Pre-existence of Christ

God resting after creation – Jesus as the creator of the world, Byzantine mosaic in Monreale, Sicily. Paintings of God the Father weren't yet a thing in the 15th century, so they used Jesus.

The pre-existence of Christ is the belief that Jesus did exist before he was even born. Before his human birth he was the fully divine person God the Son until he chose to be "made flesh" to then possess not one—but two natures—human and divine.

John testified about him when he shouted to the crowds, “This is the one I was talking about when I said, ‘Someone is coming after me who is far greater than I am, for he existed long before me.’”

— John 1:15 NLT

In John 17:5, Jesus talks about the glory that he had with the Father "before the world existed" and in verse 24, that the Father loved him "before the foundation of the world".

John 1 opens with "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God..." this "Word" is later said to have been Jesus in verse 14 but just "made flesh".

Nicene Christianity

The pre-existence of Christ is one of the most important beliefs in mainstream Christianity. Most mainstream churches that accept the Nicene Creed view the nature of the pre-existent Christ as the fully divine person called the Word, which is described in John 1:1-3; the verses read:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being.

— John 1:1–3, NRSV

Related pages

• Trinity
• Incarnation (Christianity)
• Jesus