The Preincarnate Son of God

By Rev. Rock LaGioia

How do we know that Jesus existed prior to the Incarnation? What was His role? Was He active or passive? The Word of God answers these questions. Speaking to the Jews, Jesus said:

“Your Father Abraham rejoiced to see My day and he saw it and was glad” (John 8:56)

The Jews were stunned because Jesus was only in His early thirties. How could He possibly have been alive in Abraham’s day?

“The Jews therefore said to Him, ‘You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?’ Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am” (John 8:57-58).

One commentator notes, “The difference between the two verbs applied to Abraham and Himself, in this great saying, is to be carefully observed, ‘Before Abraham was brought into being, I exist.’ The statement, therefore, is not that Christ came into existence before Abraham did - it is that He never came into being at all, but existed before Abraham had a being; which, of course, was as much as to say that He existed before all creation, or from eternity” (Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, A commentary Vol. 3, p. 406). The Jews understood Jesus to be equating Himself with the eternal “I AM.” Verse 59 says,

“Therefore they picked up stones to throw at Him…”

The eternality of Jesus is clearly stated in the Old Testament also. In Micah 5:2, Jesus is spoken of as One whose “going forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity.”

Where was Jesus at the beginning of time?

“He was in the beginning with God.” (John 1:2)

Jesus was directly and actively involved in the creation of the universe.

“All things came into being by Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.” (John 1:3).

Jesus was directly and actively involved in the creation of man. Indeed God said,

“Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness…” (Genesis 1:26)

As early as Genesis 3:15, there is a prediction of Christ’s redemptive work on the cross:

“And I will put enmity between you (the serpent) and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise Him on the heel.”

“The Savior would come through the woman’s progeny (the Messianic line to Christ). ‘The Seed of the woman’ comprehends the children of God, and ‘the seed of the serpent’ denotes the wicked unregenerate segment of the race (Matt. 23:33; John 8:44; 1 John 3:8). But since ‘the Seed of the woman’ focuses on an individual, whose miraculous birth gave Him a preeminent title to be called ‘the seed of the woman’ (see Gal. 4:4), the designation constitutes the first great prophecy of the coming virgin-born, incarnate Son of God and Savior” (Merrill F. Unger, Unger’s Commentary on the Old Testament Vol1, p.19).

In Genesis 16:17-13, the Preincarnate Son of God (manifested as the Angel of the Lord) interacts with Hagar.

“Now the Angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, by the spring on the way to Shur. And He said, ‘Hagar, Sarai’s maid, where have you come from and where are you going?’ And she said, ‘I am fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarai.’ Then the Angel of the Lord said to her, ‘Return to your mistress, and submit yourself to her authority.’ Moreover, the Angel of the Lord said to her, “I will greatly multiply your descendants so that they shall be too many to count.’ The Angel of the Lord said to her further, “Behold, you are with child, and you shall bear a son; and you shall call his name Ishmael, because the Lord has given heed to your affliction. And he will be a wild donkey of a man, his hand will be against everyone, and eveyone’s hand will be against him; an he will live to the east of all his brothers.’”

Who has been speaking to Hagar? The Angel of the Lord, of course. But verse 13 tells us that it was the Lord who spoke to her.

“Then she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, “’Thou art a God who sees;’ for she said, ‘Have I even remained alive after seeing Him?’”

Not only did Hagar hear the Preincarnate Son of God, but she also saw Him!

Recorded in Genesis 18:1-33, is the appearance of the Preincarnate Son of God to Abraham.

“Now the Lord appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre, while he was sitting at the tent door in the heat of the day. And when he lifted up his eyes and looked, behold, three men were standing opposite him; and when he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them, and said, ‘My Lord, if now I have found favor in your sight, please do not pass your servant by’” (vv. 1-3).

One of these men was the Lord. Instead of addressing all of them, Abraham spoke to the one who seemed to be the leader. Upon Abraham’s invitation, the men stayed for a meal.

“Then they said to him, ‘Where is Sarah your wife?’ And Abraham said, ‘Behold in the tent.’ And He (the leader) said, ‘I will surely return to you at this time next year; and behold, Sarah your wife shall have a son.’ And Sarah was listening at the tent door, which was behind him.” (vv. 9-10).

First, the men inquired of Abraham. Then, the leader made a promise to Abraham. Later, in Genesis 21:1, we are told who the leader is.

“Then the Lord took note of Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as He had promised.”

The leader who spoke was the Lord Himself. But, because of her old age, Sarah laughed at the Lord’s promise. The Lord responded,

“Is anything too difficult for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, at this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son” (V. 14).

In verse 10, the leader of the men promised to return a year later. But, in verse 14, the Lord promised to return a year later. The leader and the Lord are one and he same.

“Then the men rose up from there and looked down toward Sodom; and Abraham was walking with them to send them off. And the Lord said, ‘Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do…’”(vv. 16-17)

Abraham was walking with the three men in the direction of Sodom when the leader (the Lord) spoke to him.

“Then the men turned away from there and went toward Sodom, while Abraham was still standing before the Lord” (v.22).

There seems to be a problem. If the three men left for Sodom and the Lord remained with Abraham, is not the Lord really a fourth person? Our answer is found in the first part of Genesis 19:1.

“Now the two angels came to Sodom…”

If two angels went to Sodom, then the third angel (or man) remained with Abraham. The third angel was the Preincarnate Son of God. Jesus did see Abraham (John 8:56-58).

In Genesis 32, we have the story of a man wrestling with Jacob. After wrestling, the man said to Jacob,

“Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel (he who strives with God); for you have strived with God and with men and have prevailed” (v. 28).

Jacob’s wrestling partner was more than a man!

“So Jacob named the place Peniel (the face of God), for he said, ‘I have seen God face to face, yet my life has been preserved’”(v. 30).

Jacob wrestled with the Preincarnate Son of God.

As he was pasturing Jethro’s flock, Moses encountered the Preincarnate Son of God at Horeb, the mountain of God.

“And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of a bush…” (Exodus 3:2).

But in verse 4,

“God called to him from the midest of he bush…”

After God identified himself,

“…Moses hid his face for he was afraid to look at God” (v. 6).

The Lord commanded Moses in verse 16,

“Go and gather the elders of Israel together, and say to them, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, has appeared to me…’”

Merril Unger observes, “The appearance of the Angel of the Lord (the Preincarnate Christ) out of the flaming bush indicates God’s people are preserved by divine power. Moses received this great revelation as a shepherd, a vocation the Egyptians despised, showing that he shared the reproach of Christ (Hebrews 11:26)” (Unger’s Commentary on the Old Testament Vol. 1, p. 107).

Joshua also encountered the Preincarnate Son of God. In Joshua 5:13-14,

“…a man was standing opposite him with his word drawn in his hand, and Joshua went to him and said to him, ‘Are you for us or for our adversaries?’ And he said, ‘No, rather I indeed come, now as Captain of the host of the Lord.’ And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and bowed down, and said to him, “What has my Lord to say to his servant?’”

Alexander Maclaren asserts, “We have here not a record of the appearance of a created superhuman person, but that of a preliminary manifestation of the Eternal Word of God, who, in the fullness of time, ‘became flesh and dwelt among us.’” (Expositions of Holy Scripture Vol. 2, p. 118). The language of verse 15 is a further indication of the identity of the Captain of the host of the Lord:

“And the Captain of the Lord’s host said to Joshua, ‘Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.’”

This language is almost identical to that in Exodus 3:5 and it implies the presence of Deity. After the parenthetical statement in Joshua 6:1, the narrative continues in verse 2:

“And the Lord said to Joshua, ‘See, I have given Jericho into your hand…”

We can conclude from the evidence that the Captain of the host of the Lord and the Lord are the same Person.

We are treated to a fascinating glimpse of the Preincarnate Son of God in Judges 13. The Angel of the Lord appeared to Manoab’s wife. He promised her that she would conceive and give birth to a son.

“Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, ‘A man of God came to me and His appearance was like the Angel of God, very awesome. And I did not ask Him where He came from, nor did He tell me His name’” (v. 6).

The Angel of the Lord appeared a second time to Manoah’s wife. She immediately called her husband.

“Then Manoah said to the Angel of the Lord, “Please let us detain You so that we may prepare a kid for You.’ And the Angel of the Lord said to Manoah, “Though you detain Me, I will not eat your food, but if you prepare a burnt offering, then offer it to the Lord.’ For Manoah did not know that He was the Angel of the Lord” (vv. 15-16).

Burnt offerings are to be presented to God only! Still not realizing that he was in the presence of Deity, Manoah asked the Angel of the Lord,

“…What is Your name, so that when Your words come to pass, we may honor You?’ But the Angel of the Lord said to him, “Why do you ask My Name, seeing it is wonderful?’” (vv. 17-18).

The word “wonderful” means absolutely and supremely ineffable- a description reserved for God alone.”

“So Manoah took the kid with the grain offering and offered it on the rock to the Lord, and He (the Lord) performed wonders while Manoah and his wife looked on” (v. 19)

It was the Lord who performed the wonders. The wonders are described in verse 20:

“For it came about when the flame went up from the altar toward heaven, that the Angel of the Lord ascended in the flame of the altar. When Manoah and his wife saw this, they fell on their faces to the ground.”

After learning that the Lord performed wonders, now we learn that the Angle of the Lord performed wonders. They are the same person – the Preincarnate Son of God. Manoah and his wife fell on their faces in worship to Him.

“Now the Angel of the Lord appeared no more to Manoah or his wife. Then Manoah knew that He was the Angel of the Lord (i.e. Deity). So Manoah said to his wife, ‘We shall surely die, foe we have seen God’” (vv. 21-22).

While there are certainly many more examples, we will conclude with an Old Testament appearance of the Preincarnate Son of God which is corroborated by the New Testament, Isaiah 6:1.

“In the year of King’s Uzziah’s death, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple.”

Isaiah saw the Preincarnate Son of God with his own eyes! Angelic creatures called Seraphim stood above the Lord and called out,

“Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory’” (v. 3).

After seeing the glory of the King of Kings, Isaiah sensed his own sinfulness.

“Then I said, ‘Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts’” (v. 5).

How can we be sure that Isaiah is referring to the Preincarnate Christ and not to God the Father? After quoting Isaiah 6:9-10 in John 12:40, John comments in verse 41,

“These things Isaiah said, because he saw His (Jesus’) glory, and he spoke of Him.”

The Apostle John, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, authoritatively answered our question.

But what about the other passages that we have considered? How do we know that the Angel of the Lord is the Preincarnate Son of God and not God the Father? The Apostle John answers our question again.

“No man has seen God (the Father) at any time; the only begotten God (the Son), who is in the bosom of the Father, He (the Son) has explained Him (the Father)” John 1:18.

Jesus Christ had an active role in God’s program prior to the Incarnation.