promising the forgiveness of sins and eternal life. The entire Old Testament covenant story builds toward the arrival of Christ the “guarantor of a better covenant” (Heb. 7:22).

3. Christ in Types and Shadows

Christ is not only progressively revealed through the story line of Scripture, but God in his infinite wisdom gave pictures (or more properly – types and shadows) that point forward to Christ. In other words, the Old Testament provides us with people, events, institutions, or objects that prefigure or point forward to a greater reality that is fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Here are a few examples:

• Adam as the representative head of humanity

• Noah’s ark as salvation through judgment

• The Passover lamb as a substitute sacrifice

• The tabernacle and temple as God dwelling with His people

• The priesthood pointing to Christ our High Priest

• The sacrificial system prefiguring His atoning death

• Davidic kingship portraying Christ the true King

4. Old Testament Appearances of Christ?

One interesting question that comes up when thinking about Christ before the incarnation is whether or not Christ actually appeared before the incarnation. This is called a Christophany – appearance of Christ. Many Christians throughout history have understood “the Angel of the Lord” with a definite article (as opposed to an angel of the Lord), to be a manifestation of the preincarnate Christ. The reason so many have held to this view is because this angel speaks as God, receives worship, forgives sin, and bears the divine name. Some of the examples seen in Scripture include: 1) The Angel who appears to Hagar, Abraham and Moses. 2) The commander of the Lord’s army who meets with Joshua. And, 3) the fourth man in the fiery furnace. It is unclear whether every one of these examples are a pre-incarnate Christ. However, evidence does seem to suggest that at least some of them were. Which shows that Christ was personally active in Israel’s story.

5. Christ in Prophecy 

From Moses to the prophets, the Old Testament creates a sense longing for the Lord's promised Messiah. Messianic prophecies abound in the Old Testament. Though it is hard to count, most scholars would agree that there are about 50-65 clear predictions. This does not include the types that we previously considered. When we come to the New Testament, it directly says that Jesus fulfilled over 300 Old Testament prophecies and references. These prophecies are not isolated predictions, but threads that come together and converge in Christ alone. Peter Stoner, a conservative mathematician once asked, “What are the odds that one man, by chance, could fulfill only 8 specific Old Testament prophecies?” According to his math, his estimate was 1 in 10¹⁷ or 1 in 100,000,000,000,000,000. That’s remarkable, and yet Christ fulfilled many more than just 8 prophecies!

Why This Matters

This blog may have been a touch longer than most, however it is of extreme importance. Seeing Christ in the Old Testament helps us to see the unity of Scripture and also forces us to see God’s one plan of redemption. The Bible is telling us one unified story that is centered on Christ. This should strengthen our faith. We see that the Gospel is not an afterthought, but instead God’s eternal plan to save his people.